Cruel Family Discipline: Rebirth

P.S.: "Legend of Star Peak" was my first book, so oversights were unavoidable. I hope everyone could forgive them!

The first three volumes of "Legend of Star Peak" were also trial volumes in which I, Tomato, searched for my own style. The first three volumes were written in first person. Perhaps because I used to be a complete newbie, I came to like first-person narration and putting myself into the story. But after writing for a long time, I felt that third person suited me better! From the fourth volume onward, this book would be entirely in third person!

The first three volumes also had some plot holes and flaws, but I hope everyone would keep reading. I personally believed that what came later was fairly good! Thank you!

The second part of this book concerned the Cultivation World—pure cultivation.

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

A middle-aged man in blue, whose bearing was astonishing, was reading a book. The moment he heard the maid's words, his eyes lit up sharply. Delighted, he said, "Really! Is what you said true?" Clearly, he still did not dare believe it was real.

The maid was overjoyed as well. "Yes, Master. Third Madam truly is with child. Even the physician has confirmed it!"

"Haha... Hahahaha... Good, good, this is truly wonderful! Tell Zhang Fu to quickly prepare the lingzhi..."

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

"Insolence." The middle-aged man glared, but the joy on his face robbed his words of any intimidation.

"Yes, Master, this servant was wrong. This servant takes her leave." As Third Madam's personal maid, she held a high position in the residence. She understood the family head's temperament well, which was why she dared behave this way. Of course, it was also because the master dearly loved Third Madam.

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

Who was this middle-aged man, with his imposing and dignified air?

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

The continent on which the Ming Dynasty stood was known as the Azure Dragon Continent. It was exceedingly prosperous; apart from the boundless desert in the west, the other regions were all relatively developed.

The Ming Dynasty bordered the Liao Kingdom to the east, Yuan Mongolia to the north, and the Jin Kingdom to the south, with the sea to its northeast. Not far from the coast lay a great island: Goryeo. Far off the southeastern coast were seventy-two islands, known as the Imperial Universe Kingdom. To the west stretched a boundless desert. Since ancient times, countless adventurers had died within it, and even now, no one knew what lay at the desert's end. The Ming Dynasty lay at the center of the continent and was immensely wealthy. Every nation eyed it like a tiger eyes its prey, but the Ming Dynasty was extraordinarily powerful. Thus, the continent appeared fairly peaceful on the surface, while beneath it, undercurrents surged and war could erupt at any moment. Every nation was stockpiling military supplies, preparing to gain greater profits in the wars to come.

The Four Great Families were legends. They had weathered hundreds of years of wind and rain, survived through several dynasties without falling, amassed immeasurable wealth, and controlled the economic lifelines of the entire Ming Dynasty. Whenever imperial power changed hands, the new ruler first had to appease them. Over the generations, a custom had formed: as soon as each new dynasty's emperor took power, he would confer the title of duke upon the heads of the families, to be inherited generation after generation.

The Four Great Families were the Li Family, the Shi Family, the Zhang Family, and the Yuwen Family. The great families not only possessed countless riches, but also terrifying armed forces. Each had over ten thousand private soldiers, and their influence was second only to the emperor's.

What was going on? Hadn't I failed my Tribulation Transcendence? My soul should have scattered into smoke and ashes.

I was astonished, but what shocked me most was that I could clearly sense that I was still in the Fetal Breath state. Could it be... could it be that I had reincarnated as a fetus?!

I immediately focused my mind on my Dantian. A vast surge of Innate Primordial Energy filled me with wild joy! Innate Primordial Energy—ha, it was Innate Primordial Energy, the fundamental power of life! It was on the same level as Divine Power!...

I immediately struggled to control my incomparably weak Mental Power, painstakingly shaping that Innate breath within my Dantian into the most basic form of taiji. The breath was too weak. Only after a long time did it form a faint suction force, and the Life Primordial Energy outside my body, far greater than what was within, slowly sent a threadlike wisp into my body. Ah, at last, a little had entered. There was hope...

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

Cultivation was divided into ten stages: Opening Light, Fusion, Grain Abstinence, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Separation, Avatar, Body Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, and Great Accomplishment. Opening Light and Fusion belonged to the Innate Realm. During the Grain Abstinence Stage, one refined Innate True Qi until it transformed into liquid form, preparing to forge a Golden Core and achieve the Golden Core Dao. Once one entered the Golden Core Dao, one could produce True Primordial Energy, which was countless times stronger than Innate True Qi. Upon reaching the Golden Core Stage, one could live forever and never age. Only then could one be called a cultivator. Only Heavenly Tribulation could affect one's life—of course, being killed by another cultivator was perfectly normal as well.

After the Great Accomplishment Stage came six further stages: Heavenly Immortal, Luo Tian Heavenly Immortal, Daluo Golden Immortal, Nine Heavens Profound Immortal, Immortal Monarch, and Immortal Emperor. But those were still far too distant for me.

Outside Third Madam's room in the Zhang Family residence!

Zhang Tiande, the head of the Zhang Family, was anxiously pacing back and forth outside the side room. Inside, Third Madam was giving birth to her precious child...

Finally, I've absorbed it all. What delicious Life Primordial Energy. Once I'm born, this Life Primordial Energy will no longer be able to increase. If everyone retained their memories after reincarnation, perhaps many cultivators would be willing to reincarnate. So long as one absorbed all the Innate Primordial Energy outside a fetus's body, one's cultivation speed would increase severalfold at the very least!

