Chapter 1

In the early summer twilight, in the eastern province of Huaxia, lightning flashed and thunder roared, as a torrential rain poured down.

Xu Chunliang, the leader of the Five Poisons Sect, walked barefoot on the rough, hard asphalt road. He had no idea what had happened. Just a moment ago, he was battling the nine major orthodox sects at the peak of Kunlun, preparing to unleash his ultimate move to slaughter all around. Suddenly, lightning split the sky, and five thunderbolts struck him, leaving his mind blank. When he regained consciousness, everything around him had changed.

There were no more towering mountains, no more nine major sects, no more flashing swords and spears, and no more ten thousand loyal followers.

He looked up—

The lights were brilliant, as if he were standing in a galaxy.

Various iron-armored war vehicles came and went.

People cast looks of surprise, ridicule, or fear at him.

The thought of passing through the tribulation had just appeared when a flood of complex thoughts surged into his mind—

Xu Cong, styled Chunliang, twenty-one years old, a high school repeater, parents divorced, raised by his grandfather, introverted, sensitive, weak, pessimistic, and disillusioned with life.

This is the third time I've failed the college entrance exam!

My parents don't care about me!

My classmates look down on me!

I even hate myself!

The whole world despises and scorns me!

What's the point of living?

Xu Chunliang was astonished by the desperate and pessimistic thoughts in his mind, which did not belong to him.

After ten years of life, I will rise again.

Enduring blows and solitude is the basic self-cultivation of an evil sect leader. Without indomitable will and courage, how could I subdue the unruly followers of the Five Poisons Sect? How could I dominate the world?

My parents have already shown me great kindness by giving me life. What more could I ask for?

Classmates look down on me? I look down on you too.

If anyone dares to slander, bully, insult, mock, belittle, despise, or deceive me, I will kill and torment them!

I set my ambitions in my youth, to roam the world and live a life of passion and grandeur, not seeking eternal fame but a life of fulfillment.

If I, Xu Chunliang, were not born, the world would be as dark as a long night!

With this thought, Xu Chunliang felt a surge of heroic spirit in his chest.

Squeak!

The tires screeched against the ground, and a black BMW X5 stopped half a meter from Xu Chunliang. The driver held a phone in his left hand, the steering wheel in his right, and a cigarette in his mouth, staring at the tall, thin, and frail young man in the middle of the road with a fierce look.

Under the headlights, Xu Chunliang stood like he was on a stage, 1.80 meters tall, pale-faced, and more slender than his peers who were generally well-nourished. The glaring lights made him feel dizzy, and his vision was blurred with a layer of mist.

Xu Chunliang then realized that he was wearing a new and unfamiliar object on his nose—glasses. Although he had never seen such an object before, he effortlessly recalled its name, and the new consciousness rapidly enriched his understanding of the world around him.

Taking off the glasses, the world became clear before his eyes.

The rain grew heavier, and large raindrops like soybeans pelted his bony, pale chest.

Xu Chunliang was still immersed in the shock of this new world, even ignoring the iron-armored war vehicle right in front of him.

Beep! Beep beep!

The driver, unable to contain his anger, honked the horn, urging the young man in only a pair of shorts to move out of the way.

The honking startled Xu Chunliang, and he looked up at the driver, his eyes radiating a chilling killing intent. The BMW driver was about to curse him, but upon meeting his intimidating gaze, he felt a sudden chill, shivered involuntarily, and swallowed the curse.

Xu Chunliang turned and walked into the traffic. It was rush hour, and cars were coming and going on the road. Drivers, seeing a young man in only a pair of shorts walking in the fast lane, chose to swerve to avoid him.

The sudden situation caused chaos on the road, with sudden lane changes, emergency braking, and honking.

Xu Chunliang paid no attention, walking alone on the road.

When the on-duty police officer, Lu Qi, discovered the situation, Xu Chunliang had already walked to the Peace Bridge, leaning on the railing, his heart surging with emotions, and his memories flooding like a torrent.

