Nighttime in Oakhaven Village always brought a chilling stillness. Outside the dilapidated shack, the temperature plummeted, freezing the moisture on the rotting wooden window frames into thin ice crystals. Inside the cramped room, lying atop a damp pile of old straw, Rian opened his eyes—eyes that belonged to a three-year-old child, yet held a gaze far beyond his age.

In his previous life as an elite mercenary, Rian knew one absolute law that never changed: power was the only currency of true value in a cruel world. Without power, humans were merely sheep awaiting the slaughter—just like his father, who lay battered in the corner following the debt collector's rampage yesterday.

Three years, Rian analyzed internally. This body is finally mature enough to withstand the load of energy. If I wait any longer, this family’s suffering will only deepen.

Rian waited until the sound of his parents' breathing settled into a steady, soft rhythm. Once he was certain the coast was clear, he moved. Exercising extreme caution to avoid making even the faintest noise, he slipped out from beneath the thin blanket and crawled toward the darkest corner near the stack of firewood and straw.

In that hidden nook, Rian positioned his tiny body. He crossed his legs, straightened his small back as much as possible, and closed his eyes.

This was his first attempt at practicing an ancient cultivation and breathing technique he had learned in his former world—a method that combined high-level mental focus with cosmic alignment. However, there was a new variable in this world: Mana.

As he regulated his breathing, the first intake of air felt instantly different. The freezing night air was no longer mere oxygen; it was a surge of wild, pulsing energy particles.

Enter, Rian commanded inwardly with the absolute authority of a battle commander.

Instantly, the mana particles surrounding the shack responded. The raw energy forced its way in through the pores of his tender skin. The sensation was... agonizing.

For the body of a three-year-old toddler, that influx of raw energy felt like thousands of red-hot needles slicing through his delicate blood vessels from the inside out. Rian bit down hard on his lower lip until it nearly bled, smothering every hiss of pain to avoid waking his mother. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, soaking his thin strands of hair. It felt as though his bones were being systematically shattered and forcibly reassembled.

Endure! Do not let this energy run wild! Force it into the center of the chest!

With an iron will forged through death and past betrayal, Rian guided the searing stream of energy through his body's unopened internal meridians. One by one, frozen energy nodes were shattered open by the sheer force of his mature soul. The burning agony reached its peak within his chest cavity, making his lungs feel as if they were engulfed in pure fire.

Just as he felt his physical limits collapsing and his consciousness fading, the final barrier in his primary meridian line caved in with a faint crackling sound inside his head.

THUMP!

An intoxicating, extraordinary warmth flooded his entire body, instantly washing away the burning pain. His blood rumbled softly, pumping fresh energy into every corner of his fragile muscles and bones.

Rian opened his eyes in the pitch dark. His vision, once dim, had grown razor-sharp; he could now see individual dust motes floating in the air and clearly hear his mother's heartbeat from several meters away.

Accidentally, his small hand scraped against the sharp tip of a piece of dry straw, leaving a shallow cut that oozed a single drop of fresh blood onto his palm.

Rian stared at the minor wound, his chest heaving. But before he could wipe it away, something extraordinary happened.

Before his widening eyes, the skin on his toddler palm throbbed gently. Within seconds, the cut sealed itself shut, completely regenerated without leaving a trace of a scar.

That moment proved one absolute truth: his first mana circulation had succeeded, altering and regenerating his physical body far beyond the limits of a normal human.