18th March, Year 42009 of the Elemental Era
Li Gang had already begun his experimentation on various living beings, including mice, cats, dogs, etc.
However, he wouldn't do it at home.
He would silently leave for the woods, capture them, and conduct his experiments there. He had already found a place near a waterfall where he performed his experiments.
He would also train there.
It had already been two years since he started training, but he had yet to reach the Rank 1 stage!
He didn't even feel like he was about to break through... and it appeared he was still a long way from it.
However, his mastery of poisons had improved to a higher degree. He had already succeeded in making Grade 1 and Grade 2 poisons. At the same time, he could also make Grade 3 poisons.
He never bothered selling those poisons for more wealth; he knew it would reveal himself.
On this day, he found a boy near the waterfall.
Li Gang knew him. He was Li Hao's nephew, named Li Hai. Li Hai was also the cousin of Li Ming and was one year older than Li Gang.
However, his mental age was only eight years old and he was too naive to defend against Li Gang.
Li Gang easily deceived him into consuming a strong poison with long-lasting effects. For Li Gang, the path of poison was quite easy, since no one in his village or the surrounding areas understood much about poisons.
Even most doctors and alchemists couldn't resolve a poison without understanding exactly what type it was.
It should be noted that even if a strong warrior with cultivation at Rank 4 or Rank 5 had resistance against these poisons, it was an entirely different case when it came to healing others.
They were knowledgeable enough to heal most poisons, but this Toxic Refinement Art comprised some of the rarest poisons at every grade—poisons no one had ever heard of.
He easily poisoned Li Hai, then threatened his parents to keep silent if they wanted the antidote.
He would occasionally provide them with antidotes and slowly forced them to work for him.
With their help, Li Gang gathered various other materials for refining Grade 3 and Grade 4 poisons.
Unfortunately, even they couldn't provide him with materials for Grade 5 and Grade 6 poisons.
Li Gang also poisoned a few other members, but he was caught by Li Hao when he tried poisoning Li Ming.
He had never interacted much with Li Hao and thought he could control him as well, but Li Hao directly reported it to his father, Li Minghui.
As a result, Li Gang was put into confinement.
Fortunately, Li Hao understood that this kind of matter shouldn't be revealed to outsiders, and they handled it silently.
All the members who had been poisoned never realized that they had missed the chance to be freed from Li Gang's control!
Li Minghui personally came to Li Gang and tried to force him to hand over the Toxic Refinement Art, but Li Gang had long since burned it.
He had already memorized everything and no longer needed the book. Every now and then, he would recall the contents and revise them by writing, ensuring his memories of those poisons wouldn't fade over time.
After failing a few times, Li Minghui again caught him refining poison. He destroyed the equipment Li Gang used and reprimanded him.
Li Gang didn't even care about the reprimand and said coldly,
"You mind your own business, and I'll mind mine. Don't try to come in my way, because you're not capable enough to stop me."
Li Minghui looked at him deeply and said, "Within three years, I will crush your pride and arrogance. And Li Yuxong will be the one to do that."
Li Gang looked at the little kid standing behind his father.
Then he looked back at Li Minghui and said with disdain, "You'd better not try anything funny. Otherwise, I'll crush your dream of becoming a great Village Head."
Three years later
28th January, Year 42012 of the Elemental Era
Today, Li Gang reached the age of ten.
On this day, Li Minghui called him to the family battleground. Various elders were present.
Li Gang glanced around and found that many people were already there. He knew why he had been called, as he had been informed beforehand.
It was for a friendly spar between him and Li Yuxong.
He first bowed to everyone, then silently entered the battlefield, as if he wanted to end it quickly and return.
Li Yuxong also entered.
A Rank 2 Warrior was present to oversee everything.
There was one thing Li Gang understood very well. He had never received formal training, and whether in his past life or this one, he lacked general battlefield awareness.
He knew that the moment he attacked, he would expose various weak points that could be easily exploited.
Li Gang had already reached Rank 1, low stage. He had reached it before Li Yuxong; however, this wasn't surprising since Li Gang had started cultivation two years earlier.
In the battle, Li Gang stood still, as if he had no intention of attacking. He calmly waited for Li Yuxong to strike first.
He knew he was incapable of making a perfect stance and attack without leaving weaknesses. Thus, it was better to let the opponent attack and exploit their flaws instead.
