Chapter 1

I'm back.

*****

"Spring slumber unaware of dawn, everywhere the chirping of birds. Last night's wind and rain, how many flowers have fallen."

A twelve-year-old boy woke from his afternoon nap, yawning and stretching, then squatted down by the pond with a carefree look on his face.

The koi in the pond swam about, the water rippling, reflecting the boy's rosy lips and white teeth. The scar that would later mar his face had not yet happened.

His youthful appearance, his vibrant body. The deep, life-threatening scars that would later mark him had not yet occurred.

At this time, he was young and innocent.

He was Tan Weiran.

A month ago, Tan Weiran was killed in the future and was reborn back to this time. No one knew that the young, innocent body housed the Tan Weiran from the future.

I'm back.

Unimaginable, inexplicable. I don't know why I returned to this era after death, but I am certain that everything before me is real.

Tan Weiran thought.

His parents were now safe and sound. The sect still existed, and his master, senior sisters, and senior brothers were all living well.

The Huangquan War had not yet occurred, and the feudal lords were still in hiding, let alone the distant Divine Court Debate.

This was the most beautiful and innocent era in Tan Weiran's memory.

An old man with a gentle demeanor entered the courtyard and said softly, "Young Master, your father has sent a letter."

This letter should have arrived. Tan Weiran didn't need to look to know its contents. He used a letter opener to cut the envelope and glanced through it, and indeed, it was exactly the same as in his previous life.

Senior sister, senior brother, I, the youngest, will soon be reuniting with you.

Tan Weiran's lips curved into a faint smile: "Old Lin, my father wants me to join the Xing Tian Sect." He handed the letter to Old Lin: "Prepare for the journey, we'll set out in three days."

Old Lin glanced at the letter, handed it back, and smiled: "Your parents have been wandering outside for a long time, leaving you alone in the family, which is inconvenient." He paused and asked, "The journey to the Xing Tian Sect is long. Why not let Lüer stay at home?"

Tan Weiran smiled, a hint of sorrow mixed in. In his previous life, he made a wrong decision. Later, he learned that after Lüer was sent home, her parents sold her to a wealthy family again. No one knew what happened during that time, but it was known that Lüer committed suicide by jumping into a river a few years later.

"Let her come with me," Tan Weiran said. "Without Lüer around, I'm not used to it."

Many people and events in the future, he would not stand idly by and let them happen. These changes would start with Lüer.

He entered his bedroom, pulled out a delicate box from under the bed, and tied the letter in chronological order with the existing stack of letters. From this, one could see how much Tan Weiran cherished these letters.

Tan Weiran patted the box in his arms and murmured, "Father, Mother. In my previous life, you were so irresponsible. In this life, you are still so irresponsible. How should I, as your son, describe this?"

When Tan Weiran was three years old, his parents sent him back to the family. Today, Tan Weiran is twelve years old, and in the past nine years, his parents have only returned twice.

According to the trajectory of his previous life, in three years, he would be ambushed, his meridians severed, and his dantian shattered, almost becoming a cripple. At that time, his parents were preoccupied with something and couldn't return.

After the age of three, Tan Weiran only saw his parents three times in his life. The third time was their final farewell.

Often, when Tan Weiran thought of his parents, what came to mind was not their appearance but the stack of letters in the box. The impression of his parents in his memory was almost entirely formed by those letters.

He actually knew that his parents were not uncaring, but they had their own matters to attend to.

In his youth, he was bullied openly and secretly multiple times in the family. When his parents learned of this, they immediately sent Old Lin.

He was ostracized in the family, and his situation was poor, with no one to play with. His parents were afraid he would become introverted in this environment, so they asked Old Lin to buy Lüer, who was essentially his playmate.

If it were the young Tan Weiran, he would be filled with resentment. Even the current Tan Weiran, who had experienced much in the future, had more tolerance and understanding.

Even so, whenever Tan Weiran thought of his parents, a bit of resentment would arise.

"Young Master, Young Master."

A little girl of the same age as Tan Weiran, covered in mud, rushed over like a whirlwind, full of energy, shouting, "Young Master, look, look."

She proudly presented a bundle of yellow-green tender bamboo shoots, scattering them on the table without caring if they were dirty. She scratched her head and face, thinking for a moment, then painfully and generously divided the bamboo shoots into two equal parts.

The little girl pushed one part forcefully towards Tan Weiran: "Young Master, these are for you." She said this, but used her clothes to hold the remaining bamboo shoots, her eyes constantly glancing at the part she had given away, clearly regretting it.

Mud spots stuck to the little girl's face, making it hard to see her pretty face. Only her big, lively eyes, filled with pain, radiated vitality and wildness.

Tan Weiran couldn't help but laugh heartily.

......

