Step Zero

Lost in thought, Xǔ Tiānlí arrived near his destination.

He didn’t rush to reveal himself, choosing instead to climb a tree and observe the surroundings.

The Wolf Fang Gang hadn’t chosen their meeting point haphazardly.

They had deliberately selected a clearing expansive enough to serve as a battlefield.

One side of the clearing abutted a towering mountain, within which a sizable cave was carved.

This, Xǔ Tiānlí surmised, was where the orphanage children were being held.

However, one detail struck him as peculiar.

Xǔ Tiānlí had expected to confront the entire Wolf Fang Gang, yet only a single figure was visible.

It was a robust, middle-aged man he had never seen before.

His exposed skin was covered in intricate tattoos, and he sat at the cave’s entrance, calmly smoking a cigarette.

‘Only one person?’

‘Could he merely be the doorkeeper?’

Just as Xǔ Tiānlí pondered how to approach stealthily, the man suddenly raised his head and looked directly at him.

Their gazes locked in an instant, sending a shiver down Xǔ Tiānlí’s spine.

The man’s lips curled into a smirk.

He rose, then extended a hand, effortlessly lifting the massive boulder he had been sitting on.

Xǔ Tiānlí leaped from the tree the moment the boulder was hurled.

His body barely grazed the flying rock, and the air around him shrieked as it was torn apart.

Trees in the boulder’s path were snapped in half, and upon landing, it gouged a shallow furrow into the earth.

Since he had been discovered, Xǔ Tiānlí no longer hid.

He emerged from the woods, confronting the man in the open clearing.

“You must be Xǔ Tiānlí?” The man glanced at his watch, his tone light.

“In two more minutes, the children inside will suffer because of you.”

“And you are?”

“Hèlóng, leader of the Wolf Fang Gang.”

“I didn’t expect the esteemed gang leader to personally host me…”

“Since you managed to hospitalize the deputy leader I promoted, naturally, I am the only one in the entire gang capable of defeating you.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a dull ‘thump’ echoed from Hèlóng’s body, causing the ground beneath his feet to crack.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Xǔ Tiānlí’s forehead.

The worst-case scenario had come to pass.

The Wolf Fang Gang’s leader was a Second-tier Spirit Wielder.

‘Damn it.’

‘If he were First-tier, I might stand a chance, but a Second-tier?’

‘Do I really have any hope of winning?’

‘If Master were here, it wouldn’t matter if he was Second-tier or Third-tier; she’d dispatch him with a single slap.’

‘Speaking of which, I still don’t know my Master’s true strength, what tier is she?’

Xǔ Tiānlí shook his head vigorously.

This was no time to think of Qín Yuè.

If he couldn’t find her, he had to rely on himself.

Bang!

The instant he heard the ground shatter, Xǔ Tiānlí snapped out of his daze.

Hèlóng had already launched his attack.

‘Second-tier speed is far greater than First-tier.’

‘I can’t rely on my eyes; I must feel the air currents…’

Xǔ Tiānlí attempted to use the experience gained from fighting the deputy leader, sensing Hèlóng’s position through other means.

However, he had miscalculated one crucial thing: the sheer gap between First-tier and Second-tier.

First-tier marked the beginning of becoming a Spirit Wielder, a preliminary awakening of spiritual imprints, yet unable to contain much spiritual power.

The main difference between this stage and ordinary people was a body as hard as steel, a pure numerical enhancement.

Compared to First-tier, a Second-tier Spirit Wielder’s spiritual power capacity within their imprints was elevated, allowing them to wield numerous minor spells.

Most importantly, a Spirit Wielder at this stage had their body tempered by spiritual power, from the inside out.

They were utterly incomparable to a First-tier Spirit Wielder.

Consequently, when Xǔ Tiānlí sensed the impending force of Hèlóng’s attack, it felt as if a terrifying storm was bearing down on him, overwhelming and inescapable.

Xǔ Tiānlí wrenched his eyes open and leaped backward, narrowly dodging Hèlóng’s incoming fist.

Bang!!!

Hèlóng’s fist struck the ground, causing it to instantly crack.

Before Xǔ Tiānlí could regain his footing, he saw Hèlóng adjust his body and charge at him once more.

‘I can’t dodge!’

Xǔ Tiānlí barely managed to raise his arms to shield himself, bracing to endure the monster’s impact.

The moment they collided, Xǔ Tiānlí felt as if he had been slammed by a solid wall, not a person.

His body flew backward uncontrollably until he crashed into the forest.

His consciousness nearly flickered out.

Xǔ Tiānlí tried to get up but found his body unresponsive.

That single, brutal attack had almost shattered his bones.

“He’s not dead?”

Seeing Xǔ Tiānlí still moving, Hèlóng was inwardly astonished.

His previous attack had been intended to kill, yet Xǔ Tiānlí, an ordinary person, had somehow endured it.

Nevertheless, this battle was about to be decided.

The disparity between them was simply too vast.

No amount of passion could turn the tide for Xǔ Tiānlí.

He didn’t know how many bones he had broken; even the slightest movement sent excruciating pain through him.

‘Is this how it ends?’

The Wolf Fang Gang leader’s sharp laughter grated against his wounds.

He truly wanted to close his eyes and never hear those jarring sounds again.