At that moment, an enormous suction force suddenly came. Unable to resist, I slid outward, and a stream of Houtian qi rushed into my body. I naturally let out a cry completely beyond my control. That Houtian qi charged into my body and instantly threw my Innate Primordial Qi into disorder. How could this be allowed? Wouldn't this send me back to the Houtian Realm? I immediately shut my mouth, controlled the Innate Primordial Qi inside me, and struggled with difficulty to force the Houtian breath out of my body...

"Master, congratulations, congratulations! Mother and son are both safe. It is a young master." The midwife, dressed in a thick red cotton jacket, said joyfully.

Zhang Tiande beamed as he took his son. The steward immediately gave the midwife her reward money.

"One hundred taels!" the midwife exclaimed. That was what an ordinary family might earn in an entire year, but to the Zhang Family, it was no more than a single hair from nine oxen—perhaps not even a hair!

The steward immediately saw the midwife out. Zhang Tiande walked to the bedside and gently said to the beautiful young woman, whose face was pale yet shone with a mother's radiance, "Feng'er, look. This is our child, the proof of our love."

"Tiande..." Threads of sweet happiness appeared in the beautiful young woman's eyes.

I finally stabilized the Innate Realm. Raising my head, I discovered in astonishment that my parents were gazing into each other's eyes. I had only seen such affectionate looks, enough to melt steel, in the eyes of Yu Yan, my wife from my previous life.

There was no helping it. I smiled bitterly and could only imitate a baby. "Aaaah, aaaah, aaaah..." I wailed loudly. My face was burning red. The Great Elder of Tianxin Sect, who had cultivated for 3,600 years, was actually pretending to cry like an infant. Fortunately, no one knew.

Hearing my cries, my mother immediately remembered her newborn son and pulled me into her arms. "Baby, don't cry. Baby, don't cry. There, there..."

My dazed father only then remembered his son. He immediately brought his face close to mine. Without the majesty of an Aristocratic Clan head, he could not think of how to soothe me and actually said, "Son, don't cry. Father will buy you candy..."

"Candy? You're trying to harm my precious son! What if his teeth ache in the future?" My mother's face was filled with anger.

"Madam, your husband was wrong. No candy, no candy. Hehe..." A head of a great Aristocratic Clan, always so imposing, actually had such a side to him. If word got out, outsiders would certainly never believe it. But immediately afterward, a happy smile blossomed on my mother's face. Wasn't her husband being like this another expression of love...

"Madam, what should we name our son? His generation uses the character 'Star.' Star Sword, Star Arrow, Starry Sky, Star..." My father began talking without end, growing more excited the longer he spoke...

"Where mountains rise high, there stands a peak. Call him Xingfeng." After thinking for a moment, my mother said.

"Madam is truly learned. Your husband was just about to say that. Madam and your husband's hearts are connected as one." My father looked at my mother with a face full of smiles. Perhaps love made people blind, for my mother actually gazed at my father with a smile as well.

"Tiande, look, something seems wrong with our son. He hasn't cried even once until now. What is going on?" My mother's delicate brows drew together slightly.

Father said indifferently, "My son is naturally different from the rest. Hehe..."

It seemed that Father was truly too happy today! He was acting completely unlike his usual self.

What astonished the entire Aristocratic Clan was that this newly born Third Young Master truly was different from the rest. Ordinary newborns slept around fourteen hours a day, but Third Young Master slept twenty hours, waking only when it was time to eat. This continued for nine whole months.

Nine months later, he made everyone's eyes nearly fall out. Third Young Master slept only six hours a day. The rest of the time, he either sat on the bed or trained himself, holding a stone to exercise his arms or running while carrying one. Sometimes, he even struck himself with a stone rod. No matter how they tried to stop him, it was useless. In the end, with no other choice, the household forged him a suit of black iron armor for appearance's sake. It weighed around one hundred and fifty jin, but he stopped wearing it at the age of four. First, it had become too small. Second, one hundred and fifty jin no longer posed any challenge to him.

Naturally, only the person involved knew about the second reason.

In truth, I had no choice. Because I had cultivated while still a fetus, I directly passed through the Innate Realm, skipped the Opening Light Stage, and entered the Fusion Stage.

I began the necessary secluded cultivation to make my body completely accustomed to the circulation of Innate True Qi. Since this body had not been affected by the Houtian world from birth until then, it took me only nine months. Ordinary people needed at least several years. Afterward, I discovered that I possessed a Fire Attribute body, so I could use fire to temper my body. But the prerequisite was that my body had to be exceptionally strong, which was why I trained with stones. Naturally, I had not used Innate True Qi during that time. Otherwise, even a thousand jin would not have achieved any body-training effect.

The reason I cultivated so quickly was, first, because my Life Primordial Energy was nearly ten times that of ordinary people. Furthermore, my spiritual realm had already reached the Great Accomplishment Stage, and I was using the Tianxin Sect's most precious Heart Sutra. Naturally, my cultivation speed was nearly ten times that of ordinary people.

But that was only my own estimate; everything would depend on reality. Haha, in other words, I could probably undergo Tribulation Transcendence in a hundred years. Yet in my previous life, it had taken me 3,600 years to do so. The cycle of heaven's justice truly was fair.

Since Heaven had given me the memories of my previous life and given me another chance, I naturally could not let down Heaven's favor. I would certainly create a legend—a legend belonging to me, Zhang Xingfeng: the Legend of Star Peak.