He was fairly confident that Li Yuxong hadn't mastered any technique that was impossible to counter.
Li Yuxong took out a wooden sword and charged toward Li Gang swiftly. His movement was very subtle, and Li Gang immediately noticed that counterattacking would be risky.
Li Yuxong's attacks were meticulous, with little to no weak points.
Li Gang changed tactics.
He immediately went on the defensive, allowing Li Yuxong to take advantage and continue suppressing him.
Attack after attack came, but Li Gang kept dodging. This excited Li Yuxong. Feeling that he was winning, his attacks became increasingly blunt.
As Li Gang continued dodging, he noticed an opening.
Instead of backing off, he suddenly moved closer, interfering with Li Yuxong's momentum.
Li Yuxong's sword strike had been aligned for Li Gang to dodge backward, but Li Gang moved forward instead.
Li Yuxong tried to stop himself and regain his stance—but how could Li Gang allow that?
Li Gang instantly moved a finger and attacked his eye, forcing Yuxong to turn his head away. Both forward moment and this attack was pre-planned and happened instantly!
Taking advantage of lack of focus, Li Gang grabbed his hand and used Li Yuxong's own momentum to lift him in a circular arc, executing a backward throw.
Li Yuxong was slammed heavily onto the ground as Li Gang lifted his legs and pressed them against his stomach.
Li Gang glanced at the Rank 2 Warrior and said calmly, "It's over."
The Rank 2 Warrior was dumbfounded and couldn't react for a moment. Regaining his composure, he announced, "Li Gang wins!"
Every one was surprise at the result. Many elders were disappointed in Li Yuxong and the environment turned silent. Li Gang paid no attention and left as if it had nothing to do with him.
Two years later
1st April, Year 42014 of the Elemental Era
Awakening Ceremony
Li Gang exited the pavilion and found his brother waiting outside.
Li Yuxong hesitated before nervously asking, "How was it, big brother?"
Li Gang gave him a long look, his eyes briefly shifting toward the void where Kong Xuan was hiding, staring into the depths of his concealment before fixing on the exit. "It's meaningless."
Kong Xuan murmured faintly, "Was that a coincidence?"
Kong Xuan couldn't see through all of this and had to leave after determining who the Wanderer was. But it wasn't the same for the Immortals.
Beyond the Divine Spirit World
Immortal Zhu looked at Li Gang, narrowing his eyes. He murmured, 'Given his style, if he couldn't awaken his talent, he should have returned earlier. Not only he stayed within the pavilion longer, he saw through Kong Xuan? What was he plotting?'
Li Gang disliked wasting time, and even though he couldn't awaken his talent, he stayed until the bell rang. This was quite suspicious.
Immortal Zhu immediately read Li Gang's memories to check everything he did inside.
Li Gang's memories, few moments earlier
He calmly opened the gate and entered the Awakening Ceremony.
As he stepped through, darkness enveloped him. Countless stars stretched endlessly across the void.
Li Gang was stunned. "Is this... the Nine Heavens?"
He followed the instructions and began meditating. Unexpectedly, a ray of light circled him, as though searching for its target yet unable to enter.
His face grew grim. Though he had expected this outcome, it still struck hard. Spiritual Imprints determined sixty percent of a person's potential, with aptitude making up the rest. Not only was his aptitude a lowly Grade D—he had failed to awaken a Spiritual Imprint altogether.
He recalled Zhang Fengwei's words: "A ray of light will enter your soul and awaken the hidden Spiritual Imprint within your soul."
Li Gang realized the truth. As a transmigrator, his soul was not native to this world. If only souls born here possessed Imprints, then he would never have one.
At the same time, he relaxed slightly and murmured, "The Awakening Ceremony is held during a period when Heavenly Dao itself is involved."
"Heavenly Dao is supreme, so the intuition I had before—the one that stopped me from deducing further and restrained my thoughts—there shouldn't be any problem now."
There were many things he could have deduced but didn't bother to do.
First and foremost, the cultivation of a Warrior also enhanced their cognitive power. He had long noticed this point after observing higher-ranking Warriors compared to lower-ranking ones.
The higher dimensionality of this world was another such matter. He had done many experiments but couldn't come to a conclusion. It was because he had deliberately refused to think deeper all this time.
He had forcibly suppressed his true cognitive abilities. And he had to continue acting as if whatever he deduced during this period was something he didn't know after leaving.