He realized that he had not encountered a tribulation but had come to a new world. Here, he was no longer Xu Chunliang, the leader of the Five Poisons Sect, but Xu Cong, a high school repeater who had failed the college entrance exam three times.

Lu Qi, who had rushed to the scene, stopped his car about twenty meters away. Anyone seeing this scene would first think someone was about to jump into the river.

Since the Peace Bridge was built and opened to traffic ten years ago, almost every year, there were pessimistic and disillusioned people who jumped from here.

Lu Qi immediately recognized Xu Chunliang. They were alumni of City No. 3 High School, with Lu Qi being three years senior. Although Xu Chunliang was not a prominent figure in school, his grandfather, Xu Changshan, was a well-known figure in Dongzhou, a highly skilled old Chinese medicine practitioner. The old-established Chinese medicine clinic, Huichun Hall, on Shundi Road, was their family's ancestral business.

Lu Qi did not dare to act rashly. He instructed his partner to disperse the crowd to avoid further stimulating the person considering suicide, and sought support from headquarters, contacting Old Master Xu to come to the scene as soon as possible.

The onlookers took out their phones to film, and the advancement of modern technology had lowered the threshold for news reporting.

Everyone was watching the spectacle, but their thoughts varied. Some kindly advised Xu Chunliang to come back, some pointed and commented, and some even incited trouble.

"Go ahead and jump! I've been standing in this heavy rain for so long, why don't you jump?"

Lu Qi glared at the instigator, who was intimidated by his righteous gaze.

Xu Chunliang took a deep breath. He had just tried to circulate his internal energy but found his meridians empty, and his once-proud internal strength had vanished.

Without his martial arts and the ten thousand followers, he was now a solitary figure in this unfamiliar world. If his enemies attacked, the consequences were unimaginable.

"Xu Cong!"

The call interrupted his thoughts. Xu Chunliang looked in the direction of the voice and saw the neatly uniformed Lu Qi approaching. Although they had never met, when Lu Qi appeared, Xu Chunliang naturally recalled everything about him, his senior at the same school, an excellent basketball player with great athletic talent.

Lu Qi smiled at Xu Chunliang, "What, don't recognize me? I'm also a graduate of No. 3 High School, and we even played basketball together."

Xu Chunliang looked at Lu Qi calmly, his expression unchanged.

Lu Qi interpreted his expression as despair and stopped about three meters away, leaning on the railing and looking down at the river: "The current is strong, even the best swimmer can't handle it. If you fall in, you're done."

Xu Chunliang looked at Lu Qi with interest, "Do you think I'm going to jump?"

Lu Qi laughed and shook his head, "You won't. You're young, and even if you don't think of yourself, you should think of the elderly. Your grandfather is seventy this year, right? Is he in good health?"

The rain gradually stopped, and Lu Qi took out a pack of cigarettes, waving it in front of Xu Chunliang, "Want a smoke?"

Xu Chunliang blinked, having never tried it before.

"Here, have one!" Lu Qi used the opportunity to get closer, and when he was about a meter away, he lunged forward, confident he could control Xu Chunliang at this distance.

A flash of white light, and Lu Qi's confident attack missed, not even touching the hem of Xu Chunliang's clothes, and he fell heavily to the ground due to the loss of balance.

Xu Chunliang had only moved his foot to the left. Although his internal strength was gone, his footwork remained, and he easily avoided Lu Qi using the Eight Changes of the Snake. He knew Lu Qi was trying to save him, so he did not counterattack.

At this moment, police officers rushed from all directions. Xu Chunliang's alertness rose, and he was about to act when an old man with white hair hurried down from a police car, stumbling slightly due to his haste. The officers quickly supported him.

The old man shouted anxiously, "Chunliang! Don't do anything foolish!"

Upon hearing the news of the suicide attempt at the Peace Bridge, Old Master Xu Changshan rushed over. At seventy-three, he was still robust, but his age made the journey exhausting.

