In the depths of the Blood Mist Forest, within Andong Commandery, Qixia Kingdom.
Zhu Xiong’ing, after the demise of his parents and being framed by family elders coveting his parents' inheritance, was banished from the clan. Yet, even then, safety eluded him as he was pursued by several Black Robed martial artists in the Xiantian realm.
This world, capable of cultivation, also allowed for martial arts. The Xiantian realm was equivalent to the Qi Refining stage. Without spiritual roots, decades of arduous training could lead to this level, which was not problematic. Many weaker immortal cultivating families even hired martial artists to handle matters inconvenient for them, as it would be undignified for cultivators to deal with commoners.
Although Zhu Xiong’ing possessed spiritual roots, he was only a Five Spirit Root. Currently at the first layer of Qi Refining, he struggled to even cast a single spell, rendering him quite incapable.
Were it not for his parents’ constant concern for his safety.
They had bestowed upon him many treasures throughout his life.
Allowing him to continuously flee, he would likely have perished long ago.
However, after fleeing for so long and venturing deep into the Blood Mist Forest, he found himself completely depleted. Reluctant to be killed, he reached a cliff edge and decisively leaped.
His intention was likely to gamble—if he died, so be it; if he survived, perhaps he could escape to a new life.
Then, after a series of collisions, he suffered multiple comminuted fractures and severe internal injuries, falling from the cliff top into a small river below.
One could not help but wonder if he was lucky or unlucky.
Unlucky, because he sustained such grave injuries, which under normal circumstances would only allow him a few minutes of breath. Without some serendipitous encounter in this mountain, survival was improbable. Lucky, because if not for the repeated impacts against rocks and trees, providing some form of buffer, the shallow river below would have reduced him to a bloody pulp upon impact.
But at this moment, Ding Yun arrived.
More accurately, it was a clone of Ding Yun, separated after she refined a conceptual-level River God golden finger, that appeared in this small river.
She then selected him as one of her pawns.
Under Ding Yun's manipulation, she quickly activated the River God's abilities, transforming into a young maiden and lifting Zhu Xiong’ing out of the river. Simultaneously, beside him, she manifested a healthy golden-hued Zhu Xiong’ing with Golden Core realm cultivation, and a healthy silver-hued Zhu Xiong’ing with Foundation Establishment realm cultivation.
Following this, Zhu Xiong’ing's soul was drawn out by Ding Yun, forcing him to face the River God's inquiry.
"Young lad, pray tell, are you seeking this fleshly body, fractured and broken, with internal organs devastated, on the verge of expiring, or this healthy fleshly body with Foundation Establishment realm cultivation, or perhaps this healthy fleshly body with Golden Core realm cultivation?"
Zhu Xiong’ing, at this moment, was utterly bewildered.
He had no idea what was happening. He even had a fleeting thought that perhaps he had died, but his situation after death was quite peculiar. He had never heard of needing to make choices after death. No Yama, no soul reaper, just a mysterious woman, and three floating bodies presented for his selection—it was too bizarre.
However, Ding Yun had no time for explanations, nor did she wish to explain. She simply repeated her question.
Then, Zhu Xiong’ing, believing that lying after death was futile, responded with slight hesitation:
"It should be the body on the verge of expiring. But why do you say on the verge of expiring? Am I not dead already? Am I not in a soul state now?
Oh, no, I’ve become a ghost…"
"Ah, an honest child.
In that case, all three bodies shall be yours!"
Ding Yun, without the slightest delay, completed the established procedure and unhesitatingly flung all three bodies towards Zhu Xiong’ing's soul.
Subsequently, Zhu Xiong’ing's soul rapidly merged with his dying physical body. The golden and silver bodies thrown by Ding Yun transformed into streaks of gold and silver light, integrating into his damaged form. This process repaired his body, enhanced his physical foundation and spiritual root aptitude, and simultaneously elevated his cultivation.
Before long, in a state of daze.
He had become a veritable Golden Core realm cultivator.
From his physical body to his soul, and the cultivation and spiritual energy within his dantian, everything was of the Golden Core level.
His spiritual root had also advanced from a worthless Five Element spiritual root.
To a Five Element Primal Chaos spiritual root. This type possessed balanced Five Elements that naturally formed a cycle of mutual generation within the body, a special existence comparable to a Single Element spiritual root.
Yet, Zhu Xiong’ing remained stunned. He took a long time to recover, perceiving his surroundings for an extended period. He even pinched himself, prodded his dantian, and examined his soul, head, as well as the environment around him. It wasn't until the Xiantian martial artists who had been pursuing him arrived, only to be casually dispatched by a single palm strike from him, that he finally accepted reality.
He then proceeded to prostrate himself repeatedly, expressing his gratitude to the immortal fairy senior.
Following this, naturally, he returned to his clan with his newly acquired Golden Core strength to exact revenge. Although the acquisition of his strength was inexplicable, and he lacked Golden Core level cultivation techniques or spells, his original clan was merely a Foundation Establishment family. With his Golden Core realm strength, revenge was undoubtedly effortless.
Furthermore, he only intended to seek revenge.
He had no intention of annihilating his clan.
He surmised that those in his clan who had previously been unwilling to assist him, deeming him weak and without future, would now, in consideration of his power, refrain from speaking for the families who had seized his parents' inheritance.
It was precisely with these thoughts and intentions.
That Zhu Xiong’ing resolutely decided to return for revenge.
Meanwhile, similar River God incidents occurred in a total of five instances across Qixia Kingdom. For example, Pinghe Village sacrificed several pigs and sheep to the River God, ultimately obtaining pig and sheep demons at the peak of Qi Refining that obeyed their original masters, and a pig demon and sheep demon at the peak of Foundation Establishment.
Another example involved a disciple of a demonic sect who accidentally dropped a magical artifact into the river. Driven by greed, he not only lied but also attempted to forcefully seize a golden magical artifact. He suffered a double loss, not only having his original artifact confiscated but also enduring a backlash to his body.
These were instances involving cultivators. The remaining three incidents involved Ding Yun casually finding three mortals who had lost items and manifesting her divine presence, granting them silver and gold plates of what they had lost.
It was difficult to find cultivators who genuinely lost things frequently. Moreover, items not falling into water did not comply with the activation rules of the golden finger. Finding suitable targets quickly proved challenging, so she had to improvise with these few instances for now.
Additionally, Ding Yun's current physical body was too frail and had never undergone cultivation. This meant that even though she was continuously using soul power to drive the golden finger, it still placed a certain strain on her body, making it unsustainable for prolonged periods and impossible to directly affect the entire world at once.
Therefore, she could only proceed slowly, as haste was not an option.