"Let's get a divorce."
"Why?"
"I still believe in love, I still have terrible judgment, and I still lack wisdom."
"Family member, please pay the bill as soon as possible."
"Mom said I'm not even your biological child."
Beeeeep-
The machine let out a long, unbroken tone.
It tore through the rainy night.
Lin Yuan jolted upright in bed, gasping for breath, cold sweat soaking his back.
He looked around.
It was still the familiar side room of the medicine shop, a faint medicinal fragrance lingering in the air.
Yet something felt wrong.
Wait.
There seemed to be a vast trove of extra memories in his mind.
After a long silence.
Lin Yuan finally accepted a fact.
He had broken through the mystery of the womb and awakened his memories of his previous life.
In his previous life, he had toiled like an ox and a horse, pouring out his heart and blood, only to sew a wedding dress for someone else.
In this life, he was the concubine-born son of Lin Dafu, the wealthy merchant who owned the Lin Clan Cloth Shop in Ping'an County.
His mother had died when he was six, and the principal wife had banished him to Blackstone Town, where he survived by begging.
When he was ten, Elder Wu of the clinic had taken pity on him and kindly taken him in.
Eight years had passed since then.
The confusion faded entirely from Lin Yuan's eyes, leaving only a bone-deep chill.
Only after shattering the old shackles did I finally know who I was today!
Why had I suddenly awakened?
He tried hard to recall.
While out delivering medicine during the day, he had accidentally bumped shoulders with the local thug Zhang San on a street corner.
He had felt nothing at the time, but thinking back now, something was deeply suspicious.
Had there been a slight sting beneath my ribs then?
Lin Yuan's heart lurched, and he hurriedly lifted his robe.
By the faint moonlight, he discovered a tiny red dot beneath his left ribs.
The skin around the red dot now had a faint black tinge.
This was an attempt to poison me to death!
A chill shot from the soles of Lin Yuan's feet straight to the crown of his head.
He hurriedly checked his condition, but nothing seemed amiss.
Had the poison been neutralized?
Could it be a perk of awakening my past-life wisdom?
Whatever the case, Lin Yuan let out a long breath.
But why would Zhang San want to kill me?
We had no old grievances or recent grudges.
Unless someone had ordered him to!
A name instantly came to mind.
Zhao Yan, the mistress in charge of the Lin household in Ping'an County!
But that did not quite make sense either. He had already spent eight years in Blackstone Town.
What had Zhao Yan been doing all those years? Why act only now?
Early the next morning.
In the front hall of the medicine shop.
Lin Yuan moved among the medicine cabinets, his expression as usual.
Out of the corner of his eye, however, he kept watching the street outside.
Before long.
Zhang San's furtive figure appeared outside the medicine shop.
Lin Yuan caught a flicker of astonishment and suspicion on the man's sallow face.
He stared hard at Zhang San's retreating back, his gaze gradually turning cold.
You bastard! You've already given me cause to kill you.
Just then.
Funeral music suddenly sounded in the street, accompanied by waves of weeping.
Lin Yuan craned his head to look, curious.
It was an exceptionally grand funeral procession.
He vaguely felt that several people at the front looked familiar.
Before he could think further, he heard people who knew the circumstances talking nearby.
"What a miserable end for Master Lin, running into mountain bandits like that."
"Indeed. Life really is unpredictable."
As he listened, Lin Yuan's expression abruptly changed!
The central figure of the procession was actually that nominal father of his!
Three days earlier, Lin Dafu had gone away on business and encountered bandits from Black Wind Mountain, losing both his life and his wealth.
Lin Yuan hastily pulled his head back inside.
His tangled thoughts instantly connected into a single thread!
Father died suddenly, and the principal wife, Zhao Yan, took power.
The poisoning made sense now!
Perhaps it was to let Lin Shan, the legitimate eldest son, inherit the family fortune smoothly!
The vast Lin household, with its immense wealth.
Under the laws of the Wu Dynasty, a mere concubine-born son like me could receive only five percent.