Being part of a large family meant a better starting point than ordinary families. Similarly, it also meant the obligations and responsibilities one had to bear.

Apart from the bullying by family peers during his childhood, Tan Weiran had no direct grievances or feelings towards the Tan family. His poor situation in the family was not his fault but a result of the previous generation's issues.

His father, Tan Zhui, was a collateral descendant of the Tan family and had personal grudges with the current head of the family from a young age. Tan Zhui went out to make his own way, driven by his own ambitions and family reasons.

The personal grudges were not too severe, and secondly, Tan Zhui did not involve himself in the family's affairs. This meant that while he did not bear the obligations, he was also unlikely to gain the family's recognition.

However, propriety could not be abandoned. Before leaving, regardless of how cold and distant the relationship was, Tan Weiran had to bid farewell to everyone, including the elders who barely paid attention to him and a few people with whom he had developed a bit of camaraderie through fights.

Tan Weiran thought that if there were no accidents, he would not see them again until after the Huangquan War. For this reason, he added an extra three parts of enthusiasm.

For everyone, the Huangquan War was the most difficult time. This enthusiasm might become a source of comfort in the future.

The former Tan Weiran relied on the warmth of his senior sister, senior brother, and others to get through many difficult periods.

On the day before his departure, the first rays of dawn arrived, and Tan Weiran stood in the light, wiping away his tears, and without a hint of hesitation, began his first cultivation since his return to this era.

Breaking all the shackles, starting anew.

"Scatter the power!"

Scattering the hard-earned true qi completely was undoubtedly a crazy move. No one would do this, and no one should.

Tan Weiran was not crazy, nor did he have any attachment. From the moment he decided to scatter his power, he was fully aware of what he was doing and what he should do.

Scattering his power at this time was to lay a more unshakable foundation.

Reaching the fourth level of the human realm was already quite good, especially since he was only twelve years old, and he had been relatively playful and not very focused on cultivation.

Before his rebirth, he was almost a cripple, but his cultivation was far superior to what it was now. His understanding of the martial path was far beyond that of ordinary people. This level of cultivation, he wouldn't feel regretful about, and scattering it would be for the best. If he became a cripple, he could re-cultivate, achieving the best results.

Scattering!

The true qi accumulated over several years instantly circulated through the major and minor meridians, running through the 360 acupoints in his body. The true qi moving through his body was like ink spreading in clear water, diffusing through his meridians and acupoints.

"It's time." Tan Weiran exhaled a deep breath, his lips moving slightly, silently reciting the extinction verse from the "Taishang Jiemie Pian."

The sounds emerged from his mouth but did not spread through the air, instead forming mystical notes within his body, cleansing his mind and body at a steady pace. The extinction verse seemed silent but erupted like thunder within Tan Weiran's body.

It was as if the heavens and earth were eternal, like a fierce wind and raging fire, as if a heavenly thunder was cleansing evil without end. Until all the true qi in his body was completely dispersed through the meridians and acupoints, directly radiating out through the 129,600 pores of his body, purifying his body.

It was as if 129,600 long needles suddenly pierced through his body, each pore bleeding, the pain unbearable by any human.

Tan Weiran faced it calmly. This special cultivation method was the most painful of all the cultivation techniques he knew.

Even more agonizing was that the "Taisang Jiemie Pian" was not a qi cultivation technique but a unique auxiliary technique. Without continuous long-term cultivation, it was difficult to see significant benefits.

Tan Weiran was not afraid; he had already experienced various pains in his previous life.

The "Taisang Jiemie Pian" was something he obtained by chance in his previous life. It was precisely through this mystical auxiliary technique, combined with other methods, that he managed to break the shackles of his half-crippled body.

Before his rebirth, Tan Weiran was mysteriously targeted and killed. Since his return to this era, he had repeatedly pondered and suspected that the target might have been the "Taisang Jiemie Pian."

Unfortunately, he obtained it too late in his previous life and did not have much time to study it. Even so, from the details of his cultivation, he could clearly sense the extraordinary nature of the "Taisang Jiemie Pian."

This was: "One life, one flower; one extinction, one fruit; the soul remains eternal, the body immortal."

While enduring the tearing pain brought by the vibrations, Tan Weiran let his thoughts wander, as he often did. He delved into the part of his memory that he cherished and protected:

"Master, senior sister, senior brother. The youngest, I will soon see you again."

"I guess you wouldn't have thought that our next reunion would be in this way, in this era of the past."

"Those deep, lifelong tragedies, I must change, I must not allow them to happen again."

The sun rose, and the boy endured the extreme pain brought by the verse cleansing his body, a torment like being skinned and having his bones extracted.

Together with Tan Weiran, what was reborn in the sunlight was not just his cultivation, but also an unshakable belief!

Those that had happened in the past, or were about to happen in the present.

{Piaotian Literature}