This Life's Goal

"Help! Help!" Ning Yutan cried out in an instant.

She clung tightly to Li Ji'an's clothes, darting around him to dodge Ning Sujin.

Ning Yutan had only just entered Bone Tempering and possessed a little over a thousand pounds of strength. Ning Sujin and Li Ji'an, by comparison, had both reached Muscle Compaction Perfection, giving them five hundred pounds of strength at most.

But Ning Yutan had focused on advancing her inner cultivation and hadn't spared any effort for external techniques. She was like someone guarding a mountain of treasure without being able to enter it.

Ning Sujin had clearly practiced some kind of superior lightness skill. She moved with effortless grace, making the most of every ounce of her strength.

Smack! A crisp slap followed at once.

"I'll fight you to the death!" Ning Yutan bent backward, one hand covering her round bottom after Ning Sujin had slapped it hard, while the other reached out to shove her.

Unfortunately, martial arts realm didn't equate to actual strength. Though she possessed the power of someone who had just entered Bone Tempering, she hadn't practiced any external techniques and couldn't even touch Ning Sujin.

"Hiss—ow, ow, ow! Let go!" Her shove hit nothing, and Ning Sujin instead grabbed her by the right ear.

With a cry, Ning Yutan reached for Ning Sujin's hand where it gripped her ear, while her other hand shoved at Ning Sujin, who was right in front of her.

"Ah! I was wrong, I was wrong! My ear's going to fall off! Sister, I was wrong!" Ning Sujin promptly grabbed her left ear too.

At that point, Ning Yutan gave up completely. She hurriedly covered both ears with her hands and begged for mercy.

"Hmph!" Ning Sujin stopped, glared coldly at Ning Yutan, then turned toward Li Ji'an, who was watching the show from the side.

Li Ji'an watched calmly, though there was no shortage of envy in his eyes.

He was quite taken with the movement technique Ning Sujin had just displayed.

Although his spiritual strength had been compounded across three lives, and he had discovered while at Shangyi County Martial Arts Academy that his perception was far stronger than other people's, on top of his extraordinary comprehension, he still couldn't pinpoint Ning Sujin's exact position as she performed that technique.

That was proof enough that this art wielded inner force with consummate mastery.

"Li Ji'an? Second in the entire prefecture?" Ning Sujin's expression softened a little.

Li Ji'an smiled and nodded.

"Hey, he's already my junior apprentice brother. He has nothing to do with you, so don't get any ideas about him!" Ning Yutan abruptly cut in, staking her claim.

"Hm?" Ning Sujin shot her a chilly glance.

Ning Yutan instinctively looked away, afraid to meet her eyes. But the next second, she summoned her courage and glared back. "Don't believe me? Then ask him if he's on my side! I'm even going to give him pastries my mother made herself. Jealous?"

"Childish!" Ning Sujin scoffed, then turned to Li Ji'an. "Would you like to learn a lightness movement technique?"

Ning Yutan immediately jumped in. "You'd give an outsider the Su Family's ancestral movement technique just to steal him from me? Junior apprentice brother, don't listen to her. If you learn her family's technique, the Su Family will definitely kill you. Come over here! We're on the same side. From now on, I'll share all my tasty snacks with you."

"Who told you I only know one lightness movement technique? Li Ji'an, come with me. I have several unclaimed techniques for you to choose from," Ning Sujin explained.

"Don't believe her. Come over here—my mother's pastries are worth more than a thousand gold pieces."

Looking at the two girls on either side of him, Li Ji'an smiled.

They were only fourteen or fifteen, and had been born into powerful aristocratic clans. They'd never experienced the hardships of the world, so their thoughts and understanding were limited. They were still children.

Without giving it much thought, Li Ji'an turned and pushed open the door, leaving the two girls outside to stare at each other in the breeze.

With the experience of three lives—especially the modern urban life he'd lived before transmigrating—he already understood the little skirmish between Ning Yutan and Ning Sujin. He'd formed a fairly accurate judgment of each girl's personality and temperament, as well as the conflict between them.

They were simply treating him as a tool in their competition.

Neither of them cared what kind of person he really was. They might not even see him as a person at all—just a prop for settling their rivalry.

Of course, in such a situation, he could also take advantage of their competitive streak, keep both sides happy, and gain benefits or build connections.

Certainly, if he could form a connection with the Marquis Dingyuan's household, it might provide a great deal of security for his childhood in his next life.

If he could enter the marquis's residence at the age of eight in his next life and grow up there, his Root Bone would surely develop better.

But that would have to be built on sincerity and mutual trust.

If the connection came from playing tricks, even he wouldn't trust it.

Besides, he'd had a healthy childhood in this life and begun body training at an early age. With abundant vitality, he could likely live into his seventies or eighties barring any mishaps. "Returning to youth" wouldn't happen until at least after he turned fifty, so he still had plenty of time.

So when it came to saving resources and securing support for his childhood in the next life, he preferred to let things take their course. If he happened to meet someone worthy of trust, like his senior apprentice brother, and time tested them and revealed their true nature, then building genuine trust would be the right path.

His attitude toward all this was simple: don't force it, don't pursue it, don't reject it—let fate decide.

He would never put all his eggs in someone else's basket, either. Relying on himself was his last and surest guarantee.

After all, someone might be able to resist the temptation of ordinary wealth, power, or even divine arts and secret manuals. But when it came to the mysteries of immortality and the secret of returning to youth, forget old friends and confidants—even one's own son or parents couldn't be trusted.

Besides, his greatest goal in this life was still to become an Immortal Seedling and verify whether immortals truly existed. He didn't need to rush into planning for his next life just yet.

As for practicing external techniques... if circumstances had already reached the point where he needed them to defend himself, he would have fallen to the inferior position.

The martial world wasn't all about fighting and killing. Adapting to circumstances and going with the flow, avoiding conflict and strife, making friends far and wide, harboring no grudges, staying clear of dangerous walls, and choosing the right side—that was what Li Ji'an, who possessed the cheat of "returning to youth," needed to consider.

The road of war was perilous, and battles were brutal. Was he the sort to show off his courage and pick fights?

In a world like this, the imperial court, which controlled the vast majority of martial resources, was the strongest force. As long as there was hope of becoming an Immortal Seedling whom the court valued highly, the court would naturally protect him.

Even if he needed to practice external techniques for self-defense, he could wait until after he turned thirty, when the possibility of becoming an Immortal Seedling had completely disappeared.

So practicing external techniques wasn't his first priority, either. The key was to focus on inner cultivation and body tempering, and reach Blood Transformation Perfection before twenty—or even Marrow Cleansing or Organ Refining before thirty.