“Yue Xing! You are hereby expelled from the Celestial Sword Sect. You shall have your cultivation base shattered and your meridians severed. From this point on, you and I are nothing more than strangers!”

Yue Xing woke with a start as his master’s voice echoed in his mind. He stared up at the cloudy and overcast sky above, confused and disoriented. Based on the lighting, he guessed it was a little before noon. Cold seeped into his skin and he realized that he was lying outside in the snow. The smell of blood clogged his nostrils. The taste of salt and copper coated his tongue.

What happened to him? Why was he outside? Where exactly was he?

It wasn’t until he felt the debilitating pain radiating from his dantian region that remembered what happened. The trial in the Discipline Hall, the fury of his fellow disciples, the anger and disappointment on his master’s face. Yue Xing pleaded and protested, claiming he was innocent, but no one had believed him.

No one ever believed him.

Not the sect elders, not his martial siblings, not his master.

At least, not when it came to Liu Chen.

No, instead they condemned him for a crime he hadn’t committed and expelled him from the sect. This wasn’t the first time a situation like this occurred, but it was the first time he suffered such a severe punishment.

Yue Xing closed his eyes and remembered that moment, right after the sect leader passed judgment on him. He stood alone in the center of the Discipline Hall, surrounded by a sea of anger and condemnation. His master and martial siblings, the ones he loved the most, gazed at him with cold eyes.

That hurt the most, his heartache overshadowing the pain in his dantian region. Thanks to the Book, Yue Xing knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it any less painful. He laid there in the snow, consumed by despair.

For a moment, Yue Xing considered staying like that. Why bother getting up? It was easier to just give up and die. What was the point of continuing forward? He had nothing to live for. Not anymore. He was all alone in this cold, cruel world.

In the midst of this, another face came to mind: Liu Chen, his junior brother and the source of his woes. During the trial, Liu Chen looked at him with a fearful gaze. However, Yue Xing saw the gloating look in his junior brother’s eyes. It was a familiar look, though he was the only one who ever noticed. No one else ever saw it.

Thinking of Liu Chen, with his plots and schemes, ignited an ember inside Yue Xing.

No. He couldn’t give up. Giving up meant that Liu Chen would win. Yue Xing refused to let that happen. As long as there was even a single breath, he would get up and push forward.

Liu Chen may have been the protagonist of this world, but Yue Xing refused to remain a stepping stone for him. He refused to remain as cannon fodder, as the Book called him.

No. He would defy his supposed fate, even if it was pointless and meant nothing in the end. At least trying gave him something to work towards, something to look forward to. That was enough for now.

Yue Xing took a deep breath to help harden his resolve, before he opened his eyes again and sat up. The pain from his dantian region spread throughout the rest of his body, making movement difficult. However, Yue Xing pushed through the pain.

Despite everything that happened to him, at least he gained one benefit from it all. After enduring countless punishments, thanks to Liu Chen’s underhanded schemes, Yue Xing's mental fortitude had reached new heights. In a way, those punishments had refined his will, strengthening it.

After sitting up, Yue Xing looked at his surroundings. He sat in the middle of a snow-covered plain. It should’ve looked beautiful, thanks to the pristine and pure snow. However, the overcast sky above made it look barren and desolate.

In the distance, to the west, stood a mountain range consisting of sword-like peaks: the Celestial Sword Sect.

The sight of it filled his heart with melancholy and longing. It had been his home for almost twenty years, ever since his master brought him there as a child. Happiness filled most of those years. Despite everything, a part of Yue Xing yearned to return to those days. However, he knew that would never happen.

The past was the past. There was no point in clinging onto it. It was better to sever any lingering attachments and move on with his life. Otherwise, he would always be mired with resentment and regret. As a cultivator seeking to achieve immortality, how could he ever let that happen?

So, with great difficulty, he stood up and turned away from the Celestial Sword Sect. He was no longer a disciple there. As his master said, he was a stranger to them from this day forward, and they to him.

After Yue Xing stood up, a cold and biting wind blew through the area. It pierced through his damaged and bloody Celestial Sword Sect Uniform, chilling him to the bone. He shivered, an unfamiliar sensation to him. Right. He was no longer a cultivator in mid Foundation Establishment. Instead, he was a mortal again.

No. Worse.

With Yue Xing’s cultivation base shattered and his meridians severed, he was unable to cultivate. In the eyes of his peers, he was little better than a cripple.

For most, that would’ve been the end. However, not for Yue Xing. Thanks to the Book, it was a new beginning.

Speaking of which, Yue Xing decided to see if his actions had changed anything.

“Summon book,” he said, his voice hoarse.

A yellow book appeared in his hand, as if summoned from nothingness. As far as Yue Xing was concerned, that was exactly the case. It was titled “Crushing Prodigies and Ascending to the Heavens.”

To his disappointment, the contents of the Book remained the same. His actions, minor as they were, hadn’t changed anything. Even so, the Book remained invaluable to him.

Yue Xing found it in his immortal cave after enduring a brutal punishment from his master. He didn’t know where it came from, or why it came to him. At first, after reading it, he thought it was a prank from one of his martial siblings. However, when events in real life started to mirror those in the book, he realized that the book wasn’t a prank at all.

It told the story of a young man who died and reincarnated in another world. A transmigrator, according to the book. To help him, the young man gained something called the System.

