Danwu Refining Spirit

Chapter One: The Miserable Youth

The Tianyun Continent is home to many powerful figures and heroes who have created countless myths in the endless starry sky.

Flying Moon City, also known as Twilight City, is located in the far north of the Tianyun Continent. It was once extremely prosperous, but now it has declined due to the shortage of mineral veins and the thinness of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, making it unsuitable for cultivation.

In the warm spring of March, while other parts of the Tianyun Continent would have already seen spring in full bloom, Feiyue City, being too far north, still had snow that had not yet melted.

With Wuyi Lane as the boundary, Feiyue City is divided into the South City and the North City.

The southern part of the city was wealthy, and its inhabitants were all prominent families. The northern part, on the other hand, was poor, and many impoverished people made a living there.

Now that dusk has passed and the cold moon has risen, Xiao Chong lies motionless in Wuyi Lane, making the already desolate lane seem even more lifeless.

As the moon rose above the willow branches, Xiao Chong let out a painful groan and finally awoke from his unconsciousness.

Half a blue brick was exposed in the snow underfoot, with a few faint traces of blood on it.

"We've been robbed again. This is the fourth time. I don't know which bastard did this. And the robbery has escalated; it's gone from wooden sticks to bricks."

Xiao Chong touched a jade butterfly pendant hanging around his neck, thinking to himself, "Thankfully, the keepsake left by my father is still here."

But as he reached deeper into his robes, Xiao Chong felt a chill run through him.

The living expenses I just received from the sect school have disappeared, and what's worse, the three Body Tempering Pills I used to aid my cultivation have also vanished without a trace.

As the eldest son of the Xiao family, a prominent clan in Feiyue City, Xiao Chong knew very well that without the aid of elixirs, he would have no chance of completing body tempering before the age of sixteen. The difference in treatment he would receive within the family would be enormous, whether he completed body tempering before the age of sixteen or not.

The most awkward thing is that I will turn sixteen tomorrow.

After taking the pill tonight, Xiao Chong was very confident that he could pass tomorrow's body tempering test smoothly, which made him very excited.

After leaving the school, he specially bought a jar of wine. Remembering that he hadn't eaten meat in a long time, he also made a great decision to buy a braised pig's head, intending to celebrate with his clumsy maid.

The previous robberies all happened in the southern part of the city, so he was being extra careful today. He thought he would escape unscathed once he reached the northern part of the city, but before he could even feel happy, he was knocked down by a powerful blue brick as soon as he entered Wuyi Lane...

After regaining his senses, Xiao Chong reached out and covered the lump on his head. The cold wind blowing into his collar from behind cleared his head a bit, but his mind was still a little confused.

This state of alternating clarity and confusion made Xiao Chong feel as if two versions of himself were fighting in his mind, two different memories intertwined and tangled, both wanting to burst forth but unable to find an outlet. It was also like a wine jar cracking open, the wine about to flow out, but always just a little short.

Thinking of the wine jar, Xiao Chong glanced at the broken wine jar and the trampled braised pig's head, forcibly suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, and moved his feet with difficulty towards his home in the north city.

Meanwhile, in a large mansion in the southern part of the city, more than two miles away from Wuyi Lane, a thin, sallow-faced young man, whose body had clearly been ravaged by wine and women, was talking incessantly to a middle-aged man with a gloomy expression.

"Brother-in-law, you didn't see it. That brick I hit today should have kept that kid awake for at least half a day. He might even freeze to death on the street."

The tall, thin boy spoke with great enthusiasm, spitting as he spoke, but his cunning eyes kept darting around, occasionally stealing glances at the two maids by the door.

"Tianhua, you need to be careful not to kill that kid. After all, he is the eldest son of the Xiao family. If something happens to him, it will be difficult to explain to the clan leader."

The middle-aged man was taken aback. He warned the thin boy a few times, then, after thinking for a moment, asked with a hint of exasperation, "How can you be so hopeless? There are so many good girls in the city, why do you insist on taking someone else's maid? You're a born lecher!"

"If you're not a lecher, then why do you want to take my sister as a concubine? She's a full thirty years younger than you!"

The lanky boy secretly grumbled to himself, but dared not say it aloud, and could only awkwardly reply, "To each their own."

"So late, you still rushed over just to tell me this little thing?" The middle-aged man was a little annoyed.

"How can this be a small matter? This is a big matter, a matter of life and death! I won't live if I don't get my hands on that kid's maid."

Upon hearing this, the tall, thin young man jumped up and exclaimed dramatically, "Brother-in-law, you have to help me with this. If you don't, I'll go find my sister."

"Alright, as long as that kid doesn't meet the body tempering requirements this time and becomes an ordinary disciple, I'll help you get his maid over. By the way, do you have anything else to do? If not, hurry up and leave, don't keep me from going back to my room to rest!"

The middle-aged man seemed quite overwhelmed by the tall, thin young man, gave him a few perfunctory replies, and then rudely told him to leave.

"You keep saying I'm a lecher, but aren't you eager to sleep with my sister too?" The tall, thin young man thought to himself, but his smile remained unchanged as he said, "Then I'll be going now, brother-in-law. Don't forget to help me."

"Go! Go!"

"Maid! Remember the maid!"

Seeing that the middle-aged man was extremely impatient, the tall, thin young man quickly said a few words and started walking towards the door. But just before he reached the door, taking advantage of the middle-aged man's inattention, he swiftly reached out and pinched a maid hard in the chest, then left satisfied amidst the maid's scream.

The bright moon outside had risen high in the sky, its light shining selflessly on the mansion and also spilling its light onto a dilapidated courtyard in the northern part of the city.

"Qingmeng, that silly girl, why can't she be more frugal? She doesn't even know to turn off the lights before going to bed?"

Looking at the sliver of light shining from inside the house, Xiao Chong sighed inwardly and pushed open the door to enter.

A skinny little girl was fast asleep with her head buried in her desk, a trickle of saliva still dribbling from the corner of her mouth, as if she were having a sweet dream.

The little girl's name is Qingmeng. She was the maid left to her father, Xiao Banshi, before he died, along with this small courtyard in the northern part of the city.

Originally, there should have been several other properties, but after Xiao Banshi died, these properties, along with an old house in the southern part of the city, were taken away by the Xiao family under the guise of trusteeship.

Xiao Chong was furious about the clan's actions, but because of his gentle nature, he could only swallow his anger and move to this small courtyard to live with Qing Meng.

As for Xiao Chong's mother, heaven knows where she is? He was the product of Xiao Banshi's philandering, and apart from Xiao Banshi, no one else even knew who Xiao Chong's mother was.

Fortunately, although Qingmeng was clumsy, she was a diligent girl who always took good care of Xiao Chong's life, except for being a little clumsy.