The night was exceptionally still.
Long Ao cleaned himself up, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and ultimately chose to go clean the ancestral hall.
This wasn't because he was a coward or afraid of trouble, but because he didn't want to lose his chance to continue his Cultivation.
With heavy, reluctant steps, Long Ao arrived before the Long Family's ancestral hall, located in their Forbidden Land.
The Long Family's ancestral hall, a place to venerate the family's ancestors, was situated in the deepest part of the estate. Encircled by trees, the environment was secluded and tranquil; almost no one ever visited.
Gently pushing open the doors to the ancestral hall, a damp chill washed over him, making him shiver. Long Ao muttered to himself, "What good does cleaning for you do? When have you ever blessed me? If I have a next life, I really don't want to be a member of the Long Family again."
With a resigned and bitter smile, Long Ao entered the hall and closed the doors behind him. He glanced around but didn't start cleaning right away. Instead, he walked straight to the offering table and plopped down in front of it.
"I really don't know what I've been pushing myself for all these years. Was it all just so others could ridicule and mock me?"
He let out a self-deprecating laugh. The word 'useless' had hounded him for years, a constant whip driving him onward, forbidding him from slacking off. He had to persevere. But the result of all his perseverance? He was still useless.
In the dim light, the only sound was the rustling of the wind outside.
'Huh? What's that?'
A flicker of light from the southeast corner of the hall suddenly caught Long Ao's attention.
He stood and walked to the southeast corner. The wooden wall was rotting with age and emitted a faint, foul odor. Waving a hand in front of his face, Long Ao forced himself to endure the smell and began to inspect the area closely by the dim light.
'Is it hollow?'
Driven by curiosity, Long Ao gently tapped on several of the floor tiles. He found that the tile in the very corner sounded different. 'Hollow?'
Unsure what lay beneath the tile, Long Ao tried to pry it up. But the light was too dim; he couldn't see what was inside at all.
He reached his right hand into the dark opening beneath the tile. Once most of his arm was inside, his fingers fumbled upon something damp, and he pulled it out.
Looking at the object in his hand, Long Ao let out a deep sigh. He seemed to have grown used to his terrible luck.
The object in Long Ao's hand was a small, square seal. It was completely black and covered in rust, yet he could still make out that some kind of pattern was carved on the Small Seal.
He was disappointed, but his curiosity won out.
Holding the Small Seal up, Long Ao used the dim light to carefully examine the pattern carved upon it.
The Small Seal had six faces, and each was carved with a pattern. Taken individually, no one would be able to recognize what the patterns depicted. However, looking at all six faces in sequence revealed that they combined to form a single, complete image.
'A dragon?'
'The image of a Giant Dragon?'
As he examined all six faces of the Small Seal, Long Ao was amazed to find that the patterns linked together to form the image of a Giant Dragon. The carving was so lifelike—from the dragon's head, body, and claws to its Dragon Scales, every part was exquisitely detailed.
Giant Dragons... beings of legend.
Although he had never seen a real one, Long Ao knew what a Giant Dragon was supposed to look like.
'So what if it has a dragon on it?'
He grumbled to himself. The thought that his decade of persistence and hard work had earned him nothing but scorn and the label of "useless" filled Long Ao with an unventable, bitter rage. He happened to have something in his hand, and without a second thought, he violently threw the Small Seal.
When it rains, it pours.
The Small Seal, thrown with such force, slammed into the wall. After a burst of small sparks, it ricocheted back with the same velocity, heading straight for Long Ao. Startled, he instinctively threw his hands up to cover his face. 'Hit me anywhere, just don't ruin my face!'
"Agh!"
The seal struck him hard, instantly opening a small gash on his arm. Blood flowed from the wound, dripping squarely onto the Small Seal.
Wincing from the pain, Long Ao completely failed to notice that the blood dripping onto the Small Seal was being rapidly absorbed. The seal stopped, hovering in mid-air. Just then, a bizarre aura radiated from it, and a moment later, a massive black Divine Dragon appeared.
A Long Ying danced in the air as a powerful Dragon Breath filled the entire ancestral hall. Long Ao, forgetting the pain in his arm, could only stare with wide eyes, unable to believe the scene unfolding before him.
'Is this really happening?' Long Ao asked himself.
"After so many years, I have finally found one."
Before Long Ao could react, the enormous Long Ying rushed toward him, dissolving into countless black specks that flooded into his body.
A strange, powerful energy instantly suffused his entire body. Long Ao trembled once, then lost consciousness.
The night was still.
The ancestral hall was silent once more. Long Ao lay quietly on the floor, his body filled with Inner Strength that was now entering his Dantian, beginning to form an Endless Cycle.
Ten years ago, Long Ao had not only condensed his Inner Strength but had even reached the Inner Strength Sixth Heaven Realm. However, he failed at the final step—forming the Endless Cycle. Now, a decade later, while he was completely bewildered and unaware of what had happened, the Endless Cycle had begun to form within his Dantian. It had to be said that fate truly toyed with people.
On the Celestial Martial Continent, Martial Artists reigned supreme, and they were divided into Postnatal Martial Artists and Innate Martial Artists.
The Postnatal stage consists of ten realms, from the Postnatal First Heaven Realm to the Inner Strength Tenth Heaven Realm. At the Fourth Heaven, a Martial Artist condenses Inner Strength, and at the Seventh Heaven, they form the state of an Endless Cycle.
Among the Four Great Clans of Red Fire Town, the Long Family included, there was not a single Innate Martial Artist. The most powerful among them were Peak Martial Artists at the Inner Strength Tenth Heaven.
An unknown amount of time passed before the unconscious Long Ao let out a pained groan. He slowly opened his eyes and struggled to his feet, recalling the recent events as if they were a dream.
'A Giant Dragon?'
'I actually saw a Giant Dragon! Even though it was only a Long Ying, it was still related to a Giant Dragon.'
'Where's the Long Ying? Where's the Small Seal?'
He was bewildered. The Small Seal he had just found and the Long Ying he had just seen were both gone. 'Did I see a ghost?'
He glanced at the corner. The floor tile he'd pried up was still lying on the ground. 'So I wasn't just seeing things. In that case, where did the Long Ying and the Small Seal go?'
For a moment, Long Ao was utterly bewildered. He had no idea what was going on. Why had the things that were here just a moment ago vanished after he woke up? 'Did someone come here while I was out?' That seemed unlikely.
"Huh?" he gasped in surprise. A look of sheer ecstasy spread across Long Ao's face. He had just discovered that the Inner Strength he had been unable to condense for ten years had now appeared in his body. What's more, it was already forming an Endless Cycle within his Dantian.