Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood

Repay Evil with Kindness

Dawn had yet to come. The morning chill late in spring was now prominent and the sky was still dark.

An oil lamp on a table silently burned in a cellar of the Luo Clan. Sitting at the table was young Luo Zheng, whose body blocked most of the light provided by the lamp. He silently took out a shabby book held together with thread.

Luo Zheng had just turned seventeen this year. His had a skinny physique and couldn't be considered handsome, but his gentle temperament and eyes that possessed spirit shone brightly, even in the dim lighting, akin to fireflies under an oil lamp.

Luo Zheng whispered softly to himself, "It took me a month to finish reading this 'Principles of Heaven' book. While the principles inside are good, I can't agree with the four words 'repay evil with kindness'!"

He revealed a sad expression, as he stared at the bean-sized flame on the lamp, "Had my father not been kind and generous; believing in those four words, I wouldn't have fallen into this predicament when I'm a lineal descendant and my father wouldn't have died…"

He suddenly heard the sound of a lock being unlocked after spending an extensive period of time thinking. The sad look in Luo Zheng's eyes immediately vanished and he wore on a look of determination. As he changed his expression, he swiftly blew out the flame on the lamp and then hid himself under the worn out blanket.

The lock was unlocked and then footsteps approached. The leader of his visitors stepped forth and stomped on Luo Zheng's bed with one foot. In a high-pitched voice, he shouted, "Still sleeping? You still fucking think you're the big shot young Lord of Luo Clan?"

The speaker was the steward of Luo Clan. He had mumps on his mouth and a swollen tumour on his forehead. His appearance disgusted people.

Luo Zheng removed his blanket and deliberately rubbed his eyes. He got out of bed and got dressed in silence. His clothing was old and tattered, but he slipped them on carefully and neatly.

The steward glared at him and spouted, "Still acting up."

He then waved his hands and the men behind him went up to Luo Zheng to restrain shackles on his hands and legs, and wear a thick leather armour on for him.

Once done, the servants led him out of the cellar and toward the Luo Clan's training hall.

The Luo Clan is a big clan in Chongming. The clan owns ten thousand blocks of fertile land and a hundred mountains of mines. The clan has very famous in Chongming County.

However, the entire Eastern Region consisted of thousands of counties and cities that housed countless wealthy households and clans. Luo Clan wasn't ranked in the Eastern Region.

Under the lead of the servants, Luo Zheng climbed out of the gloomy cellar and crossed through numerous pavilions, buildings, bridges and corridors, before he arrived at the training hall's door.

The training hall was very spacious. It was the training location for disciples of the Luo Clan. The entrance door was shaped after dragons, phoenixes and lions, using white marble. The ground was paved with one-metre square pieces of black basaltic rock. One could feel the brilliance and grandeur of the hall, merely standing at the entrance.

Over ten disciples, dressed in grey robes, were diligently practicing martial arts under the guidance of Luo Clan's instructor in the centre of the hall.

They generated gusts of wind with their punches and accompanied them with shouts.

These Luo Clan disciples were all older than ten years of age. They all trained diligently daily, refining their bodies, so that they may gain high status within the clan.

The late autumn wind was so chilly it could sting one's skin; however, all of them were drenched in sweat and above their heads was a white mist, which was steam…

There were more than ten other men standing on the other side of the hall wearing leather armour, with their hands and legs restrained the same way Luo Zheng's were. They were all battered, bruised and covered in visible and non-visible wounds.

After they led Luo Zheng into the hall, they had him stand together with those men.

Most of these men were prisoners who were sentence to death. The Luo Clan bought them from local prisons, to work as slaves. One of their roles was to act as flesh punching bags for the Luo Clan's descendants to beat up however they wanted for training and testing their own strength. Nobody knew how many of these slaves died or got crippled each year.

Luo Zheng wasn't a prisoner sentenced to capital punishment. He was the eldest son of the main house of the Luo Clan. He was the young lord, who stood at the top of the clan's hierarchy ladder. Those in the clan who were of equal seniority as him, had to treat him with respect and salute him. As a matter of fact, even the elders of the clan had to be courteous towards him.

However, a major incident happened two years prior. Luo Zheng's father, who was the head of the Luo Clan at the time, was poisoned by his brothers and died all of a sudden.

The Luo Clan's three other branch families immediately moved to accuse the main family of betraying the clan. The fighting that ensued between the brothers, thereafter, caused the main family to completely fall apart.

As the young Lord at the time, Luo Zheng couldn't escape the fate of being labelled a traitor to the clan, either. He was, therefore, demoted to a slave of the clan and thereby became another punching bag for the descendants of the clan, to thrash for training. There was never going to be a chance for him to return to glory.

