Ancient Solar Record

On the second day of the third month, though the snow had already melted, the cold still bit to the bone like blades.

In the twilight, sunset clouds like shattered gold pierced through the clouds and poured down, casting Huanglong City in the likeness of a primordial great demon. Beneath its hundred-zhang-high walls, sinister black shadows seemed poised to swallow the earth and its rivers and mountains whole.

Huanglong City was a border city, and one of the Great Yin Dynasty's nine Dragon Cities.

A segment of true dragon bone lay buried ten thousand feet beneath its earth veins. It was this imperial dragon aura that kept the baleful spirits and demonic qi within the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains to the east in check.

Now, it was the six-hundredth year since the founding of Great Yin.

Emperor Jiaguang had governed with tireless diligence, contended for supremacy in the east, and ushered in a splendid age of peace and prosperity.

Prince Wu'an's Residence stood in the northern part of Huanglong City, sprawling across a thousand mu. Its grandeur rivaled that of an immortal palace or Daoist pavilion.

On either side of the bronze-colored main gate stood a lifelike jade qilin sculpture. Stout, fierce soldiers in armor, their eyes brimming with killing intent, guarded the estate day and night. More than a dozen men held gleaming golden spears and stood in a single line along both sides of the residence, imposing and majestic.

Prince Wu'an, the Great Yin Dynasty's sole prince of a different surname, was named Xu Fei.

This prince of a different surname was no ordinary man. Born with thirty-five apertures open, he entered the Meridian-Opening Realm at sixteen, claimed first place in the Dragon Gate Examination in one stroke, and became the youngest military top scholar in Great Yin history. At twenty, the year he came of age, he led troops into battle, expanded the dynasty's territory, and won illustrious achievements. The vast borderlands stretching for hundreds of thousands of li were conquered by his hand.

When Xu Fei reached forty, he had cultivated the "Five Realms of the Mortal World" to their peak and risen to the highest station a subject could attain. Emperor Jiaguang had even disregarded the objections of the royal nobility and bestowed upon him the title of prince of a different surname, entrusting him with the defense of the eastern frontier.

Night was nearly upon them when the clear sound of reading drifted from a secluded little courtyard in the northwestern corner of the residence.

"Heavenly Emperor sees and hears; the dynasty rises as though unveiled. Cast the Nine Cauldrons of the Great Plan; dragon-silk rends the waves, the white wolf falls, yellow sands bow."

The recitation stopped abruptly. An ancient-red lattice window was pushed open, revealing a refined, thin face. Looking inside, one saw a youth of around fourteen clad in a blue-and-white scholar's robe. His light-brown eyes gazed toward the horizon, his thoughts drifting who knew where. He carried himself with the grave air of an old man.

"Ten years." Xu Yan closed the book and casually tossed it onto the desk. Rising from the edge of the bed, he smoothed the wrinkles from his long robe, then paced out the door. Looking at the darkening sky, he stretched and muttered to himself, "I've actually been in this world for ten years already. It truly feels like another lifetime."

Xu Yan had not been born in this world. In his previous life, he had come from a blue planet, living the blade's-edge life of a mercenary, and had died on the battlefield at the age of forty. Afterward, he had transmigrated into this youth, who shared not only his name and surname, but even an identical appearance.

The former owner of this body had been the son of one of Prince Wu'an's old household soldiers. His parents had also died at the hands of the baleful spirits in the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains.

When Xu Yan had first arrived in this body, Prince Wu'an had seen how precocious and intelligent the four- or five-year-old child was and taken him in as an adopted son, providing for his studies and martial training.

In truth, Prince Wu'an had seven adopted sons besides Xu Yan. Because the princess consort had passed away early, leaving behind only a daughter, he feared she might suffer mistreatment in the future. Thus, he had raised several trusted young retainers to assist the little princess later on.

The sunset glow faded from the horizon, and darkness swept in like a tide. Stars gradually appeared across the sky, like diamonds scattered over a black curtain.

By the starlight, Xu Yan began loosening his muscles and bones in the courtyard. He was a night owl; even on Earth, he often did not sleep until four or five in the morning. That habit had yet to change.

Every half-incense stick's time, Xu Yan would assume a horse stance, clasp his arms and raise them above his shoulders and neck, then work his legs before pacing around the courtyard.

Though these movements looked absurd, he had persisted in them day after day for ten years. This ancient method of strengthening the body had been found by Xu Yan in the residence's library. Whenever he finished reading or studying Daoist treatises and scriptures, he would practice it for half an hour.

By midnight, he was drenched in sweat and utterly exhausted.

At that moment, a string of "hee hee hee" laughter came from atop the courtyard wall. Xu Yan calmly turned his head and saw a young girl sitting on the high-tiled wall, grinning broadly with her hands on her hips as she watched him.

She had a fresh and lovely appearance, her snowy-white skin flushed pink. Her almond-shaped eyes always held a trace of laughter. With her hair in a high ponytail and a red dress draped over her slender form, every light step brimmed with a natural liveliness.

This girl was Xu Ling Sha, the little princess of Prince Wu'an's Residence. Smiling with her eyes, she said, "Xu Yan, is there any use in practicing that thing? Can you teach me?"

"Princess, you cannot cultivate this method." Xu Yan walked over to a stone chair, picked up a cup of tea, and took a small sip.

The strange ancient method Xu Yan practiced came from the Daoist treatise of the primordial era, the Ancient Solar Record, specifically the Li Clan Crossing section. In ancient times, the Li Clan used this method to strengthen their bodies and cross the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains. It could enhance the pure yang qi within the body and loosen the muscles and bones. With long practice, ordinary baleful spirits and ghostly qi would avoid one's body. But women could not practice it; at best, it would injure the five viscera, and at worst, yin might be reversed into yang, carrying the risk of permanent infertility.

"Stingy." Xu Ling Sha smiled sweetly, raised her eyes to the boundless starry sky, and said, "You haven't forgotten what tomorrow is, have you?"

"The third day of the third month, the Shangsi Festival—the day to purify oneself, bathe, crown one's head, and seek the Dao at Cliff Sea." Xu Yan smiled.

"I was afraid you'd oversleep again, so I came especially to remind you. Otherwise, Father will punish you by making you face the wall again." Xu Ling Sha pouted.

"Princess, Xu Yan will remember." Xu Yan nodded with a smile.

"Great Yin honors martial strength above all. Across the four seas, the immortal Dao flourishes. If one only studies literature, then at most one can become a civil official or scholar in court." Xu Ling Sha spoke to herself, propping her chin up with one hand as she sized Xu Yan up. "Tuoba Wuya, the foremost swordmaster of the Northern Wasteland; Nangong Wenqiu of Violetstar Peak; the Celestial Master of Dragon-Tiger Dao—if one could gain even a tenth or twentieth of those seniors' cultivation, one could roam freely and unbound, repaying grudges and favors to one's heart's content. Xu Yan, what do you think of such a life?"

Hearing this, Xu Yan merely remained silent, doing nothing but sipping his tea.

Xu Ling Sha curled her lips and muttered, "Bookworm," in annoyance. When Xu Yan looked up again, the little princess had already flipped over the wall and vanished without a trace.