Morning came quietly to Willow Leaf Town.
The early light filtered through the mist, illuminating crooked houses, moss-covered stones, and narrow dirt streets.
The town was small—barely more than a few dozen families struggling to survive on the fringes of the Grandvoid World.
Children chased each other with wooden sticks.
Women carried baskets of spirit herbs, their laughter soft and fleeting.
Men hauled water from cracked wells, their faces weathered by time and spirit qi-deprived winds.
Beneath this humble sky, Qin Yuan walked silently toward the eastern square.
His new clothes, simple linen robes, hung loosely on his lean frame. His black hair, casually tied, caught the soft sunlight, giving him a lazy but ethereal charm.
Several townsfolk glanced at him curiously.
Some whispered.
"Isn't that the orphan Old Wu picked up yesterday?"
"Such a handsome boy... pity, he'll end up sweeping streets like the rest of us."
Qin Yuan ignored the murmurs, his gaze calm, distant.
He wasn't here to attract attention.
He was here to grow unseen, like a seed buried deep beneath frozen soil.
---
At the center of the square, a gruff man with a thick beard barked orders.
"You! New one!" the bearded man shouted, pointing at Qin Yuan. "You're assigned to the outer fields. Clear the weeds, repair the spirit irrigation channels. Understand?"
Qin Yuan bowed slightly. "Yes."
The man grunted, clearly satisfied with obedience, and threw him a rusted shovel.
No spirit tools.
No cultivation guidance.
Nothing but sheer manual labor.
Perfect.
The more insignificant he appeared, the freer he would be.
---
The outer fields stretched beyond the town walls—rows of dried spirit grass patches and half-dead herb gardens.
In a more prosperous land, such fields would be teeming with spiritual plants and guarded fiercely.
But here, in Willow Leaf Town, they were little more than dying remnants of forgotten prosperity.
Qin Yuan chose a quiet, isolated corner where few others wandered.
He swung the shovel mechanically, clearing dead roots.
Each movement slow, steady, breathing naturally.
But inside...
he was beginning.
---
> [Hidden Sovereign System Notification:]
• Minor task detected: Cultivate Primordial Body Refining Technique while working unnoticed.
• Progress: 0.5%
---
The Primordial Body Refining Technique was simple yet profound.
It refined the flesh, tempered the blood, and awakened the hidden strength within mortal bones.
Breathe in.
Guide the air into the dantian.
Exhale impurities.
Strengthen each limb silently.
Qin Yuan moved like an ordinary laborer, his motions rough and clumsy to the casual eye.
But in truth, every swing of the shovel pulled hidden spirit qi into his muscles.
Every step he took strengthened his marrow by a hair's breadth.
Silent cultivation.
No light, no qi fluctuations, no aura leaks.
Even if a cultivator passed by, they would see nothing but a hardworking, sweat-soaked youth.
Exactly as Qin Yuan intended.
---
Hours passed.
Sweat soaked his robes.
Calluses formed on his palms.
When the sun finally dipped toward the horizon, the bearded overseer shouted across the fields, "Enough! Back to the square, you dogs! Dinner's cold if you're late!"
The other workers groaned and trudged back.
Qin Yuan lingered a moment longer, feeling the faint warm current flow through his veins.
A tiny smile tugged at his lips.
> [Hidden Sovereign System Update:]
• Primordial Body Refining Technique: 3% Mastery.
• Hidden Status: Perfect.
[Minor Reward: Fragmented Spirit Enhancement Pill (Low Grade) received.]
---
Fragmented Spirit Enhancement Pill.
A tiny, almost useless pill in the eyes of great sects.
But to Qin Yuan, now walking the silent path, it was another brick in the foundation of his future supremacy.
Tucking the pill carefully into his sleeve, he turned toward town.
The wind carried a faint scent of cooked grains and meat broth.
Another ordinary night.
Another ordinary youth.
Another silent step toward immortality.
---
And far beyond the town, deep within a distant mountain range,
a slumbering ancient formation—untouched for millennia—shuddered faintly.
As if something, somewhere, had begun to stir.
But no one noticed.
Not yet.