He had lived as a punching bag for two years. Luo Zheng had taken so many attacks and insults directed at him in the two years that there was no way of counting them all.

"Training ends here for today. Now, everyone, pick a punching bag. Hitting a real human body will familiarise you with a human body's bone structure and weaknesses for actual combat."

The kids went and selected their punching bags after the clan instructor gave his instruction. Soon enough, miserable cries begging for mercy and cries of pain echoed over and over in the training hall. The descendants of the clan didn't consider the slaves human beings. They hit them with all their might.

Many of them went to Luo Zheng to hit him extra hard and more energetically, because it gave them a bigger sense of accomplishment!

Luo Zheng stayed calm and focused on protecting the vital parts of his body with an expressionless faces. He was… used to it.

Not long after, a few people led by a young man, dressed in silk brocade clothing showed up. The young man looked cheerful and pleased with himself.

"The Young Lord has come!"

"You have finally come out from seclusion, Young Lord. Seeing how you look so energetic and refreshed, I presume you have improved significantly!"

"The Young Lord is naturally gifted. He is the genius of our Luo Clan. I am sure he has reached the Bone Refinement Realm!"

The descendants at the venue ceased their beatings; ran over and fawned and flattered the young man.

Luo Zheng's gaze swept over to the boy wearing the brocade clothing. A flame of rage that couldn't easily be detected, lit up inside him. The so-called "Young Lord" - as the descendants referred to him - was Luo Peiran. He was once the Second Branch Family's eldest son and the same age as Luo Zheng.

After Luo Zheng was demoted to a slave, Luo Peiran took Luo Zheng's place as the young lord of Luo Clan.

Some time ago, Luo Peiran secluded himself to focus on his cultivation, and thus was nowhere to be seen. Judging from the way he looked now, one could safely assume he had grown stronger yet again after coming out from seclusion!

Luo Peiran had very keen senses, so he detected Luo Zheng's unfriendly gaze on him. He turned his head to look at him. He revealed a ridiculing smirk. He went up to Luo Zheng and mocked him, "Luo Zheng, I'm surprised to see you still alive after I've been training in seclusion for so long."

Luo Zheng replied in a mellow tone, "Daddy hasn't died yet, thanks to your blessings."

"Insolence! What sort of attitude is that? How dare you speak to the Young Lord in that tone?"

"You're just a mere slave. Get down and prostrate yourself. Kowtow and apologise to the Young Lord, or you'll regret being born."

Several Luo Clan descendants started rambling. They acted as though Luo Zheng dug up their ancestors graves.

Luo Zheng swept his cold gaze around. These descendants of the Luo Clan were no different than dogs wagging their tails in front of him in the past - they wouldn't even dare to breathe heavily in his presence. Now that he was no longer the Young Lord, however, they all turned against him, wagging their tails for Luo Peiran.

Luo Peiran waved his hand to get the agitated descendants of the Luo Clan to stop. With a conceited smile, he asked, "Luo Zheng, do you know why I went into seclusion?"

Luo Zheng didn't reply. He just continued looking at Luo Peiran with a gloomy expression.

"You know that our Luo Clan possessed two Heaven and Earth Blessings Pills, right? I consumed one of them a while ago," Luo Peiren taunted him with a chewing motion and then continued, "The pill was, indeed, extraordinary. Its pure energy gave my body a thorough cleanse - making me feel as though I was reborn. I jumped straight from the Flesh Refinement Realm to the Bone Refinement Realm. Plus, that only took one-tenth of the pills magic! The rest remained inside my body to endlessly nurture my physique. I've got one foot into Viscera Refinement Realm and entering Marrow Refinement Realm is only a matter of time for me!"

The Heaven and Earth Blessings Pills!

The two pills are treasures of the Luo Clan. The sacred pills are passed down by the clan's ancestors. It's said that the pills were hidden in the most secretive location and ordinary people were forbidden from laying their hands on it.

According to the rules set by their ancestors, only descendants of Luo Clan who reached the Bone Refinement Realm before the age of sixteen were qualified to use it.

Body refining is divided into five Realms:

First Realm, Skin Refinement Realm.

Second Realm, Flesh Refinement Realm.

Third Realm, Bone Refinement Realm.

Fourth stage, Viscera Refinement Realm.

Fifth stage, Marrow Refinement Realm.

There is a tremendous difference between each Realm. An ordinary individual would have to overcome arduous hardships in order to break through each realm. It would take decades of diligent refinement and cultivation to reach the next realm.