Yet Zhao Yan would not permit even that!
"What a principal wife. What a vicious heart of snakes and scorpions."
Lin Yuan clenched his fists, bloodshot eyes blazing as towering killing intent churned in his chest.
In my previous life, I let others suck out my marrow. In this life, I retreated for eight years, yet still couldn't escape calamity!
Since this world won't leave me a way to live, I'll carve a bloody path through it!
Hum!
An uncanny scarlet rose deep within Lin Yuan's pupils, and a blood-colored screen abruptly coalesced before his eyes!
[Ding, the "Lone Star of Destiny" system has been activated] [The fewer the host's bonds, the greater the host's talent] [Detected that the host has attained the "Severed Ties with the Six Relations" achievement] [Congratulations to the host for "passively" unlocking the highest title, "Disowning the Six Relations." Talent permanently increased a hundredfold] [Host: Lin Yuan] [Lifespan: 18/50] [Innate aptitude: Celestial Person (being a genius is merely the threshold for meeting you; gain a hundredfold cultivation speed)] [Comprehension: Divine Communion (gain a hundredfold comprehension; may actively trigger one epiphany daily)] [Realm: none] [Martial arts: none]
Lin Yuan was startled, then overjoyed. His golden finger had arrived!
A warm current welled up within him from nowhere, instantly coursing through his limbs and every bone.
His entire body felt wonderfully at ease, and even the world before his eyes seemed somewhat different.
"Good, good, good."
Lin Yuan trembled all over with excitement.
But.
What did severed ties with the six relations mean?
Lin Yuan rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
What were the six relations?
Father, mother, brothers, sisters, wife, and children.
Didn't I still have an elder brother, Lin Shan?
What was going on?
Lin Yuan had a bad feeling. His memories seemed to be dragged back to his previous life. What a familiar scene this was.
He stared blankly at the departing procession, feeling some sympathy for Lin Dafu.
But that was all.
From the moment Zhao Yan had driven him to Blackstone Town at the age of six and Lin Dafu had paid him no heed.
Some things had already been destined.
That evening.
At the dinner table, Master Wu noticed Lin Yuan's distraction.
"Little Yuan, what's wrong?"
Concern showed in Master Wu's cloudy eyes.
Lin Yuan opened his mouth, but in the end, he did not tell him the truth.
Master Wu did not know his true identity.
Probably no one in all of Blackstone Town besides Zhang San knew he was the Lin family's second young master.
He changed the subject, asking with an air of casualness.
"Master Wu, you've seen a great deal. Do you know where I could get martial arts manuals?"
In this Wu Dynasty, where martial prowess reigned supreme, powerful martial artists could move mountains and fill seas.
Individual martial strength was the foundation of everything.
Master Wu gave him a few suspicious looks.
"You want to practice martial arts?"
He immediately shook his head.
"I examined your innate aptitude before. It isn't good."
"With your aptitude, even a lifetime of bitter toil would hardly let you break through Body Tempering and enter the Qi and Blood Realm."
Before Lin Yuan could ask, Master Wu continued explaining.
"Martial arts has nine realms, each a heaven apart, and before those nine realms lies a difficult hurdle: Body Tempering."
"A martial artist tempers his sinews, bones, skin, and flesh. Only when that reaches perfection and Qi and blood arise naturally has he truly knocked open the gates of martial arts."
"And thus stepped into the First-Grade Qi and Blood Realm!"
Lin Yuan's lips moved. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke.
"Master Wu, how about examining me again?"
Lin Yuan held out his right hand.
He could not keep this hidden, and besides, Master Wu was no outsider.
Had Master Wu not kindly taken him in back then, he would probably have frozen to death on the streets long ago.
Master Wu paused. Seeing Lin Yuan's serious expression, he helplessly put down his bowl and chopsticks.
"Child, innate aptitude is ordained by heaven. I've practiced medicine for decades..."
"Huh? That's not right!"
Master Wu's expression changed dramatically, and he shot to his feet.