Rain fell lightly over the Lin Family estate, drumming against the stone walls and muddy courtyards. Lin Wei knelt alone in the central training grounds, the soaked earth clinging to his knees, his clothes drenched and heavy with rainwater. The other Lin Family disciples laughed around him, their voices sharp and cruel, but Lin Wei did not flinch. His deep blue eyes stared forward, calm, observing, measuring.
"Sixteen years old, and still at Body Tempering Stage One?" a tall, muscular cousin sneered. "Pathetic. No wonder your parents… well, I guess it's no surprise. The Lin bloodline isn't wasted on you." He laughed and kicked a puddle toward Lin Wei. Mud splashed over his golden hair, clinging to his wet clothes and stinging his skin.
Lin Wei said nothing. His parents had died when he was very young, leaving him in the care of relatives who viewed him as little more than a liability. In the Lin family, respect was earned through strength and power, and he had neither. His father had once been a renowned cultivator, his mother kind but frail, and their deaths had left him completely alone. Now, the relatives who had taken him in treated him like an outcast: mocked, humiliated, and given the hardest labor or impossible training, all while others prospered.
Another cousin, smaller but quick, circled him like a predator. "Do you even belong here?" he asked, grinning maliciously. "Maybe you should just leave before someone gets bored and… disposes of you properly." His words were coated with mockery, but the threat beneath them was clear.
Lin Wei clenched his fists, mud squishing between his fingers. Anger flared in him, but it was a quiet, controlled anger—calm, measured, patient. He had learned early in life that survival depended on control, on waiting for the right moment, not lashing out like the foolish. The cold rain stung, his clothes soaked to the skin, but he could endure. Pain was nothing compared to the humiliation he faced every day, and one day, he vowed silently, it would all change.
The estate's elder family members watched from a distance, disinterested. Their eyes flicked briefly over Lin Wei, but none intervened. To them, he was nothing but a weak boy, a shadow in the grand Lin family halls. No one cared about his dreams, his struggles, or even his survival. Lin Wei's shoulders stiffened, and a small, steady breath escaped him. He was used to being ignored, used to being underestimated. But he would not remain weak forever.
He rose slowly, squelching through the muddy courtyard, and allowed his gaze to drift toward the dense forest beyond the estate walls. Its edges were shrouded in mist and rain, ancient trees stretching toward the gray sky. The forest had always called to him, not with words, but with a faint pull in his heart. Legends spoke of spirit beasts, hidden treasures, and mystical energies that could grant strength beyond imagination. Perhaps, somewhere within those shadows, he could find what the Lin Family had denied him: power, freedom, and purpose.
The rain intensified, cold and relentless, as he stepped forward, each movement deliberate. Mud clung to his boots, water dripped from his hair, but Lin Wei moved with precision and quiet determination. Every step toward the forest felt like a step toward the life he had always wanted—a life where he was not mocked, not despised, not invisible.
Then it happened. A sudden tremor beneath his feet, a sharp snap of a tree branch, and he stumbled against the roots of an enormous ancient tree. Pain shot through his leg, but it was brief. In that moment, the world seemed to hold its breath. The air shimmered faintly, and a presence unlike anything he had ever felt resonated within him. Cold, ancient, yet alive, it reached deep into his bones, awakening something long dormant.
"Host identified. Lin Wei. Purification system activated. Capability: Transform and refine impurities. Potential: Infinite."
The voice was silent, inside his mind, and no one else could hear it. The forest around him seemed to pause, droplets of rain suspended midair. A surge of energy coursed through his body, burning away all the fatigue, weakness, and scars left by years of neglect and abuse. Every muscle, every nerve, every fiber of his being aligned perfectly, refined and purified. He felt the impurities of his body dissolve—his pain, his exhaustion, even the invisible scars of ridicule.
When Lin Wei touched his hair, he could hardly believe it. His golden strands seemed brighter, almost glowing faintly under the stormy sky. His face, once handsome but ordinary, now radiated sharp, striking features. His deep blue eyes sparkled with a newfound intensity, reflecting a calm strength no one could see but himself. The boy who had been humiliated, ignored, and underestimated was gone, replaced by someone new—someone ready to rise.
The system spoke again, calm and methodical: "Purification complete. Stage One: Body refined. Remaining potential unlocked. Note: Host is the sole observer. All abilities remain secret."
Lin Wei exhaled slowly, feeling the rain wash over him, the storm outside matching the storm of power and determination rising within. Finally, he felt something he had never felt before: control. Power. Possibility. A spark of destiny ignited in his chest, small but undeniable.
Straightening, he looked back at the Lin Family estate through the curtain of rain. The relatives who had mocked him, the disciples who had ridiculed him, the indifferent elders—all would soon see a different Lin Wei. Not today, not yet—but one day. He would rise. He would grow stronger, faster, better than anyone could imagine.
And with that thought, a small, faint smile touched his lips. He took a careful step forward, leaving the mud behind, and toward the forest, toward a future unknown but full of promise. A journey that would not just prove his strength, but transform him completely.
In the pouring rain, kneeling no longer, Lin Wei took his first step toward his destiny, toward a life that he would carve for himself—one that no one could take away.