In his previous life, Teng Qingshan had needed only a few decades of cultivation to comprehend the "transformation between life and death." He had perfectly fused the Way of Life with the Way of Death and stepped into the realm of a Supreme Powerhouse.
Though an accident had left him with only his consciousness after bringing him here in this life, and the vast differences between the two worlds meant that most of the martial arts realms he had previously comprehended were incompatible with this world,
Teng Qingshan was still confident he could reach the highest realm once more through his own efforts!
After all, he had reached the level of a Supreme Powerhouse in just a few decades of cultivation. There was no question about Teng Qingshan's talent and insight.
"It seems this Little Cauldron has a mysterious origin, too." The Little Cauldron had played a crucial role in allowing Teng Qingshan to preserve his consciousness beneath that mysterious violet light.
But at that moment, no matter how hard Teng Qingshan tried, he couldn't make the phantom Little Cauldron in his consciousness materialize.
With no other choice, he could only give up and do his best to absorb the images that occasionally emerged from the Little Cauldron.
Teng Qingshan knew
that these images all came from the future, and the information they contained was invaluable.
"Being able to foresee some information about the future will save me a lot of trouble."
He had arrived in a completely unfamiliar world, and all the strength he'd possessed before had been wiped away. He couldn't even use any martial arts realm above the Void Realm. If not for the Little Cauldron, Teng Qingshan might have felt a little panicked.
But now...
Teng Qingshan was filled with hope and confidence about the future.
"It's September 2014 now. According to the information from the Little Cauldron, the Double R Crisis will erupt in January 2015, and in August, the Beast Tide will begin attacking humanity. From then on, the world's situation will change drastically. Less than a year remains before humanity is plunged into calamity."
Teng Qingshan pieced together the scattered images of the future in his mind.
He silently considered his plans.
After crossing over to this completely unfamiliar world and losing all his strength, Teng Qingshan had initially felt a little resentful and unwilling to accept his lot.
But after "seeing" the wonders and power of this world, he understood that this was where he truly belonged!
"On the Nine Provinces Continent, even if I cultivated Xingyi Fist to its utmost limit, unless I became a Supreme Powerhouse, my physical strength could reach at most eight hundred thousand jin. Even after reaching the realm of a Supreme Powerhouse, pure physical strength still has its limits. But here, there seems to be no limit to how strong the body can become! And then there are the Origin Laws..."
As he sorted through the images in his mind, Teng Qingshan marveled at the wonders of the Swallowed Star World.
"Although most martial arts realms are suppressed, I can still practice Xingyi Fist. It's just that this world seems to lack 'Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.' Instead, it has 'Cosmic Energy.'"
Teng Qingshan got out of bed and began practicing the Three Body Posture, which he had performed countless times before, in the small bedroom.
All techniques originated from the Three Body Posture.
After hundreds of years of practice, Teng Qingshan's understanding of the Three Body Posture and Xingyi Fist had reached an unprecedented level.
Inhale... exhale...
Since this was a completely new body,
Teng Qingshan began by practicing slowly, gradually getting used to it and learning to control it.
After practicing the Three Body Posture several times, Teng Qingshan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Although this body is already an adult, it's still far too ordinary..."
During his practice, Teng Qingshan had realized that his current body was weak—far inferior to the body he'd had in his previous life, which had reached the limits of Internal Martial Arts.
"Fortunately, this world has Cosmic Energy. Once the body reaches a certain level of fitness, it can absorb and refine it into Genetic Origin Energy, steadily strengthening the body."
After resting for a while, Teng Qingshan continued practicing the Three Body Posture, along with the Five Elements Fist and Xingyi Twelve Forms Fist.
An hour later,
Teng Qingshan had become somewhat familiar with his current body.
Although he was still nowhere near the level of an Internal Martial Arts Grandmaster, who could fully control every muscle, bone, and sinew in his body, he had no problem with ordinary training.
Thanks to the soul that had been nourished by Chaos Primal Energy for hundreds of years in his previous life, Teng Qingshan's will and consciousness were exceptionally strong.
Naturally, he adapted very quickly.
"Qingshan, come out and eat!"
At that moment, Teng Yongyuan finished preparing the last dish.
