Waaaaah ... waaaah ...
The sound of a baby crying rang out from inside a house that looked more like a shack, standing amid the beautiful rice paddies, their crops lush and green.
Inside the shack, several people were bustling about, overjoyed by the baby's birth.
"Congratulations, sir ... it's a boy!" exclaimed the midwife who had helped deliver the child for this farming family in a remote hamlet.
The impoverished farmer was lucky that a midwife from the city happened to be making her rounds through the remote hamlet while his wife was in labor, allowing her to deliver the baby without charging them anything.
"Thank you so much!" the farmer said as he cradled his first child.
"I'll be going now, sir! I hope your son grows up to be a great man!" the midwife said as she left.
"Husband! How is our baby?" asked the farmer's wife, who was still weak after losing a great deal of blood during childbirth. Her pale face could not hide her happiness at giving her husband a son despite her advancing age.
"Handsome, just like his father!" the farmer replied happily.
This farming couple had only been blessed with a child after more than a decade of marriage. They had prayed to the Creator every day, and at last their prayers had been answered with the birth of an adorable baby boy.
Naturally, the farmer was overjoyed by the birth of his son.
"What should we name him, Husband?" his wife asked.
"Wu Long! I want him to be as mighty as a dragon and as strong as a Martial Warrior!" the farmer declared cheerfully.
"I like that name, Husband! I hope Wu Long grows into a brave and gallant man!" his wife said with a smile.
"I hope so too, my wife!" the farmer said fervently.
This happy couple, despite their life of poverty, could never have imagined that their only child would one day bring about a tremendous change in their lives.
Misfortune befell Wu Long after he leaped into the Well of Life. The moment he jumped, a distortion in time occurred, throwing the entire process into chaos.
Wu Long's body should have floated through the Void Realm, where he would choose a body to inhabit for his incarnation. Instead, he was dragged into a swirling wave of colors that left him dizzy and unconscious.
Wu Long should have remained in the Upper Realm and incarnated into the body of another young man because he had chosen his own path to death. Instead, he became stranded in the Lower Realm and underwent reincarnation—in other words, he was reborn as a baby.
This was the last thing the Immortal had wanted. He had hoped to incarnate into another young man's body or be reborn in the Upper Realm, where it would be easier for him to cultivate perfectly back to the Immortal and God realms.
Even the memories that should have remained with him vanished along with the temporal disturbance that occurred when he entered the realm of death. Thus, Wu Long, reborn as a baby boy inside a poor farmer's shack, no longer remembered who he was. Wu Long had truly become a new human being whose path of cultivation was sealed. His new body could not even practice internal energy.
His infant body was nothing more than an ordinary human body. It did not even possess the martial bones that could have made Wu Long a great Martial Warrior in this Lower Realm. Wu Long had truly suffered the tragic fate that no Immortal undergoing incarnation or reincarnation would ever wish for.
Wu Long had become nothing more than cultivation trash and martial arts trash, unable to learn either because of his weak body. To make matters worse, he was sickly from childhood, often forcing his parents to spend extra money on his medical treatment.
Wu Long was born in Desa Rembulan, a somewhat remote village in Propinsi Xiang Jin, Kekaisaran Song.
The farming couple's life gradually improved after Wu Long's birth, as though their son had brought them good fortune.
His father always wanted Wu Long to become a famous Martial Warrior who could uphold justice and protect poor people like them. That was why Wu Long's parents always set aside a small portion of their income to pay the entrance fee for the martial arts academy in Desa Rembulan when Wu Long turned ten—the minimum age required to enter Perguruan Matahari dan Rembulan.
By the time Wu Long turned ten, his body was so thin that his father began to lose hope that his son could become a famous Martial Warrior.
Perguruan Matahari dan Rembulan guaranteed its students a secure future after they graduated, so many impoverished villagers forced themselves to live on meager meals and save money so their children could enter the martial arts academy. Wu Long's parents did the same.
"Wu Long! Are you sure you can survive at Perguruan Matahari dan Rembulan?" his father asked.
"I'll do my best to endure it, Father! No matter what happens, I won't leave the academy!" Wu Long promised.
"Why don't you just help me in the fields? Life there is harsh, and you're always sick! You're so thin already!" his father urged.
Wu Long's father, who had initially been so certain that his son could become a famous Martial Warrior, began to lose hope when he saw Wu Long's pitiful condition. Forget becoming a Martial Warrior—even lifting something heavy left him gasping for breath.
"What a completely useless child!" his father thought.
What would become of Wu Long, who seemed to have received karmic retribution by being born with crippled cultivation and martial potential, leaving him able to use only external strength?