The rain fell incessantly on the green bamboo mountain. It was daytime, but the sky was overcast, with only a drizzle descending, bathing the bamboos that stretched from the foot to the top of the mountain.
At its edge, a young man lay with his stomach against the mud, blinking occasionally as the droplets of water touched his eyes. In one hand, he held a silver metal spear, and at his waist, he carried a bag made of animal hide. His gaze was fixed ahead, missing not a single detail.
Following his line of sight, twenty zhang away, there was a creature in the shape of a wolf, with silver fur, its head lowered, sniffing a pill lying on the ground, emitting a sweet honey aroma with a faint trace of wine.
The wolf's mouth salivated; the urge to devour the pill in a single bite overtook it. Yet it did not act immediately. Using its sharp vision, it scanned the surrounding area, where scattered green bamboos and a grassy sloped terrain were visible.
After this check, seeing no one, the creature could no longer resist and lowered its head completely, pulling the round pill into its tongue.
Once swallowed, the wolf's face flushed red, overwhelmed with joy, emitting happy roars. Staggering, it began to return to its den.
But before it could take a step, the young man lying in the grass leapt to his feet, revealing his disheveled and filthy appearance, with a bloodthirsty gaze radiating danger.
Throwing all his strength into his forearms, he hurled the spear toward the drunken creature.
The blade cut through the air like a silver-gray line, scattering droplets of water that struck it aside.
In seconds, the spear struck the wolf, which reacted by turning its head back. But before it could counterattack, it was pierced through the clavicle. The sharp edge tore through flesh, passed through the neck, and removed the wolf's head, which fell to the ground rolling.
Far from there, Hao Qin's face was expressionless, devoid of emotion. Walking slowly, he reached the corpse and crouched, placing his hands directly on the wolf's belly.
Touching it with his palms, a purple energy emerged from inside the body, filling his fingers and transforming them into a kind of purple fingers, which soon returned to normal. The energy automatically directed itself into the wolf, which began to decompose.
Its skin shriveled, the blood dried, and the bones rotted. Meanwhile, Hao Qin felt a cold wave wash over him, like a chilling breeze, absorbed by a cauldron resting two inches below his abdomen.
The object was purple and somewhat illusory: it contained no metal or substance, only a purple figure shaped like a cauldron with a mouth at its center, drawing all the unusual energy from the body.
When touching its opening, the energy appeared silver-blue; after entering, it spun several times, losing its original color and turning purple.
Then, it rose and was directed toward the cyclones spinning tirelessly an inch above. Passing through one of them, the purple energy merged into the second cyclone, which, compared to the other, was only half its size, indicating the Second Level of Qi Condensation.
"Could just a Silver Moon Wolf be enough to break through?" Hao Qin thought, refining the corpse, shaking his head in doubt from time to time.
"If it's not enough, I'll have to think of another plan. I managed to kill the wolf because I refined the Sweet Fragrance Pill, leaving its mind confused."
From the start, everything had been part of the plan: using a refined serving of spiritual wine and the Moon Grass—beloved by silver wolves—he refined the pill and placed it on the ground, letting the rain spread its scent further, making it harder for the wolf to track.
"If I can reach the second level, I could earn ten Stellar Stones." Hao Qin's eyes shone with desire.
Half an hour later, he finally finished refining the corpse, leaving it bare. On the ground remained only blood, and in the distance, the wolf's head.
Rising, he approached it, bent his knees, picked it up, and refined it; when the refinement finished, the second cyclone was nearly full. This encouraged Hao Qin, who began killing silk creatures scattered across the area like ants.
Stepping on them as if in a dance, with each strike on the ground, a green liquid splashed out. He collected the kills and then returned to the beginning to refine the bodies.
Boom!
Suddenly, a sound of thunder echoed through his blood, impacting the walls of his muscle tissue with crashes. It did not harm him; it only enhanced his physique, making him stronger, more resilient, and sharpening his five senses.
"Second level! I've broken through!" he laughed loudly, his laughter lost in the sound of the rain. With a mouthful of water, he spat it onto the ground and began observing his changes.
Clenching his fists, he looked at a bamboo and moved toward it. Extending his hand with full force, he struck the trunk, which was thrown backward by the impact, as if hit by a gust of wind.
Continuing to observe, he saw that after the trunk reached two meters, it cracked under the pressure of the blow and soon exploded in the air, sending multiple green fragments flying around.
"My current strength is two hundred kilograms. Cultivation is marvelous; even a simple Mini Breakthrough can increase the imposed limits."
Hao Qin wore a joyful expression, but it soon turned bitter. "What a pity, I cannot cultivate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. My only path is refinement. And as the realm rises, advancing becomes more complicated."
This truth made him sigh bitterly, though he softened his expression minutes later. His body was not useless; it could even be a "broken cheat," given his ability to refine almost anything and easily create pills, even non-existent ones.
The Sweet Fragrance Pill had been invented by him, after studying the effects of each ingredient used.
"Once I have enough money, I can reach unimaginable heights and create extraordinary pills. My cultivation has only just begun." Hao Qin whispered, closing his eyes.
The path ahead would not be easy, but he was not afraid. His heart was stable as a rock, his spirit free like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. With these attributes, why hesitate?
"I will be powerful! This is my dream, my ultimate goal!"
On July 7th of the 1200 Martial Era calendar, a young man declared his ambition atop the green bamboo mountain, under the witness of thousands of raindrops falling ceaselessly on his head.
And in the surroundings, colorful silk creatures watched the exalted youth, with a strong gleam of determination in his eyes and hair fluttering in the breeze.
It was an unforgettable scene.