Rain Country, Ling Clan Residence in Gray Cloud Town. The moon has passed the middle of the night sky.
Ling Han spent exactly ten seconds to confirm one fact: he truly had been reincarnated.
Spending ten seconds just to confirm a fact was extremely inconceivable to a strong person from the Heaven Tier, but at the same time, it also proved that what had happened to him was just as inconceivable.
In his previous life, he stood at the summit of martial arts and had completely unprecedented achievements in the art of alchemy. The “Three Fire Guide” that he had invented had even caused a revolution in the field of theory of alchemy, and he was respectfully titled “Alchemy Emperor”.
Still, he was unsatisfied and thought of further advancement: to reach the legendary Shattering Void Tier, to shatter the void, and become immortal! As such, he visited innumerable ancient sites and finally entered Black Blood Valley, overcoming various dangerous obstacles before he discovered an ancient tower.
He was not to be disappointed, for golden words appeared on the ancient tower and revealed what was a scroll with supreme skills, named <<Indestructible Heaven Scroll>>. Training in it to the highest level would allow creation of a body that neither ages nor decays, to co-exist with the sky and the earth and to have the same lifespan as the sun and the moon! [1]
However, despite being a warrior who has reached the Heaven Tier, Ling Han still felt that <<Indestructible Heaven Scroll>> was extremely obscure and difficult to comprehend, feeling as if he was reading a heavenly book—completely at a loss.
He forced himself to memorize this collection of supreme skills, and was just about to investigate the ancient tower when the tower jolted slightly, exuding a pillar of heavenly light that instantly shattered his mortal body. However, the strange thing was, his spirit did not actually disperse and entered a state of semi-consciousness, which lasted for more than ten thousand years.
In these ten millennia, his spirit was immersed in analyzing the <<Indestructible Heaven Scroll>>—he couldn’t do anything else during that time anyway. Finally, he comprehended the first layer of the supreme skills described in the scroll.
To spend ten thousand years to comprehend only the first layer of a scroll containing skills despite being a warrior of the Heaven Tier, what kind of concept was that?
A warrior of the Heaven Tier only had the lifespan of less than a thousand years. Thus, in a normal situation, there would be no one in this world that could fully learn the contents of <<Indestructible Heaven Scroll>> because, before one had even started comprehending it, they would die of old age first!
Yet Ling Han, through this strange occurrence, grasped the first layer of <<Indestructible Heaven Scroll>>, and he was now suddenly reincarnated and reborn in the body of a sixteen-year-old young man that shared the same name, Ling Han.
It was extremely inconceivable!
‘No matter how it happened, I am reborn!
Although this body has only reached the second layer of Body Refining Tier, and couldn’t be any more trashy than this, I was once a warrior of the Heaven Tier, standing at the top of Martial Dao, and a grandmaster of Alchemy! If the body’s condition is poor, then I shall use medicinal pills to compensate for its shortcomings! I do not believe I will not be able to return to the top.
Moreover, I can finally train in the <<Indestructible Heaven Scroll>>! This is a collection of supreme skills, so powerful that… it may not be from this mortal plane, but from the legendary immortal plane instead! Otherwise, how is it possible for me to spend ten thousand years and only grasp the first layer?
In this life, I will definitely be able to exceed all those who came before, and become immortal!
Additionally, what is the matter with this body? Sixteen years old, and yet the guy had only reached the second layer of Body Refining Tier? Could it be that the Martial Dao of the current time is dying?’
“Bang!”
Along with an explosion-like sound, uncountable memories flooded his mind. They belonged to the other Ling Han, and thus were the memories of the original owner of this body. Through this process, two completely different minds melded together and formed one, no longer separate from each other.
‘I see.’
Ling Han nodded in his thoughts. The reason why he was only at the second layer of the Body Refining Tier was because his Spirit Base was of a too poor quality.
The prerequisite to train as a warrior was that one needed to have a Spirit Base. Only with a Spirit Base could one absorb the Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth, train one’s body and transform the Spiritual Qi into their own Origin Power.
Some types of Spirit Bases absorb the Spiritual Qi quickly and some absorb it more slowly. To differentiate between them, Spirit Bases were categorized into four major grades: Heaven, Earth, Black and Yellow. Every major grade was further divided into three minor levels: High, Medium and Low. The best type was the Heaven Grade High Level, and the poorest type was the Yellow Grade Low Level.
The grade of Spirit Base was decided by its purity; the purer it was, the better. Ling Han’s Spirit Base was in utter disarray, containing all five elements. In the world of martial arts, this was the worst type of Spirit Base; it could barely be considered Yellow Grade Low Level. It was the reason why he had only reached the second layer of Body Refining Tier at his age of sixteen, while others of the same age had at least reached the fourth or fifth layer of Body Refining Tier.
