Returning to My Youth

Returning to My Youth

During the summer vacation of 2013, aboard an intercity bus traveling from Guyang County, Hui Province, to Yuzhou City.

The summer afternoon was scorching, and the passengers on the bus were all drowsy.

In the back row, a pale-skinned youth suddenly opened his eyes, as if waking from a dream. Confusion first appeared on his face before he looked around.

The handrails, seats, windows, and curtains were all brand-new.

"Isn't this the 311 Intercity Bus I took to Yuzhou City to start high school after the 2013 entrance exams?"

"I remember clearly. The 311 Intercity Bus had only opened this year. The trip was forty kilometers, and the fare was ten yuan."

"Back then, I took the bus to Yuzhou City with my cousin's wife's younger sister."

Jiang Ning turned his head. His shoulder felt somewhat heavy; a girl was leaning against it. Her hair partially covered her face, her eyes were shut, and she was sound asleep.

"Everything matches up."

"But hadn't I failed my tribulation and been reduced to ashes by the lightning tribulation? Why was I here?"

"Could it be... I was reborn?"

Jiang Ning's pupils widened. Centuries of cultivation had long given him a heart as still as an ancient well, yet at this moment, his heart was filled with boundless hope.

"I came back. I didn't perish beneath the heavenly tribulation—I was reborn into my youth."

Jiang Ning was one of Fallen Cloud Sect's two Nascent Soul True Lords, also known as the Bu Yu True Lord.

In his previous life, when he was twenty-seven, he passed through a spatial rift and entered the cultivation world.

He possessed extraordinary talent and a Heavenly Spiritual Root. The moment he entered the sect, an elder took him as a personal disciple. In just three hundred years, he reached Nascent Soul Great Perfection.

Though he was a dedicated cultivator, his combat abilities were exceptionally formidable. He had once destroyed seven Nascent Soul sects, his name shaking the entire Central Province Cultivation World.

Unfortunately, he ultimately perished beneath the Spirit Transformation Tribulation, blasted to ashes by heavenly lightning.

Only at the moment of tribulation did Jiang Ning fully understand. Though he was a Nascent Soul True Lord revered by countless people, his Dao heart had an immense flaw.

With his inner demons invading him, the many Magic Artifacts he had carefully prepared for the tribulation went entirely unused before his soul scattered.

The reason was that, when he was twenty-seven, his family had died, his lover had left, and his career had suffered setbacks. His heart had already died then; afterward, he had merely drifted through life in a daze.

When the sect offered him a cultivation method said to cast aside the seven emotions and six desires, one that could lead directly to the Nascent Soul realm when paired with his Heavenly Spiritual Root, he agreed without hesitation.

From then on, he became a cultivation machine devoid of emotion, advancing all the way and surpassing every predecessor Fallen Cloud Sect had ever known.

Yet while facing the Spirit Transformation Tribulation, he finally understood that Spirit Transformation meant becoming mortal. Having cast aside the seven emotions and six desires, how could he speak of becoming mortal?

That was why he failed.

Jiang Ning sensed the inside of his body and found that the Mana capable of moving mountains and overturning seas had vanished without a trace.

Even his Spiritual Sense, which could perceive everything within tens of thousands of miles, had disappeared.

He pinched his thigh hard.

"It hurt. It hurt so much."

The physique that could withstand Magic Artifacts was gone as well.

"This isn't a dream. I really came back."

Mana, Spiritual Sense, his body tempered through countless trials, Magic Artifacts and divine weapons, Pills, talismans, and the treasures he had accumulated over countless years—all of them were gone.

No matter how terrifying the Spirit Transformation Tribulation was, it could never have stripped him of absolutely everything.

What made Jiang Ning even more certain was that he actually... could smile.

Ever since cultivating that method said to abandon the seven emotions and six desires, he had not smiled for three hundred years. He had long lost the instinct to laugh.

Jiang Ning's heart was filled with joy. Although he had lost the power earned through countless years of bitter cultivation, he was not the least bit dejected.

Because only at this moment did he feel that he was not a block of wood, but a real person.

Suddenly, there was movement on his shoulder.

The girl woke up. A trace of haziness lingered on her fair, delicate face, and several loose strands of hair fell across her forehead, making one's heart flutter. Jiang Ning, however, quietly moved away.

