Jack fell on his knees, his body sliding against the glowing shield. He had banged his hands to the point of bleeding, but it seemed like he was trying to break a mountain of steal. As for his cries and begging, there were no answers. The Patriarch’s Spectre completely ignored him.

Hatred swelled inside Jack’s heart, but that was the only thing he could do. He knew that his chances for survival were now close to zero.

He sighed, then moved towards the creature with his hands wide open, surrendering to its fate. If he had to die, then he would die with dignity. Like a real man would do.

From afar, it was evident that the Golden Pixiu was a terrifying existence. However, watching the beast from this close was like watching the cruellest demon of the underworld. The various injuries splattered around and the visible flesh on its body made it look even scarier than it actually was.

Jack had the impression that if the creature wanted, it could kill him with just its glance.

However, it was then that he noticed the Pixiu glaring at something, more precisely at the bottle of medicinal pills hanging around his waist.

“Pills! You want pills?!” Jack, without hesitation, threw away several pills in its direction.

The Golden Pixiu let out a low pitched sniff, attracting the pills and swallowing them in one gulp. Almost instantly, golden smoke emerged from its wounds as they began closing and healing with fantastic speed.

Jack blinked his eyes, completely dumbfounded. He never anticipated that these medicinal pills were so extraordinary to begin with! But now that he had observed the miraculous healings of the Pixiu, he quickly understood how valuable they were.

Although the pills weren’t enough to cure the Pixiu, in just a couple of breaths, it was now in much better shape.

It eyed Jack again, apparently wanting more pills.

Jack was about to throw away the remaining pills when an idea flashed into his mind. He glanced at the creature and stuttered, “Great creature… I know you need these pills… but I am a fragile person right now… to the degree that I cannot survive without them… So how about we make a deal? Let me unlock the powers of this world first, then I will give you all the remaining pills.”

It was a crazy gamble. Jack was anticipating the creature to retaliate, or worse shred him into tiny pieces. But much to his shock, the beast not only bothered to listen to all of his rants, but it lowered its head and left for a rest on the nearby boulder.

This development was utterly beyond his expectations, leaving him staring for a while like an idiot.

What he didn’t know was that luckily for him, the Pixiu had a sense of karma. By giving it the medicinal pills out of his own initiative, he had sown positive karma. Thus, the Pixiu also planted positive karma by sparing his life.

The recovering Jack bowed appreciatively towards the creature, then swallowed one pill and searched for a quiet spot. Even though the energies outside the shield weren’t as intense as the inside of the Monastery, they were still quite abundant.

He tried imitating Elder Tian’s meditating stance as he sat cross-legged on the ground, but not without first doing a quick glance of hatred towards the Monastery.

Meanwhile, the recovering Golden Pixiu stood guard. Several other Demonic beasts were also visible much further away, all observing Jack with utmost attention. However, none of them dared to approach.

And like that, time slowly passed.

For several days Jack mediated as he tried to understand the natural energies surrounding him. Although he had exhibited an unshakeable mental effort, he still couldn’t make any breakthroughs, and a discouraging look was now visible on his face.

“A useless creature that couldn’t even manage to fuse its essences, and a useless human who is yet to learn how to cultivate qi! You two form a nice couple – of failures!” A hoarse voice echoed from inside the Monastery.

Jack released a sigh of contempt. During the last few days, he had experienced countless insults and mocking remarks from the spectre. At first, he felt vexed by his constant chattering, but as time passed, he got used to him and tried to ignore.

“Give up already! You are a mortal without a Dao! You have no reasons to start cultivating! Go back to whatever rock you crawled out of you ignorant fool!”

Upon hearing this particular insult, a hint suddenly flashed inside Jack’s mind.

For all this time, he had been trying to cultivate this mysterious qi, and yet he never really focused on the reason why he was trying to do so. He knew he wanted to become stronger. But what for? What path was he aiming for?

Did he want to protect his dear ones? But who was it worthy of his protection? His parents had abandoned him, and most people he met in his life treated him like shit or enslaved him. The only persons he cared a bit about were the breeding farm’s Master and Dai Jun, though when he dwelled about it, he felt that he didn’t have enough strong connections. In the end, he couldn’t find anyone he wished to protect. He sighed, remembering what a lonely person he was.

He then thought about cultivating to obtain freedom. He had spent most of his life as a slave, and liberty was one of the things he desired the most. However, could he really be free? If he absorbed the energies of the heavens, wouldn’t that make him a servant of the heavens? As long as he was bound to this reality, could he really obtain true freedom? He may manage to achieve complete independence from others, but in the end, it would be a false type of freedom.

For a long time, he immersed himself contemplating, seemingly severing all of his senses from the external world. However, internally he had countless thoughts, arguing against himself in a philosophical brainstorming as he searched for his Dao.

The Dao; the cultivating path. Any existence under the heavens that wanted to cultivate understood the importance of the Dao. Regardless if one is a cultivator, an immortal, a demonic beast or an undead; to be able to cultivate the power of the cosmos, one first required a Dao. There was no exception.

