Heaven and earth are struck by catastrophe, thousands of meteors descend upon the world, and three enormous, ferocious stone giants appear on the mountain behind Lotus Platform Village. An ordinary youth, Brian Carter, accidentally acquires these three stone giants, and from that moment on, mysterious voices begin to speak inexplicable words in his mind...

With the stone giants and the voices in his head, Brian Carter enters Su Bao Mountain, one of the seven great sects of the Sui Dynasty.

This is an era of geniuses. Under the brilliance of those prodigious disciples, the mediocre Brian Carter is utterly unremarkable. Yet, he finally understands what the three mysterious stone giants in his mind are telling him: profound cultivation techniques, exquisite alchemy methods, top-tier artifact forging, invincible talisman crafting... Even the most secretive "spirit pattern armaments" of the entire cultivation world—those voices are masters of them all!

...

The road to the Great Dao is long, and Brian Carter has only just begun. At this moment, a legend is born!

Volume One: A Mortal Life Under Heaven

Chapter One: The Innate Stone Giants

In the third year of Kaiyuan of the Great Sui, calamity befell the world.

Thousands of massive meteorites, burning with terrifying blood-red flames, fell upon every province and county of the Great Sui, accompanied by earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and other disasters.

For a time, the land of the Great Sui was filled with wailing and misery.

From the emperor to the common folk, no one would ever forget this year.

The newly enthroned Emperor Wulong of the Great Sui, who had just changed the era name, was forced to issue three successive edicts of self-reproach, and once again changed the era name to "Tianshun."

The disaster lasted a full three months. Urgent reports, each marked with bloody handprints, were delivered to the capital at breakneck speed. Whenever the citizens of the capital saw exhausted warhorses foaming at the mouth, driven mercilessly by equally weary riders as they galloped through the streets, their hearts would sink—they knew that somewhere else had suffered disaster. Behind every urgent report lay thousands, even tens of thousands, of innocent lives lost!

Fortunately, after three months, the emperor's edicts of self-reproach seemed to have had some effect. This bizarre and unprecedented catastrophe gradually came to an end, and there had been no urgent disaster reports for more than ten days.

...

Today was a beautiful day. Near Luomei Mountain in Yuzhou of the Great Sui, where it rained endlessly year-round, such a sunny, cloudless day was truly rare.

The children of Lotus Platform Village finished their lessons and dispersed in a lively crowd.

Thirteen-year-old Brian Carter blended into the stream of people heading out. The Sage stood upright at the doorway, and every student leaving bowed to him in farewell.

The Sage was a scholar in his forties, slightly thin and frail, said to have earned the title of xiucai. The area around Luomei Mountain had always valued scholarship, and even a small village like Lotus Platform had pooled their resources to hire The Sage to teach the village children.

However, at Brian Carter's age, he was already considered a good laborer at home—he would listen to The Sage's lectures in the morning, and work in the fields in the afternoon.

When he encountered outstanding students, The Sage would naturally smile, perhaps even pat their heads and offer a few words of encouragement.

For those who were unruly and unmotivated, The Sage would put on a stern face and deliver a few harsh admonishments.

As Brian Carter passed by, he clasped his hands and bowed, respectfully saying, "Farewell, The Sage."

The Sage nodded and waved him on.

No encouragement, no admonishment. Treated just like anyone else.

Brian Carter was long used to this.

In Lotus Platform Village, he was unremarkable; many things and many glances would unconsciously overlook him.

But Brian Carter knew in his heart that he was not as ordinary as others thought. Among all those children, he was different.

Leaving the five thatched classrooms, he strolled home.

A group of classmates walked by, arms around each other's shoulders. "Sanzi, what are you doing this afternoon?"

"So boring. The Sage wants us to read the Book of Changes, but I can't make heads or tails of it. What's the point?"

"Heh, how about we go fishing this afternoon?"

"No, we just went yesterday."

"Then let's go play with Widow Li's daughter?"

"Heh, now that's what I like..."

"Hahaha!"

These boys were all from wealthy families in the village and didn't need to work the fields. Their leader was Edward Foster, the son of the village head.

Edward Foster turned and spotted Brian Carter nearby, a strange smile appearing on his face as he called out, "Lili, are you entertaining guests this afternoon?"

The children around burst into laughter.

Brian Carter naturally understood they were making fun of his name.

As the eldest son, Brian Carter's father had given him this name in hopes that he would one day support the family.

But at some point, a rumor spread in the village that there was a plump courtesan named "Lili" at Ni Hong Lou in the county town. Edward Foster and his friends, with their crude sense of humor, often used this to tease Brian Carter.

Brian Carter ignored them. Thinking they had won, Edward Foster and his group laughed and walked off.

Brian Carter shook his head, a wry smile on his face, recalling a line he had read in a book: "The muddle-headed find joy in mediocrity."

Their so-called amusing behavior never truly insulted Brian Carter: if a monkey bares its teeth or flaunts a peach pit at a person, would the person feel defeated?

He had studied since childhood, and at thirteen, his mind was just beginning to take shape.