Ling Han in his previous life possessed a Heaven Grade Spirit Base, which was also a High Level one: the Nine Yang Fire Spirit Base. In addition to that, he had an incomparable talent in the art of alchemy and used pills to support his cultivation, spending only two hundred years to reach the Heaven Tier—something never achieved by anyone else in the past.
‘Five Elements Disarray Spirit Base, this is the lowest level of a Spirit Base… no wonder my predecessor only reached the second layer of Body Refining Tier no matter how much he worked and trained. To me, this Five Elements Disarray Spirit Base is a bit of a problem, but with alchemical pills, I will need only four years to return to the top at most!’
‘Yi!’
Ling Han exclaimed in his heart, and his face showed an expression of disbelief and utmost surprise. Using his extremely strong mental prowess to once again peer at the Spirit Base in his Dantian, he was stunned for a moment. Then, shock gave way to exuberant joy, showing on his face. [2]
‘This isn’t the Five Elements Disarray Spirit Base! The Five Elements are actually in complete balance and form the shape of a lotus! That means… this is the Five Elements Mix Chaos Lotus, the best of the best, even rarer than the Nine Yang Fire Spirit Base! This is the Spirit Base hailed as the Spirit Base of the Immortal Grade!
My predecessor had slow progress, but it was because Immortal Grade Spirit Base requires specialized skills to realize its true prowess. And… it just so happens that I have hold of skills that suit this Five Elements Mix Chaos Lotus, the Five Elements Heaven Grade Skill!
One hundred years! No, I only need fifty years, and I can once again reach the Heaven Tier!’
Even with his status as a warrior of the Heaven Tier from his previous life, Ling Han couldn’t control his expression, now full of joy. The Spirit Base was something one was born with; there was no way to change it at all. In his previous life, to shatter the empty void and become immortal, he had visited various ancient sites and obtained many different types of secret arts and cultivation techniques. The Five Elements Heaven Grade Skill was one of them!
In his previous life, he stood at the top of the martial world, and in this life, he would once again bask in glory and create an undying legend!
‘How did my predecessor die?’
Ling Han flipped through his memories, and anger quickly appeared on his face.
His predecessor was the only son of the Ling Clan’s Head, Ling Dong Xing. His mother and grandparents had all passed away very early on. The Ling Clan was a clan of martial artists; every clan member knew martial arts, and was proud of the fact. So, how did someone like Ling Dong Xing become the Clan Head? That was because he was the strongest and had reached his position through battling!
But Ling Han was regarded as trash since his childhood because of the issue with his Spirit Base, and had received much ridicule from those around him.
To give his son a bright future, Ling Dong Xing made an agreement with Hu Yang Academy—Hu Yang Academy would receive Lign Han as a disciple and put all efforts into training him in exchange for Ling Dong Xing entering Purple Light Ground Valley to find and retrieve something Hu Yang Academy had lost many years ago.
Hu Yang Academy was an academy under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Dynasty of the Rain Country, possessing uncountable resources. If they decided to put all effort into training him, even the worst kind of trash would be able to reach Element Gathering Tier.
But the people from Hu Yang Academy were not idiots. If that item was easily retrievable, then why would they have given such generous conditions?
Purple Light Ground Valley was a place fraught with danger. One wrong step could lead to death, but since it was for his son’s sake, Ling Dong Xing departed seven days ago without hesitation.
The day before, people from Hu Yang Academy had come and informed the Ling Clan that, as promised, they would come to pick him up on this day. Yet at that moment, the Chief Butler of Ling Clan, Ling Zhong Kuan, had come to talk with his predecessor. He wanted him to give up this precious position to his own grandson, Ling Mu Yun.
The reason provided was that Ling Mu Yun was a genius with boundless prospects, and such an opportunity couldn’t be wasted on trash.
His predecessor of course did not agree. After all, this was something his father had used his life in exchange to obtain! However, although Ling Zhong Kuan come to talk, he was actually only informing his predecessor and didn’t come there to listen to the other’s opinion at all.
His predecessor could no longer endure and acted, but Ling Zhong Kuan was a warrior of the Element Gathering Tier. Just one finger was enough to overwhelm him—how could he resist?
With just one punch, his predecessor was seriously wounded, and was subsequently confined in his own room, obviously not to let him create an issue in front of the people from Hu Yang Academy. Once Ling Dong Xing returns, everything would have already been concluded.
The seriously wounded Ling Han thus died in anger.
Ling Han harrumphed. They have gone too far. His father used his life to obtain this position for him, and Ling Zhong Kuan and his grandson dare to snatch it away just like that?
