Lifespan Exhausted, Fate Reforged!

Great Yu Kingdom, Jiangning City.

Autumn had deepened, frost coating the eaves.

Figures were scattered throughout the roadside teahouse, and a few cries from street vendors drifted in from outside. But then, with a sharp crack, the storyteller's block struck, sending a jolt through everyone present.

"As the saying goes..."

"For his beloved son, he sacrificed his life to preserve his lord and father; Mengde wept in regret, tears falling in pairs."

"One misstep became an eternal regret; his name remained in the annals, yet the tale was bleak!"

"Honored guests, if you wish to know what happened next, then listen to this old man in the next installment..."

"For the explanation!"

After reciting two doggerel verses, the old man heavily slapped his storyteller's block. He had been recounting the episode from Romance of the Three Kingdoms in which Cao Cao was defeated by Zhang Xiu.

After speaking all morning, his throat was nearly dry.

The teahouse patrons seated before him had long since become utterly engrossed. Only several seconds after the storyteller's block fell did a thunderous wave of applause finally erupt through the hall.

"Good! That was wonderfully told!"

"Bah, this Cao Cao is truly shameless! All he knows is how to steal other men's wives, and he even got his own son killed!"

"Brother, you are mistaken. Everyone says young maidens are fine, yet they do not know that married women are the true treasures. This Cao Cao is truly one of our fellow travelers!"

"Tsk, tsk!"

"Men really aren't a single good thing!"

Seeing the murderous looks in the surrounding young women's eyes, the refined young gentleman's smile immediately froze.

"Please do not be angry, everyone. I was merely joking just now."

"I swear I cannot coexist under heaven with that traitor Cao!"

"Hmph!"

The crowd buzzed with lively discussion.

Someone called out to the old man, "Old Mister Jiang, did Cao Cao die in the end or not?"

"That wasn't satisfying at all! We haven't heard enough!"

The old man picked up his tea bowl and took a sip, moistening his throat before stroking his beard with a smile. "No more. This old man is getting on in years; I nearly couldn't catch my breath."

"Ah, what a pity!"

"Old Mister Jiang, we'll come listen again another day!"

Hearing his answer, the patrons at the tables rose one after another and departed.

"Come listen tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, this old man might not even still be alive."

Watching the departing crowd, the old man wore a smile as he murmured to himself, though his eyes were somewhat dazed.

His name was Jiang Yuan, and after today, he would be seventy years old.

In ancient times, it was generally difficult for people to live past seventy. He had already lived a long life.

When he had first transmigrated into this world, Jiang Yuan had believed that with the knowledge of a modern man, if he could not become a marquis or general, he could at least accomplish something great.

Who could have known that this was a chaotic age where martial strength reigned supreme?

The dynasty was in turmoil, warlords rose everywhere, and the common people could barely survive.

Without family backing or martial skill, he could only scheme to stay alive. He had fished, carried salt, sold herbs, and drifted from place to place.

Over the years, he had suffered every hardship and done every kind of work.

Yet when he looked back upon his life—

Mediocre and unremarkable, with the years slipping away, all he had gained was flesh upon his thighs and old age drawing near.

The two words "utter failure" had run through his life from beginning to end!

The only thing worth being grateful for was that, in his later years, when he had nowhere left to turn and had nearly been reduced to begging on the streets, he met a woman as beautiful as she was kind-hearted—the proprietress of this teahouse.

From then on, he had told stories here, adding a little bustle to the teahouse.

In the blink of an eye, five years had passed.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would most likely hole up in this tiny teahouse and live out the rest of his days.

Especially these past few days, he had felt exceptionally exhausted in both body and mind. Scenes of playing and frolicking in childhood often surfaced before his eyes, like the revolving lantern of one's final moments.

I suppose I'm about to die of old age?

Just as Jiang Yuan's mind grew hazy and his eyelids became heavier and heavier—

A line of golden text suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Lifespan exhausted, fate reforged!]

[Longevity Scroll activated]

[Longevity Scroll: As your age increases, you may gradually unlock the Longevity Scroll and obtain endless fortuitous opportunities!]

[Survive to seventy years old to unlock the first volume and obtain "Late Bloomer"!]

[Late Bloomer: You have accumulated deeply before bursting forth. Your innate physique has been restored to its prime, your body tempered to the ninth level of Body Tempering, and your cultivation speed is equivalent to a multiple of your actual age!]

[Additional reward obtained: Beginner cultivation method Everlasting Spring Technique]

Jiang Yuan was dumbfounded.

