1 The Strongest Seal

When a baby is born, spiritual energy rushes into their body.

However, a human body can only harness a tiny fraction of that energy, so the rest leaks out and stops accumulating. Early humans could only stand by and watch as power swelled up inside their children before abandoning leaving once again.

However, around 14,000 years ago a method for harnessing all the spiritual energy was invented, a method called a seal. Finally the fleeting power of the heavens, a power that one could only a few times in their lifetime, could remain permanently at their fingertips. Thus the practice of "sealing" brought humanity into a new age.

Seals allow one to use many different kinds of supernatural powers and thus they are strongly desired. However, a delicate balance must be met when sealing a person's spiritual energy. Too strong of a seal will make the energy unusable, and too weak of a seal will break. Thus, a proper seal is one that is barely able to contain all of the user's power.

In a small city in China, a baby boy was born.

The spiritual energy from outside rushed through the windows with great force, causing the building to rumble and shocking the nurses who were hastily trying to apply a seal.

"The collector has been sucked dry! He's drawing energy from outside!"

"The A-grade Lightning Tiger seal has failed!" one shouted.

"Get another!"

"The A-grade Lightning Devouring Serpent seal has failed!"

"Try something stronger!"

"The A-grade Veteran Lightning Banana-Pineapple seal has failed!"

"Damn it! That was our strongest one."

The primary doctor suddenly made a grave look. "Go and get 'that' seal."

The nurses looked at him in shock. "But that one is… We can't give that to a newborn child!"

"Just do it. Otherwise all this spiritual energy will be wasted."

The nurse nodded. After a moment, she returned with a wicked-looking black jewel with a pattern that exuded an oppressive aura.

"T-This is the prototype, Dragon Sealing Talisman, produced by White-Dragon."

"Sir, we can't do this to him. This is not a normal seal. It's meant for war criminals to permanently seal their abilities! Not a newborn!"

The spiritual energy rushed into the room and into the small child at a faster pace, creating a strong wind like a miniature hurricane.

"We have to! Nothing weaker will work. Besides, he's from a common background!"

The nurse nodded and applied the talisman at the top of the spinal cord, right below the baby's smooth, bald head. The Dragon Sealing Talisman produced a golden light before sinking into the flesh.

"It worked!"

The spiritual energy continued to rush into the room for the next few days. Despite this, the mother seemed calm, as if it didn't matter to her. Finally, the spiritual energy stopped.

"Check his cultivation."

"I don't feel anything from him."

"The scanning device returned nothing."

"Was the seal too strong?" The doctor asked, hoping he was wrong. "None of us can remove it now, it wasn't meant to be broken."

Even after a few days, the nurses couldn't feel any spiritual energy coming from the baby, indicating that they had accidentally locked all of his powers behind the incredibly strong seal.

When the baby's mother, Wu Jie, asked what was wrong, the doctor began to weep.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. None of our seals were powerful enough to even be applied, so I made the call to use this particular seal. What have I done? I've destroyed the future of this young talent. Please forgive me." He proceeded to get on his knees and beg the mother for forgiveness.

However, Wu Jie smiled. "If his cultivation is sealed, then so be it. I didn't have any intention of making him a talented cultivator."

The doctor made a dumbfounded expression. When he saw Wu Jie embracing her child with a face full of love and pure joy, he cried even harder. "I regret what I have done today. If you ever need anything, I will give it freely."

"In that case, there is one thing I would like you to do, given the situation."

"What is it?"

"Please can you make it so that the seal is invisible. That way neither he, nor his peers will know of his immense power, of the kind of life he could have led."

"A-are you sure?" The doctor asked with disbelief.

"Yes. I don't want to give him false hope, nor will I let him grow up with an arrogant attitude. I know all too well the poison of pride. Please, can you do this?"

He nodded. "It will require a skin graft, but the seal will be hidden underneath a layer of flesh. Also, he will not feel it as he gets older. This seal was meant to conform to the physical bodies of its host. Should I alter these birth records too?"

"Please do." Wu Jie nodded and looked at her baby. "I know what to name you now, little one. I will call you Bao, Wu Bao, because you are my precious hidden treasure."

