Yun Wao was done.
Like actually done.
He just stood there outside the broken… whatever-that-thing-was. Was it a shed? A house? A sad excuse for a home? Whatever. The roof looked like it was one wind gust away from falling over and ruining his day even more.
---
He had no one.
No family. No dynasty. Not even decent shoes.
He stepped outside barefoot like some tragic anime kid and walked down the hill like he was going to do something dramatic.
And yeah, he was.
---
He thought about his childhood.
Instant regret.
All he could really remember was his mom.
She was the best. She actually cared. She smiled when he was around, didn't treat him like trash, and gave him soup without poison in it (probably).
She wasn't his dad's main wife or anything — just one of the side ones.
But to him? She was everything.
---
Then boom.
Murdered.
One day his dad's first wife showed up with a whole squad of scary cultivators like it was some drama arc. No explanations. No warning.
And next thing he knew?
His mom was gone.
---
Six years old.
Blood everywhere.
And the worst part?
His dad did nothing.
Literally nothing.
No fighting. No revenge. Not even a "you okay, son?"
Just stood there like a statue and let the killer live in the same house.
Yun Wao still remembered that.
But not much else.
Because guess what?
They sealed his freaking memories.
Like—oh you're sad? Here, let's erase your mom from your brain. That'll fix it. 👍
Now he couldn't even remember her voice. Or her laugh. Or her smile.
Just vibes.
---
They told him:
> "If you ever reach Nascent Soul, you'll remember again."
Bruh.
Mid-grade soul roots. That's what he had.
Meanwhile his fake siblings were out here with high-grade and low-grade soul roots like they were built different.
Spoiler: they were.
And they made sure he knew it.
Bullied. Mocked. One of them literally used him as a stepping stool once.
And no one stopped them.
---
Except for one guy.
There was one sibling who was kinda nice.
Didn't beat him up. Didn't insult his mom. Just… existed. Calmly.
But Yun Wao thought he was just pretending, so he ignored him. Never even asked for his name.
Now he kinda regrets that.
Like… maybe he was actually cool?
---
But they're all gone now.
Burnt. Ashes. Nothing left.
Even the maybe-nice sibling and his dad — the same dad who might've ordered his mom's death, but also used to feed him dessert secretly?
Gone.
Yun Wao didn't even know how to feel anymore.
---
He walked up the hill.
Higher. Higher. Until the ground dropped away in front of him and all he saw was sky.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
One step and he'd be free.
---
He looked down at his hands. They were shaking. Dirty. Weak.
Not the hands of a future cultivator. Just the hands of some unlucky guy who'd lost everything.
He whispered to himself:
> "Why am I so unlucky?"
"Why me?"
"Why did everything go wrong?"
Bro used to drink wine with pretty girls and flex in gold-trimmed robes like a young master.
Now?
He couldn't even remember his mom's name.
---
He stood there, shaking, alone.
Will he jump?
Will he really end it all?
Or will something stop him?
---
[TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 17]
> Stay suspicious. And maybe stay alive, too. Up to you, really. 😐
---
🌀 Author's Note — Roots and Power
In this world, everyone's born with two kinds of roots:
- 🌱 Cultivation Roots — the kind sects actually test for.
- 🔥 Soul Roots — the kind that decides if you'll survive when everything else is gone.
Cultivation roots are ranked:
Low, Mid, High — and even those have Average, Good, or Peak levels inside them.
Most people think that's what matters.
But nah.
Soul roots are different. They can't be measured.
You either break... or you don't.
Someone with a trash soul root might collapse from stress.
Someone with a great soul root? Might walk through hell smiling — no system, no cheat, just vibes.
So yeah…
Yun Wao only has a Mid-Grade Cultivation Root.
But no one's ever tested his soul root.
And the only time that kind of power shows up?
> Is when the world tries to break you — and fails.
Narrator:
If you skipped this note… your root's already wilting, bruh. 😤