Red Fire Town, the Long Family.
The vast estate was divided into numerous sections. One's status determined one's place of residence.
In the southwest corner stood a rundown Little Courtyard House.
CRASH.
With a loud bang, the already dilapidated door was brutally kicked apart.
Three young men and one young woman burst in. The four teenagers looked utterly vicious, and their furious roars preceded them.
"Long Ao, you son of a bitch! Are you trying to get us killed?"
Inside the courtyard, a young man with a tall, straight posture was practicing his punches. His features were sharp and resolute, with sword-like brows and eyes as bright as stars. Each punch he threw was as fierce as a pouncing tiger, seemingly backed by immense force.
Hearing the shouts, Long Ao frowned, his face filled with disgust. He stopped his practice and took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
"Well, well, if it isn't our family's trash, Old Qi, working so hard. Truly admirable."
"Pah! Brother Jiu, can you not be so disgusting? Trash is trash. No matter how hard he trains, he'll always be trash. Have you ever seen an eighteen-year-old who still hasn't condensed their Inner Strength?"
"Never."
"See? He's single-handedly disgraced the entire Long Family. If it weren't for First Uncle, a piece of trash like him would've been thrown out of the family long ago."
The four of them ridiculed Long Ao without restraint, their faces filled with contempt and derision, each one looking down on him from on high.
The four were direct disciples of the Dragon Race: Long'an, Long Zheng, Long Fang, and Long Qianqian. Their fathers, Long Jian and Long Lin, were the blood brothers of Long Ao's own father, Long Yi. The relationship between the five cousins was self-evident.
Long Ao remained silent, but his furious gaze betrayed the rage in his heart. He knew that no matter how angry he became, he could only endure it. Otherwise, he would just provoke a vicious beating.
"Ooh, ooh, everyone, look! Old Qi is getting angry! You're scaring me to death! Old Qi, please don't be mad. I'm so scared," Long Fang said, clutching his chest in a parody of fear.
"Long Ao, from this day forward, you are forbidden from practicing the Long Family's Tyrant Dragon Technique."
"By what right? Grandfather once said that any disciple of the Long Family can cultivate the Tyrant Dragon Technique," Long Ao finally spoke up. The Tyrant Dragon Technique was his only hope; being forbidden from practicing it would mean the end of everything for him.
The contempt on Long'an's face deepened. He sneered, "Grandfather did say that, but it depends on who we're talking about. A piece of trash who can't even condense Inner Strength... what can you possibly do by cultivating the Tyrant Dragon Technique, other than bring shame to the Long Family? Tell me, what else are you good for?"
Long Ao was struck speechless. It was the truth. For ten whole years, he had been unable to condense his Inner Strength, stuck at the Postnatal Third Heaven Realm.
"What? Cat got your tongue? Exchanging even a few words with trash like you is an insult to me. Enough nonsense. We're here to settle a score."
"Settle what score?"
"Are you playing dumb with us? Old Qi, I never thought you weren't just trash, but a treacherous little snake too. I told you to clean the ancestral hall yesterday. Go take a look at the piss-poor job you did! Because of you, we got a harsh punishment from Second Uncle! So, tell me, how are we going to settle this score?"
"You were the ones who were supposed to be punished! Cleaning the ancestral hall was your job, so why did you make me do it? I helped you, and you're still finding fault? If you thought it wasn't clean enough, why didn't you clean it yourselves?"
His pent-up anger finally erupted like a volcano.
The four of them were stunned by Long Ao's retort. A moment later, their faces twisted in fury. Long'an let out a cold, sinister laugh. "Quite the silver tongue. It looks like Old Qi is itching for another beating."
With Evil smiles, the four of them advanced on Long Ao step by step.
"You..."
Before Long Ao could finish, the four of them swarmed him. Punches and kicks rained down on his body from all directions. They beat him for a full minute before finally stopping.
Seeing Long Ao still standing firm, the four seemed slightly impressed, but that feeling was quickly overwhelmed by mockery and contempt.
"Old Qi, don't say I didn't warn you. If we see that the ancestral hall isn't clean by tomorrow morning, it won't be as simple as just another beating. At that point, forget the Tyrant Dragon Technique—you can kiss your chances of practicing any Martial Technique goodbye."
After shooting him one last contemptuous glare, the four departed, looking thoroughly satisfied. As their figures faded into the distance, their faint, sporadic laughter drifted back.
Long Ao remained standing, resolute. His clothes were in tatters, stained with blood.
In that moment, Long Ao seemed to have forgotten the throbbing pain from his injuries. The rage and bitterness in his heart were a far greater agony.
His hands were clenched so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms, yet he was completely unaware. He kept asking himself over and over, 'Why? Why is all this happening?'
'Strength. It all comes down to strength.' Long Ao knew with absolute clarity that he had to become strong. Only then could he prevent anyone from bullying him. His fists clenched even tighter. He told himself that no matter what it took, he had to gain power.
On the Celestial Martial Continent, strength was everything.
Ten years ago, hailed as the number one prodigy of the Long Family, Long Ao had used his breathtaking talent to officially step into the Inner Strength Sixth Heaven Realm.
Ten years ago, Long Ao had been eight years old.
An eight-year-old Inner Strength Sixth Heaven Martial Artist was not just a prodigy in the Long Family; he was the most talented genius in all of Red Fire Town. As such, Long Ao was the target of endless envy and jealousy. Everyone used three words to describe him: a dazzling prodigy.
His speed of Cultivation and the heights of his talent were absolutely peerless among his generation, allowing him to sweep through all of Red Fire Town unopposed.
But fate can be cruel.
Just as Long Ao was about to break through from the Inner Strength Sixth Heaven to the Inner Strength Seventh Heaven, the Inner Strength within his body completely failed to form an Endless Cycle. In the end, not only did he fail to advance, but his power plummeted, and he regressed all the way back to the Postnatal Third Heaven Realm.
No one knew why. Even Long Ao himself had no idea what had happened. From that day on, the Long Family tried every method imaginable to restore their former genius, but the final result was always the same: disappointment, disappointment, and yet more disappointment.
Just when everyone else had given up on him, Long Ao refused to give up on himself. He practiced his Cultivation day and night, working ten thousand times harder than anyone else, but all his endless effort came to nothing.
'Should I really give up?'
Long Ao had asked himself this question countless times, but his answer was always the same: he had to persevere.
The Martial Arts Peak was the goal he had always dreamed of. He knew that to have a better life—to even survive—he had to become stronger. If not for this belief, he never could have persevered for a decade. Not everyone was capable of such tenacity.
And so, Long Ao persisted, training day in and day out for ten years. But fate was cruel and played the greatest joke on him. No matter how hard he tried or how much he persevered, he never again succeeded in condensing his Inner Strength.
Gradually, the former prodigy was saddled with the title of "trash." Perhaps it was because of all the envy and resentment he'd accumulated back then, but the Long Family disciples of today now sought him out for trouble, not only with verbal ridicule and mockery, but with fists and feet as well.
Ten years of effort and ten years of perseverance had earned him nothing but a single word: trash. Not only could he not hold his head high, but he had also brought shame upon his father.
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