Chapter 3

"Lotus, Lotus..."

In a daze, Ji Boyi felt someone urgently calling him, and then a flood of memories began to merge with his dream. In the dream, he felt himself reincarnated again, born into a family of a wealthy landowner, with a harmonious and happy family. His father was a well-known local gentleman, his mother a noble lady, and he had a gentle older sister and a lovely younger sister. Although there were still martial conflicts in this world, they had nothing to do with them.

In such a carefree environment, he grew up until the day he turned ten, when everything changed. A group of cruel and murderous bandits entered the village, turning the once idyllic paradise into a hell on earth.

In this dire situation, his parents led the family to escape. His sister went to look for her missing younger sister, and his parents, in their haste to escape, abandoned their two daughters.

In this situation, Ji Boyi woke up, opened his eyes, and saw his mother anxiously urging the servants to drive the carriage, while his father, with a pained expression, turned away. Behind the carriage, his sister was calling out in panic and sorrow.

"Father, don't abandon my sister!"

Naturally, Ji Boyi assumed the identity from his dream. The two sets of memories in his mind clashed, causing his head to throb painfully. After saying these words, he fainted again.

When he woke up, he found himself in a strange environment. This was his mother's natal home, a wealthy merchant family in Pingding Prefecture.

In the days that followed, his father, feeling guilty about his daughters, became increasingly ill. Due to various reasons, he passed away after three years.

Fortunately, his mother still had some influence. With the support of her natal family and the inheritance left by his father, they had no worries about food and clothing. However, after his father's death, his mother changed his surname from "Dongfang" to "Yang."

It was on this day that Ji Boyi suddenly became fully awake, breaking free from the two conflicting sets of memories.

After the surname change, his name became "Yang Lianting." He then inquired extensively and learned that the martial world in this world included the Sun Moon Holy Sect, the Five Mountains Sword School, the Vulture Temple, and the Wudang Sect...

"Could this be the unfinished 'Smiling, Proud Wanderer' fan drama I didn't finish watching before my rebirth?"

Suddenly, Ji Boyi became fully awake again because the Shaolin Temple in this world was called the Vulture Temple, a detail he remembered very clearly.

If there was one thing he regretted the most after his rebirth, besides not fulfilling his filial duties, it was not finishing that "Smiling, Proud Wanderer" fan drama. Although he initially watched it with a critical eye, he was completely drawn in as the plot unfolded. However, just before the final episode aired, he was reincarnated.

Then, Ji Boyi remembered his sister's name, Dongfang Bai!

He woke up, truly woke up!

During the process of waking up, he saw a golden lotus with a hazy Buddha on it. The moment he saw the Buddha, Ji Boyi felt as if he had been through countless cycles of rebirth, his consciousness divided into thousands of parts, experiencing birth, aging, illness, and death over and over again!

...

"Miss, Young Master Yi has woken up. Doctor Cheng, please come and check him!"

When Ji Boyi opened his eyes, he saw an old man with gray hair pressing two fingers on his wrist, frowning as if encountering a difficult problem.

Beside him, Ji Rourou sat on a chair, her face tense and impatient, while Taor, dressed in a pink dress, was serving.

"Miss, Young Master Yi is weak due to overexertion, but the reason for his fainting is that his spirit was injured."

Ji Boyi knew this old man, Cheng. The Ji family was in the business of medicinal herbs and minerals, and they had a branch in Jiangdu City. Cheng was the head of the medicinal herb business in Jiangdu City, not only a skilled doctor but also a capable businessman.

Even the children of noble families had to make appointments to see him, but when the Ji family's own child was in trouble, he had to cancel all his appointments and come over to check on Young Master Yi.

"Old Cheng, stop the nonsense and write the prescription!"

Ji Rourou had no patience to listen to the diagnosis and asked for the result directly.

"Little sister, don't be rude to Uncle Cheng. Have you forgotten Father's instructions?"

At this moment, Ji Boyi could no longer pretend. With Cheng's help, he sat up and scolded Ji Rourou. Although Cheng was a servant of the Ji family, without his support in Jiangdu City, the two of them would be alone and powerless.

Having lived two lives, Ji Boyi naturally acted with prudence and respect for Cheng and another steward. In just a year, he had won the trust of the Ji family's children in Jiangdu City.

However, this was also thanks to the domineering Ji Rourou. Without her rudeness and scolding of Cheng and others, he could not have so easily won their hearts.