Lifespan exhausted, fate reforged?

Did that mean he had lived a second life?

And awakened a golden finger?

This wasn't an illusion?

Holy shit!!!

In an instant, Jiang Yuan's aged face flushed with color, and even his hands trembled with excitement.

It had come. It had finally come!!

He had waited far too long for this day!

As the text appeared, Jiang Yuan immediately felt his hunched back straighten. His clouded eyes became clear and bright again, and his entire person seemed to glow with renewed vigor!

The ninth level of Body Tempering!

My body has truly reached the ninth level of Body Tempering!

The ninth level of Body Tempering was the stage in which martial artists honed their physical bodies.

This stage was the hardest to endure. Unless one had the resources of a great clan behind them, ordinary people could only temper their bodies day after day to establish a ninth-level foundation. At best, it took seven or eight years; at worst, several decades. Many people could not endure it in their entire lives.

Once one endured through the ninth level of Body Tempering, a martial artist could condense true qi and step onto the path of cultivation.

Jiang Yuan had tested his own innate physique before. With his martial talent and resources, even if he trained until forty, at most he would only reach the fourth or fifth level of Body Tempering.

After that, his body would begin to decline.

The martial path had been nothing but a delusion for him throughout his life.

Yet now, at seventy, he had encountered spring after withering like dead wood?

Who would dare believe that if it were told aloud?

At the same time, an attribute panel appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Jiang Yuan]

[Age: 70]

[Realm: Ninth Level of Body Tempering]

[Cultivation Method: Everlasting Spring Technique (Not Cultivated)]

[Martial Skills: None]

[Fate: Late Bloomer]

[Time until next volume unlocks: Two months later]

Feeling everything that had happened to his body, Jiang Yuan nearly shed tears in his old age.

This golden finger suited him far too well.

The older he became, the stronger he would grow. So long as he lived, he would eventually become invincible!

"Old Mister Jiang, what is wrong?"

At that moment, a gentle and pleasant voice rang out, pulling Jiang Yuan back to his senses.

Focusing his eyes, he saw that it was the teahouse proprietress, Mei Lan.

The woman was just over twenty. Though she dressed simply, she was exceptionally beautiful, the sort of woman whose beauty only grew more striking the longer one looked at her.

If she dressed herself carefully, she would surely become a renowned beauty throughout Jiangning City and its surrounding areas.

"It is nothing. I have made the proprietress worry."

Jiang Yuan smiled faintly and turned to leave.

"Ah, Old Mister Li, please wait!"

Mei Lan called out to Jiang Yuan, seeming somewhat hesitant to speak.

"What else does the proprietress need?" Jiang Yuan asked in confusion.

"Old Mister Li, quite a few more displaced people have arrived in Refugee Alley these past two days. I have been rather busy lately. Could I trouble you to go with Ma Shan and distribute porridge to them?"

Mei Lan revealed a smile, seeming a little embarrassed as well.

War raged without cease in the north of the Great Yu Dynasty. The people were displaced from their homes, and many fled all the way south for the sole purpose of surviving.

Jiang Yuan himself had been among them back then.

She often went to distribute porridge to newly arrived refugees, but she had simply been too busy recently.

She knew Jiang Yuan was in poor health. At his age, he had still forced himself to tell stories all morning. By now, his mouth and throat should be parched, and he ought to rest properly. Yet she was asking him to go work instead.

But she truly could not bear to see those people suffering through hardship and displacement.

"Fine. Leave this matter to this old man."

Jiang Yuan readily agreed.

"Wonderful!"

Mei Lan's pretty face brightened with delight. "Old Mister Jiang, you truly are a good man. Today is your seventieth birthday. Tonight, I will make you longevity noodles!"

"You are too courteous, Proprietress."

Jiang Yuan's expression was kindly. "The proprietress is the true great benefactor, as beautiful as a celestial maiden. You have given this old man a meal to eat, and I am already endlessly grateful. Why go to such trouble?"

"No, it must be done!"

Mei Lan's expression turned solemn. "In my heart, you are one of my elders."

Watching the woman behave this way, Jiang Yuan felt deeply moved.

The proprietress truly was beautiful and kind-hearted.

Unfortunately, in these troubled times, without sufficient ability, kindness was not necessarily a good thing.

For example, among the teahouse attendants, there were no shortage of wolves with hearts and dogs with lungs...

Before, he had been powerless and could only turn a blind eye.

But from today onward, perhaps everything would become different.

Because he was going to begin practicing martial arts!