Urban Immortal Cultivation Supreme

In a bedroom of the Zhu Family's separate courtyard, a boy about thirteen years old sat cross-legged on a heated brick bed, his eyes tightly shut, his hands forming a simple hand seal which he placed between his legs.

A barely perceptible layer of blue light covered the boy's body. On his pale face, his brows furrowed tightly, a hint of intense pain was quite evident, as if he was enduring tremendous suffering.

Soon, the faint blue light on the boy's body trembled chaotically, and with a 'crack'—reminiscent of shattering glass—the blue light around his body dissipated completely, turning into specks of starlight that gradually faded in the air before vanishing entirely.

Sigh...

The boy's strength seemed to have been drained all at once, his body going limp on the bed, emitting a low groan of pain.

"Why, why is it always like this?" the boy roared in frustration, his hands clenched into fists, fiercely pounding the sturdy bedboard.

The physical pain was intense, but it didn't come close to the one-tenth-thousandth of the pain in his heart.

The Cold Ice Technique, one of the Zhu Family's most top-tier Inner Qi Cultivation Methods, consists of ten layers of postnatal martial artist techniques, fully documented. Zhu Bufan started learning at the age of three, and has been cultivating for a full ten years, but he has always been floundering at the initial stage of the first layer, making no progress.

Compared to him, others surpass him in just a few months. Thus, terms like 'useless', 'idiot' naturally fell upon his head.

Others may not be aware, but Zhu Bufan himself was very clear—it wasn't that he had poor aptitude. Every cultivation session was incredibly stable and smooth, but problems always arose at the final moment. It was when the Inner Qi started to gather in the Dantian, a mysterious and extreme force would absorb most of the Inner Qi that Zhu Bufan had painstakingly cultivated, sometimes leaving not a trace for him.

Under his furious pounding, his fists soon swollen like steamed buns against the indomitable hardness of the bluestone bed.

The boy let out a deep sigh, his ordinary-looking small face filled with disappointment, as he jumped off the bed and opened the door.

Outside the room, the entire land was shrouded in silver and snow-covered. The piercing cold wind made the boy's robe whistle and flap in the air.

As the sun set obliquely, the boy ignored the extreme cold outside, dejectedly slumped against the door frame, staring blankly at the gradually setting western sun.

The Zhu Family, an ancient clan with a thousand years of heritage, is one of the three great families of the Li Chu Kingdom. The Family is as profound as the sea, and this boy, he is from the Zhu Family.

The other two great families are the Tang Family and the Song Family. The three families firmly occupy the western part of the Li Chu Kingdom.

Nanli City, located in the most northwestern part of the Li Chu Kingdom, has a harsh climate, covered in ice and snow all year round.

Not far from the city lies the Endless Ice Field, one of the four renowned treacherous lands in the world.

The Endless Ice Field, as its name implies, is vast and boundless, with depths unknown to all, and it teems with danger, inhabited by numerous powerful Fierce Beasts.

The more hostile the environment, the more likely it is to breed treasured heavenly resources. In the Endless Ice Field, a variety of Fierce Beasts roam, their whole bodies are treasures; their hides can be refined into Outer Armor, their flesh and organs into Elixirs, especially the Primordial Core—the foundation of the Fierce Beasts' cultivation, the essence of their life, possessing all kinds of miraculous effects.

All of these are treasures, immense treasures, attracting countless people to flock here, disregarding life and death.

These people include members of the great clans, Loose Cultivators, and Adventure Mercenaries. For a variety of reasons, they shed blood and battle on the icy plains.

Therefore, Nanli City, the closest city to the ice field, has become very chaotic. It's filled with all sorts of people, and the power distribution is extremely complicated; hence, Nanli City has also acquired another name, Chaotic City.

Nanli City is the only city in the western part of the Li Chu Kingdom that has not been fully controlled. Because of its uniqueness and abundance of resources, the Zhu, Tang, and Song families were unwilling to yield to each other. After negotiations, the three families reached an agreement to control the city in turns, every three years.

Although this is not the ancestral home of the Zhu Mansion, it is just as grand and majestically imposing, like a Fierce Beast lying in wait, emanating austerity and grandness.

The branch that garrisons Nanli City is one of the strongest offshoots of the Zhu Family, with the strongest among them being Ninth Rank Martial Artists, related to Zhu Bufan by his grandfather's generation.

Another confusing night passed, and Zhu Bufan, lacking any spirit, headed toward the dining hall to have his breakfast.

By the time the drowsy Zhu Bufan arrived at the dining hall, it was already almost full.

As soon as Zhu Bufan walked in, he immediately became the focus of everyone in the dining hall.

"Hey, look, that waste is here!"

"Snort, it's a disgrace for the Zhu Family to have such a waste!"

"Exactly, and he's from the main lineage? His status sure is high!"

...

Zhui Bufan was long accustomed to these sarcastic remarks; hatred churned in his heart, and even Killing Intent simmered faintly, but on the surface, he acted as if he heard nothing, his expression unchanged.

Upon reaching the food serving area.

"Oh, the loser is here to waste food again!" The Servant serving the food said with a mocking face upon seeing Zhu Bufan.

