Chapter 5

The spring sunshine was particularly bright, warming the body and making one feel lazy.

A rosy-lipped, white-toothed child stood with his arms outstretched, while a girl in animal skins carefully helped him put on a fur coat. Another girl stood by, holding a clay pot and a small basin, the basin containing coarse white salt, and the pot filled with clear water.

"I was always sick in my past life and dressed myself, but in this life, I am incredibly healthy and have servants to attend to me." Since birth, Ji Ning had been accustomed to being served. Even when he tried to dress himself, his two personal maids, Chuncao and Qiuye, were so frightened that they immediately knelt down, trembling with fear.

"Give it to me."

After getting dressed, Ji Ning took the black clay pot and the small basin and walked outside. He squatted by the corridor, scooped some of the coarse white salt into his mouth, and began to 'brush his teeth'.

"What a tragic era, no toothbrush, I have to use my hands! No toothpaste, only salt!" Ji Ning quickly cleaned his teeth. In fact, he had always been very clean since birth, never having bad breath, and didn't really need to brush his teeth, but his mother always insisted he do so.

"Gu gu gu~~~" Ji Ning tilted his head back and spat out the water, then handed the pot and basin to the maid Chuncao.

The maid Qiuye was holding a green stone basin, and Ji Ning quickly washed his face and dried it with a cloth.

"Qiuye," Ji Ning blinked his big eyes, "Do you use salt to brush your teeth in your tribe?"

Although he was only four years old, he had read many books in his family's collection and knew a lot of necessary information, but he was not very familiar with the daily lives of different tribes.

"How could that be possible." Qiuye had some freckles on her face, "In the tribe, even the salt used in food isn't as white and clean as this, let alone for brushing teeth. The men and women in the tribe just rinse their teeth with water, and many never brush their teeth at all. And this clay pot, it's used for making soup and is very valuable, how could it be used for brushing teeth?"

Making soup?

Ji Ning blinked, could that clay pot be used for making soup?

"Let's go eat." Ji Ning turned and walked away, with the two maids following behind.

...

"Father, Mother." Ji Ning entered the hall and stood to pay his respects.

"Hmm."

Father Ji Yichuan sat at the head of the table, Mother on the left side, and Ji Ning's seat was on the right side. In front of him was a table made of black stone, with three pots of fragrant meat, thick and soft pancakes, and a clay pot of hot water. This was his breakfast.

A four-year-old child's breakfast, if placed on Earth, would be enough for three adult men. But in this world... every child could eat a lot, and Ji Ning was no exception.

"Hmm, it smells so good." Ji Ning grabbed a piece of meat from one of the pots and started eating. Even by Earth standards, this was considered a delicacy. Ji Ning knew... because his physical constitution was average, his diet had been very special since childhood. The meat he ate was not from ordinary wild animals but from spiritual beasts, which were very expensive in some tribes, yet he ate them every day.

It had an effect; Ji Ning was very strong!

"I'm finished!" Ji Ning ate very quickly, almost wolfing down his food, and then gulped down the entire pot of hot water.

"Let's go." Ji Ning ran out, with Chuncao and Qiuye following closely behind.

Yuchi Xue watched her son run out and smiled, "Although Ning'er was born with an average body, it was because he was injured in the womb. His potential is still great. Look, he can eat so much spiritual beast meat every day; his body will surely get better and better."

Ji Yichuan also nodded slightly. Spiritual beasts were different from ordinary wild animals; they absorbed the essence of heaven and earth, and their flesh contained energy. Even if a child ate it in the morning, they probably wouldn't feel hungry for a day or two. But Ji Ning ate three meals a day, and his small body could completely digest it.

*******

The two maids carried thick books and followed Ji Ning, and behind them were eighteen tall and robust guards in crimson armor. The armor was adorned with strange and mysterious runes, which faintly invoked some unknown power, making each guard emit a powerful aura.

The Crimson Armor Guards were the strongest soldiers of the Ji Clan, and in the Western Manor of the Ji Clan, there were only a hundred of them, all under the command of Ji Yichuan.

Ji Yichuan had assigned eighteen Crimson Armor Guards to protect Ji Ning, and they never left his side whenever he left home.

"Go to the training ground." Ji Ning walked leisurely.

No one dared to block his way!

The Western Manor was a magnificent city, with hundreds of thousands of people living within its walls. Inside the city were three large buildings: the Inner City, the Military Camp, and the Martial Hall.

The Inner City was where the Ji Clan's Western Manor members lived and where the ruling core was located.

The Military Camp was where the Ji Clan's Western Manor's army was stationed.

The Martial Hall was where the young people from the many tribes under the Ji Clan's rule and the Ji Clan's own children trained.

