Days passed into days, weeks into weeks, and months raced against the years, yet Xue Mei never stopped training in the Purple Dragon manuscript. She had now reached the age of fourteen, and possessed only a frail, feeble talent, until she became the laughingstock of everyone in the royal palace. During those years, she lost her mother, and that was the deepest wound in her life. In those same years, she learned more about the cruelty of the world than she had in all the years of her life. Her mother's death and the destruction of the Fire Clan at the hands of the King of Light and his followers only made her more determined to train, even if they did not make her stronger.
Xue Mei sat in the training yard, beautiful as always despite the exhaustion of the passing days. Then she suddenly stood up and gripped her sword with a trembling hand.
"Damn it... If only I had good talent."
She was still in the first stage of the Manuscript Reader Realm, reading the manuscript every day and training with it every day. She never slept more than three hours, and yet she remained stuck at the same level for five entire years. Truly worthless talent—that was how she described herself in secret.
Xue Mei slowly began moving her sword, then gradually increased its speed. At times it rushed to the right like a flash of lightning, and at other times it curved to the left with the smoothness of flowing water. The blade sliced through the air, releasing a sharp whistle, while her feet moved lightly across the ground in precise steps, until it seemed as though she was performing a battle dance rather than ordinary training.
With every strike, the power flowing from her body spread through her surroundings in the form of faint waves. The ground beneath her feet gradually cracked, and long fissures appeared as though it had been struck by a giant hammer. Small stones scattered in every direction, while a light cloud of dust rose and covered the area.
Although Xue Mei had not yet surpassed the first stage of the Manuscript Reader Realm, her strength far exceeded that of those at her level. It was true that her talent was not extraordinary, nor was she one of those geniuses born once every hundred years, but she compensated for it with determination that knew no retreat and continuous training until she became capable of defeating any fighter who had not reached the middle stage.
But no matter how powerful she became within the first stage, one truth never changed.
The first stage... remained the first stage.
And the Manuscript Reader Realm was known among all the realms as the weakest of them all, a realm that possessed no status and received no respect from the others. No one cared about those who were still in it. After all, it was the very first realm, and the weakest.
In one corner of the training yard, several children had been watching her for some time. The moment they noticed that she continued training in silence, mocking smiles spread across their faces.
One of them shouted loudly, making sure she could hear him.
"Look... Look, everyone! It's the Purple Dragon!"
His companions burst into laughter, and their voices echoed throughout the area.
"Ha ha ha!"
"The great Purple Dragon that nobody pays attention to!"
"Look at her... Acting like she's a genius while everyone ignores her existence!"
Their mocking laughter continued, mixed with whispers and ridicule as they tried everything they could to provoke her.
But Xue Mei showed no reaction.
Her eyes remained fixed on her sword, and she continued performing her movements as though she had not heard a single word. These insults were nothing new to her. Over the past few years, she had become so accustomed to being the target of others' mockery that their words passed by her like a passing wind that left no trace.
However, her indifference did not extinguish the boy's anger. It only made it burn even hotter.
His face turned red with rage, and he clenched his fist so tightly that the veins bulged along his arm. Then he drew his sword from its sheath with a sharp motion, waved it before him, and shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Sun Art!"
In the next instant, strange symbols began appearing on the back of his hand—intertwined golden lines resembling ancient inscriptions. They gradually began to glow until they shone like burning embers. Energy surged through his arm toward the sword, causing the blade to tremble violently, while its temperature rose rapidly until the surrounding air distorted from the intense heat.
Then he shouted with all his strength,
"Blazing Sword Flame!"
A golden sword engulfed in flames burst forth, and an enormous blaze shot toward Xue Mei.
But the flames suddenly vanished, and a middle-aged man appeared between them. He had a light beard, yet looked younger than his true age. This was Xue Mei's instructor. He was one of the strongest men in the Kingdom of the Sun, possessing such authority that even the elders dared not argue with him. He trained Xue Mei out of loyalty to an old debt he was repaying.
The man frowned and said in a hollow voice,
"You are in the upper stage, so why are you attacking someone in the first stage?"
Terror filled the hearts of all the trainees. Even the elders remained silent whenever this man spoke.
"Xue Mei, leave. Training is over."
She did not argue with him and left. As he watched her walk away, deep sadness filled his heart. She was like a daughter to him.
"She cannot enter the Connected Realm with talent like this... She is pitiful."
Xue Mei entered her room in anger and violently threw her sword onto the floor.
"Why? Why am I so weak? What have I done in my life to deserve this suffering?"
She sat there speaking bitterly to herself.
"Everyone grows stronger every day, while I only become stronger once every four years."
Suddenly, purple energy began leaking from her body, but she paid no attention to it and continued shouting,
"I want to achieve my dreams... I want to make my mother proud of me... I want to search for my childhood friend."
Then she collapsed in tears, unable to stop herself from crying.
Several days later, she was walking through the corridor, talking to herself.
"The road must be walked to be completed, and dreams also require harsh training to come true."
She suddenly stopped and said,
"This is Father's room."
She knocked forcefully on the door. Although she heard no reply despite knocking repeatedly, she insisted,
"I definitely heard a sound."
Then she smashed the door into splinters.
She rushed inside, and what she saw turned her life completely upside down.
The room was spacious, and inside was a beautiful woman trying to cover her naked body. Xue Mei stared at her in shock, then raised her eyes to see her father, half-naked as well, glaring at her in anger.
"How dare you enter my room like this?"
"W-What... What is happening here?"
Xue Mei's entire body trembled.
"Do you really dare to betray Mother?"
Purple energy violently erupted from her body, transforming into sharp shards that floated around her.
"Yes, this is because of you," her father said mercilessly.
"I never expected to have a daughter like you. If I had known you would become trash talent, I would never have married that—"
He never finished his sentence.
His body was violently hurled through the air and slammed into the wall. His bones shattered as he screamed in agony.
Xue Mei breathed heavily. Purple scales had grown over the hand she had used to strike her father.
She slowly walked toward him while the shards gathered inside the terrified woman's head.
Then her head suddenly exploded, and blood splattered throughout the entire room.
Xue Mei stood before her shattered father as golden marks began shining across her face until the Sun Mark fully appeared.
"Do you know that you never once called me your daughter throughout my entire life? And why? Because you wanted a daughter with talent that you could exploit, didn't you?"
"Calm down, Xue Mei. I am your father. Please... I made a mistake."
He trembled in terror, begging in vain.
She reached out and grabbed his head.
"I'm sorry. Please, listen to me—"
Before he could finish his sentence, his head flew into the air, blood scattering behind it.