BEGINNING OF THE PURSUIT

<p>Xuan Mountain<br/><br/>It was late at night, and a cool breeze was blowing with light rain. Yet Xuan Mountain was not covered in darkness, lights that shone like a sea of fireflies emanated from elevated buildings and towers, numbering at least a few thousand, shining in the darkness of the night.<br/><br/>On the southern side of Ye Village stood an old, two-story building made of green bamboo and wood.<br/><br/>Bai Ming stood quietly by the window, letting the rain and wind hit his young body. His gaze was clouded as he looked at the village, his heart full of complex emotions.<br/><br/>After a long time, the rain stopped, and Bai Ming's eyes refocused as he returned to reality.<br/><br/>He slowly moved toward his bed and lay down, gazing blankly at the ceiling. The room was somewhat dim as the moonlight shone on Bai Ming's pale face.<br/><br/>"It's been 14 years since I arrived in this world," Bai Ming thought in his heart as he sighed softly.<br/><br/>Bai Ming was originally from Earth, a mortal plane. Due to unknown reasons, he was mysteriously reborn in this cultivation world fourteen years ago. Back on Earth, he lived in the slums with his elder sister, who had raised him until he matured into a man. But then things happened.<br/><br/>His childhood lasted only until he turned 7, after which he had to witness and experience things that would be considered heinous by a virtuous heart, Bai Ming even had to save himself and his sister by performing some of these acts himself.<br/><br/>Then, one day, Bai Ming seemed to have suffered a heart attack for all his wrongdoings and died. Luckily for him, he was given another chance at life, being reborn into the world of cultivators, where he could surpass the limits of the mortal body.<br/><br/>In this life, he had loving parents and a caring grandfather, a wonderful place to grow up, everything he didn't have in his previous life, he was given in this. The feeling of not belonging slowly vanished as he gradually learned to accept his new identity over the past fourteen years.<br/><br/>He was genuinely happy to have been reborn in a world where one could achieve something far greater than life itself.<br/><br/>But fate was impartial to Bai Ming.<br/><br/>After he turned seven, his mother suffered a fatal injury while fighting against the beast tide. His father, in an attempt to heal her, did everything he could, but his efforts were futile. However, the heavens left him a way out.<br/><br/>As long as he could obtain a 3rd-tier high-grade healing pill, her life could have been saved. His father, Bai Feng, requested and begged everyone in his network but still failed.<br/><br/>Determined not to give up, he then requested the upper echelons of the Ye clan. The clan elders politely refused him, but seeing his persistence, they gave him a seemingly impossible mission, informing him that as long as he could complete the task, he would receive the 3rd-tier high-grade healing pill as a reward.<br/><br/>Knowing that his chance of accomplishing the task was very slim, Bai Feng still didn't let go of this opportunity. He resolved himself to complete the mission, but without sufficient power, he failed. He lost his life while trying to complete his task.<br/><br/>Shortly after his death, Bai Ming's mother, who was gravely injured, also passed away. Now, his grandfather was the one taking care of him.<br/><br/>"Tomorrow is the annual awakening ceremony. Sigh, it would be nice if I can awaken a high-grade spirit root. Medium grade is just average."<br/><br/>"But there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it. At the very least, I have some assurance that I'll awaken a spirit root due to my considerably better bloodline, unlike a few others in the village."<br/><br/>"Be it on Earth or here, strength is always supreme, and I greatly desire this strength. I refuse to be a weakling like my parents. I refuse to be the one who is toyed with by the heavens." As these thoughts surfaced in Bai Ming's heart, his crimson eyes revealed a trace of resolution and firmness.<br/><br/>The thirst for unparalleled strength existed within Bai Ming for a long time. The mindset of the weak always being wrong and the strong always being right was deeply etched in his heart with a cold dagger. These words may sound harsh to some, but the bitter truth always hurts.<br/><br/>If one wanted to live a long life in this dog-eat-dog world, the first and most important quality one needed to possess was selfishness. If you didn't have the heart to be a selfish individual, then simply remember that there are millions, if not billions, of individuals out there who would make your life a living hell just for the fun of it.<br/><br/>"I should rest now. If I wake up late, that old man will lecture me again. But can I really sleep? Ugh, it's definitely going to be a long night."<br/><br/>.... <br/><br/>Xuan mountain, Ye village<br/><br/>The following day, The sun had yet to rise.