There was a direct passage between the Inner City and the Martial Hall, and Ji Ning led his servants and guards directly to the training ground. On the vast training ground, thousands of young people were training.

"Look, it's Ji Ning!"

"Is he the only son of Dripwater Sword, Ji Ning?"

"The book the female slave is holding? I once saw a traveling merchant sell books to our tribe, and it cost a thousand sheepskins to get one book."

The young people on the training ground whispered among themselves. Many of them were already familiar with this child and knew he was the son of the strongest person in the Ji Clan's Western Manor, Dripwater Sword, Ji Yichuan. Many of the young people liked this child because, although he was of noble birth, he never bullied them. However, no matter how much they liked him, they didn't dare to tease him.

"Ugh." Ji Ning sat in a chair, his eyes full of excitement.

In his past life, he was often alone, and deep down, Ji Ning loved lively scenes.

"Give me the book." Ji Ning took a thick book from Chuncao. The book was about twenty centimeters thick, and the pages were made from the skin of wild animals, which had been processed into paper. In this era where slavery still existed, books were a luxury, but Ji Ning could freely read in the library and even take a few books out.

After being born, Ji Ning mainly did two things:

The first was to visualize the "Nüwa Diagram." After his soul became powerful, his physical constitution improved, and he could even remember things at a glance. Just half a month ago, he could even multitask.

Multitasking, for example, writing with his left hand while drawing with his right, as if his mind was divided into two parts, each working independently.

This was not surprising. According to the books, cultivators could multitask, controlling several magical artifacts at once. The "Nüwa Diagram" was truly profound, and after visualizing it for over two years, his soul had become strong enough to multitask.

The second thing was reading!

Half a year after birth, when Ji Ning could babble a few words, he would hold books and point to the pictographic characters: "This, this, this..." Chuncao and Qiuye, being literate, naturally dared not refuse, and since the characters were pictographic, they could guess many of them. He quickly learned to read.

After that, he started reading!

As the saying goes, "Sharpening the axe doesn't delay the chopping of wood." Although he was determined to become a cultivator from the moment of his birth, Ji Ning understood the principle that haste makes waste. Reading was like sharpening the axe on the path to cultivation. First, he needed to understand the world and the process of cultivation, including the different types and everything else.

After understanding, he could make the best choice!

After reading many books, Ji Ning learned that the Ji Clan's Western Manor was a small power in the vast territory of the Great Xia Dynasty.

The territory under the Ji Clan's Western Manor stretched over three thousand miles north to south and five thousand miles east to west. On this vast land, countless tribes lived, all under the rule of the Ji Clan's Western Manor.

And this was just the Western Manor of the Ji Clan.

The Ji Clan was an ancient tribe, divided into the Ancestral Manor, Eastern Manor, Western Manor, Southern Manor, and Northern Manor. The five manors of the Ji Clan together formed the complete Ji Clan!

However...

The Great Xia Dynasty was vast, its territory almost boundless. This ancient dynasty had been born in the "Era of Gods and Demons," enduring through the terrifying and distant era, existing for billions of years. The fact that a dynasty could last for billions of years made Ji Ning shudder.

The Ji Clan was merely a small power in the vast territory of the Great Xia Dynasty, but to the countless tribes around, the Ji Clan was an absolute overlord!

"Truly a world where immortals and demons appear." Ji Ning sighed, "A human dynasty lasting a thousand years is a miracle, but in a world where cultivators exist, the foundation of an ancient and powerful dynasty is beyond imagination."

"Hmm, I've been in this world for two years, and I've learned a lot about cultivation. It's time to start practicing."

Because he was born in winter, he had his first birthday shortly after, making him two years old at that time.

Now, although he was four years old, he had only been in this world for two years.

...

That night.

Thick candles as thick as a child's arm were lit on both sides of the hall, making the entire hall very bright. Father still sat at the head of the table, Mother on the left side, and Ji Ning on the right side. On the table were meat, a few dishes of vegetables, and some noodles.

"Gu gu gu!" Ji Ning quickly ate all the meat and noodles on the table, then looked up, "Father, Mother!"

"Hmm, is there something?" Ji Yichuan looked at his son, and Yuchi Xue also looked at him.

Although they were pleased with their son's intelligence, they were not surprised, as in this vast world, there were beings of near-demonic intelligence.

"I want to practice!" Ji Ning said solemnly, "I want to become a cultivator!"

"Practice cultivation?" Yuchi Xue laughed at her son's serious expression, "Cultivation? Yichuan, our son wants to cultivate!"

"Cultivation?" Ji Yichuan looked at his son with a cold face, "Do you know what cultivation is?"