Three Reflections Alter Heaven and Earth (Bonus Chapter, Please Vote, Please Keep Reading!)

As dawn's light began to whiten the sky, Li Shun stepped into the county office study once more.

Fang Xun's gaze was like a ruler, measuring Li Shun's revitalized body inch by inch.

"I couldn't tell before, but you do have quite a fine frame." A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.

"It is all thanks to Your Excellency's grace that Tui Zhi could undergo such a rebirth." Li Shun bowed deeply to the ground, his face full of gratitude.

Fang Xun did not respond. After a brief silence, he abruptly changed the subject. "How many years of lifespan did you borrow?"

Li Shun's heart did not stir in the slightest, yet a trace of perfectly timed unease showed on his face as he smoothly spun a lie. "Tui Zhi was fortunate enough to extend his life by fifty-five years."

"Fifty-five years..." No change could be seen on Fang Xun's face.

"That is not much. It only falls within the middle to lower range."

Hearing this, Li Shun revealed a look of guilt. "Tui Zhi is dull-witted and has disappointed Your Excellency."

Looking at the respectful Li Shun below him, a touch of pride surfaced in Fang Xun's eyes. "When I first cultivated a Longevity Method, I borrowed one hundred and twenty years of lifespan, causing my sect to tremble."

Li Shun took the opportunity to ask, "May I ask, Your Excellency, what exactly is so crucial about the amount of lifespan one borrows?"

Fang Xun explained unhurriedly, "So-called lifespan is in truth the Life Qi of Heaven and Earth. How much lifespan you can borrow depends on how much weight you carry in the eyes of Heaven and Earth. In other words..."

"The more lifespan you borrow, the greater your potential."

"Furthermore, a long life means living longer. The longer one lives, the more twists of fate and possibilities naturally arise."

Understanding dawned on Li Shun's face, only for it to darken at just the right moment. "So that is how it is... I only regret that Tui Zhi is thin in fortune, possessing nothing more than middling talent."

Fang Xun looked down at him and offered comfort in an indifferent tone. "You need not be too disheartened. There are countless geniuses in this world who die midway. No matter how great one's potential, before it is fulfilled, it is ultimately nothing but an illusion..."

Before he could finish, Fang Xun's words abruptly cut off for some reason.

His expression also darkened slightly.

For a time, the study sank into an eerie silence.

Until Li Shun broke that strange silence. "May I ask, Your Excellency, now that I have been promoted to the rank of Public Knight, should I return to my hometown?"

Fang Xun's thoughts were pulled back, and his expression returned to normal as he stared at Li Shun. "According to the Great Qian Code, that should indeed be the case. However..."

"I reviewed your household registration. Your ancestral home, East Mountain Town, is one of the royal Eight Tomb-Guarding Towns. Even if you returned bearing the rank of Public Knight, you would not escape the duty of guarding the tombs. That place is grim and cold, steeped in despair, with no hope of ever rising."

"Tui Zhi, would you be willing to remain at my side and take up a position?"

"East Mountain Town?"

The moment those three words entered his ears, Li Shun's heart paused slightly. Memories long buried by time in the original owner's body suddenly surged forth.

When "Li Shun" was young, both his parents had been alive, and he had a younger brother and sister.

Though they could not be called blissfully perfect, the family had still lived together in harmony and joy.

But when he was fifteen, his parents vanished without explanation.

The family suddenly lost its pillar. Li Shun struggled to raise his younger brother and sister for three years, and their lives had only just begun to improve.

Yet he had then been seized and brought to Cold Mountain County for service.

"I wonder whether the two of them are still alive..."

Seeing that Li Shun had not answered at once and seemed to have fallen into thought, Fang Xun added blandly, "I never force people against their will. Whether you stay or leave is entirely up to you."

Li Shun instantly gathered his thoughts and assumed the alarmed look of someone waking from a great dream. He bowed deeply. "To receive Your Excellency's protection is Tui Zhi's fortune over three lifetimes. How could I dare refuse!"

