Chapter 1: Tiankong City
Trying to pry open his eyes, Xue Wei woke up with a thundering headache. He could not help but groan slightly as his head throbbed heavily, making him feel as if his entire body was floating and weightless. This was while his head, on the other hand, felt as if hundreds of Primordial Beasts were gnawing on it at the same time.
Xue Wei laid still, trying to overcome the throbbing pain in his head, but it seemed that the headache was stubborn. An unknown amount of time passed before he managed to overcome the pain and slightly open his eyes.
He only managed to open his eyes slightly before a bright light forced him to shut them again. He tried to open his eyes once more, yet the same result occurred. Every time he tried, the world outside shone so strongly that he closed them out of reflex, and it took a lot of energy to force them open once more.
The shining light was like daggers that shot into his head, making his headache erupt with pain once more. And after every attempt, he needed to calm down before he once more tried opening his eyes.
Sighing, Xue Wei could not think clearly. His mind was a muddled mess, and his body was wracked with pain. The only thing he knew was that he needed to open his eyes, and only after gathering every last shred of energy available to him from his frail body did he pry his eyes open.
A sharp pain erupted in his head once more as the rays of light shone down on him, but Xue Wei used his willpower to force his eyes to stay open, causing tears to stream down his cheeks.
"Where am I?" Xue Wei muttered to himself, confused, as he looked around the room in which he had awakened.
The room was pretty big. It was beautifully adorned with blue silken curtains and chairs with embroidered cushions. Xue Wei laid on a large soft bed with blue embroidered linen and pillows, and against the wall was a desk made from some sort of wood that he had never seen before.
Xue Wei's eyes roamed across the room, and he could not help but frown, as his messy thoughts slowly straightened out.
"Nothing here looks familiar," he said to himself, but as more and more of his memories became clearer, his face paled, and he suddenly lifted his hands and checked his body.
He was sitting in the bed, wearing a white robe with blue embroidery of dragons. These colors matched the room and all of them were of the finest quality. Upon touching the fabric that the robe was made off, he could feel that it was the finest silk he had ever held in his hands, but when he tried to remember how he knew that this was much finer than anything else that he had ever touched, he felt a sharp pain in his head.
Xue Wei doubled over and held his head in his hands as he grit his teeth, refusing to let out a scream. The more he tried to remember, the more the pain increased.
"Who... Who am I?" Xue Wei stopped trying to remember, and instead, he went through the memories he had in his mind, but he was severely shocked.
He found that he could speak a certain language. He remembered the daily life of the continent he lived on, and he knew about the fight between the humans and the Primordial Beasts. He knew that every expert had the duty to fight these beasts when they turned sixteen, and he was aware that he was from the Kingdom of Heping.
He knew that he was born on the continent of Chang'an and in the Kingdom of Heping. The Kingdom of Heping was split into the administrative regions of the northern, eastern, western and southern territories.
Apart from the Kingdom of Heping, there were plenty of other Kingdoms and Empires on the Chang'an continent, but none of them were at war with one another as all human resources went into fighting the Primordial Beasts.
The more he remembered, the more memories flooded his mind, but he frowned. He could not remember anything about himself, and when he tried to think about his past, a searing pain burned in his mind, alongside a single image of a small village that was located in the Northern Taiga. It was filled with snow, and he had a faint feeling of belonging to this village, but there were no people, no names, and no family connections.
Xue Wei staggered to his feet and scoured the entire room. Everything he came across was new to him, and the light was also different from what he was used to.
Although he was unaware of who he was, he was completely sure that everything around him was foreign. This was not his home, nor was it somewhere he belonged. Once again, the image of the snowy village appeared in his mind, and he started panicking. Xue Wei had the impression that if he wished to get his memory back, then he had to find the village that kept appearing in his mind.
Xue Wei was only a ten year old child, and he was suddenly in the middle of an unknown world. His heart burned with anxiety. He did not know who he was, and he was terrified as to why he did not remember anything.
Although he knew that remembering things would cause him to suffer pain, he still sat down in the middle of the room and covered his ears with his hands. He closed his eyes and tried to think very hard. He was trying to remember even the slightest clue as to who he was.
The more he thought about it, the more intense the pain became, but he did not give up. Yet after trying for a full half hour where his body had been constantly wrecked with pain, he gave up. The only thing that had come to mind was the picture of the tranquil town covered in snow.
Although he felt that this town was familiar, filling him with the feeling of inexplicable attachment to this snowy place, he had no memories of it. No matter how deep within his mind he searched, he had no memories at all - everything was blank, yet he had plenty of knowledge in his mind.
None of this knowledge was about himself though. His curiosity stirred as he moved towards a mirror that was leaning against the wall in a corner of the room.
As he looked at himself, he instantly guessed that he was no younger than nine, but he could not be older than twelve either.
He tried once more to remember, but the result was the same as before. All he got was a vague image of a snowy town.
"That town has to be in the Northern Territory somewhere," Xue Wei mumbled to himself as he started to fully examine himself in the mirror.
While he wouldn’t call himself a pretty boy, he was relatively handsome. He had long black hair that scattered down his back, and it also framed his delicate face. His eyes were as dark as the moonless night, and his lips had a healthy, rosy color to them. His body was neither tall nor short for a person his age. He was not very muscular, but he still had some muscle on his body, which made him seem healthy and well-proportioned.
After looking at himself in the mirror, Xue Wei calmed down somewhat. He had been given a room with every necessity that one could need. He was wearing luxurious clothes, and he seemed as if he had been well-fed and attended to with care.
"I am being treated very well here," Xue Wei mumbled to himself as he stopped looking at the mirror and instead moved towards the window that took up quite a bit of space in one of the walls.
