Chapter 1 of 100

Chapter 1

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In a rare and unprecedented earthquake that erupted on the Gobi Desert, the result was the formation of the largest and deepest crack in the world.

Half a year later, an international expedition team ventured deep into the crack. However, a sudden eruption of underground fire killed most of the explorers, and the survivors lost contact in the chaos.

At the moment the underground fire erupted, Xu Ziyang was pushed into a cave by someone. Inside the cave was a steep slope, and Xu Ziyang rolled down it, losing consciousness after an unknown period of time.

Faint sobs woke Xu Ziyang, her eyelids heavy and unable to open. She could hear a woman crying and a man sighing in pain.

Xu Ziyang's head ached as she tried to recall what had happened. She remembered rolling down the cave and losing consciousness. In a daze, when she regained consciousness, she found herself lying on a square. In front of her was a tall statue of a woman, whose eyes suddenly glowed, shining on her. Her mind then gained something called "inheritance," and she fainted again.

So, where was she now? Who were the crying woman and the sighing man?

Xu Ziyang wanted to open her eyes, but she had no strength. After a long while, she managed to open her eyes slightly. The room was dim, and she could barely see anything, only vaguely making out a middle-aged woman sitting in front of her, crying with her head down.

The door creaked open, and a shadow entered. An elderly voice said, "Xu Guang, since Ziyang is dead, according to the clan's rules, the three acres of land allocated to Ziyang should be returned to the clan tomorrow."

The man who had been sighing said softly, "Let's do as the village chief says."

"Ah~"

The elderly voice sighed deeply, shook his head, and left the room.

"Ziyang? Still surnamed Xu? The same name as me? Is it talking about me?"

Suddenly, fragments of memory flooded Xu Ziyang's mind, memories that were not her own. After reading them, Xu Ziyang realized she had been transported to the body of a fifteen-year-old girl.

This continent was different from the world she came from; it was a world of cultivation. The girl she possessed was also named Xu Ziyang, and the Xu family was a super clan in the cultivation world. However, super clans had their own sorrows. Xu Ziyang's parents were unable to cultivate, so their status was very low, and they lived in a remote village far from the clan's center. Once in such a village, they were essentially abandoned by the clan. Even if a descendant could cultivate, no one cared, and no one knew. Who would care about the offspring of ordinary people without spiritual roots?

In the memory, Xu Ziyang was startled by a large yellow dog while crossing a bridge and fell into the water. She died when she was rescued, but her soul was possessed by Xu Ziyang. After a while, Xu Ziyang had recovered some strength and slowly opened her eyes. She turned her neck slightly and saw a middle-aged woman crying by the bed and a middle-aged man sitting on a chair nearby.

Xu Ziyang's movement on the old bed made it creak, startling the crying woman. The woman looked at Xu Ziyang, her body stiffening. After a moment, she called out softly, "Yan'er?"

Xu Ziyang felt awkward, not knowing how to address the woman, so she forced a smile.

"Yan'er!"

The woman pounced on Xu Ziyang, hugging her tightly and crying loudly. Her cries were heart-wrenching, and Xu Ziyang felt her heart break. In her previous life on Earth, Xu Ziyang was an orphan and had never experienced parental love. Now, being hugged and cried over by the woman, she felt genuine affection, and her eyes welled up with tears.

"Yan'er!"

The man, who had been standing by the bed, now had tears streaming down his face, his hands trembling.

Xu Ziyang felt a surge of sadness from the two, and just as she was about to comfort them, she fainted again due to her weakness.

When she woke up again, she was fed a bowl of porridge and then fell back into a daze. When she woke up again, it was already morning.

The room was quiet, and it seemed her parents had gone to work in the fields. Xu Ziyang struggled to get out of bed, feeling much better. She looked around and felt a bitter taste in her mouth. The room was empty, with only an old bed, indicating extreme poverty. With hope, Xu Ziyang opened the door and went to the opposite room, which was also empty. At this moment, Xu Ziyang's mind was filled with only four words: utterly destitute.

The courtyard gate creaked open, and the middle-aged couple entered. Seeing Xu Ziyang standing, they quickly dropped their things and rushed over. The woman hugged Xu Ziyang tightly, her voice filled with pain and blame, "Yan'er, you're still sick. Why are you out of bed? Get back to bed."