This System aided him in his endeavors, giving him a significant advantage over his peers. It would offer the young man missions in exchange for rewards. Cultivation resources, profound techniques, powerful artifacts, etc.

With the System’s help, the young man crushed prodigies under his feet, gained a harem of beauties, and achieved great renown within the cultivation world. The story ended just as he reached the height of his glory.

That young man was Liu Chen. As for Yue Xing, he had been nothing more than a side character in the story. Cannon fodder, as Liu Chen thought of him. Disposable and easily forgotten. A stepping stone.

Yue Xing hadn’t even been one of the prodigies that Liu Chen crushed. After he was expelled from the Celestial Sword Sect, he never appeared in the story ever again.

When Yue Xing first read this, he grew angry and tried to destroy the Book. However, nothing worked. His techniques, spells, and innate abilities didn’t even leave a mark on it. No matter what he tried, the Book remained undamaged. Yue Xing even tried to burn it with Earth Fire, but that failed as well.

Afterwards, Yue Xing tried to show the Book to others. However, to his surprise, no one else could perceive it. Only he could.

That was when he realized that the Book was something special. Who wrote it? Why couldn’t he destroy it? Most importantly of all, why had it come to him?

He experimented on it, to try and discover its secrets. That was how he figured out how to summon and dismiss it. However, he hadn’t yet unlocked its remaining secrets.

Regardless, Yue Xing tried to use the contents of the Book to change his fate and avoid getting expelled from the Celestial Sword Sect.

He failed.

However, Yue Xing expected that. Everyone in the Celestial Sword Sect always sided with Liu Chen over him. Sad and painful, but true. So, he prepared for his almost inevitable expulsion.

“Dismiss book,” Yue Xing said.

The Book disappeared to… wherever it went whenever he dismissed it. Some kind of pocket dimension, perhaps? He didn’t know. Either way, he would figure out the truth sooner or later.

Yue Xing took a deep breath. The winter air felt cold, but cleansing. The pain and despair in his heart lessened. It didn’t disappear altogether, but it no longer burdened him as much. A sense of purity and purpose filled him.

With that, Yue Xing took the first step of his new journey.

***

After walking for a few hours, Yue Xing reached a small forest, the tree branches bare and barren. In the middle of that forest was an unassuming tree with a hollow near the bottom. A large rock covered the hollow. Yue Xing removed the rock with great difficulty.

The pain and the cold had weakened him. His limbs felt numb, making it difficult to move them. He feared that he wouldn’t have the strength to remove the rock. However, he persevered and succeeded in the end.

Within the tree’s hollow sat a leather pack. Yue Xing sighed with relief when he saw it. Good. It was still there. A part of him feared that someone might’ve found the pack and taken it. That would’ve spelled his doom.

This was Yue Xing’s contingency plan. He had prepared it, just in case he failed to change his fate and ended up expelled from the Celestial Sword Sect.

Yue Xing took the leather pack and opened it. Inside, he found all kinds of supplies necessary for survival. This included a set of gray robes enchanted with a warming spell. He took off his bloody Celestial Sword Sect uniform and put on the robes.

A comforting, life-saving warmth spread throughout his body. He stood there for a moment, basking in it. Thankfully, when the Celestial Sword Sect expelled him, they dumped him near his hidden stash. If it had taken him any longer to reach it, he might’ve frozen to death. At the very least, he would’ve suffered frostbite.

After his enchanted robes warmed him, Yue Xing checked the rest of the leather pack’s contents. It contained fasting pills, water, a sleeping roll, and other survival supplies. It also contained a storage pouch, a spatial artifact that contained a small pocket dimension. Cultivators used them to carry all of their gear.

This particular storage pouch was special. Yue Xing had it enchanted so that even mortals could open it. His foresight paid off.

Yue Xing opened the storage pouch. It contained a handful of spirit stones, pieces of crystallized spiritual energy. They had many uses such as aiding in cultivation and powering formations. Because of this, they served as the currency of the cultivation world. In addition to the spirit stones, the storage pouch contained a small jade box, some pill bottles, and a basic sword artifact.

Compared to his previous wealth, as a disciple of the Celestial Sword Sect, it was a pittance. However, these were all things he had earned through his own efforts, outside of the sect. Rather than take anything he received from the sect, he wanted to make a new start. That way, there wouldn’t be any lingering karmic ties.

Besides, Yue Xing wanted to keep his preparations as hidden as possible. If someone had seen him, they might’ve taken the leather pack. If it ended up in Liu Chen’s, that would’ve been the worst possible outcome.

Yue Xing took one of the pill bottles and opened it. A medicinal scent filled the air. The bottle contained Restoration Pills, which were used to heal bodily injuries. Yue Xing took one. Its healing warmth filled him, restoring his body to peak condition. Mostly.

His dantian remained damaged and his meridians remained severed. It would take more than a Restoration Pill to repair those.

Thankfully, Yue Xing had such a heavenly treasure on hand. However, this was neither the time nor the place to take it. First, he needed to find a safe place.

Afterwards… Well, Yue Xing would worry about that after he repaired his dantian and meridians. One step at a time.

With that, Yue Xing took the sword artifact and secured it to his waist, before he hefted the pack and went on his way. The ember inside his heart burned a little brighter.