"Brother Yi, how are you feeling? Qian Ziyong is so strong, even you couldn't beat him!"

Seeing Ji Boyi wake up, Ji Rourou stood up and asked with some concern.

Although she was very spoiled and undisciplined, she still had some respect for her brother. After all, in Jiangdu City, Ji Boyi was her only blood relative. Moreover, this time Ji Boyi was injured for her sake, which made her feel a bit touched.

"Just a bit of dizziness. Uncle Cheng is right; it's due to overexertion of the spirit, but there's no major issue with my body."

After Ji Boyi spoke, Cheng humbly bowed.

"Young Master Yi, you should rest for a while. I'll have my assistant bring you a bottle of spirit-soothing elixir. Take one pill before sleeping each night, and you should be fine in about ten days."

Although Cheng was puzzled about how just physical exertion could injure the spirit, he was smart enough not to say more and bowed to take his leave.

"Uncle Cheng, take your time. A Song, go with him to get the elixir and don't let him make another trip."

After Ji Boyi spoke, A Song glanced at Ji Rourou, who nodded with a pout, and then followed Cheng out.

"Little sister, think carefully before you act. Not everyone in the academy will give me face. Some people we can't afford to offend."

Ji Rourou responded with a dismissive tone.

"Just with Ji Qianran and Qian Ziyong, our Ji family can handle it."

"Didn't you know that Ji Qianran is from Lu Capital, and her sister just married into the Zuoqiu royal family, with close ties to the Xuanmen Sect, the Nü Palace..."

"Alright, Brother Yi, rest well. I have something to do, so I'll leave first."

Before Ji Boyi could finish speaking, Ji Rourou impatiently left the room, which suited his intentions.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

After a few coughs to relieve the stuffiness in his chest, Ji Boyi checked the time and found it was already evening. Although his fainting seemed to have lasted for decades, in this world, it had only been three hours.

"What's going on? It feels like a dream, but it's so real, as if it really happened!"

However, in his dream, he felt as if he was not in control, following the original path. Several times, he tried to use martial arts and cultivation, but gave up for various reasons. It was as if there was a force guiding him to follow a predetermined path, waiting for his stage to arrive.

"Injury to the spirit!"

At this moment, Ji Boyi recalled the result of Cheng's diagnosis. Indeed, after that dream, he felt his life split into two parts, no, three parts.

Past life, present life, and the dream!

Many times, he felt that the self in the dream was the real him, that he was not Ji Boyi but Yang Lianting. Fortunately, at a critical moment, he remembered his past life and realized that that was the "true self."

"What is that Buddha? Is it the reason I came to this world, and what will be the result?"

As Ji Boyi pondered, someone knocked on the door.

"Young Master Yi, the elixir is here."

"Put it down and you can leave."

Seeing A Song bring in a jade bottle, Ji Boyi waved him away. Then, he remembered something and gave another instruction.

"A Song, go to the Lantian Baoyue Tower and book a table for tomorrow night's banquet. Send an invitation to Qian Ziyong. For the expenses, ask Uncle Cheng, and tell him I said so."

"Yes!"

Although A Song was Ji Rourou's servant, he dared not resist Ji Boyi's orders.

After nodding, A Song left Ji Boyi's room.

The Beidou Star Academy had rooms for students, but for someone of his noble background, finding a separate residence was more fitting. Before he and Ji Rourou came to Jiangdu City, Cheng and another steward of the Ji family had prepared a residence that matched their status.

Seeing that it was late, and unable to figure out the dream, Ji Boyi stopped thinking and focused on recovering. The banquet tomorrow night might not be peaceful.

Thinking of this, he uncorked the jade bottle, sniffed it to ensure it was safe, and then, despite the bitterness, swallowed the dark green pill.

After the pill entered his body, it was dissolved by his internal energy as it passed through the twelve meridians. It then transformed into a cool, refreshing energy that flowed to the ancestral point between his eyebrows.

As the cool energy soothed the ancestral point and restored his spirit, Ji Boyi began to circulate the "Tai Su Yin Gong," gathering the scattered internal energy in his body and nurturing his injured meridians and organs.

As he practiced, a crystalline glow appeared on his originally pale face, like snow or jade. Within a three-zhang radius, the temperature dropped, and all insects disappeared.

---

End of the chapter.