Volume 1: The Mortal World

Chapter 1: The Black Broken Sword

Yuanshi Town, The Dawson Family.

Under the blazing sun, dozens of young men and women were practicing martial arts on a plaza, shouting and sweating profusely, clearly exhausted. A middle-aged man, hands clasped behind his back, weaved through the crowd, occasionally snorting coldly and scolding those who slacked off.

On a large stone at the edge of the plaza, a handsome young man with sword-like brows and starry eyes sat cross-legged. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, tall and strikingly good-looking.

It was already mid-September, the peak of the autumn heat, and under the scorching sun, the stone was hot enough to cook an egg. Yet, although the handsome youth’s brow twitched constantly, he never stood up. Sweat rolled down, soaking his temples.

His name was Henry Dawson, and he was cultivating the The Dawson Family’s secret technique, the Blazing Sun Art.

For martial artists, cultivation meant refining the food they consumed, extracting the absorbable energy, and transforming it into their own true essence, which was stored in the cells of their bodies. The Blazing Sun Art could harness the power of sunlight to accelerate the absorption of food and increase the efficiency of transformation.

The more intense the sunlight, the higher the efficiency of this transformation. But how many people could endure the scorching sun? At most, they could train for ten or twenty minutes, half an hour, before running off to the shade to cool down.

But Henry Dawson had been cultivating since sunrise, and by now, it had already been three hours!

Not just for a day or two, but for years on end!

Unfortunately, Henry Dawson’s body was too weak. Despite such hard training, he was still stuck at the early stage of the first level of Body Refining, almost no different from someone who had never cultivated.

Martial artists are ranked by their cultivation into twelve steps, called the Twelve Levels of Body Refining. After reaching the twelfth level, one could attempt to break through to a higher realm. It was said that if successful, one could soar to the heavens in a single leap! However, in over a hundred years, no one in the The Dawson Family had ever set foot on the path to the heavens.

The Twelve Levels of Body Refining could be further divided into four realms: the first three levels were the Skin Refining Realm, levels four to six were the Flesh Refining Realm, seven to nine were the Bone Refining Realm, and ten to twelve were the Blood Refining Realm.

The true essence cultivated by martial artists was stored in the cells of their bodies. This was a gradual process: first the skin, then the muscles, then the bones, and finally the blood.

Thus, the four realms were established.

The power gap between each realm was huge. A martial artist in the Flesh Refining Realm facing one in the Bone Refining Realm would basically be instantly defeated! Within the same realm, for example, both the fourth and sixth levels belong to the Flesh Refining Realm, but in a fight, the sixth level would definitely have the advantage, though it wouldn’t be a complete domination.

The path of martial arts is arduous. The higher one climbs, the more difficult the road becomes. After entering the Blood Refining Realm, it might take more than a decade to advance even a single level!

However, breaking through the Skin Refining Realm was relatively easy. Generally, as long as there was enough food and one trained diligently, it would take only half a year to reach the peak of the first level, and just three years to complete the entire Skin Refining Realm.

Henry Dawson had been cultivating the Blazing Sun Art since he was eight, nearly ten years now, yet his cultivation was still stuck at the early stage of the first level. This was truly bizarre. The family had invited countless physicians to examine him, but none could find any cause. The only explanation was that Henry Dawson’s aptitude was simply too poor—he was born unsuitable for cultivation!

Like a stubborn stone!

What was even more puzzling was that Henry Dawson’s father, David Dawson, was a genius—a true genius. He completed Skin Refining in half a year, Flesh Refining in another two years, and Bone Refining in five more. Now, at just forty-one, he had already reached the tenth level, the Blood Refining Realm!

Before him, the fastest anyone in the The Dawson Family had reached the Blood Refining Realm was at sixty-three, which showed just how terrifying David Dawson’s talent was!

Such a genius was absolutely qualified to attempt the path to the heavens!

A tiger father, but a dog son!

That was the The Dawson Family’s assessment of Henry Dawson, and that was putting it politely. Many people called him a good-for-nothing behind his back. If David Dawson weren’t one of the six great elders of the family, these insults would have been hurled at his face.

“That good-for-nothing still refuses to give up?”

“Hmph, what’s the point of not giving up? So many doctors have examined him, and all say he’s perfectly healthy. His inability to cultivate is simply due to his poor aptitude!”

“Luckily, the family still has us. Otherwise, if demonic beasts attacked, everyone would just be waiting to die!”

“He’s clearly useless, but eats more than anyone else. What a glutton!”

“I think he’s just putting on a show, pretending to sit there. He’s not cultivating at all!”

The young men and women on the plaza paused to rest, a few of them whispering among themselves, their voices not low, allowing Henry Dawson to hear every word clearly.