Setting: Zong Ling Continent — Zhou Kingdom, a small merchant city near the eastern border.
Fourteen-year-old Kang Ha (real name before renaming) moved through the crowded market with sharp eyes and empty pockets. Life in a merchant city was hard for orphans, and harder for boys who refused to bow their heads.
He slipped into a small trinket shop, pretending to browse. When the shopkeeper turned away, Kang Ha's fingers moved fast—he snatched a small silver necklace from the counter and dashed out into the street.
"HEY! STOP!"
But the boy was already gone, blending into the crowd.
He turned into a narrow alley, breathing hard. At the end of the alley waited three thin, dirty-looking young men—low-rank street thugs.
The Tiger Gang.
Kang Ha tossed the necklace toward them.
"Here. Now give me the money you promised."
The leader, a bald teen with a scar on his cheek, grinned.
"Heh. Good job little rat. Here's your payment."
He flipped three tiny copper coins.
Kang Ha stared at them.
"…Three copper? You said one silver."
The thugs' smiles disappeared.
"You talk too much."
"We're members of the Tiger Gang."
"You dare question us?"
Kang Ha clenched the necklace in his fist.
"I don't care who you are. Give me back the necklace then. I don't want your copper."
The scarred thug stepped forward, anger twisting his face.
"So you want to die, huh?"
Kang Ha understood instantly—they wouldn't let him walk away.
Three copper can't change my life. But this necklace might…
He turned around as if backing off. The gang started laughing—
And Kang Ha struck.
He grabbed a broken rock from the ground and smashed it into the back of the leader's head.
CRACK!
The boy fell instantly, unconscious.
The other two spun around.
"YOU LITTLE BASTARD—!"
Kang Ha didn't give them a chance. He drove the rock into the second thug's forehead.
THUD!
The last one collapsed in fear, hands shaking.
"D-Don't kill me! Here—here! Take the necklace! Take everything!"
But Kang Ha didn't hear him. Rage… hunger… desperation… everything mixed together.
He stepped forward like a wild animal.
The thug tried to block, but the boy smashed the rock onto his skull again and again until—
Silence.
Three bodies lay still.
Kang Ha's hands trembled as he checked.
Two were dead.
One still breathing weakly.
He placed his fingers around the thug's throat.
Snap.
Kang Ha's breathing was heavy. His heart raced—not from fear, but something else.
If this world won't give me a chance… I'll take it myself.
Suddenly—
A calm voice spoke behind him.
"Not bad."
Kang Ha turned instantly.
A man stood there—white robe, cold eyes, floating slightly above the ground.
A cultivator.
His aura pressed on the alley like a heavy stone.
Kai Refining, 5th Level?!
The man looked down at the corpses with amusement.
"You killed three Tiger Gang members at your age… interesting."
Kang Ha swallowed hard.
He had killed mortals.
But this was a cultivator.
He wouldn't survive a single hit.
"What… what do you want?"
The cultivator smiled slightly.
"I want a servant. Someone loyal. Someone with potential. You killed without hesitation—that's rare."
He extended his hand.
"Serve me, and I'll give you power… and fame."
Kang Ha hesitated.
"Will you… give me food?"
The cultivator blinked—and then laughed.
"You're honest. Good. Yes, you'll have food. And strength. And a future."
"Who… who are you?"
The man flicked his sleeve.
"My name is Kang Chan, Inner Disciple of the Sword Sect. From today, you belong to me."
He pointed at the bodies.
"My people will clean this up."
A glowing flying sword appeared under his feet.
He grabbed Kang Ha's collar and placed him beside him on the blade.
"Your new name," the cultivator said, "is also Kang Ha. Remember it."
And the sword shot into the sky, carrying the boy from a filthy alley into the unknown future.
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