Three years later.
In the world of cultivation, three years was nothing. It was the blink of an eye for an old monster napping in a cave. But for the Silent Courtyard of the Ancient Xie Clan, three years was enough time to burn through a mountain of gold.
"More."
The single word was spoken with the imperious authority of an Emperor, but the voice belonged to a toddler sitting on a cushion made of Deep Sea Silk.
Xie Feng, now three years old, looked like a porcelain doll carved by the gods. His skin was translucent white, his hair jet black, and his eyes—though usually half-closed in boredom—held a clarity that made servants shiver.
"Young Master," the head maid, Auntie Lan, trembled as she held an empty jade bowl. "That was the Nine-Yang Spirit Porridge. It is made from Golden Rice and the marrow of a Fire Python. Even an adult cultivator would explode if they ate two bowls. You have eaten... ten."
"Did I ask for a lecture?" Xie Feng asked, his voice soft. He didn't shout. He didn't throw a tantrum. He simply stared at her.
Auntie Lan felt a cold sweat drench her back. She was a cultivator at the 3rd Stage of the Blood Tempering Realm, yet this toddler's gaze made her feel like prey.
"T-This servant dares not! I will fetch more!"
She scurried away.
Xie Feng watched her leave, then let out a heavy sigh. He rubbed his small belly. It felt like he had swallowed a ball of iron.
Hungry, he thought. Still so hungry.
The Devouring Void Physique was a curse. In standard cultivation, you absorb Qi from the air, refine it, and store it in your Dantian.
But Xie Feng's body was like a bucket with no bottom. He absorbed Qi, and his physique immediately deleted it, breaking it down into nothingness to strengthen the "Void Concept" in his cells.
For three years, he had eaten enough spirit herbs to bankrupt a minor sect.
And his cultivation level?
Zero.
He was still a mortal.
If this continues, my father will kill me long before I turn ten, Xie Feng calculated. The Clan is already whispering. They call me the 'Bottomless Pit'. All intake, no output.
He closed his eyes and visualized his internal state.
The Chaos Heart Sutra was a grinding wheel in his mind. It required a massive surge of energy to complete the first rotation. Once it rotated, it would lock the energy inside his body, allowing him to finally show "progress."
I need something stronger than python marrow. I need a Catalyst.
Suddenly, the heavy scent of orchids filled the room.
"Feng-er!"
A flurry of silk robes swept into the room. Lady Yun, his mother, scooped him up into a suffocating hug. Xie Feng went limp, allowing himself to be handled. This was the price of survival: tolerating affection.
"My poor baby," Lady Yun cooed, inspecting his face. "Are the servants feeding you enough? You look pale!"
I look pale because my body is literally eating its own blood to survive, Xie Feng thought dryly.
"Mother," he said, using the childish tone he had perfected. "I am full. Just... tired."
Lady Yun frowned. She dismissed the servants with a wave of her hand. Once the room was empty, her expression hardened slightly. She wasn't just a mother; she was the Matriarch of an Ancient Clan. She knew the politics.
"Your father asked about you today," she whispered, stroking his hair. "The Elder Council is getting impatient. They say... they say the resources spent on you could have groomed three 'King Body' geniuses."
Xie Feng remained silent.
"He wants to test you," she continued, her voice trembling. "Tomorrow. He wants to see if you have sensed the Qi."
Tomorrow? Xie Feng's mind raced. Too soon. I need another month.
If he failed the test tomorrow, the "Saint Rank" lie would be exposed. His father, Xie Canghe, would not hesitate to discard a "useless" tool to save his own reputation.
Lady Yun suddenly reached into her sleeve and pulled out a small wooden box. It was sealed with three talismans.
"I stole this from the Treasury," she whispered, her eyes wide with a mix of fear and madness. "Don't tell your father."
She peeled off the talismans and opened the box.
Inside lay a fruit the size of a thumb. It was crimson, pulsing like a beating heart. The air in the room instantly grew hot.
The Blood Bodhi Fruit.
A 500-year-old medicine. It contained enough violent energy to boil the blood of a grown man.
"Eat it," Lady Yun said, her eyes frantic. "It will force your meridians open. It might hurt, Feng-er, but you mustsense Qi before tomorrow. Or else..."
She didn't finish. She shoved the fruit toward his mouth.
Xie Feng looked at the fruit, then at his mother.
This woman was insane. Feeding this to a three-year-old was murder. It was a desperate gamble. If he were a normal child, he would melt from the inside out.
But I am not normal.
Xie Feng opened his mouth and swallowed the fruit whole.
BOOM!
It felt like swallowing a mouthful of lava.
Lady Yun watched him anxiously, expecting him to scream.
But Xie Feng didn't scream. He didn't even cry.
He sat down in the lotus position, his small hands resting on his knees.
Nameless Tablet, Activate.
In his Soul Sea, the grey stone tablet buzzed. It generated a suction force that latched onto the violent energy of the Blood Bodhi.
Instead of burning his organs, the energy was dragged into the black hole of his physique.
Refine!
The Chaos Heart Sutra slammed into gear. The energy of 500 years of medicinal accumulation was crushed, purified, and forced into his dry meridians.
Crack... Crack...
Inside his body, the first "Shackle" of the Mortal Foundation snapped.
Blood Tempering: Stage 1.
The energy didn't stop. The Void Physique was ravenous.
Stage 2.
Stage 3.
Red steam began to rise from Xie Feng's skin. His bones popped. Black sludge (impurities) was expelled from his pores.
Lady Yun covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face. "You did it... You sensed the Qi!"
Xie Feng opened his eyes. A flash of crimson light, sharp as a blade, flickered in his pupils before vanishing.
He exhaled a breath of hot, white steam.
He had broken through three stages in ten seconds.
To the outside world, he was now a prodigy.
But Xie Feng felt the hunger return, stronger than ever. The fruit was gone. The energy was gone. His body wanted more.
"Mother," Xie Feng said, his voice surprisingly steady for a toddler covered in black slime. "I want to take a bath. And then... I want to go to the Clan Library."
Lady Yun blinked, confused. "The Library? But you can't read yet."
Xie Feng smiled, an innocent, childish smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"I like the pictures."
The Library, he thought. The Xie Clan stores their 'failed' cultivation manuals in the basement. Techniques deemed too dangerous or demonic.
Those are the only ones that will satisfy this cursed body.
The game of survival had just moved to the next level.