The ocean wind howled across the cliffs of Azure Tide Island, carrying with it the salty scent of sea spray. The Azure Tide Sect, one of the countless sects scattered across the Endless Seas, stood proudly upon the cliffside, its stone halls carved into the rock and its banners fluttering like waves in the storm.
At the foot of the sect's training grounds, a young man lay face-first in the dirt.
"Lin Feng, you useless fisherman's brat!"
A sneering voice rang out, followed by laughter. A group of inner disciples stood over him, their azure robes pristine compared to the mud-stained clothes of the boy on the ground.
Lin Feng coughed, tasting blood as he forced himself up. His body was thin, his skin tanned from years under the sun. Unlike the others, his spiritual qi was faint, nearly invisible—like a weak candle struggling against the wind.
He was an Outer Sect Disciple, the lowest of the low.
"Three years in the sect and you're still stuck at the third stage of Qi Refinement?" one mocked. "Even mortals in the villages could do better."
Another kicked his side, sending him rolling. "Why doesn't the sect just throw you back to the sea? You're nothing but dead weight."
Lin Feng clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms. Shame burned hotter than the pain. He had worked tirelessly—training at dawn, meditating through the night, enduring hunger and exhaustion—yet no matter how hard he cultivated, his progress crawled like a crippled turtle.
He wanted to scream back, to fight, but… against them, he had no strength.
"Enough," said one of the inner disciples, yawning. "We've wasted time on trash. Come, the elder is giving a lecture on ocean spirit beasts."
The group left, their laughter echoing in the wind.
Lin Feng remained kneeling in the dirt. He slowly raised his head, gazing toward the distant horizon where storm clouds gathered above the endless sea. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths.
Why… why am I so weak?
He remembered his parents' faces—their calloused hands pushing him onto the sect's boat years ago. "Feng'er, even if you fail a hundred times, you must try. The sea devours the weak, but it also nurtures the strong."
His vision blurred. Not from tears, but from the searing pain in his chest. He collapsed to the ground, trembling as if lightning coursed through his veins.
"Ah…! My body—"
The pain spread like fire. His meridians writhed, and a faint sound, like the roar of waves and the crackle of thunder, echoed inside him. His blood boiled, pulsing with a rhythm he had never felt before.
From the skies, a single bolt of lightning flashed within the dark clouds above the sect. The disciples training nearby turned to look.
"Strange… there's no storm, so why is lightning gathering?"
Lin Feng's body convulsed violently. His veins glowed faintly beneath his skin, flickering like streams of lightning. His consciousness swayed between darkness and light.
In that moment, deep within his body, something ancient stirred.