Rebirth

The boundless darkness was suddenly pierced by a beam of light.

Yang Qingyun, who had been walking slowly along the road, came to a sudden halt, instinctively raising his hand to shield his eyes from the glaring rays of the setting sun.

The sudden brilliance left him feeling somewhat disoriented.

Hmm?

Sunlight?

Was I not already dead?

What is going on here?

Yang Qingyun's mouth hung slightly open.

His gaze was filled with bewilderment.

His memories remained fixed on the moment he was fleeing with a crowd of refugees to escape that massive war, only to encounter a battle between unimaginable powerhouses from above the Nine Heavens. The terrifying shockwaves of their clash had swept across the sky like thunder, collapsing mountains and rivers for ten thousand miles. Before he could even react, he and the fleeing crowd had been reduced to dust and bone!

Now, what is the situation?

The setting sun hung over the rolling mountains ahead, casting a molten, golden hue across the world, signaling that the darkness of night was soon to arrive.

Yang Qingyun realized he was currently standing in a small mountain village. Beneath his feet was a bare, yellow dirt road, and on either side stood scattered, dilapidated mud-brick huts.

He was in the middle of the village's dirt path, near the entrance, where two or three old trees grew wantonly, casting long, lingering shadows.

The voices of village women drifted over from nearby.

"Uncle Zhuzi, how was the trip to the city? Did those baby bok choy fetch a good price?"

"Not bad. A clerk from a restaurant took a liking to them, two coppers a jin, which is decent enough."

"That's great! You still have seven or eight hundred jin growing in your field; looks like you're about to make a small fortune!"

"Oh, what fortune? You have to pay an entry fee to get into the city, and after selling the vegetables, the Black Tiger Gang takes half as a cut, not to mention the protection money for those heroes up on Black Wind Mountain. By the time it's all said and done, having a few coppers left over from two hundred jin is lucky enough."

"Sigh, it's still better to practice martial arts. If you master martial arts, you can get ahead in life. I heard those lackeys in the Black Tiger Gang only know a few basic farm-style moves, yet they can sit back and collect money. They don't have to suffer the sun and rain like us mud-legged folk digging for food in the dirt."

"True, if our village had one or two martial artists, those god-forsaken Black Wind Bandits wouldn't dare collect so much protection money from us. I heard that in the neighboring Cuihua Village, a young man recently made progress in his martial arts and entered the realm; the people on Black Wind Mountain waived half their village's protection money."

"Practice martial arts, we must practice martial arts! I'm going to make sure my boy learns some real skills!"

These were the voices of a sturdy woman washing clothes by the well, chatting with the honest, strong man from the village who had just returned from the city carrying two empty bamboo baskets.

Further away, a few dust-covered children were chasing each other with tree branches, occasionally running past him with laughter.

Chickens flew, dogs barked, and cooking smoke rose thinly from the houses.

Along the dirt road extending outside the village, farmers returning from their work walked back barefoot, their skin tanned a deep bronze, backs drenched in sweat, their feet caked with dried mud.

A few mongrel dogs chased each other to the village entrance, gazing into the distance at their returning masters, wagging their tails frantically and occasionally letting out a bark.

Yang Qingyun stood in the middle of the road, staring at everything before him, his mind a blank void.

Quiet, peaceful, this mountain village was so serene.

There was no familiar stench of blood, no heart-wrenching screams of slaughter, no mountains of corpses, and no charred ruins of blackened debris.

It was like a paradise isolated from the rest of the world!

Where is this?

Yang Qingyun felt dazed.

Ever since the Xuantian Realm invaded over a decade ago and the Chu Kingdom fell, a chaotic war had swept across the nation, and the seven kingdoms had perished one after another.

The entire world had lost all order.

Wherever his eyes turned, there was only chaos and slaughter.

There was no longer a single place of stability to be found.

It was even rumored that the further reaches of the continent had all fallen into total chaos!

There was no longer any pure land left in the world!

Famine, heavy taxes, gangs, soldiers, bandits, officials, and powerful clans—the common folk at the bottom, having lost all order, could only drift from place to place, struggling to survive amidst the endless infighting of the noble families.

Yang Qingyun stood rooted to the spot, stunned.

"Young Yang! Young Yang! Snap out of it, what's wrong?"

Suddenly, a shout rang out in his ear, pulling Yang Qingyun back from his stupor.

He saw the honest, strong man who had just returned from the city market—the one who had been chatting with the sturdy woman—standing before him, having set down the baskets from his shoulders, waving a large, calloused hand in front of his face.

A simple, weathered face, vaguely familiar.

Yang Qingyun was stunned for a moment.

Long-buried memories surged forth, and past experiences emerged one by one.

"Are you... Uncle Zhuzi?"

Yang Qingyun's pupils gradually dilated, a look of shock appearing on his face.

Suddenly, as if he had realized something, He stood frozen in place, as if struck by lightning!

Was this not Wang Family Village thirty years ago?!

