Axiom

A town put to the sword. The young forcibly recruited. An old man out for revenge.

After his town is put to the sword and the children are taken to replace the fallen, an old man is out for revenge. He's ready to fail at the most difficult challenge in the world: cultivation.

Too corrupted to even take the first steps, the sly old elder simply agreed with those who told him that it was impossible. Then he quietly ignored them, rubbed his hands together, and started anyway. He had always failed in what he did: he lost his way from the academy, his command was devastated by a Mage, he lost his town, and now his last hopes for the future had been stolen by a group of raiders. The only thing that had never failed him was his sharp mind and philosophy. He would cultivate... no matter what it cost him.

A lifetime of failure can dull and dampen a soul. A reason to live, a goal, can change that in an instant. It is always darkest just before the dawn.