Chapter 1

In the lecture hall that could accommodate two hundred people, the young lecturer was speaking with great enthusiasm.

Below the podium, some students were sleeping, some playing with their phones, and some chatting, creating a chaotic yet orderly scene.

With a creak, the classroom suddenly fell silent, and nearly a hundred pairs of eyes turned to the door.

Even the sleeping students lifted their heads for a glance, then widened their eyes and quickly sat up.

The young man who entered was carrying a book under his arm, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and looked somewhat thin. What was most striking was the strand of white hair on his head, which should have been jet black.

"Lu Li—The economics and management genius is back."

The whispers started immediately.

"I heard Lu Li was hit by the school beauty, Xia Qinxuan, and had to be hospitalized. In my opinion, taking the opportunity to pursue the school beauty would be the right move."

"Do you know anything at all! He wasn't hit by Xia Qinxuan; instead, she saved him. Later, when she went to the hospital to see him, he scolded her fiercely, blaming her for causing him great harm. Xia Qinxuan probably hates him to death."

After the boy finished speaking, he smiled mysteriously and said, "Hehe, because of this, Liang Jun from the automation department has already said that once Lu Li returns to school, he will make him pay."

"Liang Jun? The little tyrant of the automation department, isn't Lu Li in trouble then?" A boy said with a hint of schadenfreude.

"Not necessarily. My mother works at the hospital, and Lu Li was in a high-ranking ward! Tsk tsk, a student on a poverty scholarship staying in a high-ranking ward, that's quite something." A classmate who had just woken up said slowly, then closed his eyes.

"..."

Faced with the students' whispers, Lu Li seemed not to hear. He looked around the classroom, then walked to a corner and sat down.

As soon as he sat down, a tall student approached him and whispered, "Old Three, are you recovered? We were just about to visit you at the hospital."

"I'm fine."

Feeling Zhang Jian's concern, Lu Li's face showed a bitter smile, and he shook his head. "I had some things to figure out, which delayed my return to school, but now I've got it all sorted out."

Zhang Jian sighed. "It's good to have you back. Old Two and Old Four are staying overnight at a friend's place and didn't come today. Call them after class, and we'll have a dinner together." He then glanced at Lu Li's hair. "What's with your hair?"

"It's nothing, just overthinking."

"Overthinking?" Zhang Jian was surprised.

Lu Li nodded. "I've been thinking a lot lately, especially about life and reincarnation. I ended up overthinking it!"

"Uh?" Zhang Jian was sweating. "Is our economics and management genius turning into a philosopher?"

Lu Li smiled awkwardly, about to explain, when the lecturer tapped the desk. "Quiet down, everyone. Let's welcome Lu Li back to school."

"Clap, clap."

The classroom echoed with scattered applause, and the lecturer nodded at Lu Li. "Turn to page 125 in your textbooks. Today we'll be discussing business management."

The lecturer continued his lecture. After the commotion caused by Lu Li's arrival, a few students who were close to him occasionally glanced at him, but the others continued sleeping, playing with their phones, just as they usually did.

With over a hundred students in the class, more than twenty were absent today. Lu Li had only been delayed for a few days.

With his genius-level abilities, the missed classes were no problem.

Even Zhang Jian, the leader of the dorm, returned to his seat. He had a girlfriend in the same class, and since Lu Li was already back and recovered, it was more important to be with his girlfriend. Otherwise, he would have to spend the weekend alone.

Familiar classroom, familiar teacher, familiar classmates.

To outsiders, Lu Li seemed to be listening attentively, but inside, his mind was a tangled mess.

"Xia Qinxuan, Xia Qinxuan, you've caused me so much trouble."

Thinking about how years of effort were ruined by Xia Qinxuan's impulsive actions, he wanted to kill her.

Besides hating Xia Qinxuan for her impulsive actions, which led to the failure of his centuries of effort, Lu Li was also amazed and shocked by the additional memories.

The memories told him that his original identity was the head of the Xuanjian Sect, one of the six major sects in the cultivation world, six hundred years ago.

Later, due to the thinning of the earth's qi and his approaching end, he passed the position of sect leader to his eldest disciple and left Xuanjian Mountain to wander in the secular world.

By a stroke of luck, he obtained a scripture called "Nine Transmigrations of the Red Dust" and a Red Dust Heart before his death. Only by consuming the Red Dust Heart could he cultivate.

In other words, he had only one chance to cultivate, as there was only one Red Dust Heart.

"Physical body disintegrates, true spirit remains, reincarnate nine times, experience the rolling red dust, and refine the Red Dust Heart."

Each reincarnation was one turn. By the ninth turn, one would awaken all memories at birth and cultivate using the innate qi of birth, making rapid progress, and could achieve the breakthrough to the void in at most fifty years.

At the moment of the last light, one would awaken the memories. Once the memories awakened, one must re-enter the cycle of reincarnation within an hour, or the effort would be in vain.

Moreover, one must not commit suicide after the memories awakened, as suicide meant complete and irreversible death.

