Chapter 1 Crippled Father and Son
“d.a.m.n, it unexpectedly hurts. Could it be that I’m still alive? Ling Xiao opened his eyes and let out a low groan.
“Xiao’er, you woke up. You really gave your mother a scare.” A woman dressed in plain attire but of elegant bearing wiped her tears as she caressed Ling Xiao’s face.
“What…what’s going on? Although I’m into older women, but this almost seem…” Ling Xiao thought up till here when he suddenly felt an intense throbbing pain in his head as a wave of fuzzy memory bombarded his mind.
The woman saw Ling Xiao’s absent-minded expression and hastily held onto Ling Xiao’s hands, full of concern as she asked, “Xiao’er. What’s happening to you Xiao’er? What’s wrong? Don’t scare your mother.”
“No…no mother. I’m…I’m alright.” Ling Xiao quickly replied.
G.o.d, I unexpectedly transmigrated!
Ling Xiao realized that he was no longer on Earth, but transmigrated to a world called Xuan Spirit Continent. In the battle between Ghost Sect’s big four peak expert and himself, he had ultimately detonated his own dantian and was resigned to death. He didn’t expect that his luck to be this good, having unexpectedly transmigrated. The woman before his eyes is the mother of his current body, Meng Xi Yun.
Meng Xi Yun looked at Ling Xiao with a sorrowful expression and said, “That’s good to hear. You will not need to practice martial arts anymore or they will continue to bully you. It’s really breaks my heart seeing you two father and son like this!”
“Alright, I’ll listen to you mother. Can you go out first? I feel tired and want to rest a little while.” Ling Xiao squeezed out a smile and said.
“Good. Mother won’t disturb you. You get some sleep first; mother will go prepare some medicine for you.” Meng Xi Yun nodded her head as she wiped her tears, tucking Ling Xiao in bed before she left the room and shut the doors firmly behind her.
Ling Xiao deliberately sent Meng Xi Yun away. He needed time to process all the jumbled memories in his head.
Ling Xiao opened his eyes an hour later and let out a deep breath. “The situation is much better than I imagined; at the very least I am alive.”
Ling Xiao began to sort out this body’s original memories and soon realized that he had transmigrated into the body of “Ling Xiao,” a boy belonging to Falling Stone City’s Ling Family with the same name as himself. As to why this particular body was chosen, it could only be described by the word “fate.”
The original “Ling Xiao” should have been Ling Family’s eighteenth generation’s most outstanding cultivation genius, breaking through the ranks of xuan pract.i.tioner into the xuan warrior realm at the age of fifteen, becoming the foremost genius of Falling Stone City.
However, the trees that rise above the forest will always be the first to be blown down!
Not long after “Ling Xiao” became a xuan warrior, he was suddenly attacked and his meridians were terminated as a result. The former, awe-inspiring xuan warrior turned into an ordinary commoner that can’t even compare to martial apprentice—from the foremost genius to a cripple.
In the world of martial arts, where martial strength is king, not being able to practice martial arts in Falling Stone City’s first family clan, the Ling Family, ultimately meant leading a sad and mediocre life.
However, “Ling Xiao” possessed an indomitable spirit and once again started to practice from the beginning but have unfortunately met with no success these two years. In these two years, he had to suffer ridicule, derision from the same generation of the Ling Family, but had no choice other than to endure and swallow his anger and remain steadfast.
But two days earlier, “Ling Xiao” was provoked by Ling Rui, the grandson of the Ling Family’s Fifth Elder, who ultimately resorted to insulting his parents. Even though “Ling Xiao” has remained strong despite his fall from grace and have allowed others to mock him, he could not tolerate others humiliating his parents. And so, he unleashed his anger and lashed out at Ling Rui. Unfortunately, with his cultivation crippled, how could he be a match for a low level xuan pract.i.tioner like Ling Rui? He was beaten half to death on the spot.
This was why Ling Xiao found himself bedridden earlier!
……
“A powerhouse’s world？ Fine by me!” Ling Xiao said with a gleam of confidence. He crawled out of bed and examined his frail body, touching the fateful blow at the back of the head, where a large swollen b.u.mp still had not disappeared.
“I will help you exact revenge on your enemies.” Ling Xiao sighed and then began to look around the room.
The room was s.p.a.cious, but the furnishing was a little spa.r.s.e. In addition to the meter and half long bed, there are a few chairs and a small side table. The most conspicuous item was the wooden dummy in the corner of the room, a testament to the original “Ling Xiao’s” diligent but unfortunately futile practice.
The door creaked open, this time came in was a middle-aged man, roughly thirty seven years old with distinctly sharp profile, high nose, and turbid, empty eyes. Wrapped in a gray robe and carrying a wine bottle in one hand, this image is reminiscent of those stereotypical playboys from his past life. In this life however, he is merely an utterly dispirited middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man in front of Ling Xiao is his father, Ling Zhan, whose meridians have also been destroyed. Both father and son were infamously nicknamed the “Crippled Father and Son” in Falling Stone City.
More than ten years ago, Ling Zhan was also one of Falling Stone City’s rare talents. Although not as abnormal as Ling Xiao, he still broke through the ranks of xuan pract.i.tioner and became a xuan warrior at the age of 18, before advancing to the peak of xuan warrior rank at the age of 25, just shy of reaching the spirit master ranks and be considered among the few true experts in Falling Stone City. Unfortunately, he fell victim to an ambush that left him crippled in circ.u.mstances that bears an eerie semblance to what befell Ling Xiao, really giving people food for thought.