The window had a set of curtains covering them, and although they were translucent and did not block the light, they ensured that no one could look in or out. Lifting the curtains, Xue Wei looked outside. He found that he was within a beautiful old building in a large city. The noises from the bustling streets in the city were drifting through the window now that the curtains had been lifted, and the scents of all kinds of foods wafted through the air.
In the sky above the city hung the sun, throwing ray after ray of scorching hot sunlight down on this city that laid out before it, but although the sun was scorching hot and Xue Wei had a hard time dealing with the heat, he saw that the citizens down on the street were not even breaking a sweat, even while hard at work under the sun. Clearly, they were all used to this kind of climate.
Xue Wei could see the city that lay outside the walls of the mansion he was within, but he was astonished by the sheer size of the mansion itself. It was large and had a beautiful garden surrounding it. There was a lake and even guards were patrolling the area.
As Xue Wei looked around the surrounding areas with curiosity, he heard the door behind him open. He jumped in fright as he turned around. His heart was hammering in his chest, and his eyes were wide open as he stared at the man who had entered the room.
In front of him was an extremely handsome young man. He seemed to be no older than twenty five years of age, and his hair shone in the light that reflected through the room. His eyes were a beautiful blue like the deep ocean, and his skin so pale it looked like porcelain.
On his lips was a gentle smile, and within the blue eyes that looked at Xue Wei was doting affection.
"You are awake!" he exclaimed excitedly as he went in, but Xue Wei retreated a few steps until he was right next to the window, and if he retreated any further, he would fall out.
Xue Wei felt that he knew this person. He felt that there was a dangerous air to him, but when he searched his memories, he realized he had never met this man before.
"Who are you?" Xue Wei asked tentatively. He was on guard against this handsome man, but he also felt that he would not do anything to him. The doting affection within the young man's eyes said that he held no hostile emotions, but then why was Xue Wei so frightened just now?
"You forgot me?" The man asked with a voice that was filled with disbelief, his eyes showing hints of sadness, and he instantly stopped in his tracks.
"Little Wei, are you okay?" the man asked again, causing Xue Wei to frown and shake his head. He was filled with mixed emotions. Part of him screamed to escape from where he was this instant, while another part of him wished to stay. It was clear that this man knew about him, and he wished to know more too. This man could be his ticket to getting his memories back!
Xue Wei sighed as he sat down on the ground and crossed his legs. He could feel a powerful ripple coming from the body of this young man, and it was clear that there were no chances of escaping, even if he tried.
Since this was the case, Xue Wei shook his head and decided to be honest with this man that seemed to know about him. He might end up getting some information about himself.
"I forgot everything. Who am I? Who are you? Where am I, and what’s going on?" Xue Wei was very calm considering that he had forgotten everything, and hearing his questions, the handsome man nodded his head in high praise of his ability to be calm in such a situation.
"You are Xue Wei, my nephew," the handsome man said with a sigh. "Your mother died when she gave birth to you, so you lived with your father, who was an apothecary in the Northern Territory. Unfortunately, he had an accident during one of his herb gathering missions and was killed by a beast horde led by a Primordial Beast." The handsome man had a face filled with pain as he told the child this.
"When I heard about it, I came directly to pick you up. I am your only living relative, and I will look after you."
"The shock of losing your father must have been a terrible experience for you. All the way from the Northern Territory to here, you never uttered a single word, and when you arrived here, you shut yourself up in this room."
Hearing this, everything seemed unreal to Xue Wei. He had no parents, but he could feel the concern and care in the voice of this uncle of his. Hearing it, he instantly felt better. Although he grieved over the fact that his father had died, it was hard to truly grieve over a father he had forgotten everything about.
Looking at the child, a strange gleam appeared in the eyes of the uncle, before it rapidly vanished and his concern returned.
"My name is Xiao Lei, but you can call me uncle Lei. We are currently still within the Kingdom of Heping but no longer in the Northern Territory. We are in the Southern Territory in a city named Tiankong. It is one of the larger cities in the Southern Territory."
Looking at the child who was still seated on the ground, Xiao Lei turned quiet and waited for the child to say something. It was clear that he was digesting the information he had been given, and all of it must have come as quite a shock to the young boy. Therefore letting him take his time to accept it was the best course of action.
"I see," Xue Wei murmured. "I am sorry for having become a burden to you." He sighed, but Xiao Lei just shook his head and smiled. "You are no burden. I have no family, and thus it will be nice to have someone to share this large house with."
Hearing this, the child felt warm in his heart. Although he was an orphan, he was not alone, and he stood up and bowed deeply to his uncle. "Thank you for taking care of me!" he said with heartfelt gratitude.
"To make up for this, I will train extra hard with the other youths! I will become an outstanding talent and will kill many Primordial Beasts in your name!"
Making a promise like this, the face of his uncle turned strange for a moment, yet right after, it returned to normal and he sighed.
"You do not remember this either?" he asked gently as he went closer to the child. "You are unable to cultivate. I have searched everywhere for a cultivation method that will allow for you to cultivate, but so far I have not found any."
"I cannot cultivate?" Xue Wei asked, astonished, but Xiao Lei shook his head. "No, you cannot cultivate." He sighed.
Hearing this, the small child, who had hoped to become a true hero, was depressed as he was incapable of even taking one step towards this dream.
"Well, why don't you come with me and get something to eat? Even if you are incapable of cultivating, I will think of something for you," Xiao Lei said gently. Xue Wei, who was filled with despair, slowly nodded his head.
To not be able to cultivate truly made one the scum of society. If you could not cultivate, it was impossible to do your duty against the Primordial Beasts, and not only this, it was also impossible to become a strong hero!
The only safety that Xue Wei would have came from his uncle, but even so, he would be bullied by other children his age. Sighing, Xue Wei had a hard time accepting this, but he could do nothing but curse his fate.