Lu Li's luck was truly extraordinary. In the first seven reincarnations, he was a Ming dynasty general, undefeated and invincible, who died from overwork on the way back from a victorious campaign, posthumously honored as Wu Hou.

Then he was a beggar, beaten to death for a bun.

Then a landlord, with vast lands but unkind, who was killed by bandits.

Then a famous doctor, who invented the Nine Life-Saving Needles, saving countless lives, and was hailed as the living Hua Tuo.

Then a scholar, who passed the imperial exams and became a cabinet minister, excelling in both calligraphy and painting, renowned both at home and abroad.

Then a taoist priest, who practiced divination, drew talismans, and caught ghosts, acting with righteousness.

Then a soldier in the Anti-Japanese War, brave and skilled, who died in the 1980s.

This life was the eighth reincarnation of the Nine Transmigrations of the Red Dust.

At the moment of the collision, he was severely injured, almost beyond saving, and his memories awakened in the last light.

If he had died then, he would have quickly started the ninth reincarnation, using the innate qi of birth to successfully lay the foundation and embark on the path to immortality.

But—Xia Qinxuan appeared.

Xia Qinxuan was a true celebrity at Hai Cheng University, with admirers as numerous as fish crossing a river. Liang Jun, known as the little tyrant of the automation department, was one of her suitors, but she had never shown any favor to anyone.

Seeing Xia Qinx's anxious face, he thought she secretly loved him and closed his eyes with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

To be secretly loved by the top school beauty, even while being so low-key, what more could he ask for?

But when he opened his eyes again, the most tragic thing happened.

He didn't die.

Six hundred years of effort in the Nine Transmigrations of the Red Dust were in vain. Without the innate qi, without the ninth reincarnation, without the Red Dust Heart, all his hopes were shattered just before dawn.

How could Lu Li not hate Xia Qinx?

After waking up, he sat without eating or drinking for three days and nights, his mind filled with the joys and sorrows, the grudges and friendships, the comrades and brothers, and the Nine Transmigrations of the Red Dust he had experienced.

"If I could enter the innate realm and cultivate innate qi, could I continue the Nine Transmigrations of the Red Dust?"

"Although the ninth reincarnation wasn't completed, I have already gone through eight reincarnations, and the ninth one doesn't require experiencing the secular world. Doesn't that mean I just need the innate qi?"

Regardless of whether the speculation was true or false, even if there was only a sliver of hope, Lu Li felt he must seize it.

After all, the earth's qi was now only a trace, making cultivation impossible. Even the legendary cultivation world had probably vanished.

With the determination to enter the innate realm, Lu Li finally came out, but his hair had a strand of white.

"Ring, ring."

The loud bell signaling the end of class interrupted Lu Li's thoughts. He absentmindedly touched the white hair on his head, his resolve growing stronger. "Innate realm, I must enter the innate realm."

"This class is over. You may leave."

After dismissing the class, the teacher glanced at Lu Li, didn't assign any homework, and left the room.

As soon as the teacher left, most students rushed out of the classroom.

A few close friends approached Lu Li. A pretty girl glanced at him and whispered, "Lu Li, you're back."

"Uh-huh."

Lu Li looked at the girl, his expression calm.

The girl was the class representative and had always been kind to Lu Li. He could sense her feelings for him and was considering accepting her before the incident. Now, he had no interest at all.

Forget her, even if Xia Qinxuan pursued him, he probably wouldn't give her a second glance.

"Oh, then rest well. I'll be going."

Seeing that Lu Li had no interest in talking, the girl looked disappointed and hurried out of the door.

"Old Three, you're a bit too harsh. The class representative has been good to you. During your leave, she asked about you every day. Even if you don't like her, you shouldn't be so cold," Zhang Jian, seeing how Lu Li treated the girl, couldn't help but scold him.

"We have no future together."

Lu Li sighed.

"Haha, I think you have a crush on Xia Qinxuan, don't you?" A boy laughed.

"Old Lu, not to be blunt, but there's no chance with Xia Qinxuan. She's been at the school for a year, and no boy has even gotten within a meter of her."

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that. Old Three is finally back, let's have a drink tonight. I'll treat."

Lu Li had no objections to the suggestion. From the moment he decided to return to school, he had accepted the reality. There was no choice but to accept it, and there was no chance to resist.

Packing up his textbooks, the group left the classroom.

Just as they walked out of the teaching building, a man and a woman approached.

The man looked arrogant and had a commanding presence, only showing a smile when he looked at the woman beside him, his eyes filled with passion.

The woman was extremely beautiful, with straight long hair, almond-shaped eyes, a delicate nose, and a slender figure, neither too fat nor too thin. She was the top school beauty, Xia Qinxuan, at Hai Cheng University.

Seeing Xia Qinxuan coming, Lu Li felt a wave of disgust and suddenly quickened his pace.

Xia Qinxuan seemed to have the same thoughts, hesitating for a moment, but then, as if making a decision, she didn't turn away but instead quickened her pace toward them.

"Old Three, Xia Qinxuan is coming." Zhang Jian raised an eyebrow and said strangely, "And her suitor, your rival—Liang Jun."

***

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