Seeing his precious grandson standing in only a pair of shorts by the bridge, Old Master Xu's heart raced. Today was the day the college entrance exam results were announced, and Xu Chunliang had failed again, with his scores getting worse each time. This time, he didn't even pass the undergraduate line.

Old Master Xu thought that instead of wasting time at a mediocre university, it would be better for his grandson to learn medicine from him. The state had just introduced a policy for the inheritance of Chinese medicine, and he, being old, needed a successor.

Although Western medicine dominated in the modern era, and Chinese medicine was declining, inheriting his legacy would ensure a comfortable life, even if not a wealthy one.

Old Master Xu had mentioned this to his grandson several times, but the boy had no interest in medicine. He was introverted, silent, and rarely communicated with others. Since his third year of repeating, they had spoken less than ten words in a year, and the generation gap between them grew deeper.

Although Old Master Xu was a highly skilled practitioner, he was helpless with his grandson's condition. Mental issues required mental remedies, and acupuncture and herbal medicine could only help strengthen his body and unblock his meridians.

"Don't come any closer!" Xu Chunliang shouted, his voice like a thunderclap.

The ten or so police officers stopped in their tracks, and Lu Qi, who had just fallen, got up with a grim face, signaling that he was fine and that it was his own fault, not Xu Chunliang's.

Old Master Xu approached, his voice trembling, "Chunliang, if anything happens to you, I won't live either."

Heart and soul connected, especially with this precious grandson he had raised from a young age. Eighteen years ago, his wife passed away, and they had relied on each other. If his grandson were to die, Old Master Xu would lose his reason to live.

Xu Chunliang looked at the tear-streaked face of Old Master Xu, and the memories in his mind gradually surfaced.

"Grandfather?"

"Yes!" Old Master Xu responded loudly.

"Grandfather, I promise, I won't force you to learn medicine. You can do whatever you want. Will you come home with me?"

Xu Chunliang looked around. The crowd was growing, and more police cars with flashing red and blue lights were arriving. He decided to settle in and leave the scene before the nine major sects discovered him. He nodded, "Okay!"

Huichun Hall on Shundi Road was an old-established Chinese medicine clinic. According to Old Master Xu, the plaque was bestowed by Emperor Yongzheng, and his ancestors had served as imperial physicians.

However, Old Master Feng from the wood factory had a different story. The plaque was made by his father, and he remembered it vividly because he learned to read from Huichun Hall when he was a child. He had witnessed the entire process of making the plaque.

Regardless, the long history of Huichun Hall was undeniable, and Old Master Xu's medical skills were widely recognized, especially in treating bone injuries, where his family's ointments were highly effective.

However, since the 1990s, the recognition of traditional Chinese medicine in society had sharply declined, and its survival space had shrunk. The dominance of Western medicine in the medical field was a fact.

In this environment, Huichun Hall's business was affected, and fewer young people came to visit. With Old Master Xu's advanced age, the physical demands of bone setting and massage therapy were too much, so he had to reduce these services.

Despite his fame, many people sought to learn from him, but Old Master Xu was conservative in teaching, adhering to the principle of passing on knowledge to sons but not daughters. The only hope now was his grandson, Xu Chunliang. If his grandson refused to learn, the family's medical skills would be lost, and Old Master Xu was deeply concerned, fearing he would fail to face his ancestors.

Xu Chunliang had been introverted and silent since childhood, with severe social anxiety, poor academic performance, and no notable talents. According to his teachers, he was inattentive and uninterested in learning, avoided social interactions, and had no friends.

If it weren't for Xu Chunliang's insistence, Old Master Xu would not have let him repeat the year three times. His scores got worse each time, and this time, he didn't even score 400, making even a private undergraduate degree out of reach. Given his circumstances, he could have chosen to study abroad, but Xu Chunliang refused, and Old Master Xu had no choice but to agree.