Feeling the care she had never experienced, Xu Ziyang felt warmth in her heart and said softly, "Mother, I'm fine!"

"Yan'er, you caught a cold from the water. You need to rest and not overexert yourself."

Xu Ziyang's father, who was holding her shoulder, also said, "Yan'er, you need to rest and not overexert yourself."

Xu Ziyang felt warmth in her heart and nodded softly, "Okay."

Days passed, and Xu Ziyang's body fully recovered. She helped her parents with daily chores and then locked herself in her room to cultivate.

Could Xu Ziyang cultivate? The answer was yes. In her mind, besides her own and the original Xu Ziyang's memories, there was another memory: the inheritance she received in another space, the large crack in the Gobi Desert on Earth. In the inheritance, Xu Ziyang learned it was left by a sect called the "Danfu Sect." The inheritance included a cultivation technique called "Water Ice Technique" and methods for alchemy and talisman making.

Xu Ziyang's mental strength was not lacking; the mental strength from two lifetimes allowed her to quickly enter cultivation. What made Xu Ziyang fortunate was that she could cultivate the "Water Ice Technique."

This confirmed that Xu Ziyang had a spiritual root, and it was a water spiritual root. Otherwise, she could not cultivate a water-based technique like the "Water Ice Technique." Even more surprising, her spiritual root seemed to be of high quality, as she found her cultivation progress to be very fast.

In three months, she had already guided qi into her body, reaching the first level of the Qi Cultivation stage.

One day, the village's Wang Po came to the house and spoke with her mother in the room. After Wang Po left, her mother came to Xu Ziyang's room, her face serious, and held her hand, saying, "Yan'er, the village chief has asked Wang Po to propose a marriage, wanting you to marry his second son."

Xu Ziyang was shocked, looking at her mother and then her father standing at the door, feeling a wave of sadness. She knew what kind of person the village chief's second son was—a mentally challenged young man.

"Am I supposed to marry a fool and live in this poor village for the rest of my life? No! I won't accept it!"

Thinking this, Xu Ziyang's gaze became determined, and she said softly to her parents, "Father, Mother, I don't want to marry!"

"Ah~"

Xu's mother sighed, and Xu Guang's expression darkened. How could they bear to see their beloved daughter marry a fool? But as people at the bottom of society, how could they resist their fate? Seeing her parents' sad expressions, Xu Ziyang suddenly had an idea. She remembered that she had a spiritual root and was already at the first level of the Qi Cultivation stage. In this cultivation world, strength was paramount. The people in her village were all abandoned by the clan, unable to cultivate, and even the village chief was only at the eighth level of the Afterbirth stage. Should she tell her parents about her spiritual root and leave the village with them?

But Xu Ziyang suddenly had another thought. She had come to this world and suddenly had a new set of parents. Although their love for her moved her, she had not truly accepted them in her heart. She decided to use this situation to test how much her new parents truly cared for her. Thus, she said firmly, "Father, Mother, I won't marry!"

The room fell silent, the atmosphere heavy and oppressive. Finally, Xu's mother said hesitantly, "Husband, what do you think?"

"Ah! Since Yan'er doesn't want to, we won't force her. But we probably won't be able to stay in the village anymore."

"Would the village chief dare to drive us out of the clan?" Xu's mother asked in surprise.

Xu Guang's face was bitter, and he said darkly, "It's not just about being driven out of the clan. Don't you remember what happened to the Zhang family next door?"

"Would he really kill us over this?" Xu's mother began to tremble.

"Ah! People like us, who can't contribute to the clan, have no value in life. The village chief is the law here. If he wants to, who would dare to say no? Hurry, pack our things. We'll escape the village tonight."

"But will the village chief let us escape?" Xu's mother asked worriedly.

"We'll escape at midnight. Whether we can escape or not is up to fate."

With that, Xu Guang pulled Xu's mother out of Xu Ziyang's room to pack their things. Xu Ziyang looked at the two elderly people's suddenly hunched backs and felt a surge of emotion, fully accepting her new parents. However, she was also filled with fear about the future.

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