Xie Yun watched the churning clouds above him. He laughed, finding the heavens a bit ironic.
'Why do they hate my physique so much? Or is it just a curse? Is there something I don't know? And why was I born with this?'
He had countless questions, trying to make sense of it all, but he knew he wouldn't reach any conclusions. His only option would be to ask the Black Crow—but that would have to wait.
Because the clouds above suddenly rumbled. Thunder cracked, lightning flashed across the pale sky. A heavy storm had begun right then and there, in that forest.
CRAAAACK!
Suddenly, a deafening sound echoed, and a blinding flash lit up everything. From the clouds, a lightning bolt shot down at incredible speed, slicing through the air like an enraged blade of energy.
'Smile! If you die, die smiling.'
Xie Yun didn't know why, but in that moment, he felt thrilled. In the past, every disaster in his life had been a source of fear, always hiding from the dangers that, sooner or later, found him anyway.
In the end, he had given up, accepting that happiness wasn't for him. But after receiving the Black Crow's legacy, he changed his mind—and chose to live to the fullest.
"Hehe!"
He opened his arms as the blue streak of light descended.
"Come! Use everything you have to kill this walking disaster!"
He kept smiling. His grin enraged the lightning, which came crashing down faster.
Boom!
The bolt struck his head in less than a millisecond, electrocuting his entire body and slamming him to the ground. The earth cracked like soft clay, and Xie Yun was thrown down, sinking like quicksand.
He only stopped once he had reached ten meters deep. His back was scraped raw, and his head looked swollen like a pig's, so deformed it was. But his mouth, still curved into a smile, hadn't changed.
'I nearly died from the first bolt.'
Xie Yun thought, smelling his own burnt flesh. His skin was charred.
'Cultivate.'
He didn't forget his purpose. He began to extract the tiny sparks of electricity inside his body, refining them through his meridians—aiming for the second saturation.
To break into the second level of body tempering.
To Xie Yun, the first cultivation realm involved refining external forces through the 108 meridians, until they were full. Each level doubled the difficulty.
As for other cultivators—he had no idea. Until recently, he hadn't even known they existed.
'Haa… Here comes another one!'
He sighed as another bolt raced toward him.
It didn't take long to strike, intensifying the smell of burnt flesh and breaking the ground even further. Xie Yun felt himself being pushed deeper and deeper… until all he could see was a blurry, glowing blue halo above him.
'How many meters underground am I now?'
The thought crossed his mind. And then his smile widened even more.
'I survived my first tribulation.'
He exhaled in relief. Even though he liked challenging the heavens, he knew his body couldn't handle many more bolts.
If too many struck, he'd collapse. His mind could endure it—but his body couldn't. It would disintegrate.
At that point, even though the heavens hated the bearers of the Disaster Body, they couldn't break the balance of the ecosystem. For example, in Xie Yun's first tribulation—just a mortal until recently—the limit they could throw at him was three normal lightning bolts.
Since he withstood all of it, he won!
'This is the feeling of victory.'
Xie Yun felt peace. For the first time in his life, he experienced this calm sensation. To make it last longer, he let go of everything.
He focused only on refining the lightning in his body, filling his meridians. After three hours, they were finally saturated. The next moment, a surge of energy spread through his body, rejuvenating it once again.
Xie Yun, already in a tranquil state, felt even more at ease. He had no worries left.
He resumed cultivating using the remaining bolts. But they weren't enough for another breakthrough—only half-filled.
After refining everything, he looked up, seeing nothing but a dark sky. From his position, a small glowing sphere still shone above.
The full moon hung in the sky—it was night. Realizing that, Xie Yun closed his eyes again, waiting for the next day.
That night, nothing happened. It seemed that his victory had granted him a moment of peace. It was as if fate had given up on tormenting him.
But the moment the first ray of sunlight appeared, a sound echoed from beneath. Xie Yun instantly awoke. With force from the soles of his feet, he pushed his body upward.
And looked down.
'What's coming out of there?'
He was curious. And soon came the answer: from the ground, a black liquid surged upward, surrounding Xie Yun. He held his breath, and in the next instant, he felt his flesh begin to rot.
'Shit! Fate struck back hard!'
Xie Yun was shocked by it all. Quickly, in a rational moment, he tried to absorb it—but realized it was beyond his current level. It was damaging his meridians.
He stopped immediately and, in a desperate survival instinct, began swimming upward. He couldn't see a thing—everything was pitch black. And it was hard to ascend.
The water pressure was crushing!
Xie Yun was in terrible shape—ten times worse than during the tribulation. But his will to live pushed him to fight the currents with every ounce of strength.
'I won't die, dammit!'
He wasn't panicking, because he knew this was a battle against fate itself. What Xie Yun wanted was to temper his willpower—and that's what he was doing.
Testing how far he'd go to survive.
'I will win!'
He smiled, pouring more strength into his arms, enough to break them if needed, rising no matter what. After a long struggle, he reached the edge. Digging his fingers into the earth, he pulled himself out.
His body emerged slowly from the black pool. Reaching the surface, Xie Yun collapsed. A few seconds later, a black crow appeared above his face.
"Kid, your day started great. Just your luck to fall right into a fossil mine that activated the moment you dropped in," the crow laughed.
Then, a hand grabbed it and tried to throw it into the black water. It was quick and unexpected—but the crow reacted instantly, flapping its wings before touching the liquid.
"Hey, brat! Is that how you thank your savior? The one who gave you a new fate?!"
The crow spat those words, annoyed. Xie Yun just rolled his eyes.
"Don't mock someone's misfortune. And don't state the obvious."