Tian Lei nodded slowly as the rules of the trial settled into his mind. "No cultivation, no techniques, no shortcuts," he murmured. "Just survive."
He opened his eyes—and the illusion of grandeur vanished entirely.
He was standing in a narrow, filthy alleyway. The towering walls of the city loomed above him, cracked and weathered by time. The air smelled of dust, smoke, and desperation. People hurried by on the main street beyond, not even sparing a glance at the small, dirt-streaked child standing barefoot in the shadows.
Tian Lei looked down at himself: torn clothes, thin limbs, an empty stomach that growled softly. His reflection in a puddle showed a pair of familiar silver-gray eyes hidden beneath grime and tangled hair.
"So this is how it begins," he muttered with a faint, wry smile. "Homeless. Hungry. Powerless."
