Cruel Family Law: Rebirth

PS: "Star Peak" is my first book, so omissions are inevitable. I hope everyone can be understanding!

The first three volumes of "Star Peak" were also an experimental phase for me, Tomato, to find my own style. Those volumes were written in the first person; perhaps it was because I was a novice back then, fond of the first-person perspective and enjoying self-insertion. However, after writing for a while, I felt that the third-person perspective suited me better! From the fourth volume onwards, this book is entirely in the third person!

The first three volumes have some loopholes and flaws, but I hope everyone will continue reading. I, Tomato, personally believe that what follows is quite decent! Thank you!

The second part of this book covers the content of the Cultivation World, pure cultivation.

"Master, the Third Madam is pregnant!" A pretty maid dressed in green ran over from afar and said excitedly.

A middle-aged man in green robes, possessing an astonishing aura, was flipping through a book. Upon hearing the maid's words, his eyes lit up fiercely, and he asked joyfully, "Really! Are you telling the truth?" Clearly, he dared not believe this was a fact.

The maid was also extremely happy and said, "Yes, Master, the Third Madam is truly pregnant; the doctor has already confirmed it!"

"Haha... Hahahaha... Good, good, this is truly wonderful! You, tell Zhang Fu to prepare the lingzhi immediately..."

"Master, the steward has already prepared it. Look at how happy you are, Master." The maid seemed to have forgotten her status and giggled.

"Presumptuous." The middle-aged man glared, but the joyful expression on his face stripped his words of any pressure.

"Yes, Master, this servant was wrong, this servant will withdraw." As the personal maid of the Third Madam, she held a high status in the manor. She understood the Master's temper well, which was why she dared to act this way—and, of course, because the Master doted on the Third Madam so much.

The middle-aged man immediately walked toward the Third Madam's room.

Who was this middle-aged man with such a dignified and imposing appearance?

He was the current head of the Zhang Family, one of the Four Great Families of the Ming Dynasty.

The continent where the Ming Dynasty is located is known as the Azure Dragon Continent. It is quite prosperous; apart from the boundless desert in the west, all other regions are relatively developed.

The Ming Dynasty borders the Liao Kingdom to the east, Yuan Mongolia to the north, the Jin Kingdom to the south, and the sea to the northeast. Not far from the coast lies a large island known as Goryeo. Far to the southeast, there are 72 islands known as the Imperial Universe Kingdom. To the west lies an endless desert. Throughout history, countless adventurers have died in that desert, and to this day, no one knows what lies at its end. The Ming Dynasty sits at the center of the continent and is extremely wealthy. Other nations eye it covetously, but the Ming Dynasty is very powerful, so the continent appears relatively peaceful on the surface. In reality, however, undercurrents are surging, and war could break out at any moment. Every nation is stockpiling war supplies to gain greater benefits in the future.

The Four Great Families are a legend. They have weathered hundreds of years of storms, surviving through several dynasties without falling. They have accumulated countless wealth and control the economic lifeline of the entire Ming Dynasty. Every change in imperial power requires their appeasement first. Through the generations, a custom has formed: every new emperor, upon taking the throne, confers the title of Duke upon each family head, passed down through the generations.

The Four Great Families are the Li, Shi, Zhang, and Yuwen families. Each great family not only possesses immense wealth but also maintains an astonishing armed force, with private armies numbering over ten thousand, their influence second only to the Emperor.

"What is going on? Didn't I fail my Tribulation Transcendence? I should have suffered Soul Scattering."

I felt a wave of astonishment, but what shocked me most was that I clearly felt myself in a state of Fetal Breath. Could it be... could it be that I have been reincarnated as a fetus!

I immediately sank my consciousness into my Dantian, and a surge of vigorous Innate Primordial Energy filled me with wild joy! Innate Primordial Energy, ha, it is Innate Primordial Energy, the primal power of life! This is of the same rank as Divine Power!...

I immediately struggled to control my incredibly weak Mental Power, laboriously guiding the Innate Qi to form the most basic Taiji shape in my Dantian. This Qi was too weak. After a long time, it finally formed a faint suction, and a wisp of Life Primordial Energy—much larger than what was inside my body—slowly began to enter. Sigh, it finally came in; there is hope...

I began the long journey of absorbing Life Primordial Energy...

Cultivation is divided into 10 stages: Opening Light, Fusion, Grain Abstinence, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Separation, Avatar, Body Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, and Great Accomplishment. Among these, Opening Light and Fusion belong to the Innate Realm, while the Grain Abstinence stage involves refining Innate True Qi into a liquid state, preparing for the formation of the Golden Core and the achievement of the Golden Core Dao. Once one enters the Golden Core Dao, one can generate True Primordial Energy, which is far stronger than Innate True Qi. Upon reaching the Golden Core Stage, one can attain immortality; only then can one be called a cultivator. Only the Heavenly Tribulation can affect their life, though being killed by other cultivators is, of course, quite normal.

After the Great Accomplishment stage, there are six further stages: Heavenly Immortal, Luo Tian Heavenly Immortal, Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, Nine Heavens Profound Immortal, Immortal Monarch, and Immortal Emperor. However, those are still very far away for me right now.

Outside the room of the Third Madam of the Zhang Family!

Zhang Tiande, the head of the Zhang Family, was pacing anxiously outside the chamber door. Inside, the Third Madam was giving birth to her precious child...

