Chapter 2769 - 2765: Bullying

That day, An Jiao did not go anywhere else but sat in that valley for an entire night. When the first ray of dawn appeared at the horizon, An Jiao slowly "awoke." He sat on that rock for a whole night, thinking throughout.

His father was nowhere to be found, leaving only An Jiao alone in the vast valley.

An Jiao looked up at the dawn he hadn’t seen for a long time. Suddenly, a strange sense of determination and courage surged within him. At last, An Jiao picked up the cane beside him and slowly made his way home.

Since that day, An Jiao no longer blamed the heavens or others, nor did he go out on many rainy nights to shout angrily and grudgingly. Instead, he left all the years of inner dissatisfaction and disappointment about his first half of life in that valley, left them in that sleepless night.

Upon returning, An Jiao’s father did not speak any special words to him, only continuously intensified An Jiao’s training, constantly challenging this disabled person’s limits.

He submerged his head completely in water for several hours, caring little if his son would suffocate to death.

He threw An Jiao into a cave full of snakes, insects, and ants, allowing him only to use his cane.

He let An Jiao sit at the bottom of the Nine Heavens Waterfall, enduring the impact of the high-altitude stream until An Jiao passed out.

He concocted a potion from various herbs and Devil Beast’s blood, causing pain to the point of near unconsciousness, then let An Jiao persist in such a bath, continually tempering An Jiao’s body with these Devil Beast’s blood and herbs.

He made An Jiao squat-lift the Giant Rock in the yard a thousand times within a day, tormenting An Jiao with extensive physical and mental exercise.

An Jiao’s father, a well-known Samurai within the Clan of Darkness, now used his method of training himself on his son, with the only difference being An Jiao’s father was a normal person back then, even considered outstanding among his peers.

Now, An Jiao was a crippled wastrel. Not only was his leg disabled, initially, his hands barely had any strength. Due to his physical condition, even An Jiao’s complexion was affected, as this young man in the prime of life constantly showed the appearance of an elderly.

His face was sallow and pale, he would be breathless after running a few steps, and due to such physical disadvantages, none of his peers wanted to play with this sickly medicine pot.

That’s right, An Jiao spent so many years consuming medicines, the herbs he ate far exceeded what was consumed by the clan’s doctors, and even sick patients didn’t take as much medicine as An Jiao alone.

Due to physical disadvantages and congenital disability, in his youth, An Jiao once wanted to redirect his path of learning and becoming strong toward studying Arcane Arts and Array, a branch relatively rare and uncommon within the Clan of Darkness.

Most members of the Clan of Darkness were powerful Samurais, possessing skilled combat techniques and strong physiques, with unique studies in martial arts. Because the path’s strength was a consensus, many would not only practice martial arts and Cultivation Techniques but also subtly influence their offspring to follow the direction of martial arts.

However, An Jiao’s body was really too frail, so he wished to focus on Arcane Arts and magic. If he had the chance to become a master of Array, he could still participate in the Clan of Darkness’s various actions, still be his father’s pride, still be a pride of the Clan of Darkness.

Thus, in his youth, An Jiao put almost all his energy into researching Arcane Arts and Array, showing a remarkable talent in this lineage. Array after array easily formed in An Jiao’s hands.

He could even accomplish various magical operations and astonishing acts with these arrays, offering him, for the first time, some hope for his once extremely dark life. He eagerly applied to join the Holy Ground he had longed for—the Abyss of Darkness!

But reality quickly delivered a heavy blow, as the steward of the Abyss of Darkness rejected An Jiao’s application citing his overly frail body. Proudly looking down from the high stage at An Jiao below, he said rather arrogantly, harshly, and disdainfully:

"With your frail body, even if you have high talent in Arcane Arts, it’s of no use. Arcane Arts is a path of studying the world and nature, requiring vast time and effort to research arrays and nature."

"How long can a body like yours hold out? To be blunt, how long can you live? We never lack geniuses here, but a short-lived genius like you is rare, so we can’t accept you."

"We won’t waste a spot and potentially a lot of resources to cultivate someone who might not contribute even a few years of life, someone likely never to be of use—a short-lived person! Go back!"

"Live your life peacefully, don’t think about things you can’t achieve!"

The doors on the high stage slammed shut, thoroughly dousing the heart of the once passionate An Jiao with cold water. His hope... was gone, for he’d once confidently believed that even if his body wasn’t good, as long as he truly had high talent in Arcane Arts, the Abyss of Darkness should accept him.