Dusk.
Outside Little Liuzi Town.
On a remote dirt road.
Chen Guan looked down at his aged body in confusion.
"I was just slacking off at work. How did I end up transmigrating? Come on, boss, isn't that a bit much?"
Chen Guan still hadn't come to his senses.
All at once, exhaustion, aching legs, shortness of breath, and all kinds of sensations that came with old age and illness welled up inside him, leaving him with hardly any strength.
He still hadn't recovered from this "transmigration" when—
Whoosh!
Four bandits burst out of the woods ahead.
They were clutching huge, bloodied cleavers, as if they'd just hacked something to pieces.
Seeing how murderous they looked, Chen Guan instinctively took two trembling steps backward.
The Bandit Brother leading them saw Chen Guan trying to run and chuckled.
"Easy there, old-timer! We just want to ask for directions!"
As he spoke, the Bandit Brother shot a meaningful glance at the other three bandits.
At once, a fat bandit and a skinny one started toward Chen Guan.
"My big brother's right. Don't run, old man!"
"Exactly! We ain't gonna do anything to you, heh heh heh..."
As the fat and skinny bandits spoke, they slowly raised the cleavers in their hands.
Seeing them like this, Chen Guan had no reason to believe they just wanted directions.
Unfortunately, he didn't have a weapon.
And he didn't dare run, lest they pull a "flying knife in the old man's back" trick.
"Am I really going to get killed as soon as I arrive in this world?"
As they drew closer and closer, Chen Guan felt his whole body tense up, and goose bumps sprang across his skin.
On this deserted dirt road, there wasn't a village in sight in either direction. All he could see were the bright, bloodied cleavers in front of him.
And four bandits standing at odd angles, their smiles blooming like flowers.
"Come along with us!"
At the same time, the fat and skinny bandits approached, one on either side of Chen Guan. They grabbed him with their big hands and started dragging him toward the woods.
Chen Guan was old and frail, with no strength left in his twilight years. He couldn't resist the two bandits beside him, so he could only let them lead him along.
But as soon as they reached the edge of the woods, the stench of blood hit him.
Chen Guan followed the smell with his eyes.
It came from a farmer whose belly had been ripped open. The sight was revolting and terrifying.
"Don't panic, old man. And don't be scared of him."
Seeing that Chen Guan was frightened, the Bandit Brother even comforted him kindly. "Because you'll end up just like him.
"But don't worry. My blade's quick."
"It's over..." Hearing this, Chen Guan knew it was all over.
The fat and skinny bandits searched him from head to toe.
"Only a few dozen copper coins?"
The fat bandit weighed Chen Guan's money pouch in his hand.
It was made of two scraps of burlap sewn together, with a patch in a completely different color.
"Damn it, what rotten luck!" the skinny bandit cursed. He shoved Chen Guan toward the corpse with a slap.
"A pair of paupers!"
"Still, better than nothing," the big brother said, his smile unchanged. "I was locked in a dungeon for three years, then spent another three digging a tunnel!
"I only escaped a few days ago.
"I thought all my brothers in the mountains had scattered, but I never expected these three good brothers to still be waiting for me.
"This kind of brotherly love is worth its weight in gold!"
"Exactly!" The fat bandit tossed the money pouch to the big brother, then looked at the farmer's corpse.
"Though this pauper had no money, we still opened our doors to good fortune. We've brought our big brother luck and joy!
"Now your little brother's going to give you another old man and put on a double-happiness celebration!"
As he spoke, he raised his cleaver, ready to hack Chen Guan to death.
Facing the imminent threat to his life, a memory belonging to the "original owner" suddenly surfaced in Chen Guan's mind.
In an instant—
Chen Guan learned that the old man had come from a village three hundred miles away.
He'd traveled so far to look for his grandson.
Five years ago, his eight-year-old grandson had been taken away by a Daoist who knew magic.
This was a world much like a xianxia setting!
The old man's grandson—
Was, of course, his grandson too.
He was now a qi refiner of the Guanglin Sect!
After absorbing these memories and learning that his grandson had such connections, Chen Guan was suddenly struck by inspiration. Looking at the fat bandit with his cleaver raised high, he hurriedly waved his hands and shouted:
"Good sirs, wait! I have something to say!"