But Xǔ Tiānlí was unwilling to give up, for there were many things he still wanted to accomplish.

The children of the orphanage were waiting for him to rescue them.

The three-year pact awaited his fulfillment.

And he had yet to earn his Master’s complete approval.

Thinking of Qín Yuè, Xǔ Tiānlí suddenly remembered the map, and a flash of insight struck him.

The location Qín Yuè had circled on the map seemed identical to where the Wolf Fang Gang had arranged their confrontation.

‘She knew this would happen long ago.’

‘Of course, since she knew the Wolf Fang Gang would cause trouble at the market, it’s normal for her to know they’d come for revenge against me too.’

‘Then why did she stand by?’

‘Could it be, this is a hint from Master?’

Having gone through a similar experience once before, Xǔ Tiānlí felt he could already guess Qín Yuè’s intentions.

‘Master is using the same trick again.’

‘She must be observing my performance from somewhere, right?’

‘Because my performance at the market wasn’t good enough, she’s given me a new trial… But Master, the difficulty gap between these two trials is immense!’

Xǔ Tiānlí was suddenly torn between laughter and tears.

The thought that Qín Yuè hadn’t abandoned him brought him back to his senses.

If he succumbed now, the children would die because of him.

He had to persevere.

Even if Xǔ Tiānlí didn’t survive, a sufficiently good performance might earn Qín Yuè’s approval, prompting her to save the children.

‘I cannot fall!’

The image he had seen that night resurfaced in Xǔ Tiānlí’s mind: the golden lines under his feet, the invisible wall blocking his way.

This time, he encountered no obstruction, stepping directly over it.

The battered golden lines erupted with the most dazzling light yet.

The black bird coiled at the center of his imprint finally opened its eyes.

Xǔ Tiānlí formally bid farewell to the mortal realm, taking the zeroth step into becoming a Spirit Wielder, standing at the starting line!

‘Wh-what’s happening?’

Seeing the red light shoot into the sky, the previously arrogant Hèlóng was utterly dumbfounded.

One moment, Xǔ Tiānlí was on the verge of death; the next, he had suddenly…

As someone who had walked the path of a Spirit Wielder, Hèlóng clearly understood what Xǔ Tiānlí’s transformation signified.

‘This kid actually advanced at a moment like this?’

‘No way, wasn’t the person named Xǔ Tiānlí rumored to be a complete waste, utterly devoid of talent?’

Even Hèlóng, who had been in seclusion for a month, had heard this major news that had spread throughout Wufeng City.

Such an occurrence was so bizarre that he had shared a good laugh with his subordinates after emerging.

‘What three-year pact?’

‘He was just desperate and talking nonsense.’

‘In terms of talent or family background, how could Xǔ Tiānlí possibly compare to the young miss of the Four Sacred Courts?’

Hèlóng hadn’t held back because Xǔ Tiānlí was a ‘waste.’

His attack earlier had indeed been aimed at killing him outright.

He had even planned to hang Xǔ Tiānlí’s body in the city center to show citizens the consequences of provoking the Wolf Fang Gang.

As for any subsequent retaliation, Hèlóng had already prepared countermeasures and was not worried in the slightest.

However, it seemed he would now have to spend more time dealing with Xǔ Tiānlí.

The red light dissipated, and Xǔ Tiānlí slowly stood up.

Taking a deep breath, he felt the changes in his body.

‘So this is what it feels like to become a Spirit Wielder; it’s a completely different experience.’

‘Now, my formerly weak body feels filled with power.’

‘If I were to perform the Qi Accumulation Art now, would it be different again?’

The thought had barely formed in Xǔ Tiānlí’s mind when he heard a dull thud.

He looked up to see Hèlóng’s body hurtling toward him like a cannonball!

Since he had gotten back up, Hèlóng once again put his full strength into a punch, attempting to knock him down for good.

‘So what if he’s First-tier?’

‘Don’t think that just because you got lucky at a crucial moment, you can defeat a Second-tier like me!’

This punch was imbued with potent killing intent.

Even if it didn’t take Xǔ Tiānlí’s life, it would turn him into a crippled invalid.

Bang!

“Hmm?”

The sensation was wrong.

Hèlóng froze.

Having advanced to First-tier, Xǔ Tiānlí was no longer passively defending against attacks.

Now, he could adapt to Hèlóng’s speed and react to it.

The attack that should have landed on Xǔ Tiānlí was blocked head-on by his fist.

Their fists collided, unleashing a wave of air that stirred the surrounding trees.

Leaves fluttered down, and such a chaotic scene only infuriated Hèlóng further.

He raised his other hand like a blade and chopped it down toward Xǔ Tiānlí’s shoulder.

This time, Xǔ Tiānlí didn’t react.

The hand-blade landed solidly on his body, bringing a look of delight to Hèlóng’s face, but his smile quickly vanished.

He had expected this attack to dent and deform Xǔ Tiānlí’s shoulder, yet Xǔ Tiānlí remained utterly unmoving, as if the strike had landed on impossibly hard steel.

Hèlóng’s own hand even felt a sharp ache.

“You bastard… what did you do?” Hèlóng squeezed out a resentful voice from between clenched teeth.

“My good Master taught me something nice.” The smile didn’t disappear; instead, it transferred from Hèlóng’s face to Xǔ Tiānlí’s.