162: Abandoned Land, Fallen Genius

Beyond the magnificent epic of the Main Universe, in the cold, desolate, and remote corners forgotten by the brilliant starlight, countless 'Lower Planes', as tiny as dust, silently operate according to their respective, predetermined, and sorrowful destinies.

The Place of Abandonment.

It is the most inconspicuous speck among these billions of dust particles.

The Laws here are incomplete, as if forcibly castrated by some supreme existence, pinning the growth limit of all living beings firmly beneath a pathetic ceiling.

The Spiritual Qi here is as thin as mist; the energy concentration of the so-called 'Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands' at the highest level cannot even compare to a common city park in the Main World on a clear morning.

The destiny here is even more cruelly despair-inducing—'Hundred-Year Harvest'.

This is a captive, hopeless… cage… waiting to be harvested.

The Xiao Family, one of Qingyang City's three great Families, also had a glorious past.

But at this moment, the entire Xiao Family was shrouded in a suppressive and mocking atmosphere.

Behind the mountain, a thousand-jin heavy waterfall, like a celestial river inverted, crashed down with immense force onto the cold black rocks below, emitting a deafening roar.

And beneath that terrifying waterfall, which could instantly flatten refined iron into a pancake, a lean, bare-chested young figure gritted his teeth, struggling to endure.

He is the Young Lord of the Xiao Family, Shi Yi.

He was also… Qingyang City's number one Genius in a hundred years.

Three years ago, at the tender age of fifteen, he had already touched the Peak of the 'Martial Spirit' Realm in this world, only one step away from the legendary 'Martial King' Realm. Everyone believed that he would be the Child of the Plane, the most hopeful in Qingyang City for several centuries to break destiny and impact the supreme 'Martial Ancestor' Realm.

However, the fall of a Genius often happens in an instant.

Three years ago, during the 'Black Mist Forest' Forbidden Ground adventure that determined his life's fate, to save his noble fiancée from the 'Holy Land' from the claws of a terrifying S-rank Demonic Beast, the 'Nine Nether Tiger', he forcibly used a forbidden art at the cost of burning his own life Origin. Although he successfully bought time for his fiancée to escape, he himself had his Dantian shattered and all his Meridians severed by the enraged Demonic Beast's claw.

The Genius, overnight, became a cripple.

From the clouds, he fell into the dust.

At this moment, under the insane impact of the thousand-jin waterfall, Shi Yi's body was already covered in scars; countless bloodstains and bruises spread across his not-so-sturdy body, looking shocking. His bones were wailing under the unbearable weight; his muscles had been torn countless times.

But in his dark, deep eyes, the flame named 'unyielding' had not only not extinguished during these three years of endless mockery and disdain but instead burned… even more fiercely!

What if he couldn't Cultivate internal Qi?

What if his Dantian was shattered?

As long as I, Shi Yi, still have a breath, I will use this broken body, in this most primitive, most clumsy way, to launch the most tenacious… resistance against this damned fate!

Not far away, several passing Xiao Family Disciples looked at the self-abusing figure beneath the waterfall, like a fool, with undisguised mockery filled with superiority.

"Look, that good-for-nothing is doing useless work again."

"Haha, how pitiful. The former number one Genius can now only use this lowest-level Body Refining method to numb himself. He doesn't really think this will make him rise again, does he?"

"Don't say that, be careful he hears you. After all, he became like this for that Fairy from the 'Holy Land'. Maybe, after the Family Grand Competition in three days, if that Fairy is happy, she'll reward him with a few Spirit Pills to turn him back into a Genius?"

"Hahahahaha…"

Waves of harsh, malicious laughter, carried by the wind, clearly reached Shi Yi's ears.

Shi Yi's body trembled slightly. His tightly clenched fists had nails that had even deeply pierced his palms, drawing a trace of crimson blood.

But he, in the end, still did not turn back.

He just gritted his teeth even tighter.

Just then, a clear, warbler-like girl's voice, tinged with a hint of heartache and annoyance, came from not far away, interrupting their laughter.

"Are you all so idle?!"

The few Xiao Family Disciples turned around, and upon seeing the newcomer, the mockery on their faces instantly receded, replaced by a hint of awkwardness and apprehension. They sheepishly turned and left.

A young girl in a light green dress, with a delicate appearance and a gentle demeanor, was seen holding a food box and quickly walking to the waterfall's edge.

Her name is Xiao Meier, the granddaughter of the Xiao Family's Grand Elder, and also Shi Yi's… childhood sweetheart.

In these three years of changing fortunes and shifting human affections, she was the only one still willing to stand by him.

"Brother Shi Yi, you're doing this again!" Xiao Meier's eyes instantly reddened as she looked at Shi Yi's shocking scars. Without a word, she pulled Shi Yi out from under the waterfall, then carefully took out a jade bottle from her embrace and gently applied the cool medicinal paste to the wounds on his back.

"The doctor said your Meridians are completely necrotic and can't withstand such intense impacts anymore…" Her voice was choked with tears.

Shi Yi felt the coolness and warmth coming from his back, and the hostility in his heart, which had arisen from the mockery, gradually subsided. He turned his head, looked at the girl's worried face, and showed a forced but incredibly sincere smile.

"I'm fine, Meier. I know my own body."

Xiao Meier looked at his eyes, which had never extinguished their flame, and knew that further persuasion was useless, so she could only sigh helplessly.

She opened the food box in her hand; inside was a bowl of steaming medicinal porridge, brewed with precious exotic beast essence blood. She had saved a month's worth of her own Cultivation resources to get it for him.

"Drink it while it's hot."

Shi Yi did not refuse; he knew this was the girl's kind intention.

Watching Shi Yi devour the medicinal porridge, a smile finally appeared on Xiao Meier's face. But then, as if remembering something, the smile gradually gave way to a deep worry.

She hesitated for a moment, and finally, she reminded him in a low voice:

"Brother Shi Yi, do… do you still remember?"

"In three days, it will be our Xiao Family's once-in-a-decade Family Grand Competition."

She paused, her voice becoming even softer, as if afraid to hurt Shi Yi.

"It's also… it's also the day you… agreed to meet that person from the 'Holy Land'…"