Book 1: The Cruel Clan Laws
Chapter 1: Rebirth
“Milord, Third Lady is expecting one!” A pretty-looking female servant wearing green-coloured clothes ran over from afar and said excitedly.
An azure-clothed middle-aged man with a frightening atmosphere was currently flipping pages and reading a book. After hearing the servant’s words, his eyes lit up abruptly and he joyfully said, “Truly? Is what you’ve said true?!” Very evidently, he still didn’t dare to believe that was reality.
The female servant was also extremely happy, saying, “It is! Milord, Third Lady is really expecting one! The physician has confirmed it!”
“Haha…Hahahaha…Good. Good! This is great! Get Zhangfu to prepare some Ganoderma…”
“Milord, the manager has already finished preparing. Look at how happy you are!” The servant seemed to have forgotten her status as she giggled.
“Insolence.” The middle-aged man glared, but the cheerful expression on his face made his words lack any pressure.
“Yes, Milord. This servant has done wrong, this servant will be excused.” As the Third Lady’s personal servant, she had a very high position within the residence. She understood very clearly the family master’s temper, and only because of that did she dare to act in such a way. Of course, it was because he loved the Third Lady very fondly as well.
The middle-aged man immediately walked towards the Third Lady’s room.
Who was that middle-aged man? Having an imposing atmosphere…
He, he was the present family master of the Zhang clan, one of the four prominent clans within the Ming Dynasty.
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The continent that the Ming Dynasty situated at was named the Azure Dragon Continent. It was extremely wealthy, and other than the western boundless great desert, the other places were relatively flourishing.
To the east of the Ming Dynasty was the State of Liao, to the north was the Yuanmons, to the south was the State of Jin, and to the northeast was the edge of the ocean. Not too far from the coast, there was a very large island belonging to Gaoli. Extremely distant from the southeast coast, there were seventy-two islands belonging to the State of Huangyu. To the west was a desert as far as the eye could see. Since ancient times, who knew how many adventures died in the desert. Up until present, were there no one who knew what the end of the desert was like? The Ming Dynasty was situated in the heart of the continent, and it was very prosperous. All of the other countries were glaring at it like tigers, but the Ming Dynasty was very powerful. So, looking at the surface of the continent, it seemed rather peaceful, but in reality, undercurrents were surging. A war could start with a touch, so the various counties were acc.u.mulating war supplies in order gain greater benefits from the upcoming war.
The four prominent clans formed a single legend. All of them experienced several hundred years of ups and downs, experiences several dynasties yet did not fall, acc.u.mulated countless riches, and grasped the entire Ming Dynasty’s economy lifeline. Every time the royal power changed, they had to first appease the clans. The past generations gave birth to a habit. Every time the new dynasty’s emperor got hold of power, he would bestow the t.i.tle of duke to all of the family masters, and that was pa.s.sed down generation by generation.
The four prominent clans were the Li clan, Shi clan, Zhang clan, and Yuwen clan. Not only did the clans have innumerable wealth, the military power they had was extremely frightening as well. The personal army they had consisted of over ten thousand soldiers, their power second only to the emperor.
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“What is happening? Didn’t I fail the Tribulation? My soul should have scattered already.”
I feel amazement, but what’s making me feel the most shock is that I clearly feel I am still in a fetus state. Don’t tell me…don’t tell me that I’ve reincarnated into a fetus?!
I immediately cast my awareness into my dantian, and a burst of vigorous Inborn Origin Power causes me to feel elation! Inborn Origin Power! Ha, it’s Inborn Origin Power, the source power of life! It’s on the same level as the power of G.o.d!
I immediately do my best to control the incomparably weak power of thinking and very painstakingly form the most basic Taiji state with my Innate aura in my dantian. This aura is too weak. Only after a very long period of time did I form a very frail suction power. The Life Origin power even bigger than my body outside my body is only slowly appearing in strands of gas and very gradually entering my body. Sigh, finally, some is entering, there’s hope…
I start the endlessly long journey of absorbing Life Origin Power….
Cultivation is split into ten stages: First Light, Fusion, Bigu, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Departure, Form Separation, Body Combination, Tribulation Confrontation, and Great Completion. The aforementioned First Light is fused with the inborn realm. The Bigu stage is for cleansing inborn Pure Qi, and it is turned into liquid for Golden Core cultivation, as preparation for the grand journey to the Golden Core stage. Once one is on the journey towards the Golden Core stage, one can produce Pure Origin Power. Pure Origin Power is many times more powerful than inborn Pure Qi, and after reaching the Golden Core stage, one can have longevity and not age. At that time, they can be t.i.tled as a Cultivator. Only the Heaven’s Tribulation can affect their life. Of course, it is also very normal to be killed by other Cultivators.
After the Great Completion stage, there are also the six stages of Divine Immortal, Luotian High Immortal, Daluo Golden Immortal, Nine Heaven Profound Immortal, Immortal Lord, and Immortal Emperor. However, in regards to the current me, it is still very far.
Outside the room of the Zhang clan’s Third Lady!
The Zhang clan’s family master, Zhang Tiande, was currently walking back and forth anxiously in front of the room’s door as the Third Lady within the room was currently giving birth to her precious child…
“I’ve finally finished absorbing! So much delicious Life Origin power! Later on, after birth, this Life Origin Power cannot grow anymore. If every person brings their memory when they reincarnate, perhaps many Cultivators would be willing to be reborn. As long as one absorbs all of the Inborn Origin Power outside of the fetus’ body, their cultivation speed would at least be increased by several times!”
[TN: It’s an ancient belief that people reincarnate after death (the cycle of reincarnation) but do not retain their memories.]
