Return to the County Seat

Spring passed and autumn came; the sun and moon turned, and five years slipped quietly by.

With meat, eggs, and milk every day, along with regular medicinal baths and Bone-Strengthening Pills, Li Ji'an was now nearly five feet three at thirteen. Daily exercise and practicing the movements of the county martial arts academy's Golden Strength Technique had given him a straight back and strong bones and sinews.

In the bath barrel, Li Ji'an studied his body carefully. Though he knew it by heart, he still couldn't help feeling a thousand things every time he looked.

At thirteen in his previous life, he had been mutilated by the beast who subjected him to Life Harvesting and Dismemberment. His body had been damaged, and he had been malnourished. He hadn't even grown as tall as he had in the life before that, and as an adult, he had barely reached five feet. (Every time he rejuvenated, the world line, the people, his soul, and even his body remained the same; it was still his body, and the process always began at age eight. Strictly speaking, they couldn't be called separate lives, but for convenience and ease of understanding, let's call each rejuvenation a life.)

Looking at his reflection in the water, he saw that he was several times more handsome and sunny than he had been at the same age in his previous life. His whole being radiated youthful vigor.

All the contingencies I prepared in my previous life went unused. With a soft laugh, Li Ji'an submerged himself in the water.

He had hidden some medicinal herbs and silver in the courtyard in the county seat, intending to use them for himself as a child in this life.

But in the past five years, the temple had covered everything he needed, from medicinal baths and supplements to everyday necessities. They had even agreed to sponsor his martial arts training at the academy, all because of the two prescriptions he had given Liu Deshan.

Of course, those two prescriptions had also caused Purple Heaven Temple's income to soar again over the past few years.

Aside from improving the temple disciples' conditions, they had expanded the charity hall and named it after Chang'an—Chang'an Benevolent Hall!

It now took in nearly a hundred orphaned and destitute children.

And after the senior brothers at the hall learned that Li Ji'an was devoted to the martial path, they often brought him wild game from the mountains with nourishing properties.

Over these five years at the temple, he had been the apple of everyone's eye, surrounded by care.

I leave for the academy tomorrow. I wonder if Old Huang is still alive. How is Instructor Wu? Did he get fired? Did that little brat who mocked me qualify for the martial arts examinations...?

He held his breath for at least two minutes. He was extremely satisfied with his body now.

And over these five years, he had felt his mental strength grow more clearly. After two rejuvenations, his thoughts had become sharper and his energy more abundant. Six hours of sleep each day was now enough to restore him to peak condition.

Over the past five years, he had revisited the Golden Strength Technique he had practiced at the martial arts academy in his previous life, and his understanding had deepened. Many things that had baffled him back then were now becoming clearer.

He didn't know whether this was an added benefit of rejuvenation or simply the natural result of growing wiser with age. After all, his body rejuvenated with each life, but his mind had kept accumulating experience.

"Junior Brother, help me!" Just then, a cry for help came from the large bath beside him.

That was where the temple's other child Daoists, all under fifteen, soaked in medicinal baths. Xiao Qingyun was currently playing and horsing around with the other boys.

Li Ji'an hadn't wanted special treatment, but the person in charge of the medicinal bath hall had been a child he'd saved in his previous life and insisted on giving him his own tub.

Besides, though he looked only thirteen, his soul had been through far too much. He could play around with the children once in a while, but acting like a carefree child all the time was asking too much.

And sometimes his unintentional displays of maturity beyond his years made the other children uneasy and afraid, so he had settled for bathing alone.

Xiao Qingyun was the one who was truly carefree and childlike.

"Junior Brother, they all listen to you. Help me plead with Master. Can't you ask him not to send me to the academy?" After leaving the medicinal bath hall, Qingyun clutched Li Ji'an's sleeve and begged.

He was exactly like his father had been as a boy: if he could lie down, he would never sit; if he could avoid moving, he wouldn't budge. He had no interest whatsoever in martial arts or cultivating immortality.

Five years had passed. If Li Ji'an hadn't suggested that their master make him exercise for the sake of his health, he would have been even fatter by now.

Still, everyone had their own aspirations and their own fate. Li Ji'an had never tried to persuade him to practice martial arts or cultivate immortality.

