"Ji Yang, you dare to force the Unicorn Princess into serving you, yet you are the crown prince of my Zhou kingdom? You're worse than an animal!"
"Prince Ji Yang is unforgivable; the national tutor declares that from this day, the prince's title will be abolished, he will be demoted to a punished slave, and banished to the tainted sea!"
...
The tainted sea, the Gate of the Three Calamities.
At dawn, in a thatched hut where the menial workers live, Ji Yang woke from a nightmare drenched in cold sweat, his white hair fluttering around, his handsome face contorted.
"No…this is not a dream!"
Ji Yang's eyes sharpened like a sword, filled with overflowing hatred.
Ji Yang was just sixteen, a sweeper at the Gate of the Three Calamities.
A year ago, he was the crown prince of the Zhou kingdom, a rare martial arts prodigy among the many nations of Mount Qi. Only fifteen years old, he trained to have an enduring physique, reaching the fifth level of postnatal cultivation, added with a 4th-grade bloodline, his strength was stupendous. He could battle and kill the monstrous elephant calf famous for immense strength in the wilderness ancient forest with his bare hands.
However, fate played a tremendous joke on him.
His treasured blood was coveted. With the national tutor's help, the Unicorn Princess whom he treated like his sibling exploited a secret method to snatch all his 4th-grade bloodline, claiming it for herself and maligned him with the charge of "forcing the princess to serve him", resulting in the removal of his title as the prince. How could young Ji Yang who had gained prestige commit such a degrading deed? It was all a frame-up.
Within one night, Ji Yang plummeted from the pedestal into oblivion, turned into an abandoned prodigy, full of resentment that prematurely turned his hair white.
However, Ji Yang was not destined to die. He was rescued by the Master of the Gate of the Three Calamities during his banishment. With pity, the master took him back to the Gate of the Three Calamities for refuge.
"Ji Qilin, you ungrateful wretch, without my careful cultivation, would you have achieved anything today? If I, Ji Yang, do not exterminate you, I swear I'm not human!" Ji Yang tightly grasped a bronze mirror in front of his chest, the veins on his forehead bulging.
The bronze mirror was a gift from the savior, the Master of the Gate of the Three Calamities.
The copper mirror is palm-sized, antiquely weather-beaten, a mysterious ancient object, engraved with a black dragon, shrouded in black mist appearing lifelike.
"Young man, take this dragon-engraved copper mirror. If you gain its recognition, your bloodline will be reborn! However, to win its approval is not an easy task. Eight disciples have not been able to bear the torment of this mirror, taking their own lives. You will be the last one. If you can't win its recognition within two years, I will end your life myself!" The words of the Three Disasters Sect Leader echoed in his mind.
Ever since Ji Yang received this ancient object, he was influenced without knowing. All the blood apertures in his body were sealed off. Once the blood flow fluctuates, the sealed acupoints would be filled with unbearable agony, his body unable to move an inch!
The pain was unbearable for any ordinary man, it was a living hell. However, he endured it for an entire year, all for the sake of vengeance!
"I can't place all my hopes on the copper mirror; I need the blood-restoring stone to activate my bloodline. I've been saving my compound interest for a year, enough to exchange for a lower-grade blood-restoring stone."
"Tomorrow will be the trial for miscellaneous work. I must become an outer disciple!"
Ji Yang’s eyes turned steadfast. He put on his clean chores clothing, and after washing up, he hurriedly headed to the chores office.
Today was the day when the miscellaneous disciples received their compound interest. The office was bustling with people coming and going. Ji Yang strode in.
"Manager Luo, Disciple Ji Yang is here to receive the annual compound interest." Ji Yang spoke up, his tone neither humble nor arrogant.
He had saved up his compound interest. As there are thousands of miscellaneous workers in the Three Disasters Sect, the place is chaotic, and there are frequent thefts. To avoid any accident, Ji Yang had never withdrawn his compound interest during the entire year.
"Ji Yang?" Manager Luo looked puzzled and said impatiently, "Boy, your compound interest has been collected by someone else. Don't cause trouble here! Leave at once!"
Someone took it?
Ji Yang was furious, "Isn't compound interest only collected by oneself? When did outsiders get involved?"
"Ji Yang, a lowly miscellaneous worker, you dare to doubt this elder’s word?" Manager Luo responded in a rage.
Ji Yang, in a burst of anger, pointed at Manager Luo's nose and yelled, "Old man! Just say it, did you take my compound interest?"
This miserly old man would always deduct their salaries, and the laborers had long been complaining about it; it was impossible for Ji Yang to not know.