"Hm?" The fat bandit paused and asked, "If you're going to offer money for your life, don't bother.
"Even if we kill you, the money will still be ours."
As he spoke, the fat bandit raised his hand again.
"My second brother's right." The big brother nodded, then addressed Chen Guan. "And don't go telling us to raid your house for money or have your family bring a ransom.
"We only do quick jobs.
"Little trouble, quick cash."
"I..." Chen Guan ignored what they were saying. Seeing that the cleaver was about to rise again, he blurted out, "Good sirs! My grandson's a cultivator! He's a cultivator of the Guanglin Sect!"
"The Guanglin Sect?" The fat bandit looked puzzled. "Is that some martial arts sect?"
"A cultivator?" The skinny bandit was astonished. "This old man actually knows a cultivator from the legends?"
"He... he..." The last bandit looked a little frightened. "He says his grandson's an immortal?"
At Chen Guan's words, they fell silent for quite a while.
Tales of immortals and stories about reclusive masters had existed since ancient times.
Everyone in the world yearned for them.
Then—
The big brother's expression turned wild with excitement, and he hacked Chen Guan down with a single stroke.
"Damn it! After what I've done to you, if your grandson really is an immortal, do you think he'll spare me if I let you go now?"
Time passed.
After the big brother killed Chen Guan, his three brothers carefully stabbed him a few more times and searched his body. They planned to find some branches and burn him to ashes.
That way, if the old man's grandson really was a cultivator, he wouldn't be able to track them down by some method or other.
About five minutes later—
After seeing that Chen Guan had nothing of value, they went deeper into the woods to gather firewood.
Once they found some, they lit it and set Chen Guan on fire.
Then they went back to the edge of the woods to keep watch.
Another ten minutes passed.
In another patch of woods two hundred meters away—
A grown Black Bear, standing over two meters tall on its hind legs, caught the scent of blood and something savory. It was now approaching the place where Chen Guan's corpse lay.
But just then, thunder crashed across the sky.
The Black Bear startled and convulsed a few times before falling to the ground.
It was dead.
But the next second, it opened its eyes again. A hint of humanlike confusion showed in its gaze and expression.
"What the hell? I'm a bear now?"
Chen Guan was utterly bewildered. Then he noticed an ancient-looking illustrated book appear in his field of vision.
It was rendered in ink wash.
On the first page was the old man from before.
The ink painting depicted him being hacked to death by four bandits.
There were also a few lines of text.
[Postscript: Ten years later, your grandson "Chen Changhong" left the mountain to travel. When he returned home to visit his relatives and learned what had happened, you were already separated from him by life and death]
[Your grandson's heart meridian was damaged, and his comprehension weakened]
[The four bandits remained at large]
The first page recorded a painting and what would happen under normal circumstances.
Both the grandson and the bandits were connected to him.
The second page was blank.
But at that moment—
A stream of wondrous characters poured out of the illustrated book, gradually forming words Chen Guan could understand.
They described the process of reincarnation during the time he had been "dead."
[Your first life ended when you were killed by bandits]
[Time between reincarnations: 20 minutes]
[Searching for a nearby "body" suitable for reincarnation, or a "random newborn"]
[The strength of your new body is related to your various ratings]
[Reincarnation vessel found: bear-type]
[Bear: Required soul strength (0.6), required realm (1), required constitution (1.4)]
[Average: 1]
[Your previous life: Soul (1.2), realm (1), constitution (0.8)]
[Judging... qualified]
[Second life: Adult bear]
[Time until next reincarnation: 20 hours]
After reading the characters—
Besides learning that he had a cheat, Chen Guan also felt a strange sensation he couldn't quite put into words.
This was the power of a bear!
At the same time, a few more choices appeared.
[Please choose a talent to inherit from your previous life]
[1: Presbyopia]
[2: Arthritis]
[3: Low-Grade Fire Spirit Root]
[Accumulated inherited talents: None]
[Note: Talents from each life can accumulate. Future lives will benefit from all of them]
There was no need to say anything about presbyopia or arthritis.
He chose number three without hesitation.
