The Mortal Root
In the morning mist of Zhuli Village, the thud of fists against Ironheart Bamboo always lingers.
For ten years, Ren Fan has been known by his neighbors as "Mortal Root." His spiritual meridians are blocked, and after five years of practicing the Green Bamboo Leaf-Sweeping Art, he still can't split a single bamboo splinter. But his eldest brother has a Wood meridian that can make bamboo branches bend like supple fingers, his second brother has a Thunder meridian that can shatter bluestone with lightning, and his little sister has a Space meridian that can teleport a chicken coop into a tree. Of the five Ren siblings, he's the only one who seems like a weed that never grew.
Then, just before the Root-Testing Ceremony, the petals of a World Spirit Flower grow hot in his palm, revealing the words: "At the beginning of chaos, the root lies among mortals." His mother tells him that Ironheart Bamboo is hard because its roots coil three layers deep underground. And hidden in the petals of the flower that healed his father's old wound is the bone-corroding poison of the Nine Passes battlefield, along with the World Spirit Flower's salvation.
When the neighbors' mockery shatters beneath the old locust tree, and Gousheng's taunts are reflected in red-cloth-wrapped bamboo branches, Ren Fan finally understands: perhaps "Mortal Root" isn't a shackle. Deep within those blocked spiritual meridians lies a power of chaos even he doesn't know about, a force that can devour lightning and fire, unite the Five Elements, and make Ironheart Bamboo bloom for him.
From the Root-Testing Ceremony in Zhuli Village to the Qi-Drawing Hall of the Qinglan Domain, from the battles between good and evil in the Nine Heavens Realm to the war against the void in the Abyss of Ashen Ruins, the boy once mocked as "Mortal Root" will carry his family's warmth, wield chaos as his sword and protection as its sheath, and cleave a path from the countryside to all the realms.
After all, the finest roots have always sunk deepest into the richest soil.
