I Have the Martial Arts Heavenly Eye in the Storm Riders

(This story is adapted from the comic book version. Please do not refer to the TV series plot if you are a Grandmaster reader. If you are a third-rate martial artist who does not like Duan Lang, please leave now.)

At the summit of Tianshan Mountain, clouds and mist swirl around.

This is a forbidden area in the martial arts world, and also the pinnacle of power.

A solitary peak, like a sharp sword, pierced the sky and tore the drifting clouds to shreds.

The wind howls here, like the wildest roar in the world, never ceasing all year round.

On this extremely high and dangerous cliff, three magnificent characters are boldly carved.

The World Alliance!

The three characters are written with vigorous strokes, each stroke seemingly containing boundless domineering power, like dragons and snakes coiled, or tigers descending the mountain, exuding an aura of swallowing the heavens and earth and being the only one who is supreme.

Any martial arts practitioner who passes by this place and looks up at these three large characters will feel a suffocating sense of pressure, as if Mount Tai is pressing down on them.

At the top of the cliff, deep in the clouds, a magnificent pavilion stands tall.

The number one building under heaven!

Its upturned eaves and golden splendor make it seem like a celestial palace built in the clouds.

The towering pavilions seemed to pierce a hole in the sky.

The glazed tiles reflected a dazzling light under the sun, so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes.

The clouds and mist weave between the pavilions, sometimes obscuring them, sometimes revealing a glimpse of their majestic forms, adding to their mystery and majesty.

That was Xiong Ba's forbidden territory, a power center that only his confidants could set foot in.

……

The Tianshan Mountains are majestic and towering into the clouds.

Even halfway up the mountain, it was already shrouded in mist and clouds, with waterfalls and springs flowing everywhere.

A huge waterfall cascades down from a great height, like a silver river hanging upside down, with a deafening roar and stirring up a cloud of water mist.

The scene behind the servants' quarters next to the waterfall is quite different.

Although the scenery is magnificent, the place reeks of a foul stench.

A young man dressed in tattered hemp clothes and covered in filth was pinching his nose and painfully cleaning the manure in the stable with a shovel.

His name is Jiang Chen.

A hapless guy who has just transmigrated to this world and is having a terrible time.

"Ugh..." Jiang Chen gagged, almost vomiting up the spoiled steamed bun he ate last night.

"I can't live like this anymore..." he thought to himself as he shoveled horse manure.

When others transmigrate, they are either young masters from noble families, or good-for-nothings who rise to power, or at the very least, ordinary disciples.

He, on the other hand, was directly transmigrated into the lowest-ranking servant of the World Society.

Moreover, they were lowly servants responsible for the dirtiest and most tiring jobs, such as emptying chamber pots and shoveling horse manure!

"This Tianshan Mountain is too high..." Jiang Chen straightened up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and looked up at the seemingly endless mountain peaks.

The spray from the waterfall hits you, carrying a chilling sensation.

"I heard there are several more floors up here, like the Three Branch Training Grounds, the Wind and Cloud Pavilion... I'm halfway up the mountain, I can't even touch the heel of an inner disciple."

Jiang Chen shoveled a shovelful of horse manure into the basket, the splashing filth almost landing on his face. Startled, he quickly shrank back, slipped, and nearly fell into the ditch beside him.

"Oh my god, that scared me to death..." He patted his chest, still shaken.

"This is the world of 'Storm Riders'! High risk! Absolutely high risk!"

"I heard that yesterday a handyman had his eyes gouged out just because he glanced at Qin Shuang a little too long... That's terrifying, that's terrifying."

Jiang Chen shrank back, his eyes filled with fear and awe.

He glanced furtively at the winding mountain path leading to the summit in the distance, where disciples dressed in red occasionally flew by, each one agile and exuding a fierce aura.

"Isn't that old monster Xiong Ba at the very top? And those ruthless inner disciples who kill without blinking an eye..."

"A nobody like me should just stay here on this hillside and shovel manure. I absolutely mustn't attract anyone's attention, I have to stay hidden! I absolutely have to stay hidden!"

His current dream is very humble.

It's not about dominating the martial arts world, nor is it about achieving immortality.

All he wanted was to escape this godforsaken place, find a deserted countryside to hide in, marry a village girl who wouldn't mind his lack of affection, and live a peaceful and stable life.

