Lin Lin

Behind Hundred Flowers Valley, the famed Martial Arts Holy Land, lay Yin Wind Gorge, shrouded in freezing winds all year round.

Here, even someone with deep Inner Force would feel bone-piercing cold despite wearing thick winter clothes.

Staying here was not quite like sitting on pins and needles, yet every day still felt like a year.

Thus, over time, Yin Wind Gorge became the place where Hundred Flowers Valley punished erring disciples and made them reflect on their mistakes.

"Lin Lin, I'll see you again in a month. I hope you'll change."

Words laden with disappointment, the frustration of iron failing to become steel, rang beside his ears.

Lin Lin stood amid the biting winds of Yin Wind Gorge, staring blankly at the back of the middle-aged man who had flicked his sleeve, turned away, and gradually walked into the distance.

"Have I transmigrated?"

Lin Lin murmured incredulously to himself.

He remembered that just moments ago, he had been in his warm home, drinking cola and playing games. Then, in the blink of an eye, he had arrived in this gorge of freezing winds.

The leap was truly rather enormous.

Yet as the chaotic thoughts in his mind gradually sorted themselves out, Lin Lin overturned his conclusion that he had transmigrated.

This was not transmigration, but reincarnation.

At this moment, Lin Lin clearly recalled the uncontrollable, wrenching pain that had gripped his chest at the very end of his previous life.

He also remembered briefly regaining consciousness while still in his mother's womb and shortly after birth. But because his frail body could not bear an adult's consciousness, his memories had once more sunk into obscurity.

If he had to describe his current state, it was more like awakening the Past Life Wisdom of his previous life.

Once he understood that, Lin Lin also understood perfectly why he was currently in Yin Wind Gorge.

In this life, Lin Lin's parents were wandering people of the martial world.

They had to travel throughout the Divine Continent, completing all kinds of tasks for their sect in exchange for silver and Sect Contribution, so that they could learn more profound martial arts.

So, after giving birth to Lin Lin to carry on the family line, his father Lin Yue and mother Zhang Fei chose to send him back to their hometown in Abundant Peace County, Lotus Rhythm Province, leaving him in the care of relatives.

When Lin Lin was eight years old, after his parents had settled down and gained a certain standing within their sect, they finally brought him to Hundred Flowers Valley, where they were stationed.

He had been fostered elsewhere during childhood, without his parents' discipline.

The relatives who had received a generous sum for raising him indulged Lin Lin in everything, treating him as the child of their benefactor.

Under such circumstances, the Lin Lin of this life had developed an utterly lawless temperament.

Back in Little Lin Village, Lin Lin had been the kind of troublesome brat who chased chickens and dogs, hated by people and despised by dogs alike.

Though he had become somewhat more restrained after coming to Hundred Flowers Valley and being disciplined by his parents for several years, deep down, he was still that same troublesome brat.

During his early schooling, he muddled through and played around with children his age.

Even after formally beginning martial arts training at ten, he fished for three days and dried his nets for two, causing his progress to be painfully slow.

As a result, thirteen-year-old Lin Lin ranked at the bottom among his peers in martial arts, learning, talent, and every other aspect.

And not long ago, all of that had finally brought Lin Lin its bitter consequences.

Every three years, Hundred Flowers Valley held a martial competition for newly admitted disciples. The sect then granted rewards based on the comparison between a disciple's time since joining and their current martial arts progress, cultivating more talented people in the process.

Naturally, Lin Lin, who had spent his days slacking off, received no reward.

Not only did he receive no reward, but he was punished by Hundred Flowers Valley's Elder of Teaching Skills and sent to Yin Wind Gorge to face the wall and reflect on his mistakes for a month.

This time, Lin Lin had not merely disgraced himself; he had thoroughly disgraced his parents as well.

By the time his father Lin Yue left, he had called Lin Lin by his full name, not even using "Little Lin," the affectionate form that showed the closeness between father and son.

"He really was exactly like me when I was young in my previous life."

At that moment, a bitter smile appeared on Lin Lin's face.

In his previous life, he had also grown up in the countryside.

With many children in the family and parents who let them run wild, he had become unruly from an early age and had never worked hard at his studies.

As a child, he had thought nothing of it, believing that studying or not studying did not matter.

Only after growing up and entering society, working long hours at grueling jobs with low pay, did he look enviously at peers with respectable, easy jobs and understand how much he regretted not studying properly when he was young.

Unfortunately, regret came too late. Life did not offer a second chance.

"In my previous life, failing to study hard at worst meant ending up in an undignified job."

"But in this life, failing to train hard can get me killed."

At that moment, Lin Lin understood more deeply the expression of frustrated disappointment on his father Lin Yue's face before he left.

Unlike the largely stable environment of his previous life, Lin Lin had been born into a chaotic age in this life.

The Great Li Dynasty, which had once ruled the realm, had fallen apart. Heroes contended for supremacy across the Nine Provinces, and the entire world had plunged into chaos that had lasted for centuries.

Over the years, ambitious tyrants had risen one after another, only to fall one after another. No one had ever managed to achieve the great undertaking of unifying the land again.

By today, the entire Divine Continent had become a chaotic realm where feudal lords rose together, warlords divided the land, and Roving Bandits and thieves ran rampant. From the various lords above to the common people below, none lived a life secure from morning to night.

Hundred Flowers Valley was a Martial Arts Holy Land renowned throughout the land. Here, one could learn martial arts to establish oneself in the world, as well as various crafts that served as means of livelihood.

But none of these came free.

Only by making enough contributions to the sect could one obtain everything one wanted.

And to make enough contributions to the sect, one had to enter the incomparably chaotic martial world and endure blood and fire.

Throughout that process, even those with formidable martial arts could lose their lives at any moment, much less someone whose martial arts were weak.

No wonder Lin Lin's father Lin Yue had been so disappointed in him.

The Elder of Teaching Skills had punished Lin Lin by sending him to Yin Wind Gorge to face the wall and reflect not to display his authority, but because he was taking responsibility for Lin Lin's safety. He hoped Lin Lin would reflect during his confinement and work hard to become a qualified martial artist capable of protecting himself.

If one day Lin Lin were killed in the martial world, the sect could certainly send experts to avenge him.

But if he was already dead, what meaning would that have?

Unfortunately, before awakening the Past Life Wisdom of his previous life, Lin Lin had not understood this.

"Fortunately, it still isn't too late."

"I'm only thirteen in this life. There is still a long time before Graduation and entering the martial world. If I start working hard now, I can still make it."

"My parents can protect me for a time, but they cannot protect me for a lifetime."

"In this life, I don't need to train my martial arts to some transcendent and extraordinary level, but at the very least, I must possess the strength to protect myself in this chaotic age."

Wiping the chaotic thoughts from his mind, Lin Lin no longer looked in the direction his father Lin Yue had left.

He took a few steps to the side and entered a Rock Cave.

Though he did not have to directly face the bone-piercing winds of Yin Wind Gorge here, it was still just as cold.

His bedding, food, and other daily necessities had been placed here. Aside from those things, Lin Lin's sword was also kept here.

After taking up the sword, Lin Lin stepped back into the winds of Yin Wind Gorge, ready to begin practicing his swordsmanship.