Right now, a strong suction power abruptly came and I involuntarily slide out. A burst of Extrinsic Qi burrows into my body, and I naturally, with no control at all, cry out. After the burst of Extrinsic Qi charges in, it immediately makes a mess of the Inborn Origin Power within my body. How can this do? Won’t this force me back to the Extrinsic Realm? I immediately close my mouth, control the Inborn Origin Power within my body, and do my best to painstakingly discharge the Extrinsic Aura out of my body…
“Milord, congratulations, congratulations! Both mother and child are safe, and it’s a young master!” A midwife wearing a red-coloured large cotton jacket said gratulatorily.
Zhang Tiande accepted his son with joy on his brows, and the manager immediately gave the midwife some “happy money”.
“A hundred tael!” The midwife exclaimed. It was something that a normal family could earn only after one year, but to the Zhang clan, it was merely one hair from nine oxen, perhaps not even a single hair!
The manager immediately sent off the midwife as Zhang Tiande walked up to the edge of the bed, and warmly said to the beautiful young lady who had a pale white face yet still emitted the radiance of a kind mother, “Feng’er, look! This is our child, the proof of our love.”
“Tiande…” Within the eyes of the beautiful young lady, traces of happiness and honey-sweetness were revealed.
After finally stabilizing my innate realm, I raise my head to astonishedly discover my own parents staring at one another. I’ve only seen such gazes of deep feeling that could even melt metal within the eyes of my past life’s lady.
It can’t be helped as I smile bitterly. It seems like I can only imitate a baby, “Ahhhhh…” I wail loudly. At present, my face is completely red. The grand elder of the Heavenly Heart Sect who has cultivated for 3600 years is actually imitating a baby’s cry! Luckily, no one knows.
When my mother hears my crying, she immediately thinks of her child who was just born and immediately carry me into her embrace, “Baby, don’t cry, baby, don’t cry, uu…”
Only then did my father, who was in a daze, think of his own son and immediately puts his face in front of my eyes. He did not have the imposing atmosphere of a prominent clan’s master, so he also did not immediately coax me, and actually said, “Son, don’t cry. Father will buy you candy to eat…”
“Candy? You want to harm my precious son? What if he gets a toothache in the future?” My mother has a face of fury.
“My wife, I was wrong. No candy no candy, hoho…” The usually imposing master of a great clan actually has such a side! If this gets known, outsiders will definitely not believe it. But quickly after, on my mother’s face, a smile of happiness gets blossomed. Wife and husband are like so. How is this not an appearance of love?
“My wife, say, what should our son be called? In his life, he will be of the stars (Xing). Xingjian (star sword), Xingshi (star arrow), Xingkong (star sky), Xingxing (stars)…” My father starts to endlessly speak. The more he speaks, the more exciting he gets…
“No matter how much higher mountains are, humans are always on the peak. Let’s call him Xingfeng (star peak).” My mother says after thinking.
“My wife, you’re very educated! Just now, I also prepared to say that. A husband a wife do have connected hearts!” My father looks at my mother with a face full of smiles, and perhaps love blinds people, since my mother is actually looking at my father with light smile on her face as well.
“Tiande, look, something seems to be off with our son. Up until now, he hasn’t cried again. What’s happening?” My mother lightly furrows her brows.
My father says disagreeing, “Of course my son is different from others. Hoho…”
It seems like today, my father is indeed too happy, and compared to his usual imposing demeanor, his appearance is very different from normal.
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The thing that made the entire clan amazed was that the Third Young Master, who was just born, was indeed different from everyone else: For a normal child who is born recently, that child would sleep around fourteen hours a day, but the Third Young Master sleeps for twenty hours. Only at times when there should be food does he wake up. That continued for a full nine months.
Nine months later, he shocked everyone even more. Every day, the Third Young Master sleeps for only six hours, and if he doesn’t sit on the bed during other times, he would be strengthening himself. He would be lifting a rock to train his arm’s strength, or carrying a rock while running. Sometimes, he even took a rock club to eat himself, and it was useless no matter how he was stopped. At the end, as nothing could be done, in order for a slightly better appearance, within the clan, a set of armor made by Profound Iron was created for him. It weighed roughly a hundred and fifty catties, but at the age of four, he no longer wore it. One, it was too small, and in addition, a hundred and fifty catties to him lacked any challenge.
This second reason, of course, only the person who is doing it knows why that happens.
Actually, I have no other choice. Because I already started to cultivate while I was in my fetus state, I directly pa.s.sed through the Inborn realm, directly pa.s.sed through the First Light stage, and entered the Fusion stage.
I already started the necessary closed-door cultivation in order to let my body completely get used to the revolution of the Inborn Pure Qi. Because I haven’t received any Extrinsic effects since birth, I only used nine months. Normal people need at least a good few years. After that, because I discovered that my body is of the fire attribute, I can use fire to temper my body, but the prerequisite is that my body needs to be extraordinary strong. So, that’s the reason why I am performing actions such as using rocks to train my body. Of course, I haven’t used any Inborn Pure Qi while doing that, or else even a thousand catties won’t have any effect.
One of the reasons why I can cultivate so quickly is because my Life Origin Power is almost ten times the normal person’s. Moreover, my Spirit Realm has already reached the Great Completion stage, and what I use is also the Heavenly Heart Sect’s most precious Heart Scripture, so of course my cultivation speed is almost ten times the normal person’s.
But these are only my own estimations: everything depends on reality. Haha, it also means that I can reach Tribulation Confrontation in roughly a hundred years. In my former life, I spent 3600 years in order to reach Tribulation Confrontation! The principles of reincarnation cycling are indeed fair.
Since the Heavens have given me my past life’s memory, and also given me another chance, of course, I cannot disappoint the Heavens’ excellent treatment. I will definitely create a legend. A legend that belongs to me, Zhang Xingfeng–The legend of Xingfeng!