Martial Arts to Supremacy

I slept without any dreams.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking and the sky was beginning to lighten, Li An woke up on his wooden bed.

Without lingering in bed, he got up, dusted himself off, and quickly straightened his faded coarse cloth clothes. His eyes remained as calm as yesterday, but deep within them, there was a newfound certainty about the future.

He raised his hand to his brow, and the sensation of the jade book entering his body yesterday seemed to still be there. But when he focused his mind to investigate, he could not find any trace of it. Only the gentle golden light within his body was slowly flowing through his limbs and bones, silently nourishing his meridians and dispelling the weakness he had suffered from years of being unable to cultivate.

Li An could clearly feel that his body was much lighter than before, and even his strength seemed to have increased slightly.

"That blank jade book is indeed a heaven-defying treasure."

He pondered this to himself, but remained silent. In this dog-eat-dog world where appearances reign supreme, he understood better than anyone the danger of possessing a treasure. Now he had nothing but this secret, his only trump card, which he absolutely could not reveal in the slightest.

After a quick wash, Li An headed straight for the family's main hall.

Along the way, many family members saw him and their eyes were filled with undisguised mockery and disdain. Their whispers and comments reached his ears without any attempt to hide them.

"Look, isn't that Li An, the cripple who failed to awaken yesterday? He still has the nerve to show his face."

"Heh, probably too ashamed to stay here and wants to find somewhere to hide, right?"

The sarcastic remarks were like sharp blades, which would have made an ordinary young man feel ashamed and indignant. But Li An remained calm and composed, his steps never faltering. He stared straight ahead and walked through the crowd as if the mockery was nothing more than a gentle breeze in his ear.

His restraint and indifference, on the contrary, made those mocking disciples feel bored. After hurling a few curses, they shut up in a huff.

Upon entering the main hall, Clan Chief Li Cang was seated in the main seat, handling clan affairs, with several clan elders standing beside him. Yesterday's Dharma Awakening Ceremony had produced many outstanding talents in the clan, and Li Cang still wore a smile on his face. However, upon seeing Li An enter, his brows instantly furrowed.

"Li An, why aren't you at your residence? What are you doing in the main hall?"

Li An bowed respectfully, displaying impeccable manners, neither servile nor arrogant, his voice calm and unwavering: "Clan leader, esteemed elders, I have come today to resign and leave the Li family."

As soon as he finished speaking, the main hall fell silent for a moment. Then, the elders showed surprise, which quickly turned into disdain.

"Leave the Li family? You're a useless person who can't cultivate. Without the family's protection, you probably won't survive three days outside!"

"You brat, you don't know your place. Even if the family supports you, you're just another pair of chopsticks. And yet you dare to think you can leave on your own?"

"I think he's been scolded so much that he wants to escape to some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, the outside world is a hundred times more cruel than the one inside the family!"

"Yeah, kid, we know a bit about what's going on in the clan, but that's better than you going out there to die."

The clan elders spoke up, some coldly, some indifferently, and some with a hint of sympathy.

Li Cang pondered for a moment, then waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. He looked at Li An and said, "Since you have made up your mind, the family will not stop you. Considering that you are also of the Li family bloodline, I will give you ten low-grade spirit stones and a set of basic fist and foot techniques. Once you leave the Li family, your life and death will have nothing to do with the family anymore."

Ten low-grade spirit stones and a set of the most basic fist and foot techniques—this was the family's final gift to him.

But Li An showed no dissatisfaction; instead, he bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, clan chief."

He never expected his family to give him anything; he only hoped to leave smoothly. Now that he had achieved his goal and even received spirit stones and cultivation techniques, he was already very satisfied.

After accepting the storage bag from the clan chief, Li An turned around and walked out of the main hall without any hesitation.

His upright figure, still bearing the unwavering determination that belonged to a young man, walked out of the Li family's gate step by step, without looking back or showing any reluctance.

The door slowly closed behind him, completely severing his last connection with the Li family.

Outside the door was a wide cobblestone street, bustling with unfamiliar faces. Sunlight streamed down, but it couldn't dispel the loneliness surrounding the boy, yet his eyes shone even brighter.

Li An gripped the storage bag in his hand, determined the direction, and headed straight out of the city.

Without the slightest hesitation, he realized that this city, which had held his place for over a decade but also inflicted endless humiliation, held no place for him to linger. Only by leaving this place could he find his own opportunity and walk the path of self-sacrifice.

After leaving the city, Li An chose a secluded mountain path. Knowing his own weakness, he dared not take the main road, lest he encounter villains and be killed.

The mountain path was rugged and overgrown with weeds, rarely visited by anyone. Li An continued on his way, the golden light within him flowing slowly, constantly tempering his body, so that even after walking for several hours, he felt no fatigue whatsoever.

As the sun set and darkness fell, Li An found a secluded cave and settled down there for the time being.

The cave was small, dry, and clean, just big enough for one person. Li An gathered some dry branches and lit a campfire, the flickering flames illuminating his youthful yet resolute face.

He took out the basic martial arts manual given to him by the clan chief, flipped through a few pages, and then shook his head.

This set of techniques is completely ordinary and mundane. It might work against ordinary people, but it's completely useless for cultivating true qi.

Li An casually tossed the cultivation manual aside, sat cross-legged in front of the campfire, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate on sensing the golden light within his body.

As he focused his mind, the originally slowly flowing golden light instantly became active, circulating in his meridians along a peculiar trajectory in accordance with his intention.

Without the guidance of a Dharma image or the instruction of a cultivation method, everything seemed to be instinctive, a cultivation method that came with the body after the wordless jade book was integrated into it.

Wherever the golden light passed, the blockages in his meridians were gradually cleared, and the sparse spiritual energy between heaven and earth was frantically absorbed into his body, transforming into a gentle golden flow that merged with the original golden light, continuously nourishing and strengthening his body, bones, and meridians.

This is his unique path of cultivation—using his body as a furnace and his qi as fire to temper himself and transform himself into his physical form!

Without the constraints of any Dharma form, and without relying on the Dharma forms of heaven and earth, he himself is the Dharma form of the Great Dao!

As his cultivation continued, Li An could clearly feel his physical strength increasing and his senses becoming more acute. He could clearly hear the rustling of grass and wind outside the cave.

After an unknown amount of time, a faint light appeared on the horizon, and the morning sun pierced through the cave, shining on Li An.

He slowly opened his eyes, a flash of golden light appearing briefly in them. His aura was calm and steady, and although there was no fluctuation of true energy, his physical body contained power far exceeding that of ordinary people.

Clenching his fist and feeling the surging power within him, Li An's lips curled into a faint smile.

"Heaven has severed my path to the Dharma, but I, Ang Lee, have still taken the first step."

He stood up, dusted himself off, and looked resolutely into the distance outside the cave.

The road ahead was long and fraught with danger, but he was fearless.

From this day forward, there will be no more Li An, the crippled member of the Li family, but only a seeker of the Way who takes his body as his guide and defies fate!