But just as the direwolf's jaws closed, an invisible force erupted from Li Wei’s body, throwing the beast back. The power of the lotus surged uncontrollably, forming a cocoon of qi around him.

  After his body had cracked and healed countless times, the repairs moved deeper, beginning with the mending of his roots and well.

  What were the roots and well?

  The roots were the meridians, the hidden channels in the body through which qi flowed.

  The well was the dantian, the inner reservoir where that qi was gathered, refined, and unleashed.

  Opening the roots and well was the true threshold of cultivation. Though not formally recognized as a cultivation realm, it was the foundation of all realms.

  Only after one’s meridians were opened and the dantian formed could a cultivator draw qi into the body and use it to temper flesh, purify blood, strengthen bone, enhance the organs, and coronate the soul!

  Yet this single step had barred countless mortals from the path of cultivation.

  Most people would simply never succeed in opening their roots and well. Their meridians would remained closed, their dantians unformed. Forcing the process could lead to death, or worse, life-long agonizing pain.

  In the past, Li Wei had successfully opened his roots and well. It was a prerequisite to enter the Azure Cloud Sect.

  And then… Zhao Feng had crippled him.

  Li Wei’s meridians had withered, drying like riverbeds in a drought. His dantian had crystallized, a sign of stagnation.

  But fortune had smiled upon Li Wei’s fate. He had managed to find the Heavenly Dao Lotus!

  His prone body slowly rose into the air, still cocconed in qi that pulsed like a heartbeat.

  Inside his body, his dried meridians suddenly thickened, restored in a blazing surge of light. His crystalized dantian shattered, then reformed, whole and radiant once more.

  And then everything exploded apart again.

  Li Wei’s pained scream tore through the valley.

  Because his original meridians were dried, their rejuvenation brought a twinge of discomfort, but caused him no pain. And because his original dantian had crystalize, their shattering also brought no pain. But when the newly formed meridians ruptured, that pain was intense; it was like having a limb severed. And when the newly formed dantian also exploded, Li Wei felt like his insides had been pulverized. The two pains combined to cause him extreme agony.

  But before he could catch his breath, the lotus’ essence surged once more. His meridians reassembled, wider than before, smoother and more resilient. His dantian condensed anew, deeper and more vast.

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  And then both exploded again.

  Another scream tore from Li Wei’s throat, this time guttural, almost feral. For a brief moment he considered whether death would be preferable to this torment.

  Yet, over and over it continued.

  Reformation.

  Destruction.

  Rebirth.

  Ruin.

  Each cycle more violent than the last.

  It felt as if molten lava was being poured through his veins again and again, searing every inch of him from the inside. At the same time, an invisible spear seemed to stab into his abdomen, grinding and twisting within his core.

  Li Wei’s vision blurred, darkness clawing at the edges of his consciousness.

  Several times, he nearly blacked out.

  But he did not.

  Some part of him told him that if he did, he would regret it. Other than this, beyond the quiet duties of a servant, Li Wei possessed a stubborn spirit and an unyielding will. This will kept him tethered to awareness, making him refuse to faint.

  If this was rebirth, he would endure it awake!

  But what shocked Li Wei most was that the pain did not lessen as the process of healing and destruction continued.

  It worsened.

  With each destruction, the reconstruction grew more profound. His meridians expanded further, becoming broader yet more elastic, capable of carrying torrents of qi that would have torn his former self apart. His dantian grew denser, its inner space expanding, its foundation deepening as though an endless abyss were forming within him.

  Time passed like this…

  Li Wei did not know how long he endured, only that when the pain finally ebbed, he could feel it—qi flowing smoothly once more through his meridians. His body brimmed with strength, his dantian whole and radiant.

  Not only that, but he had also stepped into the first stage of the Flesh-Tempering Realm!

  If Roots-and-Well Opening was considered stage zero, then Flesh-Tempering was stage one.

  Tears filled Li Wei’s eyes as the agony began to fade.

  Three years of despair, three years of being shamed and dismissed… and now—rebirth!

  His body slowly floated back down to the pond, he he righted himself as he landed in the water, which reached his knees. The coccon of qi that wrapped him slowly dissipated, fading to nothing.

  Everything that had happened thus far was still too shocking to Li Wei and he couldn’t think straight for a moment.

  But as he calmed his breathing, he noticed something strange.

  In the past, his qi had been a dull yellow color. Now the qi that surged within him was azure and radiant. Even more strangely, the very same lotus he had consumed was now seated at the core of his dantian, pulsing softly as though alive, its petals slowly opening and closing with his breaths.

  Then he noticed a third strange thing.

  Despite the power coursing through him, when he looked down at his body, it appeared unchanged—frail, weak, as though still crippled. His body didn’t radiate the natural aura of a cultivator.

  Could it be… that the Heavenly Dao Lotus is veiling my cultivation, hiding my breakthrough from the outside world? Li Wei thought.

  He slowly clenched his fists. This was actually quite to his liking. It was as if fate had given him both a gift and a disguise.

  In the past, he had shown off his skills, earning envy from many. But what did that earn him? Attention, jealousy, and eventually being crippled for standing too tall.

  Now, he was wiser. Now, he would hide his power and accumulate strength in secret. He wouldn’t even let his own sect know, an action that was dangerously punishable.

  The direwolf-mother was still crouching near a tree not far away, staring at Li Wei hatefully. It growled, seemingly intent on coming after the boy. But when Li Wei casually glanced at the beast, a flash of azure gleamed in his eyes, unbeknownst to him.

  The direwolf-mother, seeing this gleam, shuddered and slunk back into the shadows, unwilling to approach again.

  The pond lay still, the lotus gone.

  Li Wei gazed at the empty pond, then at his hands, sensing a vigor in his body he had thought lost forever.

  “From today,” he whispered, voice hoarse with emotion, “I am no longer a cripple. My path begins anew.”

  The mist swirled around him as he turned back toward the sect. His steps were no longer the shuffle of a broken boy.