[Low-Grade Fire Spirit Root: Common, talent type, suitable for most living and nonliving things]
[Number of inherited talents (1): Low-Grade Fire Spirit Root]
Beneath this line of text, there was also some personal information.
[Name: Chen Guan]
[Second life: Bear]
[Talent available as "inheritance" in this life: Low-Grade Bear-Type Strength]
[Note 1: Inheritance talents will always appear as one of the choices during reincarnation]
[Note 2: They can be upgraded through cultivation to create better inheritance for future lives]
[Low-Grade Bear-Type Strength: 120/1000]
"It can level up?"
Chen Guan noticed the key point.
This was the sort of thing that laid a foundation for his "next life."
The more, the better.
At the same time—
After seeing the cheat—
Chen Guan felt much more at ease.
To be honest, when Chen Guan had first arrived in this world, he'd thought he was a goner.
But now, he had confidence.
"Grandsons, just you wait. Grandpa's coming for you..."
Chen Guan was now not only thinking about killing the four bandits who'd killed him, but also about finding his real grandson.
Because he was cultivating immortality.
And this was a world with cultivators.
With an Immortal Sect around, cultivating should be easy.
Surely his eldest grandson wouldn't defy the natural order and refuse to recognize him just because he'd turned into a bear?
Of course, there might be things like, "Monster, how do you know my grandfather's name?"
"Monster, die! Give me back my grandfather's life!"
Or, "You dare claim to be my grandfather? This Daoist is going to see just how much a bear like you weighs!"
He couldn't rule out divination by the Six Lines or a massive Yin-Yang Soul-Searching, either.
He'd have to think it over carefully.
As he pondered,
Chen Guan remembered that among the clothes on his corpse from his previous life was a little toy belonging to his grandson: a grasshopper carved from a small wooden stick.
There was also a letter from his grandson's parents, which had luckily survived their deaths in the chaos of war.
Both items were very important.
They could serve as partial proof of his identity.
Thinking as he went, Chen Guan strode toward the place where his corpse lay.
Grrr—
But before Chen Guan had taken more than a few steps, his stride suddenly faltered, and he stumbled headfirst.
"Walking like a human and walking like a bear aren't the same..."
Chen Guan flexed his thick, black legs. He realized that instinctively, he was still walking with the habits of a human.
Now that he was using a bear's body, his movements were bound to be awkward.
Fortunately, he had a black bear's muscle memory.
After getting used to it, Chen Guan dropped onto all fours and broke into a mad sprint.
It was faster and steadier.
Rustle, rustle—
His beastly keen sense of smell picked up the scent of blood and something charred.
He raced nearly two hundred meters.
Before him lay the corpse from his previous life, still burning.
Less than thirty minutes had passed since his reincarnation.
It really hadn't even had time to grow cold.
Because the damn thing was on fire.
What keepsakes?
They'd already burned to nothing.
Chen Guan seethed. This had truly cut off his path to immortality—and ruined the touching reunion with his grandson he'd hoped for someday.
"Grrr..."
Chen Guan couldn't speak now. All that came from his throat was an animal's growl.
There was no way to effectively contact his manufacturer.
But that didn't stop Chen Guan from racing on all fours. In just a few breaths, he reached the edge of the woods thirty meters away.
Beneath a large tree ahead were the four bandits, waiting for their next mark.
They were hiding behind the tree to ambush people.
At that very moment,
"What was that?"
They heard Chen Guan charging toward them, as well as the crack of branches snapping beneath the beast's paws. One after another, they turned around.
But in the next instant,
Chen Guan, who was gradually getting used to his black bear body, relied on the beast's muscle memory and the momentum of his charge. He swung a paw straight at the back of the fat bandit in front!
Crack—
The black bear stood over two meters tall and weighed more than seven hundred pounds. Its enormous paw struck with such force that a dull crack of breaking bone rang through the woods.
The fat bandit hadn't even had time to fight back. His back caved in, blood and foam spilling from his mouth, and his two-hundred-plus-pound body flew away like a willow catkin. He slammed into a tree half a meter away.
Crash—
The tree shook, and a shower of leaves fell.
The fat bandit's face was a bloody mess. The hard bark had smashed it beyond recognition.
Seeing the horrifying scene he'd caused, Chen Guan paused for a moment.
