At dawn, a gentle ray of sunlight enters the mountain range, swiftly driving away the endless darkness. The suppressed, terrifying noises fade into tranquility, leaving only the soft sound of drizzling rain.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, amid the not-yet-fully-dispersed darkness, thunderous roars that seem to shake the earth and mountains break out. Moments later, a fearsome shadow as big as a mountain slowly steps out of the deep valley. It is a huge white ape stained with wet blood all over, standing upright in the muddy mountains. Its body is almost as tall as a mountain.

"How strange, I can hear a baby's crying. Can it be that there are humans who dare to come to these Hundred Thousand Mountains at this time?"

The golden-robed elder perched on the giant ape's right shoulder murmurs to himself as a gleam of fiery light flashes in his eyes. The bald man lying next to him lifts his eyes and looks at the sky. A giant shadow passes by in a blink of an eye.

"Second brother, since you have the best view from the sky, lead the way for my eldest brother, fourth sister, and me."

"Screech!"

A piercing sound is heard from the sky. The next moment, the white ape turns into a flash of white lightning and disappears on the spot. Shortly after, it lands by a boundless river, following the shadow in the sky. Ripples immediately emerge on the water surface.

A burned black, dead tree lies by the riverside. Apart from its main trunk being black, the rest of it is showing faint signs of life, sprouting several intertwined, vibrant green branches, forming a cage, enveloping a peculiar white lotus about three feet wide.

"Heavenly Chill Malign Lotus!"

The golden-robed elder lightly calls out as he springs forward. He shoots out tangible rays of golden light from his eyes and intensely scrutinizes the white lotus in front of him. After a long while, he slowly closes his eyes with a sigh, "I can't believe it’s the Heavenly Chill Malign Lotus, which is said to only bloom once every ten thousand years. How could it be found in the Hundred Thousand Mountains…"

Before he finishes his sentence, a babbling noise emanates from the lotus. Under the elder's gaze, the lotus slowly unfolds, revealing a rosy-cheeked, toothy baby boy. The boy, with his crescent-like eyes looking blankly at the golden-robed elder, seems a bit shy and gradually curls up.

"This doesn't look like a human baby, does it?"

The white ape, its eyes wide in disbelief, staring at the baby in the lotus. Even with the ape's broad experience, it is hard for it to accept such an incredible occurrence.

What excites it even more is that instead of being drawn to the "human-like" beings next to it, the baby indicates a certain fondness for it. With his crescent-like eyes, he steadily gazes at the white ape without blinking.

"I have no idea why, but this baby is indeed a human without any doubt. I do not feel any bloodline from the other races in him, except the lack of innate qi. If it weren't for the protection of the Sky Frost Yao Lotus, he probably wouldn't live until this time tomorrow."

The golden-robed elder pondered for a long time before suddenly letting out a long howl, sounding like a phoenix and echoing through the clouds. In less than an instant, a deep vortex appeared unexpectedly on the surface of the river.

A hundred-foot-long golden dragon sprang out, glistening brilliantly. It landed nearby and transformed into a dignified middle-aged man. His sharp gaze fell on the white lotus on the dead tree, and he shook his head gently without waiting for the others to speak.

"Since Third Brother is also unclear, let's keep the Sky Frost Yao Lotus for now and take it back to the Yao realm to transform later. As for this human baby, it seems that someone deliberately used the Sky Frost Yao Lotus to prolong his life. If we were to take the Sky Frost Yao Lotus and ignore him, it would be unkind."

Upon hearing this, everyone frowned simultaneously. The black-robed man who first arrived here stepped forward and said gravely, "In my opinion, we should entrust him to a prominent human family, consider it as paying back the kindness of the Sky Frost Yao Lotus. With the favor we owed him, he is sure to enjoy prosperity and wealth in his life, and perhaps even achieve something in the mundane world."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone stayed silent. Suddenly, the white ape stepped forward and cradled the baby in her arms, placing him softly amongst her chest hair. She then lifted her head and said without any doubt, "I don't care about what you guys are thinking. I'll raise this little guy. He's been smiling at me, maybe our meeting today is fate."

The crowd glanced at each other, seemingly wanting to speak but were silenced by the white ape's fierce glare, lest they offend her. Didn't you see she even changed the way she addressed herself?

"Cough, cough ..."

A light cough drew everyone's attention. Under the gaze of all, the bald giant walked straight up to the white ape and said painstakingly, "Fourth Sister, have you finally realized that you're a female monkey?"

...

Fourteen years later, at the foot of Jiaotu Mountain, a handsome young man was tirelessly ramming his petite body into a hundred-foot-high mountain corner. Although he was young, he had a strong build that his peers could not match, with bulging veins and countless scars on his body.

The young man's name was Jiang Yanyu, the infant who was picked up on the riverside of Mingjiang fourteen years ago. He was told that his name was given because the day he was found, a misty rain was falling and he was found by the river, thus the surname Jiang

river

, and the name Yanyu

misty rain

.

For this reason, the young man knew that he was an orphan since childhood. Although he felt somewhat sad about this, he did not care too much because the few people in the village were always nice to him. They even asked him to ram the mountain with his body until his skin broke and bled, just to make him taller.

