Prologue: The Hegemon Who Defied the Heavens
> "In the beginning, there was no Dao, no Heaven, no Law—only the Body."
Long before the first immortal soared beyond the skies, before sword saints carved mountains and alchemists bottled stars, there walked a man whose body alone defied fate.
He was never named by the heavens.
So the world called him the Hegemon.
He did not refine Qi, nor cultivate the soul. While others meditated, he fought beasts with bare fists. When others chanted mantras, he shattered mountains to temper his bones.
In the desolate wastelands of the Nine Realms, he forged nine cauldrons — not of metal, but of flesh, blood, and soul. Each one refined his body, transcending mortal limits. With every breakthrough, a cauldron rose from within him, roaring with elemental fury.
The first let him tear iron with his fingers.
The ninth let him punch through the sky.
The Hegemon reached the peak where even Celestial Emperors bowed… and then he vanished.
Some say he challenged the Heavenly Dao itself.
Others claim he became a living law of the universe.
What remained was his legacy, sealed within a tomb hidden beneath reality itself — the manual of body supremacy: Nine Cauldron Hegemon Body Arts.
For ten thousand years, no one could inherit it.
Until now.