"Don't panic!"
The moment Bandit Brother saw the huge black bear before him, his heart and liver trembled with fear.
But a big brother was a big brother. What hadn't he seen before?
Even in this life-or-death moment, he could still steady his men. He roared, "Brothers! Surround it from three sides! There's only one beast, and I still have three brothers!
"We'll avenge Second Brother!"
"Yes!"
"We'll avenge Second Brother!"
Hearing their big brother's shout, the two remaining bandits felt a little steadier.
After all, they'd waited years for their big brother, sincerely wanting to follow him and looking up to him.
"Big Brother! I'll attack from the north!"
The skinny bandit even volunteered, turning his head slightly to speak to his big brother.
But when he turned,
five meters away, Big Brother had already jogged right out of the woods.
All that remained was his resolute back.
"Big Brother..." The skinny bandit was dumbfounded.
Thump—
The next second, he felt a jarring blow to the back of his head. Then he knew nothing more.
"Roar, roar..."
After killing the second man, Chen Guan's mindset had changed. He no longer hesitated over killing as he had at first. Instead, he turned toward the third bandit, who was trying to flee.
Meanwhile,
Bandit Brother ran out of the woods in a panic, with no idea where to go.
As far as he was concerned, where he went wasn't the main issue. The main thing was to run faster than his good brothers.
Rustle, rustle—
Just as Bandit Brother prayed that his brothers would hold out a little longer—preferably long enough to satisfy the black bear—
eight people dressed like constables appeared along the road ahead.
The moment Bandit Brother saw them, it was as if he'd spotted his saviors.
Even if they were officials and he was a bandit,
with a bear possibly chasing him from behind, they were all people.
At the very least, eating prison food was better than becoming bear food.
"My lord! My lord! Save me!"
Bandit Brother shouted several times. Even as he ran toward them, he bent his knees well in advance.
Then he dropped into a neat slide and landed on his knees.
He slid nearly five meters, coming to a stop right in front of the chief constable.
"My lord! I've suffered so much trying to find you! Hurry up and arrest me and take me back to prison!"
"You still dare come back?"
The moment the chief constable saw Bandit Brother, his eyes turned bloodshot. He thought of how the bandits had escaped prison a few days ago, and how the County Magistrate had flown into a rage and worked him like a donkey.
For the past few days, he'd been running around nonstop, making rounds near town with his men.
"My lord... My lord!"
Seeing the chief constable's murderous glare, Bandit Brother felt an extraordinary sense of warmth.
Because that bear behind him really would eat people.
"The chief constable is a Postnatal Realm master... A mere beast won't be a problem for him. My life is safe..."
Bandit Brother felt relieved.
"Wait! What's that sound?"
At the same time, the chief constable noticed something amiss and looked toward the woods ahead.
Crack—
In the woods,
Chen Guan's fan-sized paw caught up with the last bandit and smashed his head in.
After taking care of the last one,
Chen Guan was in high spirits. He shook the bloody pulp from his paw, then sprang forward on all fours, ready to leap onto the road and chase Bandit Brother.
But just as he jumped out, while still in midair,
he looked ahead.
On the road was Bandit Brother, kneeling.
Behind him, several constables were already holding powerful bows with their strings drawn taut.
Seeing this, Chen Guan's fur puffed up like a ball of dandelion fluff. The instant his clumsy body hit the ground, he twisted his rear end, kicked off with all four limbs, and leaped back into the woods.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Eight arrows flew close past Chen Guan. Seven sank into the woods, while one struck a locust tree nearby and buried itself three inches into the wood.
"What?"
Seeing how intelligent the black bear seemed—how it appeared to understand the arrows' power and had dodged them so quickly—the chief constable realized that if they let this beast escape, it would inevitably become a scourge to the region, far worse than the bandits.
"This beast knows how to avoid danger. It's already gained human nature and a little intelligence!"
The chief constable drew the long saber at his waist and glanced at Bandit Brother, still kneeling before him.
His eyes darted about as he plotted.
"Leave two men here to watch this bandit."
The chief constable gave him a glance, then charged into the woods with his saber.
"Don't let this Fierce Beast escape.
"The rest of you, follow me!"
Before you continue