In a world filled with legendary swordsmen, sorcerers, and countless other mythical beings, tales of their greatness can be heard in every corner. But oddly enough, no one has ever truly seen them. If they do exist, why has no one confirmed their presence?
Well, isn't it obvious? There's no television or internet in this world.
People rely on word of mouth or scattered writings passed down through history. And even those are impossible to verify. There's no real proof whether the stories are real or just myths.
Frauds can easily make any tale legendary. Someone could claim that dragons exist simply because they say they saw one.
Why talk about frauds?
Because, at this very moment, a six-year-old boy named Ray Walker is watching a man—clearly a fraud—telling a tale about encountering a dragon.
Ray is a boy with black hair and blue eyes, like his mother. He has a handsome face, resembling his father. Today, he's dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and black shoes.
But more importantly—Ray is a reincarnated soul.
In his past life, he was a professional gamer, quite a famous one at that. Known online by the nickname "Kano"—named after one of his favorite anime characters—he lived his life in front of a screen. Tragically, he died after playing for three days straight, with little food and water. By the time he was hospitalized, it was too late. One thing led to another—and he passed away.
Now, Ray has been reborn in a legendary world where magic is real, swordsmen exist, and extraordinary talents are everywhere. He was born into a noble household, blessed with immense talent in both cultivation and combat.
But none of it matters to Ray.
To him, everything is boring. Why? Because there's no internet.
Ray's father, Robert, is a man of great stature—both in looks and in power. A famous cultivator and swordsman, he serves as a general in the Kingdom of Richard. Handsome and respected, Robert is surrounded by beautiful women, but only a few have ever caught his interest.
He married four women in total.
Roxanne, daughter of a renowned alchemist, gave him five children. Barbara, from a blacksmithing family, bore him four. Selene, who came from a talisman-crafting background, gave him three. Diana, of the formation clan, had only one child: Ray.
Ray is the thirteenth child of Robert and the only child of Diana.
Out of all the arts—swordsmanship, talismans, formations, cultivation—Ray became fascinated with talismans and formations. He decided early on that he would master both and, one day, create his own version of the internet in this world.
In this family, every child must choose martial arts as their primary path and pick a second skill as a complement. But Ray had other plans. He wanted formation and talisman mastery as his main focus, with everything else secondary.
He was determined to change this boring world.
In his early research, he discovered the existence of power stones, known as crystal stones, categorized into five grades: early, mid, late, peak, and perfect. He also learned that crystal stone can boost energy and support cultivation.
Despite having big dreams, Ray realized he was far behind others in strength. He wanted to create an online system but lacked the power to protect it. And in this world, power was everything. Without it, he'd be hunted down.
By the age of one, Ray could speak. At two, he was reading and writing. By three, he was training with a sword.
But then, problems began.
When he turned four, he stopped his physical training. Instead, he spent his days in the library, reading and studying. This caused frequent arguments between Robert and Diana. Eventually, they reached a compromise: Ray must train for two hours a day in swordsmanship if he wants to continue reading in the library.
To avoid causing trouble for his mother, Ray agreed. He trained daily—for her sake.
For two years, Ray studied formations and talismans tirelessly.
Then came his next obstacle.
At age six, Ray discovered he couldn't create runes, formations, or talismans without having undergone the awakening—a process normally reserved for those eight years or older.
Frustrated, he went to his mother, Diana—a kind and gentle woman with long black hair, blue eyes, and a soft, round face. That day, she wore a long blue dress, matching earrings, and a locket chain. A shining diamond wedding ring adorned her hand, and her blue shoes completed the elegant ensemble.
Ray begged her to let him awaken early. But the answer was a firm no.
He tried to act cute, pleading again—but her answer didn't change.
Diana explained gently: awakening below the age of eight has been tested countless times. Doing so before your bones and foundation are mature will result in low talent and a mediocre future.
Ray was disappointed but accepted it.
Knowing she had to redirect his focus, Diana began to educate Ray on cultivation stages.
"First is the Qi Stage," she said, "where a mortal begins gathering Qi. After reaching its peak, one can break through to the Wood Stage—becoming a true cultivator and beginning the path of spiritual energy cultivation."
Ray listened, eyes wide with excitement.
Diana continued.
"After Wood comes Iron, then Bronze, followed by Silver, and finally the Golden Stage. Each of these six stages has nine levels."
She then explained that non-combat paths like alchemy, blacksmithing, formation, and talisman crafting follow the same stage names—but instead of levels, they have four parts: Early, Mid, Late, and Peak.
Ray processed all this slowly, taking time to fully understand.
Then Diana shared a piece of information that lit a fire in his heart:
"If you can cultivate your soul, you can begin learning formations—even without awakening. To do this, you must learn soul runes."
Excited, Ray received a soul rune book from Diana. He read it once. Then again. And again.
He attempted to form a soul core but failed repeatedly. Each time he failed, he would analyze what went wrong, taking notes in his notebook. He began to realize how complex and abstract the runes were.
Eventually, he made a discovery:
"Runes are laws."
A wild idea formed in his head: What if he absorbed all types of laws and formed a single formation soul core?
He had no idea this was dangerous.
Driven by obsession, Ray began absorbing every type of law he'd read about in the library—one after another. He pulled rune after rune into his core, without stopping.
Diana, secretly watching from afar, believed Ray was finally succeeding in forming his soul core. She smiled, thinking he was doing a great job.
She had no idea of the risk her son was taking.
When Ray began groaning in pain, Diana rushed over. Upon checking his soul state, she was shocked.
Immediately, she created concealing formations around the area, along with soul cultivation barriers, to prevent anyone from interrupting the process. She placed a large number of soul crystal stones nearby to aid him and even fed him a soul pill to ease the pain.
Only then did Ray begin to feel relief—though he still writhed in agony.
After a full day of relentless focus and struggle, Ray successfully formed his soul core—before collapsing unconscious.
Diana checked him anxiously and sighed in relief when she saw he had only fainted.
But more than that—she was astonished.
Ray had managed to cultivate his soul up to the 9th level of the Qi Stage, just one step away from reaching the Wood Stage.
As Ray fainted with a smile, one thought ran through his mind:
"I've taken one step closer to my dream."