"Get to work! What are you dawdling for! If you don't finish shoveling the manure today, you can forget about dinner!" The foreman's fierce roar came from afar, his voice still clearly audible amidst the roar of the waterfall.

"Yes, yes, yes! Almost done! Almost done!" Jiang Chen trembled with fright and quickly lowered his head, swinging the shovel in his hand rapidly, afraid that if he was even a second too slow, he would be whipped.

On the majestic mountainside, beside cascading waterfalls and flowing springs, this young servant, covered in filth and shivering, was like a speck of dust, humbled to the very core of the earth.

It was evening, at the servants' canteen.

After a busy day, Jiang Chen finally received his dinner.

A large bowl of white rice is topped with a thick layer of braised pork, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, glistening with oil, and emitting a fragrant aroma.

It was served alongside two large white steamed buns and a bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup.

"Tsk tsk, as expected of the number one gang in the world, the food standards here would be the standard for a teachers' cafeteria in my previous life's high school."

"Jiang Chen! Over here! Over here!" A shout came from not far away.

A thin, dark-skinned boy was waving chopsticks, while a fat guy with greasy mouth sat next to him. These two were Jiang Chen's best friends in the handyman's ward. The thin one was called "Monkey," and the fat one was called "Second Fatty." The three of them were inseparable and were known as the "Handyman's Three Musketeers."

"They're here!"

Jiang Chen squeezed through with his plate, plopped down next to Erpang, and casually picked up the biggest piece of braised pork from Erpang's bowl.

"Ouch! My meat!" Erpang cried out, clutching his bowl protectively. "Don't you have your own?!"

"Yours smells better." Jiang Chen chuckled, stuffed the meat into his mouth, and mumbled, "It's a million times better than the school cafeteria that only makes awful food."

By this time, the cafeteria was already full of people.

They were all teenagers.

The World Society does not support idlers; even menial tasks are subject to evaluation.

If someone gets too old and hasn't made a name for themselves, or if their health fails, they will be ruthlessly driven down the mountain.

Therefore, most of those who remain here are teenagers like Jiang Chen.

After a long day of work, this is the only time everyone can relax, so all sorts of gossip fly around the dinner table.

"Hey, have you heard? The gang leader has taken on another apprentice!" The monkey lowered his voice and leaned closer with a mysterious look, gesturing with his chopsticks in the air.

"Tch, what news is this? I already knew." Erpang looked at the meat that had been taken away with a pained expression, and mumbled, "He's the third disciple to enter the inner circle. He's making quite a show of it."

"Yes, yes, yes! It's the third one!" The monkey nodded excitedly. "I think his name is... Nie... Nie Feng!"

"Nie Feng? That's a pretty impressive name."

The fat man swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth and looked enviously out the cafeteria window, which led to the mountaintop.

"I'm so envious. He rose to the top in one step and became the gang leader's disciple. He'll be a superior person from now on, eating and drinking the good life. Unlike us, we're stuck here shoveling poop and pissing every day."

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" The monkey quickly made a shushing gesture, nervously glancing around. "Are you out of your mind? How dare you talk about the gang leader's disciple?"

The fat man shrank back, no longer daring to shout loudly, but the longing in his eyes could not be concealed.

"Actually, I don't aspire to be a disciple," the fat man muttered softly. "I just want to pass the assessment and enter the inner sect. Then I can live on Mount Tian. I've heard that the houses there are made of gold, and even the floor tiles are paved with jade..."

Jiang Chen silently sipped his soup, listening to their conversation, but a cold smile crept across his face.

"Inner sect? Elite people?"

"That was a job where you risked your life. It wasn't as safe as it is now. It's a bit dirty and tiring, but at least I don't have to worry about being slapped to death one day."

Just then, the previously noisy cafeteria suddenly fell silent.

A boy dressed in gray servant's clothes walked in.

He was different from everyone else in the room.

Although he was dressed in the same coarse linen clothes, he stood up straight, and his face did not show the humility that had developed from years of being subservient. Instead, it exuded an undisguised arrogance.

However, this arrogance was now mixed with a hint of dejection and resentment.

He held a rice tray in his hand, coldly scanned the surroundings, and walked straight to a deserted corner.