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"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Shen Ming suddenly roared as billions of scenes flashed through his eyes, making him feel as though he would die from the pain and couldn't even think anymore. It was as if the very fabric of his essence was being torn apart, leaving him adrift in a sea of torment.

The pain was so intense that at some point, Shen Ming felt it might be better if he just stopped enduring this and gave up... then he wouldn't have to feel this pain, he thought.

Although he had felt pain in the past and had suffered physical and mental pain since he had to spend more than fifteen years of his life in Dungeons itself due to being among the first awakeners in his country, but this was a completely different type of pain...

The difference in intensity couldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as anything he may have felt in the past and present lives. If all the pain he had felt until now could be considered as a single drop in a river, then the pain he was feeling right now would be much more than a river itself.

Just as Shen Ming felt that he should perhaps give up and that he had already reached his limit, the mysterious dimension buzzed, and a scene replayed itself in his mind…

********

Shen Ming's POV (3 years old)

When Shen Ming returned from his journey with his Second Uncle, Shen Yanfeng, and walked into his mother's courtyard, he noticed the guards and servants, who used to tease him everytime, avoiding his gaze with strange expressions on their faces.

This raised doubt and suspicion in Shen Ming, as he was familiar to those gazes in his past life and gave him a strange, ominous feeling.

This intensified when he spotted his five years old cousin, Shen Yao squatting in one corner with tears streaming down her face.

"Shen Yao!" Shen Ming called out.

Hearing his familiar voice, Shen Yao jumped up abruptly, spun around, and immediately ran towards Shen Ming.

"Cousin, you’re finally back!" her tears dampened Shen Ming's robe.

"Woo woo woo!"

"Shen Yao, what happened? Did Wang Xuan bully you again?" Shen Ming asked gently, wiping away the tear stains from her face, but he didn't get any answer. Instead, she started crying even more.

"What is it? Shen Yao, what happened?" Shen Ming had a bad premonition in his heart. Even though Wang Xuan used to bully her, it was usually just children's squabbles, and most of the time, it was Shen Yao who teased Wang Xuan.

"Aunty..." sobbed and choked out words from her mouth, "she was wounded!" Shen Yao cried out while wiping her own tears.

"What???" Shen Ming's expression darkened as he charged inside the courtyard.

Hurrying to his mother's room, he found the door already open and dashed inside.

"Mom!" Stepping into the room, the first person he saw was his Grandfather sitting beside the bed, along with the three Elders of the Clan.

On the bed, an ashen-faced woman slowly opened her eyes and saw the young child dashing towards her bed. Though frail, her presence exuded a timeless beauty that lingered in the room, leaving an indelible mark on those who gathered by her side.

She tried to give a smile to assure him that everything was alright and spoke in a weak voice that was barely audible: "Minger, you’re back!"

"Mom, who was it? Tell me who was it that wounded you like this?" Shen Ming's fists clenched tightly as he saw his mother's terrible complexion, making his heart ache with wrath for the first time after reincarnating into this strange world.

When the woman saw the child's face, she knew that she couldn't fool him. Since the day he was born, the child had been unusually highly intelligent and mature for his age, which was rare even in the Imperial City.

"Promise me, Minger," she implored, her hand trembling, "promise me you won't live your life for revenge. Promise me you'll live a happy life.” she raised her boneless hand, wanting him to make that promise before her last breath.

"Mom! Mom!"

****

"That's right... I promised that I would live my life to the fullest. I cannot die right now…”

“No matter what, I will not give up. I would rather break continuously than bend to this mere pain..." he roared in the end, as he suddenly became clear-headed and endured the crazy, inhumane pain.

But after a few hours, the pain became so intense that Shen Ming's mind finally reached a point where he couldn't even think anymore and lost consciousness.

His soul disappeared from the Black dimension before returning to his body, and mysterious changes were happening in his body. Especially his eyes, which were undergoing changes, and the Golden eyes above the Energy Core completely disappeared from their position.

Meanwhile, Shen Ming's body on the stage stopped at the 40th step, only ten steps away from reaching the phantom.

“You can’t go any further?” Tang Mei shouted from above, holding onto a small hope as he was only one step away from entering the ‘Young Excellence List,’ which lists the names of teenagers who cross more than 40 steps and participated in the assessment all across the Empire and the neighboring Ten vassal Kingdoms under the rule of the Empire.