The very first place he had stayed after transmigrating, brought back by the simple-hearted villagers!

"What's wrong?"

Wang Zhu looked at Yang Qingyun, who stood dazed in the middle of the road, his expression shifting rapidly after being addressed. He asked with concern.

"Oh, it's nothing. I think I remembered something. Um, Uncle Zhuzi, you go ahead with your work. Let me have a moment of quiet; perhaps I can recall even more."

"Alright then, but take your time, no need to rush. I'm going to go cook; remember to come over for a simple meal later!"

Seeing Yang Qingyun lost in thought, seemingly trying to recall his origins, Wang Zhu was a bit worried, But he didn't intend to disturb him.

This young man, Yang Qingyun, was someone he had brought back from outside the village a few days ago.

At the time, the fair-skinned and tender-looking fellow had fainted from hunger by the roadside. Not knowing which wealthy family's Young Master he was, Wang Zhu had kindly brought him back for the time being.

If the man's family came looking for him later, perhaps he might receive a bit of a reward.

However, after waking up in the village, the man had claimed to have lost all his memories, remembering only his name, Yang Qingyun, and nothing of his home or family.

With no other choice, he had let him stay in the village for the time being.

Now that he seemed to be remembering something, that was for the best, so he stopped bothering him, bid him farewell, and left with his baskets.

Yang Qingyun stood in the middle of the road, Slowly raising his hands, he lowered his head to gaze at his own palms.

They were the hands of an ordinary mortal—fair and slender, completely devoid of the calluses formed by years of wielding a blade, and his body lacked that sensation of leaking energy from every pore!

It was exactly as it had been in his memory when he first transmigrated.

"I... have been reborn!"

"Reborn to thirty years ago!"

Feeling the weakness of a body that had completely lost all its power, Shock, panic, joy, and excitement—a complex mix of emotions surged within him, until finally, the corners of his mouth curled up, turning into an urge to burst out laughing!

He could feel it.

The weakness in his body now was not the frailty of his previous life, where he was weathered by time and riddled with hidden injuries, leaking energy like a broken wooden bucket.

It was the weakness of a newly sprouted bud, a seedling that had yet to grow!

Deep within this frail body lay a vast, vibrant vitality!

If not for the resilient mindset forged through thirty years of drifting and struggling in a chaotic world, he might have already been moved to tears!

He was back!

Back before the time he was abducted by the Black Wind Bandits and sold into the mines as a slave—the event that had caused the greatest regret of his life!

Back to a time before everything had happened!

"No matter who you are, and no matter the reason, I thank you for sending me back."

Yang Qingyun closed his eyes and clenched his fists, suppressing the agitation in his heart.

Thirty years of memories buried deep in his mind surfaced one after another.

He was not actually a native of this world.

Long before coming to this world, he had lived another life.

In his first life, he was born on Earth, an utterly unremarkable member of the masses. He had likely died in an accident one day; aside from his parents and siblings feeling sorrow, and twenty or thirty friends and relatives sighing about how short life is, no one would have paid him any mind.

The world would have continued to turn without him—he was just an ordinary, plain person.

He vaguely remembered that after binge-reading a good novel for several nights, he had closed his eyes and opened them to find himself in this strange world.

Thus began his second life, wandering this realm.

Life in this other world was not as wonderful as in the novels.

After transmigrating, he remained just an ordinary person.

No system, no golden finger,

He could only rely on himself, struggling to survive in this world.

But not long after he transmigrated, he encountered the Black Wind Bandits, was captured as a slave, and spent three years mining at Falling Rock Mountain, which belonged to the White Feather Sect.

It was not until the White Feather Sect was wiped out three years later that he managed to escape in the chaos.

After escaping, he acted with extreme caution, striving to find opportunities to practice martial arts while using the knowledge and ideas from his past life to improve himself.

After fifteen years of hard work and numerous hardships, he finally reached the Viscera Refining Realm and mastered a blade technique as fast as lightning, earning him the title of Lightning Blade and a small reputation in the Southern Wilderness martial world.

But then, fate played a cruel joke on him!

"Black Wind Bandits, mine slave, Qi Depletion Art."

Past memories flashed through his mind, and a complex expression appeared on Yang Qingyun's face.

Because he had desperately practiced the basic Qi Depletion Art taught by the White Feather Sect to save his life during those three years in the mine, his body's potential had been completely drained.

This planted the seeds for the extreme difficulty he would face in his future Martial Path cultivation.

Until, after reaching the Viscera Refining Realm, his path forward was completely severed!

It was precisely because of this that, When the Spiritual Qi Resurgence occurred later, the Xuantian Realm invaded, and the Martial Path ushered in a massive explosion.

A more prosperous era of the martial world had arrived!

Countless geniuses seized the opportunities of the great trend to rise up and achieve higher Martial Path Realms. The Xiantian experts who were once high and mighty in the old era were no longer considered masters, Grandmasters who were once worthy of being sung about were everywhere, and even the Grandmasters who stood above the seven kingdoms like martial myths lost their mysterious, elusive nature.