"Finally finished absorbing. What delicious Life Primordial Energy. This Life Primordial Energy cannot increase once I am born. If every reincarnated person retained their memories, perhaps many cultivators would be willing to reincarnate. As long as one absorbs all the Innate Primordial Energy outside the fetus, the speed of cultivation would increase at least several times!"

Suddenly, a massive suction force arrived, and I involuntarily slid outward. A breath of Houtian energy rushed into my body, and I naturally, uncontrollably, let out a cry. A surge of Houtian energy rushed in, instantly disrupting the Innate Primordial Qi within me. How could this be? Does this mean I am to return to the Houtian Realm? I immediately closed my mouth, controlled the Innate Primordial Qi within, and struggled to expel the Houtian energy from my body...

"Master, congratulations, congratulations! Mother and child are safe; it is a little young master." The midwife, dressed in a red cotton-padded jacket, said joyfully.

Zhang Tiande beamed with joy as he took his son, and the steward immediately gave the midwife a reward.

"100 taels." The midwife exclaimed. This was what an average family earned in a year, but for the Zhang Family, it was merely a drop in the bucket—perhaps not even that!

The steward immediately sent the midwife away, and Zhang Tiande walked to the bedside, speaking gently to the beautiful young woman, who was pale but radiated a mother's glow: "Feng'er, look, this is our child, the witness of our love."

"Tiande..." The beautiful woman's eyes revealed threads of happiness and sweetness.

I finally stabilized my Innate Realm and looked up, surprised to find my parents gazing at each other. That deep affection, capable of melting steel, was something I had only seen in the eyes of my wife from my previous life, Yu Yan.

There was no help for it; I smiled bitterly and had to act like an infant: "Aaaah, aaaah..." I wailed loudly. My face was bright red. The Great Elder of the Tianxin Sect, with 3,600 years of cultivation, was actually crying like a baby. Fortunately, no one knew.

My mother heard my cry and immediately remembered her newborn son, pulling me into her embrace. "Baby, don't cry, baby, don't cry, oh..."

My dazed father finally remembered his son and immediately leaned his face toward me. Stripped of the dignity of a family head and having no idea how to coax me, he actually said: "Son, don't cry, Daddy will buy you candy..."

"Candy? You're harming my precious son! What if he gets a toothache later?" My mother said with a look of fury.

"Madam, this husband was wrong, no candy, no candy, hehe..." The usually dignified head of a great family actually had such a side; if word got out, outsiders certainly wouldn't believe it. But then, a happy smile bloomed on my mother's face. With a husband like this, how could it not be a display of love...

"Madam, what do you think we should name our son? His generation is the 'Star' generation. Star Sword, Star Arrow, Starry Sky, Star Star..." My father began to list names incessantly, becoming more and more excited...

"Mountains are high because of the peak; let's call him Star Peak." My mother thought for a moment and said.

"Madam's talent is truly high. I was just about to say that; Madam and I truly share a heart-to-heart connection." My father looked at my mother with a face full of smiles. Perhaps love makes one blind; my mother was actually looking at my father with a smile.

"Tiande, look, our son seems wrong. He hasn't cried until now. What's going on?" My mother's delicate brows furrowed.

My father said dismissively: "My son is naturally extraordinary, hehe..."

It seems my father was indeed too happy today! His behavior was vastly different from usual.

What astonished the entire noble family was that this newborn Third Young Master was truly extraordinary: while an ordinary newborn would sleep about 14 hours a day, the Third Young Master slept for 20, waking only when it was time to eat. This phenomenon persisted for nine whole months.

Nine months later, something even more jaw-dropping occurred: the Third Young Master slept only six hours a day. The rest of the time, he was either sitting on his bed or training himself, lifting stones to build arm strength or running while carrying them. Sometimes he would even use a stone rod to strike his own body, and no matter how anyone tried to stop him, it was useless. Eventually, having no other choice and for the sake of appearances, the family had a suit of armor forged for him out of black iron, weighing about 150 jin. Yet, by the time he was four, he stopped wearing it—partly because it was too small, and partly because 150 jin no longer posed a challenge to him.

Of course, only the person involved knew the real reason for that second point.

In truth, I had no choice. Because I began cultivating while still in the womb, I bypassed the Innate Realm and the Opening Light stage entirely, entering straight into the Fusion Stage.

I began the necessary seclusion to allow my body to fully acclimate to the circulation of Innate True Qi. Because this body had not been influenced by the post-natal world from birth until now, it only took me nine months, whereas an ordinary person would require at least several years. Later, discovering that I possessed a Fire Attribute body, I realized I could utilize fire to temper my physique. However, the prerequisite was that my body had to be exceptionally robust, which was why I engaged in the behavior of training with stones. Naturally, I did not use Innate True Qi during that time; otherwise, even 1,000 jin would have failed to provide any training effect.

The reason my cultivation progressed so rapidly was, first, that my Life Primordial Energy was nearly ten times that of an ordinary person. Furthermore, my mental state had already reached the Great Accomplishment stage, and I was utilizing the most precious Heart Sutra of the Tianxin Sect. Naturally, my cultivation speed was nearly ten times that of an ordinary person.

But these are merely my own estimates; everything depends on reality. Haha, in other words, I could potentially reach Tribulation Transcendence in about 100 years. In my previous life, it took me 3,600 years to reach that point. The cycle of heaven is truly fair.

Since the heavens granted me the memories of my past life, gave me a chance to start over, and bestowed those memories upon me, I certainly cannot let down such divine favor. I will definitely create a legend—a legend that belongs to me, Zhang Xingfeng: the Legend of Star Peak.

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