It should be noted that the people of the Zhu Mansion also have ranks from high to low: the lowest ranked servants eat quite roughly, while ordinary Zhu Family disciples naturally dine on delicacies, and the meals used by the talented individuals and elders of the clan are filled with Primordial Qi.

Martial arts cultivation has two methods for refining Inner Qi, one internal, the other external.

The internal one involves refining one's own Essence Qi Blood, with the most direct source being the daily intake of food.

The external one involves the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi dispersed in the space; however, this Primordial Qi is rarely absorbable and refined by Postnatal Martial Artists. Only Innate Martial Artists can utilize their various insights to cultivate with the aid of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. Additionally, there are various types of Spiritual Medicines and Elixirs, among which the most common is the Primordial Core found within Fierce Beasts.

Zhu Bufan, though not blessed with prodigious talent, holds an actually prestigious status within the Zhu Family's branch residence in Nanli City. Not only is he a member of the direct lineage, but he is also the beloved grandson of the current Family Head of the Zhu Family, Zhu Changhai.

Thus, Zhu Bufan gets to enjoy meals supplemented with medicinal herbs every day, making even the servants and the collateral branches of the Zhu Family green with envy.

As a direct descendant of the Zhu Family, Zhu Bufan has lived in Nanli City since childhood. The reason for this is not something ordinary people would know, and of course, Zhu Bufan himself is clueless too. It is widely rumored that this was a command from his biological father.

Since he could remember, Zhu Bufan has lived in Nanli City, and over his teenage years, he never had any memory of his father; why he was abandoned in Nanli City remained a complete mystery to him.

Moreover, there were rumors that he was an illegitimate child. Though such matters are common in large clans and families, they are usually kept secret. To be as outwardly exposed as Zhu Bufan made him the focus of his clansmen's resentment.

Furthermore, in a world where martial arts are regarded as the highest pursuit, Zhu Bufan's pitiful cultivation talent doomed him to be the laughingstock of many, seen as a perpetual weakling.

Eating delicacies full of flavor and bursting with Primordial Qi, Zhu Bufan could hardly taste anything, as if he were chewing wax.

"Just half a year left until the triennial clan selection. As long as I pass, I qualify to enter the Main Family's Martial Hall for cultivation!"

"Really? I didn't succeed last time. Three years and only reached First Rank, looks like there's no hope for me this time!"

"Hmph, don't you know? Each selection, hundreds of clansmen participate, and in the end, only a few dozen pass. You—there's no chance in this lifetime!"

"Get lost!"

"Though we don't have a chance, Biao Ge is a sure bet. I heard he's already broken through to the Ninth Rank, exempt from the test, and passed directly."

"Really?"

"Of course, our Second Grandpa personally granted a Yuan Condensing Pill to help him consolidate his cultivation. He even said that reaching the Ninth Rank at seventeen is considered top-tier prodigy level in the Main Family."

"Alas, why don't I have such fate?"

...

The originally distracted Zhu Bufan paused his chopsticks upon hearing this.

"Main Family?" At this mention, Zhu Bufan's entire body trembled, and the deepest longing buried in his heart was suddenly triggered.

An irrepressible sense of purpose surged within him, filling every corner of his being.

I must return... I must return...

Once this thought emerged, it became too powerful to suppress.

As a direct descendent of the Zhu Family, why was he abandoned in Nanli City? Who is his father, his mother, and what is their fate...

All these questions awaited his quest for answers.

This thought constantly swirled in Zhu Bufan's mind; how could he have the appetite for food? He gulped down his meal like an ox chewing grass and rushed towards the training ground in haste.

"I need power… I must have power..."

Zhu Bufan called out desperately in his heart.

However, to return, what Zhu Bufan lacked was strength. At thirteen, he needed to reach at least the Third Rank to pass the assessment.

Yet, given Zhu Bufan's current strength, reaching this goal seemed distant, even unattainably so.

Nevertheless, Zhu Bufan remained resolute. Once his goal was set, he wouldn't change it easily. He knew his talents were poor, but still, he persisted in cultivation every day for the past ten years without a day of laziness. If others were in his shoes, they would have given up long ago.

"If not in three years, then in nine; if not in nine years, still nine years... As long as I breathe, I will never give up!"

The Zhu Family's Martial Arts Training Ground occupies nearly a hundred acres. Within it, various areas are designated for specific training purposes—Weapons, physical abilities, speed, and more, along with various training equipment and weapons scattered everywhere.

Half an hour after breakfast, it was the beginning of the day's training. With some time left before the start, the entire training ground was desolate, with only a few servants cleaning up.

In terms of martial arts cultivation, Zhu Bufan's understanding, limited by his status, amounted to the division between Postnatal and Innate.

Postnatal cultivation is divided into ten stages, essentially corresponding to the ten layers of the Inner Qi Cultivation Method. As for the Innate Realm, that is beyond anything Zhu Bufan could grasp; in his mind, Innate Martial Artists were invincibly powerful, the ultimate aim he secretly yearned for. Zhu Bufan knew that in the vast Zhu Family, with millions of members, there were less than a handful of Innate Martial Artists.