“He has already fainted!” Oldman Fang said, directing his eyes at Shen Ming in appreciation, and turned towards Lin Kong, who also had a surprised expression.

“Lin Kong!! You said something about how a country bumpkin cannot be compared to your clan's genius," said Oldman Fang in a teasing manner, which made Lin Kong's face red in shame and anger.

Even though Shen Ming stopped at the 40th step, only six people did higher than him in the test in the Imperial City where the assessment had already been completed a week ago.

“Hahahaha! I knew he could do it; I just said it to encourage him! As expected, he is really good!!” Lin Kong said without any shame.

At the same time that the person said such words, Shen Ming's slightly moved hand, and a little Dragon mark shone on his forearm in the invisible eyes of others.

“I hope this guy will join our academy,” thought the three Elders and even thought of accepting him as a personal disciple if he joins their Academy. Especially Oldman Fang, who was a half-step Master Rank Energy Qi cultivator.

“Also, these two brats called Wang Xuan and Chen Xiuying are also not too bad,” said Tang Mei, which made the other two nod.

Chen Xiuying and Wang Xuan, both 16 years old, had cultivation at Novice Rank 6th and 7th stage. Especially Wang Xuan, who had an Innate Spirit Body, which is a good physique for Body refining.

“Less than forty people have been eliminated and more than a hundred have passed. This is a good result compared to the previous Assessment,” Lin Kong said, gazing at the City Lord Chen Qingyun, which made the latter smile in joy, since he would get a Golden Dew Pill as a reward from the Imperial family depending on the results of the Sun City.

In the Eastern continent, the Pills, Martial arts, cultivation manuals, weapons, and others are divided into Five primary Ranks: Mortal Rank, Spiritual Rank, Earth Rank, King Rank, and lastly Emperor Rank.

They are further divided into Four Sub-grades, namely Low, Middle, High, and Top grade.

The Golden Dew Pill is an Earth Rank pill used by Expert Rank Energy Qi cultivators, which is the third realm among the Five realms of the Energy Qi Cultivation path.

Meanwhile, on the stands, the faces of the crowd turned from shock to realization when they saw Shen Ming, the pride of the Sun City.

At this moment, even the young teenagers started reacting. The crowd suddenly buzzed with chatter.

“What? Shen Ming walked 40 steps???”

“The highest record in the Sun City was only 35 steps for the past thousand years!!!”

“Unbelievable, to think we were all of the same age??”

A great disturbance erupted from the crowd of people.

Shen Xinlong's face lit up with genuine joy, pleased with the performance of his grandson, and he had a broad smile etched on his face. After spotting Shen Ming, Shen Xinlong's eyes shined with pride and affection.

At this moment, as he listened to the praises, his heart swelled with a profound sense of fulfillment, and even his depression over his failed breakthrough to Expert Rank 3rd stage was gone, feeling as if flowers were blooming in his heart.

“'As expected of the man liked by me!!” Chen Xiuying looked up, watching him from the 29th step, and clenched her fists, looking at the gap between the two of them, determined to work harder since she doesn't want to be a burden to him.

“Congratulations to everyone who has passed the second round!” said Tang Mei, her voice clear and loud, and she took back her sword from the stage. Slowly, the pressure disappeared from the stage, which made all the participants sigh in relief, and some even collapsed.

The guards stationed at the stage immediately took the collapsed participants, including Shen Ming, who lost consciousness.

Many teenagers who were disqualified were already mentally prepared that they may not be able to pass the round, but when they saw others who were of the same background pass, they couldn't help but have negative feelings about them.

People were like this; if there is too huge a gap, they could accept them and might even be ready to flatter them, hoping to cling to them, gaining glory by being at least an acquaintance or even a follower.

But they could not accept people similar to themselves or even someone even worse off suddenly surpassing them, especially the commoner Lu Fei, who reached the 25th step, which was the fourth-highest among them.

Tang Mei didn't care about their expressions and carried on, “In accordance with the three Academies' selection, everyone who passed the assessment will get an invitation letter 3 days later. If you agree to join the academy, you can carry your respective letter and come to the Academy one month later!”