<br/>Bai Ming opened his eyelids, He only slept 4 hours from the nervousness and excitement. After all, today was the day that was going to determine his future journey. <br/><br/>He slowly got up and opened the window as a mix of the fragrance of trees and flowers greeted him. He took a deep breath washing away the sleepiness. <br/><br/>Looking around in his vision they were a sea of houses made up of green bamboo matching the lush vegetation of Xuan mountain. <br/><br/>Bai Ming then went to get a basin of water to wash his face and rinse his mouth. He then used some salt to clean his teeth. He then began to dress up for the occasion. <br/><br/>"Brat are you ready" at some point in time he heard an aged voice calling out to him.<br/><br/>"Yes grandfather, I am coming down" Bai Ming replied in a loud voice. As he spoke he began moving down the steps. <br/><br/>He directly went to the hall, there he saw a skinny old man gulping down a mouthful of wine. The old man looked unrestrained, but he was emanating the aura of an expert.<br/><br/>The old man saw Bai Ming and placed his cup down before he stood up. He moved towards Bai Ming and spoke in a mild tone "Come, Let's go."<br/><br/>Bai Ming nodded his head in reply, as he followed after his grandfather with a cold expression.<br/><br/>After walking for over 20 minutes they arrived at the center of the village. <br/><br/>The clan pavilion was in the middle of the village, reaching 7 stories. It was a grand pavilion and was heavily guarded. Every generation of clan heads had lived in this pavilion. With every major ceremony or incident, the upper echelons of the clan would gather and discuss it here. All the important decisions of the clan were made here. <br/><br/>Over seventy-plus 14-year-old youths were gathered in front of the clan pavilion. There were still youths joining this line. <br/><br/>"Go, Don't be so nervous. Being nervous isn't going to help you and Remember grandfather will always support you no matter what." Bai Ming's grandfather patted Bai Ming's shoulder as he encouraged him. <br/><br/>Hearing his grandfather's warm words, Bai Ming bowed towards his grandfather before he joined the group of youths. <br/><br/>After a short while. <br/><br/>"Good, everyone is on time. Today is the awakening ceremony, It is the biggest turning point of your life. I won't speak much I am sure you already know the importance of this auspicious day, Just come with me." The one responsible for the awakening ceremony was an elderly man, His beard and hair were white. He was in high spirits as he led the young teenager's toward the site of the awakening. <br/><br/>Bai Ming had an expressionless face on the outside as he quietly followed after the elder, But deep within his heart thousands of thoughts popped up like bubbles.<br/><br/>'The pursuit has begun and will only end when I reach the end, this is my only unbreakable rule.' Bai Ming etched these words deep in his heart.<br/><br/>... <br/><br/>Bai Ming was dazed as he looked at the underground cave. The underground cave was gorgeous, stalagmites and stalactites were sparkling with blue-colored lights. The lights shone on the youths' faces showing their amazed looks. <br/><br/>This was the underground cave that produced spirit stones. One could say that this was the foundation of Ye village. <br/><br/>They continued to walk several hundred steps. After taking lefts and rights they finally arrived at their destination, and a 300-meter-wide underground pond greeted them. By now the colorful lights of crystals had disappeared completely, yet in the darkness, the pond emitted a faint blue light. It gave a feeling of spirituality.<br/><br/>The teenagers gasped in amazement. Each of their eyes shone with brilliance with excited and anxious feelings. <br/><br/>"Everyone listen, Those who are called must start walking across the river. The more poles you pass by the better your talent is." The elder in charge spoke. <br/><br/>"Yes sir!" the youths replied in loud voice. Actually, they had already heard their family members or seniors talk about it. All the youths were pretty clear about the awakening procedure.<br/><br/>The elder leading the youths then gave a sign of confirmation to the 4 elders who were each standing on the east, west, north, and south sides of the pond respectively.<br/><br/>The elders then began setting up a basic tier-1 qi gathering formation. An invisible barrier was set up which covered the entire pond, isolating the pond. Dense spiritual energy visible to the naked eye began to gather inside the formation.