"So what if I am? A worthless man dares to challenge me! Luo Jie, throw him out!" The steward Luo didn't even glance at Ji Yang, calling over several of his trusted laborers.
"You old miser!" Ji Yang's anger was uncontrollable, his blood boiling, continuously assaulting his physical acupoints; the pain was unbearable, sweat dripping from him!
However, this was just the slightest pain!
Just as Ji Yang was about to react, a young man appeared in front of him arrogantly: "You lowlife, your salary is what I took, I want to take yours, dare to challenge me?"
The young man's name was Luo Jie, a member of the Luo family from the Earth Gate, possessing the strength of ten horses. He was of the First Layer of the Afterworld existence, his status identical to Ji Yang's; both were laborers.
However, the Luo family from the Earth Gate had birthed five prodigies among its young members. They were extraordinarily talented and were all cultivating at the Three Calamities Gate. Because of this, the younger generation of the Luo family was always arrogant, and Ji Yang had been humiliated by this man many times!
Moreover, this man was the grandson of the steward Luo. Without a doubt, the grandfather and grandson were colluding to seize the salary he had painstakingly saved for a year!
Ji Yang took a deep breath to steady his qi-blood. He knew that Luo Jie was deliberately provoking him, wanting to increase his pain. In the Three Calamities Gate, it was no secret that Ji Yang's blood points were blocked!
"You lowlife, I haven't hit you yet, but you're in such pain already, what an act!" Luo Jie laughed disdainfully, "Don't think that by acting like this, I won't touch you!"
With a wave of his hand, Luo Jie shouted, "Brothers, let's get him! I'm in a good mood today, let's give this lowlife a taste of our fists!"
At his words, Luo Jie's accomplices all cheered and rushed forward, surrounding Ji Yang and attacking him randomly.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Ji Yang allowed these laborers to wreak havoc on him. In the past, he had taken Golden Stone Body Refining Pills and cultivated a golden body, unafraid of fists and feet, unafraid of swords and blades. Without the brave strength of the Five Layer Tower, no one could hurt him.
Though he didn't get injured, that didn't mean he didn't feel pain. His body remembered these pains inflicted on him. One day, he would return them a hundredfold, even a thousandfold!
However, he finally could no longer endure. His furious blood launched a wild assault against the sealed acupoints around his entire body, causing pain akin to being cut by a thousand blades and torn apart by ten thousands knives. It was sheer torture!
"Ah!"
Ji Yang's eyes were almost splitting in anger, and the veins on his forehead were bulging prominently, his teeth were almost shattered from being clenched so hard.
Wait!
This time was different from the last. Under the bombardment of relentless punches, his blocked acupoints showed signs of loosening!
"Are you all malnourished? Your punches are so weak?" Ji Yang observed the changes within his body. A hint of a smile emerged on his previously hideous face.
"Scumbag! I won't quit today until I beat you to death!"
Again, a flurry of punches rained on Ji Yang's body!
Concurrently, within the most sacred sanctuary of the Sanzai Gate, a woman in a fiery dress stood, surprised. Her figure was sweet and slender, her phoenix eyes shone as bright as stars, yet retained an air of cold nobility. An emblem of a flame was imprinted on her forehead, adding a touch of cool elegance.
She was the Sect Master of the Sanzai Gate, the universally respected Red Lotus Spirit Master.
The deep, profound gaze of the Red Lotus Spirit Master seemed to traverse over countless mountains and rivers, clearly observing Ji Yang's transformation.
"I knew I hadn’t mistaken him!"
Boom, boom, boom!
After a thousand punches, Ji Yang still hadn’t fallen, enduring the excruciating torture.
The thousand punches weren't in vain, rather they managed to unblock all his body’s sealed acupoints. A wave of warmth surged throughout his body, dissipating all the pain.
And, this surge of heat strongly resonates with the Dragon Carving Bronze Mirror!
Crack!
The Dragon Carving Bronze Mirror at Ji Yang's chest immediately shattered. The black dragon attached to the mirror seemed to come back to life, transforming into a stream of black energy that surged into his lower abdomen.
"Have I obtained the approval of the Dragon Carving Bronze Mirror?" Ji Yang was ecstatic.
The little black dragon was extraordinary, and upon entering his body, it radiated a sweet rain-like secret power, bathing his entire body, allowing his physical body to recover freely.
Furthermore, an immense strength erupted from Ji Yang's body, over dozens of menial workers were taken by surprise, and sent flying in response!
"Luo Jie, I have endured you for a year. All the pain and humiliation that you forcibly imposed on me in the past, today, I, Ji Yang, will make you repay a hundredfold!"
Before the sound of his voice fell, a brand-new bloodline awakened within his body!