1 A Miracle Falls From the Sky (1/2)

”Living is so hard…” a plain-looking young man said. He stared at the darkening sky absentmindedly. A whole day of labor had deprived him of most mental function.

After having spent most of the day ceaselessly swinging an axe at trees, he still had to drag his tired body back to the city. Another day of this would repeat tomorrow, and the day after that.

Living was very hard for the young man named Shura. It was tiring and exhausting, but never rewarding or fulfilling. Three tasteless meals accompanied by tiring work during the day and troubled sleep at night.

He had lived like this for so long that it had all become a habit. Each day and night he would repeat the same motion. Perhaps the only thing that had yet to become mere habits would be his own inner thoughts and complaints at reality.

He would complain in his mind, but he would continue with the same motions. He had seen examples of what happened to those who didn't. They stopped living—they died, or they resorted to some other less-than-honest means of survival and ended up dying to someone's blade sometime later anyway.

People without power, knowledge, or wealth could only end up in bad lots—like him.

It was dark by the time he'd felt that he was halfway to the city. The lumber camp he worked at was outside the city next to a large forest. The moon shone brightly in the sky, illuminating a familiar path leading to a large city with high stone walls in the distance.

High up in the night's sky, very high up in the atmosphere, something descended. It headed directly for Shura who was walking slowly on the ground.

It quickly reached him and hit him on the head. He fell down and lost consciousness on the ground.

Shura appeared to be unharmed. There were no signs of a visible wound anywhere on his body. Normally, if an object had fallen from high in the sky, even if it was a small rock, it would've made a hole in his head.

...

Shura woke up. The sky was clear and blue. It was now morning. He felt refreshed and full of vigor. His body didn't ache and hurt anymore. His mind was also very calm and clear. Every sensation and thought was very lucid and vivid.

It was as if he had been in a half-sleep state all of his life before. Only now was he awake. He'd also discovered something miraculous on his body. He could finally feel qi, and it was very abundant, very domineering sort.

Shura smiled. He was very happy. He had been suffering a lot through life because he couldn't feel qi, couldn't cultivate. But now, all of a sudden he could finally cultivate. It was as if a prisoner had been released from his cells into the wide world. Endless possibilities were now within his reach.

”It must've been because of last night. Before I lost consciousness I felt something hit my head. Right, my head!”

Shura felt around his head and body, he couldn't find any abnormality at all.

”There's nothing? How could there be nothing? I could've sworn something really hit my head. There's not even a bruise.”

”This is just… miraculous, indescribable. But it doesn't matter. The good thing is that I feel really great and can feel qi, and I'm not hurt at all. There's no way I'm going back to killing trees just to keep living. I'm now a cultivator, I can feel qi now. I'm going to increase my cultivation and life a good life. I've been to the bottom, now it's time to go to the top!”

Shura made a decision deep in his heart to never again have to say ”Living is hard,” to himself. He was going to become powerful. As long as he was powerful, everything else will naturally come to him. He was done being a normal man living a bad life. He was going to be a great cultivator! He will eat good, live good, and sleep well.

Shura breathed in deeply. The qi in the atmosphere came into his body and nourished it, he could feel it accumulating in his core. Once he had accumulated enough, he would have a breakthrough and achieve a higher stage of cultivation. Or at least that's what he heard. Shura did not have a good understanding of cultivation as he was just a normal man before.

”I want to increase my cultivation, but I am very ignorant about cultivation. What is it that cultivators do and where do they learn how to cultivate? I should seek out information about cultivation.”

Satisfied with his goal, Shura made his way back to the city. Compared to last night he moved quickly, and every step was full of energy.

There was a long line of people and carriages at the gate of the city. It was very packed and Shura could not get to the front.

He looked around for someone and asked them what happened.

”The guards closed the gate. I heard they're looking for an assassin. There's been an assassination attempt on someone important in the city,” a well-dressed merchant said.

Shura frowned. He couldn't get in like this. He didn't know when they would open the gate and allow people in and out again. Should stay and wait? No, he wouldn't wait. But the gates are closed by the authorities. Should he scale the walls then? He didn't know how, nor did he have the capability to. It was unlikely that anything he could say or do could change the mind of the guards to allow him entry.

He wasn't willing to waste his time waiting either. He had been patient and waiting all his life. He was now full of vigor and ready to blast out a trail of glorious and well-lived life.

”I won't wait, but that means I'll have to scrape my goal of finding information about cultivation in the city. Man plans and god laughs indeed.”

Just as Shura turned around to leave, something happened. A loud explosion sounded behind him and a blast of shockwave roiled his clothes. The weaker people and things near him were blown back by the shockwave.

Shura turned around and saw a marvelous scene. The massive steel gate of the city was gone. It was as if a giant had gouged it out. There was now a massive hole where the gate used to be.