And it was common knowledge that every cultivator boasted his own unique Dao. The stronger it was, the faster one could grow. And if someone strayed away from the original Dao, not only one will end up in a bottleneck, but one will also cripple one’s own cultivation power.

So many young cultivators had founded their Dao at a young age, only to realise that they had undertaken the wrong path once they stepped into adulthood! But at that point, it would be too late! They would either stick to their original routes or give up cultivating altogether. The only other option would be crippling oneself and restarting all over again!

That’s why when choosing the Dao it was such a critical moment!

Even for Jack, who had no prior experience, was unconsciously aware that he was approaching an important climax. But it was only after several days that his eyes suddenly flashed and the corners of his lips rounded up a bit.

At this instance, when he tried absorbing the surrounding qi, he could feel it piercing his skin and flowing deeper. His heart beat with excitement as he struggled to control the inflow. Snapping sounds emerged from his flesh as the once closed qi passages opened one by one, sending quivers across his body.

The shocking bodily transformations continued as more qi was absorbed. Jack could now feel the qi invading his body, travelling through his blood and penetrating his very bones. His blood vessels were becoming more refined, and his flesh was getting increasingly fortified.

Then, with an internal bang, the Qi circulation activated, and energy began condensing and accumulating inside his lower dantian. Soon, a small pool of qi formed, and a word was starting to take shape.

It was then that over his head, a small rupture appeared in the air. Mysterious golden rays illuminated out from the crack as a little golden bell descended, floating over his head.

Engraved on the bell were five divine symbols, four of which glowed with luminous energies: a symbol of a sacred flame that incinerated everything in its path, a symbol of a blinding sun that annihilated all darkness, a symbol of a flag that stood supreme guarding the very heavens, and a symbol of a primordial flower that seemed capable of creating life.

Besides these four, there was also another symbol that was utterly eclipsed; the image of a faint skull. Unlike the others, this image was dull with no radiant energies. It seemed as its powers had been extinguished.

The bell’s clapper shivered, then gracefully moved, releasing beautiful musical notes that encaptivated any ears they reached. The enchanting song slowly seeped throughout the entire realm, creating an incredible serene air. While the beautiful tune played, all other sounds seemed to cease existing, as if they had no right to coexist together with this melody.

Attentively observing this event was the spectre. Even though he was confined to the inside of the Monastery, he had a spiritual vision that encompassed the entire realm. Naturally, with nothing better to do, he had been following and insulting Jack ever since he had arrived in this realm.

“A Dao Bell… and it’s golden,” the spectre whispered to himself. “I can’t believe that fool managed to obtain such a powerful dao, even the heavens are reacting to it!”

He appeared pensive as he surveyed Jack multiple times. But no matter how much he glanced, his impression was the same as when he first saw him; this man was a useless being with no potential. However, he had a strange feeling that for the first time, his instinct was in the wrong.

As the spectre was lost in his own thoughts, Jack began proclaiming his dao with firm resolve.

“So many tears shed in vain… So many are unjustly suffering… that’s why I need to become stronger!

“I want to become the voice of the weak, and the arrogant strong I shall put back in their places! Since the gods don’t seem to care, then I will become my own version of a god that brings fairness wherever I go! I will be the hope of many people, even if it has to mean that I become the enemy of the entire heavens! This shall be my dao! This shall be my cultivating path!

“My name is Jack, and my Dao is justice!”

His words thundered out as his eyes flashed like lightning. Wave after wave of qi emerged from his body, surrounding him with beautiful glittering lights. His central qi base exploded with power like an invincible dragon that could tear the sky and swallow the stars. Soon after, the word ‘Justice’ became visible, now permanently engraved on the core.

Jack felt immense joy building inside his heart. It was an incredible sensation, one that he couldn’t even describe with words.

Starting from this moment, he was no longer in the realm of mortals. He had finally transcended into a higher being.

The newly transformed Jack looked much younger than before. His skin was also much smoother while his hair was now resting well below his shoulders. Even the various scars he had suffered when he was a slave, they were now completely healed. It was like they had never existed in the first place.

He elegantly extended his hand towards the Dao Bell, but as soon as his finger touched it, it turned into fine golden dust that scattered away along with the wind. The beautiful melody also ceased.

He remained calm as he stood up, spreading swirling glittering lights from his body. With every step, he unconsciously pushed away the impurities of the earth. His hair fluttered about, his attentive expression now locked over the shield. When he pressed his palm against it, ripples immediately formed, but the barrier didn’t shatter.

However, the medallion around Jack’s neck vibrated, absorbing his qi and illuminating itself with a red glow. The shield then shivered, and a breach appeared, large enough for Jack to pass through. When he was about to step in, he heard a long growl.

Jack let out a hearty laugh as he glanced towards the Golden Pixiu.

“A promise is a promise. Take them, all yours.” Jack cooly shook his head as he threw the bottle of pills.

Then with a carefree posture and a hint of a frown on his face, he marched into the Monastery.