Jiang Ning was born in a small township under Guyang County, Yuzhou City.

His parents worked along the coast year-round, and he had grown up with his grandparents. It was a very ordinary family.

Jiang Ning scored 650 points on his high school entrance exams, exceeding the admission cutoff for Yuzhou City Fourth High School. For a better education, his parents asked their eldest brother, Jiang Ning's Uncle, who lived in Yuzhou City, to let Jiang Ning stay at his home while attending No.4 Middle School.

Uncle readily agreed, but after Jiang Ning arrived at Uncle's Home, his three years of high school were far from happy.

Aunt was not easy to get along with. She was harsh, snobbish, and always found excuses to lecture Jiang Ning. On top of that, she had a younger son the same age as Jiang Ning—Jiang Ning's Cousin.

Living under someone else's roof, Jiang Ning was inevitably forced into comparisons. He was inferior to his Cousin in every respect, and so he suffered all kinds of blows, not to mention countless instances of unequal treatment.

Because of this, after graduating, Jiang Ning never returned to Uncle's Home. Their once-familial relationship became extremely strained.

The girl sitting beside Jiang Ning was Shen Qing'e. She came from the same town as him and was his cousin's wife's younger sister. In the future, she would live with him at Uncle's Home.

Shen Qing'e was beautiful, and Jiang Ning, young and infatuated, fell for her.

Whenever he had something tasty or fun, he shared it with her. He treated her exceptionally well, practically acting like a simp.

He had thought that living together would give him the advantage of proximity.

Yet after Shen Qing'e came to Yuzhou and saw a bigger world, how could a boy from a small town like Jiang Ning possibly catch her eye?

Compared with people their age in Yuzhou City, Jiang Ning had almost no strengths worth mentioning. His looks were average, he was not tall, and he was not good at sports.

His grades, which had ranked near the top in their small town, were barely middle-of-the-pack in the city. Compared with the top students in his class, the gap was far too great.

With only one hundred yuan in monthly spending money, what could he use to win Shen Qing'e's favor?

For three years, Shen Qing'e kept Jiang Ning on the hook while flirting with outstanding boys, occasionally giving him a little attention that often left him distraught. After the college entrance exams, Shen Qing'e and a tall, handsome boy from her class were both admitted to a prestigious university in a coastal city, with bright futures ahead of them.

Jiang Ning only got into a Tier 2 College. It was not until after he graduated and entered society that he understood Shen Qing'e's behavior back then. He silently deleted her contact information, and they never crossed paths again.

Seeing Shen Qing'e again now gave Jiang Ning the feeling that a lifetime had passed. He clearly recalled many memories of her; the girl had truly left too deep an impression on him.

That was also because throughout Jiang Ning's centuries of cultivation, ninety-nine percent of his time had been devoted to cultivation. He was a dedicated cultivator.

"How much longer until we get to the station?" Shen Qing'e rubbed her eyes.

Jiang Ning glanced at the road signs outside. They were almost at the station.

Seeing that Jiang Ning ignored her, Shen Qing'e frowned and raised her voice slightly.

"Jiang Ning, where are we?"

"We're almost at the station," Jiang Ning replied.

Shen Qing'e seemed to realize something and fell silent.

The bus pulled into the station. The conductor called out as Jiang Ning carried his suitcase off the bus.

"Jiang Ning, my suitcase is so heavy!" Shen Qing'e struggled with it, blinking up at him.

If it had been the old Jiang Ning, seeing her like this, he would have rushed over to carry it for her without needing to be asked.

Now, Jiang Ning looked down at his own slight frame and decided to forget it.

Shen Qing'e was speechless. Dragging her suitcase, she walked off resentfully.

Jiang Ning followed the crowd toward the exit.

At the exit, Shen Qing'e looked at a Milk Tea Shop across the street and tucked back the hair at her forehead. "I'm so thirsty. Who knows when my sister and the others will arrive."

Hello, everyone. I'm Author-kun, back here after writing 700,000 words to leave a message for new readers.

Only the beginning is urban cultivation. It actually becomes a slice-of-life story later on, not a brainless Immortal Emperor's Return power fantasy full of showing off and face-slapping. Keep reading and you'll see~