Old Master Xu did not value academic degrees. He himself had no degree, but his medical skills were widely recognized. Chinese medicine was profound, studying the relationship between heaven and man, and Western medicine could not compare. For thousands of years, Chinese medicine had been passed down through apprenticeship, proving that this method was suitable for the country.

Lu Qi drove the two to Huichun Hall, learning that Xu Cong's ID card was lost. He advised Xu Cong to go to the police station to get a replacement and offered some encouragement, saying that exam results were not everything. He himself had never taken the exam and was now serving the people with a stable job.

Old Master Xu looked at his grandson, who was silent and only in shorts, with a mix of love and concern. Xu Chunliang's parents had divorced when he was three months old, leaving him in Old Master Xu's care. His father went to America, and his mother to Europe, each starting new families and having new children. They rarely thought of the child in China except during holidays.

Old Master Xu believed that his grandson's misfortune was largely due to his parents, but he also felt responsible. Over the years, he had been busy treating patients and neglected his grandson's education. Looking back, the child had been very smart as a child, recognizing all the herbs in the shop by the age of five and reciting the eight extraordinary meridians and 362 acupuncture points by the age of six.

However, his personality changed after starting school. Old Master Xu remembered the day he came home crying, asking why he didn't have parents to pick him up from school like other children. From that day on, he became increasingly silent and less willing to communicate with the outside world.

The police car stopped at the entrance of Huichun Hall, and Lu Qi got out first, helping to open the door. Old Master Xu walked out with Lu Qi's support.

Xu Chunliang got out of the car and said, "I'll do it," taking his grandfather's arm.

Lu Qi was slightly relieved. A person who didn't care about their own life wouldn't care about others. Various signs indicated that Xu Chunliang had given up the idea of suicide.

Old Master Xu reminded his grandson, "Be careful of your feet, don't step on anything sharp." Xu Chunliang was still barefoot.

"Look how much your grandfather cares about you," Lu Qi said to Xu Chunliang with a smile.

Old Master Xu was about to invite Lu Qi in for a cup of tea, but before he could speak, Xu Chunliang said, "Brother Lu, thank you for your efforts. If you don't mind, please come inside. I have prepared a light meal, and we can enjoy it together."

Old Master Xu was puzzled. What had happened to his grandson? He had never spoken like this before.

Lu Qi thought, "He must be from a traditional Chinese medicine family, speaking like ancient Chinese. Such a young man is out of touch with the times." He smiled and said, "Another day, I'm still on duty and can't park here for long. Go inside and take care of your grandfather. Don't make him worry again."

Xu Chunliang thought, "What a righteous man! He is worth befriending!"

He bowed to Lu Qi and, without another word, helped his grandfather into Huichun Hall.

Lu Qi watched them enter and then drove away.

Huichun Hall was a simple two-story building. The ground floor was the clinic, and the second floor was where the two lived. There was a middle-aged woman named Lin who worked there, cleaning, cooking, and managing the shop, but she knew nothing about medicine.

Old Master Xu hired her because he did not want anyone to casually learn the family's medical secrets.

Worried that his grandson might attempt suicide again, Old Master Xu followed him to his room and asked him to take a shower and change clothes.

Xu Chunliang retained his complete memories from his previous life. In comparison, his current consciousness was fragmented. He quickly absorbed useful information from these fragments, reminding himself not to blame fate or give up in any situation.

Standing naked in front of the bathroom mirror, he noticed that his appearance had not changed much, only becoming paler and thinner, with much shorter hair, which was common for men in this world.

The bathroom was small, with no bathtub.

Xu Chunliang was surprised but soon found useful information in his memories. The showerhead on the ceiling was the device he was looking for. He touched it, and it was not made of metal.

Carefully turning the valve, a hundred streams of water poured down.

Xu Chunliang was startled and took a step back, still getting splashed by the hot water. His reaction time and movement speed had clearly slowed down.

He turned the valve off and on again, and the water stopped and started. The mechanism was clever, and he soon discovered that turning the valve left made the water hotter, and turning it right made it colder, a marvel of engineering.