A Love-Hungry Child

A boy about ten years old was practicing in the backyard of his house. He had a training dummy he had made for himself out of wood. In front of it he was swinging his arms in different directions, circulating the Qi in his body.

His black hair had grown a little longer. Now it reached to his back. He didn't see the need to tie it up. He liked the way it rippled with every movement.

"Fire is the true destroyer," he said to himself. "It can even burn Qi. Living things submit to its power. It can only be used by those who are willing to destroy."

The Qi inside him flowed into his arms. The boy focused his eyes on the training dummy as it began to burn and ignite. "Mouth of Flame!"

He reached his hand forward. All the ignited Qi shot out of his hand. But it dissipated before it could move even a meter. "Damn it!"

The boy shouted angrily, then picked up the book he had put on the table behind him. He read and reread what he had read. "This is just a beginning technique. It's not supposed to be this hard."

He read for a while longer. Then he put the book back and tried again. "This time I need to focus more on the heat."

He started flailing his arms. All his Qi circulated once more. The energy that had started to ignite from the Qi Pool slowly flowed down to his shoulders and then to his hands. He could feel the warmth in his arms.

Once more he reached his hand forward. "Mouth of Flame!"

The burning Qi once again shot out of his hand and flew forward. This time it was only a meter away. But it was not enough. There were at least three meters between him and the training dummy.

The boy clenched his teeth and fists. He was ten years old now. He had to learn at least one technique. He hadn't started learning martial arts yet. If he could not channel his Qi properly, he would not succeed in martial arts.

So he went to the Manual Pavilion and took a Fire Qi technique called the Mouth of Flame. This technique was simple enough for cultivators in the Wanderer Realm to learn. It was not an extremely powerful technique. It was good for a beginner.

However, the main problem was not that the technique was difficult. The boy was learning a technique for the first time. This meant that he was controlling an elemental Qi for the first time. That was the difficult part. Because his soul and Qi vessels were having a hard time getting used to an element.

"Fire can burn anything," he said to himself. "Fire is a rebellious element. It cannot be controlled once it is separated from its user. It is the responsibility of the cultivator to feed it with enough power before separating it from himself."

He tried once more. This time it was more successful than the previous ones. The fire had almost reached the training dummy. A smile appeared on the boy's face.

He continued his training until evening. When the Qi in his body ran out, he had to wait. Because he was one less than ordinary people. He could not meditate normally.

Meditation was a skill where one could do many things, including regulating the Qi inside one's body. When cultivators exhausted the Qi in their bodies, they would meditate to recover faster.

But the boy could not do that. For years, for some reason he didn't understand, the Qi of the world seemed to reject him. All the Qi he had inhaled was suddenly disappearing. He couldn't even understand what was happening. That's why he was in the early phase of the Wanderer stage. His father had no intention of taking pills to help him.

Cultivation consisted of various realms and phases. Each realm had three phases: early, middle and late. In addition, when someone had enough Qi in the late phase, they could try to break through the realm. The phase that could do this was called the peak.

There could be serious differences between each phase. It's very different for someone at the middle phase to use the same technique as someone at the late phase.

So people would force themselves to fight various battles to strengthen their Qi. Especially in life-and-death situations, the human spirit reacts very differently and makes the Qi flow violently. It was also beneficial for different people to fight using Qi. But it was almost impossible for a middle phase person using the same technique to overcome a late phase person.

The boy practiced until the evening, and when his Qi ran out, he continued to read the technique manual. By the end of the day, he was close to learning the Mouth of Flame.

He had been working on it for some time. Gaining the knowledge of flame had taken him a long time. It was not like reading something. You had to understand it, feel the essence of the meaning hidden behind it. And the boy had spent a lot of time for that.

In the evening he went home. His father had not yet returned. As he walked down the hallway, he looked at the monster heads hanging on the wall.

A Golden-Eyed Black Wolf, a Deep Forest Monkey, a Gryffin and a Stone Golem.

Huan Chao was a powerful hunter. He was strong even though he had chosen the Path of Earth. He was at the late phase of the Path Realm. He was also practicing Body Tempering. Although he had the Stone Body for now, at this rate, he was sure to reach the Iron Body.

The boy, on the other hand, did not even have the Oak Body yet. He hadn't even gotten used to directing his Qi properly and using an element. His father certainly didn't help him. He had never even given him money. That's why the boy had to make the training dummy himself.

He opened one of the cupboards in the kitchen and took out a bottle of wine. He took a few sips from the bottle and put it back. Then he went to his own room. He didn't want to meet his father.

Bruises could still be seen on the boy's face and arms. These were the marks of the many beatings he had received. There were many of them under his clothes.

He sat on his bed and pulled his knees towards him. Life had no justice. Although he had a rich family, he grew up without the most essential thing. A parent's love...

Even the woman who came once a week to clean the house treated the child better. But the boy didn't want her love. All he wanted was Huan Chao. He wanted his father to pat his head once. He wanted him to say a kind word to him. If nothing else, he wanted him to at least look at him once with a smile.

Soon the door of the house opened and Huan Chao came in. He put aside the small pouch in his hand. He was cursing.

"Son of a bitch... A Deep Forest Monkey's crystal is worth at least two Wolf Coins."

The Golden Cliff Continent used a different monetary system. The continent was under the control of the four great sects that ruled it, and each sect wanted its own money to be used in its territory.

According to this system, the lowest currency was the Snake Coin. 21 Snake Coins were equal to 1 Wolf Coin. 9 Wolf Coins equaled 1 Lion Coin.

It took 5 wolf coins for a person to spend a month eating the lowest quality food. Street food cost 1 or 2 snake coins.

The boy had never spent money before. Because he had never had any money of his own. He lived on the food that was already in the house.

He was not very popular with the other children. Growing up hated by Huan Chao had seriously affected his personality. People didn't want to spend time with him. His inability to meditate and cultivate also caused him to be looked down upon. So he became increasingly aggressive. He became disliked by almost nobody.

Huan Chao came into his room and, without even looking at him, put the plate down hard on the table. Then he left the room.

The boy immediately went to his table and began to eat. Meanwhile, he was looking out of the window. 

When he saw someone walking with his father, he felt his heart ache. Why couldn't his father be like that? Why did he have to grow up in a house full of hate?

He stopped eating, stood up and left his room and went to the kitchen. Huan Chao was sitting at the table drinking alcohol.

The boy took a deep breath and said, " Father."

Huan Chao just looked at him with his eyes without turning his head. That look made the boy's whole body tremble. There was no love in the man's eyes.

The boy wanted to continue talking, but he couldn't muster the courage. He slowly bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry," and went back to his room.

When he closed the door, his eyes were filled with tears.