Ling Zhan glanced at Ling Xiao, drank a mouthful of wine and quietly asked, “How are you feeling?”
Ling Xiao looked at the broken man in front of his eyes and replied, “Haven’t died yet!”
“That’s good to hear.” Ling Zhan sat at the edge of the bed, paused a moment before asking, “Do you want to take a swig?”
Ling Xiao wasn’t courteous as he grabbed the bottle from Ling Zhan, threw his head back and poured a mouthful. The burning sensation flooded his body and he could not help himself let out a satisfying sigh before continuing to drink a few more mouthfuls.
In his previous life, he had drunk his fair share of strong liquor such as *Shao Dao Zi, Nu’er Hong, Chen Nian Lao Jiao…
[*These are famous brands of spirits and Chinese wine.]
Ling Zhan watched his son with a complicated expression, before diverting his gaze toward the wooden dummy and stated indifferently, “The maxim that a person of character should strive unremittingly for self-improvement is the right way to live, but we are unable to live this way.”
“Father,” Ling Xiao shakily cried out as a surge of emotion overwhelmed him. Memories of the past two years of exclusion, ridicule, and mockery appeared one after another in his mind. It seems that his father had also encountered the same bitter experiences when he was younger.
“Some things depend on heaven’s will. Xiao’er, you don’t have to force yourself. I have seen all of your hard work. Father won’t blame you.” Ling Zhan said in a tone of frustration and cynicism. Back then, he was so high-spirited and full of mettle, all but set to become the next patriarch of the clan, but in an unfortunate twist of fate, his life completely changed overnight and he was turned into a hopeless cripple. He had originally found comfort in seeing his son’s slow rise in becoming even stronger than he had been in the past. But when history repeated itself as his son suffered the same blow, he felt bitter anguish and pain in his heart!
Ling Xiao did not respond, but his eyes gradually covered with mist. He was able to feel the sincere love and concern Meng Xi Yun had for him and Ling Zhan’s silent, nonjudgmental compa.s.sion.
“What did you two talk about? Xiao’er, drink this hot medicine that mother has prepared right away.” Meng Xi Yun said as she came in carrying a bowl of dark medicine. Noticing Ling Xiao’s unusual behavior, she nervously asked, “Xiao’er, why are you crying? Did your dad scold you for slacking off?” Meng Xi Yun angrily glared at Ling Zhan.
“No…mother, I just, I just had something in my eyes. Quickly give me the medicine so that I can drink it.” Ling Xiao quickly changed the topic. He had never cried in his previous life, having heard from his family that he had loved to smile since a young age, gaining the nickname, “Smile.” If someone found out that he had almost cried just now, he would be utterly humiliated. That is why he would rather die than admit this.
After drinking the medicine, Ling Zhan and Meng Xi Yun left the room.
Ling Xiao, feeling the pain in his head getting worst, fell into a deep sleep.
Three days went by in the blink of an eye. Ling Xiao did not take even half a step outside his room, but sorted out his memory fragments so that he could adapt to his new body as soon as possible.
At the same time, he examined his own body and discovered that the twelve primary meridians have been cut off. No wonder the past two years of bitter cultivation have amounted to nothing.
However, Ling Xiao was currently feeling indignant. He was a peerless martial arts expert in his past life, most powerful among his skills being *G.o.d Bu Jing Yun’s Cloud Parting Palm, Wind G.o.d Nie Feng’s Wind G.o.d Leg, and Qin Shuang’s Sky Frost Fist. He had intended to learn Xiong Ba’s Three Parts Return Yuan Qi at the same time, but unfortunately never had the chance to practice before perishing alongside Ghost Sect’s big four peak experts. If he had been given just one year to practice Three Parts Divine Point’s first form, “Shattered Jade Split Gold,” then he would not have to resort to detonating his own dantian in order to contend with the Ghost Sect’s four experts.
[*These are all characters from the Hong Kong wuxia manhua series, Fung Wan, made popular by the 1998 film adaptation, The Storm Riders. There will be many other references from Fung Wan made later in this story.]
Fortunately, Ling Xiao retained all of his memories from his past life. He had long since memorized Cloud Parting Palm, Wind G.o.d Kick, Sky Frost Fist, and other cultivation methods by heart, including many *zhaoshi and their strengths and weaknesses. But his current body is too weak and is incapable of displaying those techniques’ genuine might.
[*Martial arts fighting techniques in a codified sequence.]
Out of all the martial art techniques, Ling Xiao’s favorite is the Wind G.o.d Kick—every move is eye-catching and elegant. Using the Wind G.o.d Kick, he had attracted quite a number of sects’ shijie and shimei’s affection, which had been something he was intensely proud of.
In order to establish a firm foothold in this survival of the strongest world, he needs a formidable strength that he could rely on. If not, he will become the object of other people’s humiliation and ridicule.
“The twelve principle meridians are terminated. As long as I cleanse the marrow once more, breakthrough and clarify the meridian channels, I’ll be able to practice cultivation. However, the cultivation here is not called internal skill, but rather is called xuan skill, and I don’t know the difference between the two. Let me try and see if Three Parts Return Yuan Qi will really be as effective as Shaolin Temple’s Marrow Cleansing Scripture.” Ling Xiao made up his mind and planned to simultaneously practice Three Parts Return Yuan Qi from his previous life to see whether or not this crippled body will be able to resume cultivation once more.