Fang Xun nodded slightly, quite satisfied with this sensible response. "Starting tomorrow, I will arrange a post for you in the county office. Your only important duty will be to tend that Cold Mountain Lord for me. In your spare time, you may borrow and read the ordinary books in this study, especially that copy of the Great Qian Code."

"To serve as an official or clerk in Great Qian, one cannot do without understanding the law."

"Tui Zhi, remember this. You have now shed your mortal frame and been born anew. Everything in the past has already passed. What comes next depends entirely on the road you walk yourself."

Just as Fang Xun was about to offer a few more instructions, the study door was violently shoved open with a bang.

Chief Constable Wu Kuang barged in, his face flushed with excitement. "Your Excellency, we found traces of that brat—"

When his gaze touched Li Shun at the side, Wu Kuang forcibly swallowed the rest of his words.

"Tui Zhi, withdraw first." Fang Xun gave the order to leave without expression.

Li Shun lowered his eyes obediently and took his leave.

He returned to his own residence.

So that was why Fang Xun agreed so readily to my promotion. He wanted me to help him manage the Cold Mountain Lord. Tending to the Cold Mountain Lord still drains one's blood and vitality, but compared to the grueling labor of the lowest ranks, it is the difference between heaven and earth.

And I can move about within the county office and even borrow books. Overall, it is not a bad assignment.

But is a mere Cold Mountain Lord truly worth Fang Xun specially assigning someone to tend it? When the Cold Mountain Venerable went missing before, he did not seem to make much fuss...

Li Shun's gaze crossed the high walls of the small courtyard as he sensed the abnormal dryness and heat in the air.

"Could Cold Mountain's sudden mutation make Cold Mountain Grass difficult to grow?"

Li Shun's consciousness swept through his Square Inch Space, and four words emerged in his mind: a rare commodity to be hoarded.

But he quickly shook his head. "A common man commits no crime, but possessing jade becomes his crime. Before I have the strength to protect myself, rashly taking them out would only invite disaster. Better to use them myself."

For the remainder of the day, Li Shun went nowhere.

He simply closed his eyes and focused on comprehending the Twelve Longevity Method.

Though he could not witness the wondrous sight of Heaven and Earth's Life Qi flowing, as those profound words slowly passed through his mind, Li Shun still felt that he had gained much.

As the day neared its end, Li Shun did not hesitate to activate the divine ability Three Reflections Upon Myself.

The second reflection.

Li Shun abruptly opened his eyes. That vigorous young body had vanished without a trace, replaced once more by the decrepit, aged body that had been on the verge of death.

The enormous contrast was like being dragged alive from the clouds into a swamp.

Li Shun forcibly steadied his mind and, carrying an overwhelming longing for the Longevity Realm, performed the Twelve Longevity Method.

His mind soared upward, straight into the nine heavens.

When Li Shun once again borrowed lifespan from Heaven, realization flashed through his heart.

"So the time reset of Threefold Self-Reflection truly resets this entire Heaven and Earth."

"And not merely a single region."

"I can feel it. At this point in time, I am a completely new guest, without the slightest trace of having borrowed Life Qi yesterday."

"Three Reflections alter Heaven and Earth... What level of cultivation did that stone statue possess? And why did it fall into my Square Inch Space?"

An even greater question suddenly arose in Li Shun's heart.

The question was like an abyss, unfathomably deep.

But now was not the right time to investigate it.

Li Shun instead adjusted his state of mind and concentrated on borrowing lifespan.

With the experience from last time, Li Shun's lifespan-borrowing process went far more smoothly this time.

And the result was even more wonderful.

He had borrowed a full one hundred and thirty years of lifespan!

Nearly twice as much as before!

A bonus chapter. There will be two more regular chapters tomorrow at noon. Please vote, and please keep reading.

Please!