These extremely shameless dogs!
He couldn’t accept this!
He rose up from his bed, and instantly felt ache throughout his whole body—true, he had obtained a new life, but the injuries on his body would not recover on their own.
‘En? The Spirit Base has been damaged!’ Ling Han’s brow wrinkled. That attack from Ling Zhong Kuan had actually damaged his Spirit Base, and damage to the Spirit Base was a very troublesome issue; ordinary medical stones would be of no help.
‘According to my understanding, there are seven types of pills that can heal damage to the Spirit Base, though four of them require ingredients that are so expensive that even selling the whole Ling Clan would not be enough—moreover, my Spirit Base had only received light damage, and thus does not require such high-grade pills.
As for the remaining three types, two of them require molding to form pills, and that would be too much of a burden at my current cultivation of second layer of Body Refining Tier. If that’s so, then I only have one choice – Origin Heart Recover Spirit Powder, which can be created by simply mixing the required ingredients at the correct ratio and cooking them to become a medical concoction.
I will heal my injuries first, and then go and stop Ling Zhong Kuan and his grandson. Although I do not care about this position, I will definitely not allow the opportunity that my father has traded his life for to be used to benefit this shameless grandfather-grandson pair!’
He sat down with his legs crossed, and started circulating Indestructible Heaven Scroll. [3]
This was his first time circulating this cultivation technique which might have been of the Immortal Grade, but because he has analyzed it for ten thousand years, it now was something that could be done easily.
“Weng, weng, weng!” Powerful life signs appeared suddenly inside his body; his Origin Power was greatly depleted, but his injuries were quickly healing.
Within just a few minutes, he was fully recovered.
‘It is worthy of the name “Indestructible Heaven Scroll”! I have only just started training in it, and have already felt such remarkable effects.Yet this is completely different from other types of cultivation techniques; ordinary cultivation techniques make use of the Spirit Base to absorb Spiritual Qi from the sky and the earth to transform into Origin Power, and Indestructible Heaven Scroll is the exact opposite, using Origin Power to refine the body and heal injuries!
Once my training reaches the highest level, achieving immortality may not be impossible. That is why it is called Heaven Scroll! Unfortunately, the level now is not enough, otherwise I could use Indestructible Heaven Scroll to heal my Spirit Base.’
Ling Han opened his eyes and, looking at the growing light outside his window, murmured softly: “Now, I shall go and meet with Ling Zhong Kuan, that shameless old man, and give him a surprise!”
He put on his shoes, walked towards the doorway and opened the door.
In the doorway was a tall figure, blocking his advance. This man’s name was Zhang Yuan, one of Ling Zhong Kuan’s lackeys.
“Young Master Han, Chief Butler has commanded that you have to stay in your room today!” Zhang Yun said with a laugh. Although the person in front of him was the son the Clan Head, he was also a notorious piece of trash, and just a joke in his eyes.
Ling Han’s gaze grew cold, and said, “You dare hinder me?”
It was exactly that. The Chief Butler had told him that he couldn’t allow Ling Han to come out and get in their way at all costs. If things come to head, he even had the permission to attack him! Thus, Zhang Yun smiled falsely and said, “This is a command from the Chief Butler. Young Master Han, please do not make things difficult for me.”
‘Ling Zhong Kuan, this old dog, is truly cautious; he has seriously wounded me and still feels insecure, going so far as to assign someone to guard the door,’ Ling Han thought. This also showed how important it was to Ling Zhong Kuan for his grandson to enter Hu Yang Academy—if this hope was shattered, Ling Zhong Kuan’s despair and fury could be imagined.
“Get out of my way!” Ling Han spoke coldly.
“Young Master Han, this was ordered by the Chief But-”
“Pa!”
Ling Han raised his hand and gave him a slap, speaking coldly, “What are you doing? I told you to get out of my way, and you don’t?”
What, he had actually received a slap from a piece of trash? Zhang Yuan covered his face in disbelief; this piece of trash actually dared to resist him, what kind of joke was this?
He was furious, and recalled Ling Zhong Kuan’s words from before: if things come to head, he had permission to attack! He could not stop his hate from rising, and said thickly, “Young Master Han, this is what you have forced me to-”
“Pa!”
Ling Han raised his hand once more, and gave him another solid slap.
[1] ED/N: Probably referring to a scroll made of bamboo slips.
[2] ED/N: Dantian refers to Sea of Qi or similar entity. Believed to be located in the pubic region inside one’s body, it’s a key organ related to cultivating Qi. It is also important in Traditional Chinese Medicine, mainly in reference to Qi.
[3] ED/N: Yes, the same name, but this time as a cultivation technique.