"I wonder what weird food Ape Auntie is going to make for me today. I really hope it would taste better," Jiang Yanyu mumbled to himself. Suddenly, a severe voice came from the sky, "Don't get distracted. Concentrate all your strength in one place, and thus even a weakling like you will have the power to move mountains!"

As soon as his words fell, Jiang Yanyu hit the mountain wall with a bang and was embedded in it, unable to move at all. He shook his head and immediately cried out, "Grandpa Peng, save me, I can't get out."

The man in the black robe leaped down from the top of the mountain, came closer, and spoke coldly, "Why do I need to save you when you can't even control your own strength? It would have been easier just to feed you to the wild beasts when we found you!"

At his words, Jiang Yanyu wasn't angry. Instead, he laughed and pleaded, "Grandpa Peng, it was my mistake. I promise, I won't be distracted next time. Please, get me out."

"Hmph, I doubt you even have the courage!"

Black light shot out and cracked the stone wall around him. Jiang Yanyu staggered out, stretching his limbs and looking around to find that the man in the black robe had already disappeared. He shook his head, unfazed by the strange occurrence.

As he descended the mountain, he came across a seemingly weak young woman at its foot. Immediately she approached him, examining him up and down until she was sure he was not severely injured. Then she said softly, "Come back to the village with me. I've caught a lot of Silver Winged beasts and Three-legged snakes today. They'll surely make you a good, hearty meal!"

Hearing the names of the beasts, Jiang Yanyu shivered involuntarily and wryly said, "Aunt Ape, are those even edible? Will they make me sick, like that last time with the poisonous scorpion?"

He remembered vividly how he had spent three days and nights unrested after having just a sip of the broth she had cooked. He could neither eat nor drink, and felt as if drained of life.

Aunt Ape dismissed his concern with a wave, "That was a mishap. Who knew that Old Stone would catch a Golden Poisonous Scorpion? I promise it won't happen again. Trust me."

"Alright."

Jiang Yanyu left alongside Aunt Ape, apprehensive but with no other choice. By dusk, they arrived at a remote valley in the great mountains. In front of him was a human-sized pot, while the gathered villagers eyed him sympathetically.

"Young man, get in. This is Aunt Ape's kindly intention. We can't let her efforts go to waste."

A bald, grimacing man teased Jiang Yanyu. Resignated, Jiang let out a deep breath, stripped to his waist and stepped into the pot.

As Jiang sank into the pot until only his head remained above water, the villagers each cut their palms to add a drop of blood into the pot. The man in black commanded with a low growl, "Take a sip!"

The gritty brew didn't seem inviting, but after a gulp, Jiang felt his hunger vanish entirely. Not only that, renewed energy surged through his entire body, making him feel as if he was immersed in the clouds, keeping pace with the sun.

A moment later, Jiang Yanyu stepped out of the vat, his body smooth and unblemished. If one didn't look closely, they wouldn't even be able to see the scars from when he had rammed into the mountain during the day. He looked especially spirited.

"Grandpa Feng, Grandpa Peng, Grandpa Jiao, Auntie Yuan, and Old Stone Monster, do I still need to drink the congenital spirit blood?"

The golden-robed man, who had remained silent among the five, suddenly spoke up, "Given your current physique, you don't technically need more of the congenital spirit blood. However, continuing with it wouldn't harm you either. In the end, the choice is yours."

Without hesitation, Jiang Yanyu replied, "From today, I won't drink the congenital spirit blood. In this way, you all won't have to injure yourselves every time."

Each time he saw Grandpa Feng and the others cutting their palms, he felt a pang of guilt. If he hadn't been weak since childhood, they wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble.

Now that he had finally restored his congenital qi, there was no reason to let them help him with such self-harming methods. He had been waiting for this day for a long time.

"Well, if Yanyu has decided so, from tomorrow we will stop providing the congenital spirit blood. However, the essentials are still necessary."

The golden-robed old man's gaze unintentionally fell on the large vat. Jiang Yanyu suddenly felt a chill, as if his thoughts were easily seen through by the other party, but he could only nod in agreement.

"I heard you crashed into the mountain while daydreaming today, and in the end, it was Second Brother who had to come and retrieve you. Is that true?"

The bald-headed man teased Jiang Yanyu with a grin. Even though annoyed, Jiang Yanyu, knowing it could not be concealed, honestly nodded in affirmation. Suddenly, he found that nobody was laughing at his expense.

"Without any cultivation, you could smash a mountain with brute strength. I'm afraid even the offspring of a high-rank savage beast couldn't do this."

The imposing man spoke slowly, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Yanyu, and then he laughed, "You've done quite well. With your current strength, you don't have to fear the common savage beasts in the vast mountain range. But remember to run for your life when you encounter something that seems hard to deal with."

Jiang Yanyu simply nodded in acknowledgment. Having lived in the vast mountain range for fourteen years, he naturally knew how formidable those savage beasts were. Accidentally coming too close could lead to dizziness from their roars, let alone daring to provoke them.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Yanyu still couldn't help asking, "Now that I no longer lack congenital qi, does this mean I can start cultivating?"