Li Ji'an smiled and shook his head, ignoring him.

Early the next morning.

A group of Daoists stood quietly outside the main gate of Purple Heaven Temple.

Li Ji'an and Qingyun stood beside the carriage, bidding them farewell.

"Master, I really don't want to practice martial arts. There are no immortals in this world! I just want to stay at the temple... serve you and take care of you... Please don't send me away..." Qingyun's voice was already breaking into sobs.

Liu Deshan glared at him. "Look at your junior brother! What did I do to deserve... to take on a disciple like you? Do you know how much silver the academy charges? How many people want to practice martial arts and don't even get the chance? Don't cry. Swallow those tears right now! You're practically grown!"

With an exasperated shake of his head, Liu Deshan turned to Li Ji'an, his expression softening at once.

Yet the longer he looked at Li Ji'an's face, the more his heart twinged.

How had his junior brother fathered such a beautiful son?

What kind of peerless beauty must his sister-in-law have been?

Tall, well-built, and handsome—nothing like that wretched child.

At that age, Li Ji'an had looked like his previous self only around the eyes. In every other way, they were worlds apart.

"Chang'an, everything's been arranged at the academy. Once you get there, you won't need to worry about anything. Just focus on your training. And don't put too much pressure on yourself; there's no need to stubbornly chase after becoming an immortal seed. Whatever happens, this will always be your home."

"Thank you, Master!" Li Ji'an bowed deeply to Liu Deshan, whose hair at the temples had begun to turn gray.

"Good, good. Off you go. Keep an eye on that boy for me. If he doesn't listen, give him a good hiding. You have my permission."

This time, Qingyun really did want to cry.

The carriage rolled farther and farther away, and the figures in front of the temple grew smaller and smaller.

As soon as Qingyun climbed aboard, he fell asleep. Sadness and worries couldn't find their way into his heart.

Once they entered the county seat, he didn't need anyone to call him. His nose woke him up all on its own.

"Junior Brother, look! Candied hawthorns!"

"Wow, they have flatbreads too!"

"Whoa... that's braised pig's trotter..."

Li Ji'an also looked out the window. The place was very familiar, after all; he had lived in this city for ten years.

The county seat hadn't changed much in five years.

As they passed through the streets, he spotted quite a few familiar faces.

"Senior Brother, sorry to trouble you. Could you stop the carriage and let Qingyun buy me some snacks?" Worried that Qingyun's drool would land on his clothes, Li Ji'an finally gave in.

The middle-aged Daoist driving the carriage smiled and pulled over.

"Chang'an, you spoil Qingyun too much." Everyone at the temple knew Li Ji'an's temperament. He wasn't someone who indulged his appetite.

Qingyun's face lit up with delight. "Thank you, Junior Brother! Thank you!"

Li Ji'an patted Qingyun's head affectionately and took about thirty copper coins from his purse to give him.

After asking the middle-aged Daoist to keep an eye on Qingyun, Li Ji'an turned a corner and headed for a small courtyard behind the bustling market street.

He had bought this courtyard fifteen years earlier. It faced the busy streets at the front and wasn't far from the county office at the back. Most of the people living around here were merchants, so there was less unnecessary contact and trouble.

He hadn't been back in five years, but from the outside, everything looked just as it had before.

Li Ji'an walked a few steps around the outer wall of the courtyard. His expression shifted slightly, but he calmly moved away.

When he left five years ago, he had lined the wall with Embroidered Needles. Just now, he had noticed that several had been badly bent, and he had even spotted a dark smear of blood in a crack in the wall.

There was no need to investigate what had happened, whether the intruders had been petty thieves or hardened robbers, or to go inside and see whether his traps had worked. It didn't matter.

He had only set up that place as a contingency to help himself through childhood.

Now that Purple Heaven Temple had helped him through that stage, the courtyard's purpose no longer justified taking any unknown risks or getting mixed up in needless trouble.

It was only a little silver, after all.

When Qingyun returned, arms full of food and thoroughly satisfied, the carriage set off again, bound for Shangyi County Martial Arts Academy—the place where Li Ji'an had been met with scorn and mockery in his previous life.