An ordinary cultivator was considered to be highly talented, if they could reach the third Realm, Bone Refinement Realm, before the age of thirty.

The rules set by their ancestors were that only those who reached the Third Realm, Bone Refinement Realm before the sixteen were qualified to use the Heaven and Earth Blessings Pills!

For one to actually achieve that, they would, unquestionably, be a genius among geniuses. Nobody in Chongming County had achieved the feat before, let alone Luo Clan. Thus, the Heaven and Earth Blessings Pills were never used in the last three-hundred years.

Luo Zheng was, originally, the individual that showed the most promise for obtaining the rights to the pills, for he reached the peak of the second Realm of Flesh Refinement Realm at the age of fourteen. As a result, the ruler of Chongming County hailed him as the hope for reviving Luo Clan to glory, the blessed son of the Heavens and the genius among geniuses!

Unfortunately, the clan suffered from internal conflict, which led to his father being killed by his own siblings, while Luo Zheng was relegated to the life of a slave, becoming a mere punching back living in a cold and dark cellar. Subsequently, his cultivation progress became stagnant and he lost the opportunity to use the Heaven and Earth Blessings Pills, thereafter.

Liu Peiran, on the other hand, showed mediocre talent. He barely reached the second Realm, Flesh Refinement Realm at sixteen years of age. He wasn't remotely qualified to use the Heaven and Earth Blessings Pills, but as fate would have it, the pills ended up in his hands.

Despite having his flame of motivation put out for the last two years, Luo Zheng couldn't help but get aggravated when he heard the news that the pills which were supposed to belong to him be consumed by this sack of garbage, void of talent. He raged, "Luo Peiran, how dare you violate the rules set by our ancestors. You disregarded the rules and consumed the sacred pills. You're scum!"

"Hmph. You're more insignificant than an insect to me. I've reached the Bone Refinement Realm. I could lift half a tonne with one hand. You're just a measly slave. I could easily squash you with one hand. Today is a joyous occasion, since I've come out of seclusion, so I'll find myself a punching bag to test out my power for a start!"

Luo Peiran wasn't bothered in the slightest, by Luo Zheng's insults. He stopped his conversation with Luo Zheng there then casually pointed and said, "I choose… you!"

Luo Peiran didn't choose Luo Zheng. Instead, he chose a middle-aged man. The man immediately started trembling after he saw Luo Peiran point to himself. Though the thick leather armour he was wearing could reduce a fair bit of force from blows, he couldn't help but feel a chill run up his spine when faced with Luo Peiran, who had reached the Bone Refinement Realm. In fact, he had wet himself.

Luo Peiran then took in a deep breath and clenched his fists. He went into the Rosewood Fist stance, the ultimate style of the Luo Clan. His intent was blatantly obvious. He concentrated his strength, turning it up to the maximum. That enveloped his entire body in a faint purple light.

"Sp-Spare me… Young Lord. Please spare me!"

Despair surfaced in the eyes of the "punching bag" when he saw the imposing aura Luo Peiran gave off. He knew that the punch would mean certain death. He begged and prepared to get down on his knees.

"Puah!"

Of course, there was no way Luo Peiran would pay any attention to the pleas of a "punching bag". He launched his punch right at the man's chest. After a loud thud, the leather armour he was wearing for protection burst apart, into pieces. His entire chest was totally demolished. The punch sent him flying straight at a wall in the training wall. He bounced off the wall and landed on the ground, motionless.

That single punch killed a fully armoured "punching bag".

"Young Lord, that was an incredible bunch. There is nobody in our Luo Clan who could compare!"

"The Young Lord will revive our Luo Clan and carry the clan forward to great heights!"

Not surprisingly, the descendants of Luo Clan didn't miss the opportunity to start another round of boot-licking.

Luo Peiran appeared to be satisfied with the results of his punch. He then looked back to Luo Zheng with ill-will.

Luo Zheng subconsciously took a step back. While it was true that he was much stronger than the middle-aged man, there was no way he could withstand a punch like that from Luo Peiran.

Luo Peiran snickered and then gave Luo Zheng two pats on his shoulder, "Rest assured, I won't kill you so soon. I want to show you how much stronger I am, compared to trash like you!"

He suddenly remembered something, just as he was about to leave. He turned around and said, "Oh, and one more thing. I heard that my genius cousin is having trouble at Azure Cloud Sect. She apparently offended a big shot and was sent to Purgatory Mountain to reflect on her errors! Once I've reached the Viscera Refinement Realm, I'll go to Azure Cloud Sect to rescue her. Hahaha…"

Luo Zheng felt as though his heart was being strangled when he heard that news!