<br/><br/>The elder in charge of the ceremony saw that the formation was set up. He then began calling out the names in the name list<br/><br/>"Wang Hao" The elder called out the first name. <br/><br/>Wang hao's face was solemn as he stepped into the formation. The formation didn't obstruct him from entering, he stood on the edge of the pond. The pond was wide not deep, it covered up to the youth's kneecaps. The moment he entered the pond he felt an invisible pressure making it difficult for him to move. <br/><br/>He walked a couple of steps forward the pressure began to intensify. Before he felt that pressure was like a piece of wood on his shoulder but now it felt like a huge boulder was placed on his shoulders. He took one more step before reaching his limit, at this time dense spiritual energy in formation began to enter his body slowly through the pores of his body. For a moment wang hao felt the pressure drop, and the boulder on his shoulders transformed back into a piece of wood. <br/><br/>Wang hao gritted his teeth as he began moving forward, soon he crossed a 5meter long wooden pole that was vertically placed on the pond. He didn't stop as he continued to move forward, after walking for dozen steps he was still 10-15 steps away from the next wooden pole. The pressure he felt intensified again, He shortly reached his limit. He couldn't take another step forward. <br/><br/>As he watched this the elder spoke in a plain voice while recording what happened in the book "Wang hao, Low-grade spirit root, Qualified for cultivation. Next, Wu kai."<br/><br/>Wang hao's face was full of disappointment as he walked back to the group. He was not content with the results, His spirit root was of the lowest grade. His future achievements were limited.<br/><br/>He gazed at the person who was about to cross the pond, But it was a pity that this youth couldn't even cross the first wooden pole.<br/><br/>"Wu kai, no spirit root, not qualified for cultivation" the elder's face became a shade darker as he announced the results. <br/><br/>Wu Kai looked deathly pale, his eyes were blank. His future was bleak, he could only live as a normal human. Having the lowest status in the clan, living a pitiful life. <br/><br/>Observing Wu kai, Wang hao's sour mood turned for the better. At least he could cultivate.<br/><br/>Not everyone in this world had the natural talent to be a cultivator. Generally speaking, it is not bad if Four out of ten people have talent(spirit root). In the Ye Clan, this ratio is higher, reaching seven people. This is because the Ye clan's ancestors, The first-generation clan elders had high talent and cultivation. The Ye clan bloodline carried their ancestor's powerful genes, thus the average quality of talent in the Ye clan was naturally higher. This applies to most of the clans, tribes, and families. <br/><br/>Half an hour passed, 30% of the youths had finished their awakening. There were many low-grade talents and middle-grade talents among them, while some were unqualified. There was not one person with a high-grade spirit root yet. <br/><br/>The elders watching in the dark had gloomy faces, they were conversing among themselves. Even the clan head was present, but he was frowning slightly.<br/><br/>"Su Ming" The elder in charge called out. <br/><br/>"Y-yes sir," a timid-looking young man stepped forward, he had a small and short build, and his face was covered in sweat. He was very nervous, he noticed everyone's gaze was fixed on him making his nervousness reach a profound level.<br/><br/>Suddenly in this ghostly quiet cave, an angry growling sound was heard. <br/><br/>"Gurrrrrr"<br/><br/>Even though the beastly growl wasn't particularly deafening but in this tense and quiet atmosphere, this evil roar was clearly heard by all. <br/><br/>Instantly the cave was filled with mad laughter. <br/><br/>"Ahh, shit!!" Su Ming cursed internally. The loud rumbling of thunder came from his abdomen. This was incredibly embarrassing for him. His head which was originally bent down lowered even more now. His heart was increasingly flustered and the bitter sounds of mocking and cold laughter filled his ears. <br/><br/>He started walking towards the middle of the pond without raising his head as he kept on cursing internally. Soon without his knowledge, he passed the first wooden pole, and the laughter stopped. But Su Ming was oblivious to this, he continued to move forward, and soon he crossed the second pole. The youths who were laughing at him previously were looking on with serious expressions. But to their amazement, Su Ming didn't stop as he quickly crossed the third wooden pole and then the fourth pole before finally coming to a stop. <br/><br/>After barely crossing the fourth pole Su Ming began feeling the elevated pressure that made him snap out of his stupor, a wave of heavenly bliss immediately assaulted his heart. And after dozens of breaths, he continued to stride forward and halted when arrived at the center of the spirit pond.<br/><br/>"Superior grade!! he has a superior grade spirit root, Oh my god!" The elder in charge kept mumbling in an incredulous tone. The quiet cave suddenly turned boisterous. <br/><br/>"It's been almost five years, an superior grade talented genius has finally appeared in our Ye clan, hahaha.." The clan elders along with the clan head who were observing from the dark had lost their composer, they were almost screaming in joy. <br/><br/>"Superior grade spirit root...hmph!" Bai Ming's hands were tightly clenched into fists inside his long sleeves as he coldly stared at Su Ming, greed was deeply concealed within his crimson pupils.</p>