His aunt had already left and Xiao Fengqi was clearly still indulging in his aunt's herbal essence pool , this left the little house to an uneasy silence. It was the kind of quiet that seemed to listen ,heavy and almost ominous. His aunt had been so worried it had taken all his effort and a pile of half-hearted lies to convince her to go to work.
He hated that she worked in the mines — the choking dust, the cruel overseers but if she missed another day, she'd lose the only job keeping their lives from collapsing.
He sat cross legged on the floor, staring at the ceiling. The strange healing energy Xiao Fengqi had transferred into his body still lingered with its powerful unyielding potent . It was like poison, except instead of killing him, it was rebuilding him, breaking down every ruined cell and knitting it together again. The price? His spiritual energy, siphoned away bit by bit. No wonder Xiao Fengqi had nearly passed out afterward.
A tremor ran through his shoulders as his energy clashed against the healing effect. Faint green veins glowed under his skin, tracing like roots across his arms.
If he let this go on, his body would crumble from the pressure.
He steadied his breath, forcing his spiritual energy to circulate. But with a meager cultivation base of only three turns foundation level, it was like trying to feed a fire with wet wood and felt as if it was never enough.
"I must get stronger," he muttered through his teeth.
After the humiliation he suffered, he had no doubt the Zhao family already thought him dead and were preparing to seize what little land remained. Once, this region had belonged to the Li family — an ancient house of power, whose name had echoed across the Jian empire .But a hundred years ago, it had all collapsed. Greedy relatives sold everything, leaving only this patch of dirt where their crumbling home stood.
After his mother's death, even that patch was nearly stolen with the Zhao dogs changing the land's registration through bribes and deceit.
If the Li family still existed, the Zhaos would have bowed their heads. But the Li name was dust now, and the balance of power in Mingdu belonged to others — the Zhao clan, the Feng family, Xiao Sky House, the Xue, the Lu, and the Mo families, alongside the State Soul Academy and the Alchemist Hall.
All of them bent the knee to the Jian Empire which comprised of four states powerful states: Mingdu State, the Tianmeng Gods State, the Darkwater Sect Domain, and the Royal Jian State.
Among them, Mingdu and Darkwater held true dominance even stronger than the royal family itself but with royal order,it still remained the peak powerhouse .
The li family was just a small family that belonged under the mingdu state totaling eight strong families and two organizations but now it seemed like the world had forgotten that the li family once existed in mingdu
That memory alone burned in his veins. He clenched his fists,anger burning within even with further development,he couldn't be sure if the revival of the Li family would be possible with the remainders of the family scattered across the continent like slaves
He straightened his back and began channeling again. His palms rose, then fell beside his thighs, his breath deepening until the air itself felt heavy.
The spiritual energy gathered around him like mist before a storm, coiling tighter and tighter but even though he gathered tonnes of it ,it couldn't remain in his body let alone be of any help in refining the healing effect completely
Then, with a crack, the flow of spiritual energy froze and began swirling around him like small tornado before condensing into a vortex.
The spiritual energy stopped flowing in into his body,it felt as if his palm was the only place of entry but not into his body . It disappeared the moment it touched his skin
His eyes snapped open.
A strange light shimmered in his pupils, a rusty brown streaked with faint pink.
The faint feather-shaped mark pulsed on his palm— and then ignited, firing a beam of spiritual energy across the room. It struck the wall with a boom.
Li Xuan was thrown backward from the shockwave, hitting the floor hard enough to make his head ring.
Before he could even curse, a column of light erupted where the beam had struck. Space itself seemed to twist, rippling like a disturbed pond.
From it, a figure stepped out — levitating just above the wooden floor.
Her form was faintly translucent, yet impossibly beautiful, her hair drifting like smoke underwater.
"You…" Li Xuan breathed, his mind clicking the pieces together.
There were millions of women in the world but few would come when they want and stay underwater like mermaids
He staggered to his feet, still feeling the echo of pain. "You're here. But how?"
She floated closer, her tone dry. "Little brat, I thought you died."
Li Xuan huffed. "Luckily, I'm still alive with my limbs intact. Thanks for asking."
Then realization struck her .
Wait what ,so you were aware of my condition all this time and you didn't help .
" Who I am to ,so I would be concerned about your well-being "
Li Xuan's expression fell,he could feel a sharp ache in his chest as if pierced by an arrow.
My mistake.
The mysterious beauty looked at li Xuan, studying the sadness in his face.
Her lips curled faintly, almost a smile. Then she asked, "So would you consider me to be your master… ?"
The words hit like a thunderclap.
If she was joking, it wasn't funny. But her expression was cool, unreadable and that told him she wasn't.
Li Xuan dropped to one knee, pressing his hand to the floor. "If it means annihilating the Zhao scum, I'll become your disciple!"
Her gaze softened, pity flickering beneath the ghostlight. She sighed.
"Stand up."
He felt himself lifted by an unseen force until he hung suspended before her.
"You remind me of someone I once knew," she said quietly. "He too burned for revenge , so bright that it consumed him. You carry that same flame, Young one .Your face is calm, your eyes bright… but inside, you're rotting with hatred. You call it strength, but it's just another kind of chain."
Her voice lowered, echoing like a whisper from another time. "If your heart is to be beautiful, let it be pure — both inside and out. Otherwise, let it burn to ash."
Li Xuan swallowed hard, his jaw tightening. "So you want me to forgive them? To let my aunt be beaten in the mines and my family name dragged through the mud? To just wait for fate to choose for me?"
Her gaze went distant. "You're still young. You think pain justifies destruction. But soon, you'll understand that fate doesn't need your permission to hurt you. What matters is what you do afterward."
Her tone gentled. "I can't be your master. Not yet."
Li Xuan's heart clenched.
"But," she added, "I can be your guardian. I'll help you grow stronger but not to feed your hatred, only to keep you alive long enough to see something beyond it."
Li Xuan looked up, his voice low. "Even if I'm fated to become a vengeful spirit… I'll still crush those who turned us into dust."
"That's your choice," she said simply. "Calm your heart, or let ambition devour it. Either way, your path is your own."
She waved her hand. A ring on her finger flaring with a white light, from this outlining, a soft silver glow burst out into Li Xuan's palms.
Two scrolls appeared there.
Li Xuan blinked. "What is this—"
"Lists of ingredients," she interrupted. "Get them for them"
He glanced at the scroll and nearly choked. "What the heck!