The status of a Viscera Refining Realm martial artist gradually retreated from the ranks of first-class experts in the old era to second-class, then to third-class, and finally, they were completely submerged!

The times had changed!

But unfortunately, Yang Qingyun, whose path forward was severed, could not gain much benefit from the great era of Spiritual Qi Resurgence.

His body had long been shattered and his origin severely damaged by the exploitation of his youth. Despite his immense unwillingness and the fact that he had put in ten times the effort of an ordinary person, he still could not break through to the Xiantian Realm!

In the blink of an eye, the fruits of his fifteen years of hard work were instantly submerged by the vast torrent of the era, unable to stir up even the slightest ripple!

Yang Qingyun, with his path forward severed, Until the moment before his death, He remained trapped in the Viscera Refining Realm, unable to achieve a breakthrough!

Did he regret it?

Of course he regretted it!

But what did that matter?

The fate of the weak could not be controlled by themselves at all!

Back then, powerless and weak, he was captured by the Black Wind Bandits and sold to the White Feather Sect's mine.

He had no power to change that!

In the mine, in order to survive, he practiced the Qi Depletion Art, sacrificing his body's fundamental potential to gain more strength than an ordinary person.

He had no power to change that either!

In that hell, Failing to complete the White Feather Sect's tasks meant death, And being weak and bullied also meant death!

To stay alive, he had no choice but to desperately push himself, practicing the Qi Depletion Art—a crude, evil technique that drained one's physical potential—just to gain a chance at survival!

This was the price, That the weak had to pay to live!

"It's a good thing I've returned; everything can still be changed!"

Suppressing his trembling hands, Yang Qingyun let out a long breath, steadying his mind.

Although he did not know the principle behind it, his rebirth had granted him a third life.

But for him, this was undoubtedly a great opportunity to make up for past regrets and change his future destiny!

In this life, He would definitely change everything, Strive to live on, Until he reached the peak!

Yang Qingyun's hands clenched into tight fists!

In his eyes was the same unwavering determination that had not changed in the slightest despite thirty years of wandering in his previous life!

Just then, Rumble!!!

A continuous series of tremors and roars, like the urgent beating of drums, echoed from the road outside the village as dust billowed into the air.

Whether they were inside the village or villagers rushing back from the fields, everyone looked up toward that direction.

Soon, Accompanied by the sound of rapid drumbeats, a troop of fierce-looking riders on tall horses emerged from the end of the winding forest road, surging toward the village like a flood released from a gate, trailing a massive cloud of dust behind them!

The terrifying momentum was like a torrential tsunami threatening to swallow everything in its path!

Every villager who witnessed this scene was struck dumb, frozen in place!

"Brothers, kill them all!"

In the midst of that black, thunderous cavalry, the one-eyed big man leading the charge on a tall horse looked at the quiet, peaceful little village and the honest, lamb-like villagers surrounding it, his face twisting into a hideous, terrifying laugh.

Swish!

The one-eyed big man brazenly drew his blade, and with the momentum of his galloping horse, a silver flash of light streaked past a villager by the roadside.

As blood sprayed, a head soared into the sky!

The one-eyed big man took the lead, clutching his blood-stained saber, and charged into the mountain village with his cavalry like a flood of murderous intent!

In an instant, Chaos erupted all around!

And at this moment, Yang Qingyun, standing in the middle of the village road, watched the charging bandit cavalry as long-buried memories surged from the depths of his mind, the overwhelming hatred finally coalescing into cold, terrifying killing intent in his eyes!

"Black Wind Bandits, so it is you!"

Memories flooded his mind like a tide.

Yang Qingyun slowly raised his palm, clenching his fist, his gaze icy.

"Although this body has yet to begin cultivation, as long as there is even a shred of strength within, it will be enough!"

The power in his hands, Was incredibly weak.

However, At this very moment, relying on the sensory perception of his peak Viscera Refining Realm from his past life, he clearly sensed every inch of flesh and blood in his body.

He meticulously perceived the changes in his internal force, and under his profound control, he guided the energy to circulate through his body using the experience of his past life.

With just a few rhythmic breaths, He had already mastered every ounce of strength within him!

All his power, Was gathered and unified into one!

"In my past life, although my Martial Path stopped at the Viscera Refining Realm, it was precisely because I could not advance further that I focused on excavating and utilizing the power of my own blood and qi."

"In terms of utilizing physical strength, I am no grandmaster, but I am better than one!"

And as his internal force circulated, Yang Qingyun's energy became increasingly harmonious!

At this moment, His body had yet to step onto the Martial Path or refine blood and qi.

But under the guidance of his past memories and profound mastery, by unifying his strength, he had already reached the Mortal Peak!

And if he were to spare no cost, He could even instantly unleash the true power of an initiated martial artist!

"You are all dead!"

Cold killing intent permeated the surroundings!