***

Wu Bao grew up with an unreasonably strong body for his small size. For some reason, no matter how much he was beaten by his bullies, he would never be knocked unconscious. When the bullies figured that out, he led a painful life.

"Wu Bao is just a meathead," they teased.

"He is resilient, we will give him that much, but physical strength will only get him so far."

"Come, Wu Bao. Let's have a test of spiritual power!"

Wu Bao sighed. "You know I can't win. It won't even be a challenge for you, so what's the point?"

"Eh. What was that?! Are you talking back to me?!"

"No, I was just saying it's not proactive for either of us-"

"Shut up! I've had enough of you!"

The student unleashed his spiritual energy in the form of a seal attack. The energy expanded like a net made of electricity.

Of course, it was a net that only caught Wu Bao. He collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath while trying to find a way out of the net. Even though the attack would cause a normal cripple to pass out from the pain, he was still awake.

The student got angry and followed up with a punch to Wu Bao's face.

A crowd started to gather around and watch the beatdown, which was happening in the middle of the hallway.

A girl with the aura of someone righteous saw the crowd and gasped. She rushed toward the mob.

"People are fighting? No. Someone is being one-sidedly attacked? I have to stop this!"

She pushed through the bodies until she was at the center.

"Stop this at once-" she started to say, but caught herself.

She quickly backed out of the circle and let them continue beating Wu Bao. Her friends started to laugh at her.

"I didn't see who it was!" she said while blushing. "Let's go. What were we doing before?"

Then the girl left, ignoring the one person who was too weak, even for her.

'Thanks for nothing.' Wu Bao thought inwardly.

The student beating him finally began to run out of spiritual energy when the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

With one final kick, the student sniggered, "Stay on the floor where you belong, bottom-feeding cripple."

When everyone disappeared into their respective classrooms, Wu Bao picked himself off the floor and limped to the nurses office.

"Ah, you're back again today," the school nurse, Zang Tsu, greeted him. "What kind of trouble did you get into now?"

"Just the usual. Walking." Wu Bao responded.

"I see, well, here's the new formula. Let me know how it feels."

The nurse handed him a beaker filled with green fluid. Wu Bao took it and drank it all, making a disgusted look afterward.

"Slimy, but I can feel it working. You know, I can't help but think I'm being used like a lab rat."

Zang Tsu bit his lip and shrugged. "It's not every day that I get a test subject with no spiritual energy… Well actually, it is! Never mind! Hahaha."

Wu Bao rolled his eyes before standing up to leave.

"Wait! Where are you going?" the nurse asked.

"I need to get back to my classes. I have a test."

"Now that's a laugh. Don't you always get an average score?"

"What are you implying, Mr. Zang?"

"You test so average that it's suspicious. I bet you could do better."

"The studious kids care too much about their reputation to be outdone by a cripple. Right now they ignore me."

"So in that case, get a worse score."

"Nah. Then they will come after me for dragging down the school's prestige. Reputation, remember?"

"But weren't those other guys calling you a meathead earlier?"

Wu Bao looked at the nurse with a shocked expression. "You heard that from all the way in here?"

The nurse nodded calmly while sipping his tea. "I have three Venom-Tiger seals. Maybe you are a meathead."

"Then why didn't you come help me?"

"Eh. You're more useful to me when you're injured. I have to test my new elixirs on someone, after all."

"Greeeeat. I'm going then."

"Hey, Wu Bao."

Wu Bao stopped in the doorway.

"You're right. I do take advantage of your situation sometimes. So I'll only make this offer once. Place in the top ten in your next test and I'll sneak you into one of the school's collectors."

An excited expression crept up on Wu Bao's face. A collector was a small room with a special kind of seal that gathers spiritual energy in one place. For someone who always wanted to gain spiritual energy, staying in such a room was a necessity.

"Deal."

Mr. Zang smiled kindly as he waved.

However, when Wu Bao left, his expression crumpled into fury. He looked down at the elixir in his hands and threw the container at the wall. The glass broke and the green substance started dissolving the furniture.

Fortunately for Wu Bao, the Dragon Sealing Talisman was made for criminals, war prisoners, and elusive spies. The special seal prevented one from passing out during an interrogation and committing suicide by a number of means, including poison.