A few days after sending John Reed back to The Reed Family, Nathaniel Reed left. Less than a month later, Nathaniel Reed returned to The Reed Family again, bringing back Jane Taylor, but he was already gravely injured, and from then on, he never left The Reed Family again.

Over the past ten years, John Reed occasionally asked about his mother, but Nathaniel Reed never answered.

“Zhen’er, your talent is astonishing, even greater than mine was back then, better than I ever imagined...”

Nathaniel Reed looked quietly at John Reed, his expression somewhat hesitant, and said, “But there is one thing I must tell you: you cannot cultivate true qi...!”

“What—?” John Reed was stunned; this sentence was like a bolt from the blue.

To cultivate the martial path, one must enter the realm of true qi. If he could not cultivate true qi, it meant he could not step into the True Qi Realm, and thus could not embark on the path of immortality.

Without the ability to cultivate true qi, his cultivation would stop at the Blood Exchange stage of Body Tempering. Even if he pushed Blood Exchange to its limit, he would only possess about three thousand jin of strength, which was nothing compared to the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of jin that those in the True Qi Realm could wield, let alone be compared to cultivators who could fly and traverse the earth.

“This is impossible!” Disbelief flashed in John Reed’s eyes as he looked at his father, hoping to see a different answer there.

He was a prodigy, with exceptional physique and comprehension, a level of talent never before seen in the history of Pingyang County. At only ten years old, he had already shown extraordinary potential, with the momentum to soar to the heavens.

At this moment, how could John Reed believe that his cultivation would end at the Body Tempering stage?

Nathaniel Reed sighed softly, pain in his eyes, and said, “Zhen’er, I don’t want to believe it either, but it’s the truth. When your mother was pregnant with you, she suffered a severe injury. You must have been affected in the womb, resulting in your meridians being innately blocked and unable to be opened. True qi must circulate through the meridians, and if the meridians are blocked, you cannot cultivate true qi...!”

John Reed felt the world spinning. He was only ten years old, and suddenly, from a peerless genius, he had become a useless person unable to cultivate true qi. It was hard to bear.

“Zhen’er...!” Seeing this, Nathaniel Reed shouted, “You cannot cultivate true qi, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you cannot embark on the path of immortality.”

Chapter 003: Extreme Training

John Reed’s eyes lit up.

What he truly could not accept was being unable to embark on the path of immortality, not the inability to cultivate true qi.

As long as he could step onto the path of immortality, whether or not he cultivated true qi was irrelevant.

Nathaniel Reed said, “Your mother once said that by directly cultivating the physical body, one can break through the body’s limits, and strength will not be limited to three thousand jin—it can continue to increase. As long as you break through to over one hundred thousand jin, you can also form a Dao Embryo, step onto the path of immortality, become a cultivator, and once you possess magical power, you can use it to open up your blocked meridians.”

After a pause, Nathaniel Reed continued, “Cultivating true qi and breaking through to over one hundred thousand jin of strength is not difficult; every martial artist at the peak of the True Qi Realm can do it. However, pure physical strength—even ten thousand jin is as hard as reaching the heavens, let alone one hundred thousand. The most crucial step is breaking through the body’s limits. Only by surpassing those limits can the body’s strength go beyond three thousand jin and continue to rise.”

“Father, no matter how difficult it is to form a Dao Embryo through body cultivation, I will do it.”

A sharp light flashed in John Reed’s eyes, incomparably resolute. What he feared was having no hope; as long as there was even a sliver of possibility, he would never give up. “I will make those who hurt you pay the price.”

Nathaniel Reed understood that the person John Reed spoke of was Howard Newman.

Among the top ten young geniuses of the Great Chu Immortal Dynasty, each one’s strength was unfathomable, with great potential to become immortals.

Howard Newman was ranked in the top five among these ten geniuses, renowned throughout the entire Great Chu Immortal Dynasty. Not to mention that John Reed had not yet set foot on the path of immortality—even the dazzlingly talented Nathaniel Reed of ten years ago was still a considerable distance behind him.

Compared to Howard Newman, John Reed was like earth to heaven; there was basically no comparison.

However, having a target to chase was a good thing. It was an extraordinary motivation for John Reed, so after thinking it over, Nathaniel Reed did not try to stop him.

Nathaniel Reed changed the subject, looking at the small cauldron in John Reed’s hand, and said, “Zhen’er, this cauldron was obtained by your mother from a desolate ancient forbidden land. She said it must be a remarkable treasure and left it for you, thinking it might help you. However, over the years, I have studied it, probed it with magical power and spiritual sense, dripped blood on it, but nothing worked. Your mother also tried all these methods before, but never found anything special about it. Still, this cauldron is extremely sturdy—no matter what, it cannot be damaged. Because of this, your mother was certain it was a treasure. Your strength will soon reach the limit of Body Tempering. If you are fated with this cauldron, perhaps you can discover its secret.”

John Reed gently stroked the small cauldron. After a long while, he said, “My mother must be an extraordinary person. Is she still alive?”

John Reed was only talking to himself, because every time he brought up his mother, Nathaniel Reed would never answer.