When he came to the table and saw the delicious food, Teng Qingshan, after exercising for over an hour, didn't hold back. He picked up his chopsticks and dug in.
Seeing his grandson awake, full of energy, and eating with such an appetite made Teng Yongyuan very happy.
"Qingshan, slow down. There's more in the pot."
"Mm. Grandpa, you should eat too."
After devouring the food in a flurry,
Teng Qingshan patted his stuffed belly with satisfaction.
It had been years since he'd felt so content.
In Teng Qingshan's memories, he had reached the Bigu realm long ago on the Nine Provinces Continent. He only occasionally ate a meal or two when spending time with his family.
Even then, he had eaten for the pleasure of enjoying good food, not because he was hungry.
But now,
in this ordinary body, he felt a long-forgotten hunger.
"Grandpa, I'll wash the dishes. You should rest."
As he spoke, Teng Qingshan began clearing the dishes. He washed them in no time.
Teng Yongyuan couldn't stop him in time.
Seeing how much more considerate his grandson had suddenly become, Teng Yongyuan's eyes grew damp. "If only Qingshan's strange headaches could be cured completely."
"Qingshan, are you going to class this afternoon?"
"Class?" Teng Qingshan was taken aback. Only then did he remember that he was still a student—and a high school senior at that, facing the college entrance exam.
"The college entrance exam... It feels like a distant memory." Teng Qingshan thought to himself.
"I'm going. I've completely recovered now, so you can rest at home, Grandpa."
Teng Qingshan picked up the schoolbag he remembered and headed toward school.
"Yi'an District No. 1 High School. I wonder what subjects they teach in this world. If they're useful, I'll go to class. If not, I'll take a leave of absence and focus on martial arts so I can increase my strength as quickly as possible."
Teng Qingshan thought to himself.
The Beast Tide would attack human cities in force in less than a year. Time was already running short.
The images from the Little Cauldron showed that monsters mutated far faster than humans, and their mutations were much more ferocious. If he wanted to survive this disaster with his grandfather, he couldn't afford to waste a single moment.
Half an hour later,
Teng Qingshan arrived at Yi'an District No. 1 High School.
His grades had been quite good in his previous life. Even though he had occasionally been troubled by his strange headaches, he had still worked hard to get into the best high school in Yi'an District, and his grades had consistently ranked among the top three in his year.
Guided by the memories in his mind, Teng Qingshan soon reached Class One of Grade Twelve.
He went to his seat with practiced ease and sat down.
"Qingshan, you're all right now?"
As soon as Teng Qingshan sat down, his deskmate, a pretty girl with shoulder-length hair, called out brightly.
Seeing how much more handsome and refined Teng Qingshan seemed, and how distinctive his bearing had become, Yang Guo's pretty face flushed slightly. Her heart gave a sudden flutter.
"Mm, I'm fine now." Teng Qingshan turned to look at her. She had been close to his former self, and they had sat together for three years.
"That's good. We're in our senior year now, so we need to make the most of our time studying. We can't afford to waste a single moment." Yang Guo smiled, her bright, beautiful eyes twinkling.
Ring, ring—
The bell suddenly rang.
A middle-aged, balding man walked in with a test paper in his hand.
After stepping up to the lectern, he looked around the classroom. Seeing Teng Qingshan back in his seat, he smiled at him. "All right, let's go over the test you took the day before yesterday..."
Teng Qingshan took out the math paper, titled "Yangzhou City First College Entrance Exam Mock," and saw that his former self had scored 150. He felt nothing.
During the years he had spent as an assassin in his first life, Teng Qingshan had already learned all these basic academic subjects.
Now that he had also absorbed his former self's memories, he knew all this simple math inside and out.
After listening for a while, he realized that everything being taught was material he already knew. Teng Qingshan took out his other textbooks and flipped through them as well, only to find that he had already mastered all of their contents, too.
"It seems there's no need for me to stay in school. At this point, they're only teaching ordinary material."
Teng Qingshan looked past his deskmate, Yang Guo, at the sunlit sports field outside, and silently made a decision.
"From today on, I won't come back to school. I'll focus on martial arts!"
Before you continue