Chapter 2

"Qingcheng!"

In his sleep, Lin Huang sat up in shock.

His whole body ached as if he had just recovered from a serious illness. However, Lin Huang had no time to attend to these matters; his mind was filled with confusion and bewilderment.

"Where am I?"

Lin Huang looked around. The intricately carved dragon desk made of huanghuali wood, the iron-cast beams, and the wall hanging a three-zhang long spear—all exuded a grand atmosphere.

"This is... the Divine General's Mansion?!"

Lin Huang gazed at his pale, tender hands, his pale face in the mirror, and his jet-black hair, and after a long while, he said doubtfully,

"Have I returned to my teenage years?"

Lin Huang rolled his eyes and carefully examined every corner of the room. The night pearl on the desk was a birthday gift when he was seven.

The wind chime by the bed was a gift from his sister when she left for the Snow Drift Palace.

The erotic paintings under the bed were won from a bet with Bai Xiaopang when he was twelve.

...

"Have I been sent back to my teenage years, at the age of sixteen, by the Gate of Time?"

Lin Huang sat on the bed, muttering to himself.

"Qingcheng..."

Lin Huang's face was solemn. In the battle of the Wind and Snow Domain, Jun Qingcheng, facing thousands of warriors, probably had no chance of survival.

He had struggled for ten years to be with Jun Qingcheng, hoping to stand before her one day, to shield her from the wind and rain, to support her under the sky. But in the end...

Lin Huang's expression was bitter, as if a heavy stone was pressing on his heart, making it hard to breathe.

"But..."

Lin Huang suddenly thought of something, and his heart became more open. "Since I have returned to my teenage years, I can change everything, change my fate, and alter the predetermined outcome."

Thinking of this, Lin Huang became excited and couldn't help but smile.

"Qingcheng, this time I won't let you wait for ten years. I will stand before you and shield you from the surging waves. One day, I will make your father look at me with respect and prove that your judgment was right!"

Lin Huang's hollow eyes regained a glimmer of determination and resolve.

Not only that, but he also had to prevent the fall of the Divine General's Mansion.

Thinking of this, his heart felt as if it were being pierced by needles. He was originally the young lord of the Divine General's Mansion in the Great Xia Dynasty. When he broke through to the Human Essence Realm, he suffered a mental breakdown and lay in bed for seven years.

Seven years later, when he woke up, everything had changed. The Divine General's Mansion and the Great Xia Dynasty had already fallen. His grandfather and sister were gone.

His brother, Bai Xiaopang, to save him, led thirty thousand men to their deaths, securing a slim chance of survival for him, and was willing to bear the world's condemnation.

And the root of all this was Lin Haoran, the unremarkable servant who had once been by his side.

Later, he learned that he had not suffered a mental breakdown but had been given a bowl of Hundred Spirit Soup by Lin Haoran, which was supposed to help him break through the realm.

While Lin Huang was deep in thought, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. A worm with a completely red body was gnawing at his meridians.

"Seven Evil Worms!"

Lin Huang's expression turned cold. It was because of the Seven Evil Worms in the Hundred Spirit Soup that he had been paralyzed for seven years.

During those seven years, Lin Haoran had taken his position as the young lord, causing the Divine General's Mansion to split and eventually fall. Afterward, the four enemy states invaded, and the Great Xia Dynasty was erased from the map of the Eastern Spirit Realm.

The root of all this was Lin Haoran.

"Ah..."

Lin Huang suddenly noticed something wrong with his body. When the Seven Evil Worms reached the Mystic Sea, the Mystic Sea suddenly trembled, and a powerful force swept out, hunting down the Seven Evil Worms inside his body.

"Buddha God Relic!"

Lin Huang's expression was surprised as he exclaimed.

At this moment, a dragon eye-sized relic was suspended in Lin Huang's dantian Mystic Sea. It was entirely golden, with a surface shimmering with colorful runes, emitting an ancient and compassionate aura.

However, amidst the golden light, there was a shocking evil aura.

Upon closer inspection, the relic was covered with invisible cracks, and blood-red threads were spreading from within, hidden beneath the solemn golden light.

This made the Buddha God Relic extremely bizarre, with golden light mixed with blood threads, and compassion filled with slaughter.

In the Mystic Sea, it was the blood-red threads from the cracks in the Buddha God Relic that emitted a fierce killing aura, ruthlessly slaughtering the Seven Evil Worms inside his body.

Lin Huang never expected that the Buddha God Relic, a cursed object, would also follow him back.

The Buddha God, known as the god among Buddhas.

According to legend, the Buddha God Relic is the relic of the Buddha God, containing an extremely evil force with the power to block the sky and the moon, and to destroy the world and the divine.

According to ancient records, there are not just one but possibly six, seven, or eight Buddha God Relics.

In the history of the Sky Continent, seven people have obtained the Buddha God Relic, and all of them became the top figures of their time, controlling the fate of the world and the destiny of the Sky Continent.

However, terrifyingly, these seven people ultimately fell into the abyss of evil, becoming demons who knew only endless slaughter.

A significant reason for Lin Huang being pursued by Liu Cangsheng was the Buddha God Relic.

The consequences of falling into the abyss of evil were indeed terrifying, but the power it contained was even more alluring.

"Who knows if it's good or bad!"

Lin Huang shook his head, feeling uneasy. He had studied the Buddha God Relic for ten years without any results, and now it had suddenly merged with his Mystic Sea.

Isn't this a bit too much?

When I treated you as a treasure, you were indifferent; when I discarded you like a rag, you came running over.

Isn't this despicable?

Extremely despicable!

...

Bang!

While Lin Huang was deep in thought, the door was suddenly kicked open.

A young man in golden armor walked in, his steps resounding, the golden armor clinking, and a sharp aura spreading throughout the room.

Seeing the young man's face, Lin Huang's heart sank, and he closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

"Young Lord, I've come to see you!"

The young man in golden armor walked to the bed, rudely pulling back the curtain and looking at the paralyzed Lin Huang, his handsome face breaking into a bright smile.

"Tsk tsk tsk... It's been two years, and you're still like this!"

Lin Haoran tsked, his eyes filled with sarcasm. "The young lord of the Divine General's Mansion, a position of great honor in the Great Xia Dynasty, is now a living dead man. And I, who used to follow you around, have become the shining genius of the Great Xia Dynasty, about to replace you as the young lord!"

"Thirty years on this side of the river, thirty years on the other. Perhaps this is what it means for you and me!"

Lin Haoran's laughter echoed in the room, a release of years of pent-up resentment, more exhilarating than seeing Lin Huang paralyzed.

Hearing Lin Haoran's laughter, Lin Huang's heart was filled with murderous intent. He never expected that the first person he would see after being reborn would be the one he most wanted to kill.

Bad luck!

Lin Haoran was the son of a war hero who had died in battle. He had been Lin Huang's servant since childhood, following him everywhere, whether it was visiting brothels or fighting, and even taking the blame for Lin Huang's misdeeds.

Although Lin Huang was a playboy, he never treated Lin Haoran as a servant. Even in martial cultivation, Lin Huang included him.

However, Lin Haoran was a white-eyed wolf.

"You were actually very good to me, Young Lord!"

Lin Haoran said with a sinister smile. "I could tell that you treated me like a brother. Whether it was reading, writing, visiting brothels, or martial cultivation, you never forgot me. You even fought the Crown Prince of Lingyun for my sake."

"But I just couldn't accept it. Why should you, a playboy, be the young lord of the Divine General's Mansion, so high and mighty that a mere cough could make the entire capital tremble? And I, just a servant, as lowly as an ant in the mud, no matter how hard I tried, no one would even look at me!"

Lin Haoran's face gradually twisted.

"Ugh... Ugh..."

Lin Huang opened his eyes, glaring at Lin Haoran with hatred, his mouth moving but unable to utter a word, perfectly playing the role of a cripple.

"Ha ha ha..."

Seeing Lin Huang's hateful gaze, Lin Haoran laughed even more joyfully, then continued,

"So I thought, how wonderful it would be if I became the young lord of the Divine General's Mansion!"

Lin Haoran looked at Lin Huang with pity, patting his face. "Young Lord, you should blame yourself for trusting me so much and drinking the Hundred Spirit Soup I gave you without hesitation!"

"Servant... Slave..."

Lin Huang struggled on the bed, his eyes fixed on Lin Haoran, wishing to tear him apart.

"Yes, I am a servant!"

Lin Haoran laughed, not angry. "But after today, no one in the Great Xia Dynasty will dare call me a servant. Even if they think it in their hearts, they will have to wag their tails like obedient dogs on the surface!"

Lin Haoran walked up to Lin Huang and said with narrowed eyes,

"You don't know yet, but today is the coming-of-age ceremony. And tonight, I will replace you, this cripple, and become the young lord of the Divine General's Mansion!"

Saying this, Lin Haoran lifted Lin Huang from the bed, saying triumphantly,

"Your muddled grandfather, seeing you paralyzed, didn't let you attend the coming-of-age ceremony. But I won't allow it. I want you to see me take over as the young lord, to make everyone forget you. That will be such a joy!"

Lin Haoran placed Lin Huang in a wheelchair and pushed him toward the grand hall of the Divine General's Mansion, a triumphant smile on his face. There, he would become the young lord.

His life would soar from that moment on!

Sitting in the wheelchair, Lin Huang hung his head, looking half-dead. But a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Having experienced this once, there was no need to go through it again.

"Since you want to take my position as the young lord and shake the foundation of the Divine General's Mansion, don't blame me for reducing you to your original form, never to rise again!"