“Lou Xingyao, go die!”
No sooner had Lou Xingyao stepped out of the office lobby, he heard someone scream his name. Immediately afterwards, a cold, stabbing pain shot through his chest.
Instinctively lowering his head, he realized that at some point, a fruit knife had already been stabbed into the left side of his chest, straight into his heart.
If he could be rushed to the hospital in time while maintaining this state, he should still be able to survive…
Relying on his professional habit, Lou Xingyao made a quick judgment. But in the next second, the knife handle was forcefully pulled out, and a gush of blood spurted out in torrents.
The scarlet blood not only drenched the pristine white shirt on his body, but also dyed his vision red.
This time, he probably wouldn’t survive.
The thought had barely flashed through his mind when a wave of darkness engulfed his brain. Just before he lost consciousness completely, the last thing to enter his vision was the murderer’s eyes, eyes filled with madness and bottomless hatred.
He didn’t know how much time had passed before Lou Xingyao’s drifting consciousness gradually awakened again, this time in a different body on a different land.
“I can still live like this? Has modern medical technology advanced to this point already?”
That was the very first thought that appeared in his mind after regaining consciousness.
As for the second thought, it was that he would never let that murderer off the hook. If he didn’t sue him until he rotted in prison, then the three characters of “Lou Xingyao” could just be written backwards!
While staring at the drafty roof above his head, pondering which lawyer friend he could seek out to ensure the heaviest possible sentence for the culprit, he suddenly realized something was wrong. He abruptly sat up from the bed
A drafty roof?
Could there really be hospitals in City A with infrastructure this poor?
It was only then that Lou Xingyao noticed, since waking up, he hadn’t felt any discomfort at all. It was as though he had never been stabbed in the heart in the first place.
Instinctively, he lowered his head and raised his hand to touch the spot where he’d been injured. His fingertips brushed against smooth, unbroken skin, there wasn’t a trace of any wound.
At the same time, he discovered that his body seemed to have shrunk quite a bit.
Looking at the pair of small, somewhat childlike hands in front of him that clearly didn’t belong to his own body, and then at the unfamiliar surroundings..
Time travel!
When he was younger, Lou Xingyao had loved reading online novels, so this frequently used trope was hardly unfamiliar.
But coming from a wealthy family, excelling academically, and always being “the child everyone else envied,” he had never once fantasized about it happening to him.
After growing up, he not only broke records to become the youngest forensic professor in City A, but also was specially invited to join the city’s police headquarters right after graduation.
To call him a favored son of heaven was no exaggeration.
His only regret was that both his parents had passed away early, leaving him to live with his grandfather.
Fortunately, the two had always gotten along harmoniously, rarely quarreling, making for a warm and loving household.
So even during the years when time-travel stories were all the rage, Lou Xingyao had never imagined himself as one of their protagonists.
Yet life had its own plans. Such a thing had now truly happened to him.
Thanks to the novels he had read, he understood that going back was out of the question.
He could only console himself with the thought that he had long been alone. His grandfather had passed away years ago, and the few close friends he had were all married with families of their own.
His sudden disappearance wouldn’t stir too much sorrow.
As for the one responsible for his death…
Even though in that final moment of consciousness, he had only managed to see the man’s eyes, that was enough for him to recognize him, the father of the murderer from a homicide case he had worked on six months ago.
If it hadn’t been for the autopsy report Lou Xingyao issued, which provided crucial evidence, the murderer might really have gotten away.
For Lou Xingyao, it had been just another day’s work. The only reason the murderer’s father had left such a deep impression was because, during the trial, a colleague had warned him: the man’s eyes carried something unusual, hatred, perhaps.
One quick glance had been enough. The look in the man’s eyes then was exactly the same as when he stabbed him.
But at the time, Lou Xingyao hadn’t paid it much mind. After all, his life was nothing but work and home, and both his workplace and his residential compound had strong security.
The man surely wouldn’t dare attack him in front of the police, right?
Reality, however, proved otherwise. Some people really would dare.
The only comfort he had was knowing that his death had occurred while he was still on police premises. Surveillance cameras had captured everything. The man could not possibly escape.
Attacking someone inside a police station was a severe crime with dire consequences. The man would likely end up buried alongside his original body.
With this thought, some of the suffocating rage in Lou Xingyao’s chest finally eased a little.
After spending some time adjusting to his new reality, Lou Xingyao began observing his surroundings.
Judging by the architectural style of the house and the clothing on this body, he had undoubtedly traveled to ancient times.
This realization made his head throb faintly.
He knew his own circumstances better than anyone. Forget the inconveniences of having no electricity or internet, just the rigid feudalism of ancient China was enough.
If anyone discovered that a different soul had taken over this body, he might very well be burned alive as a demon.
What’s worse, he hadn’t inherited the original host’s memories. He had no way of imitating him.
But he couldn’t stay shut in forever either.
The rice jar in the house was already empty. If he didn’t go out to restock, he would starve to death long before being burned as a demon.
He couldn’t gamble on the faint possibility that the original owner was an extreme recluse with no acquaintances.
His gaze wandered, finally resting on a stone the original owner had used to prop up a broken table leg.
What if… he gave his head a good knock? He could just claim he’d accidentally hit his head and lost his memory.
That way, even if someone noticed differences in his behavior, he’d have an excuse.
And as an experienced forensic doctor, no one knew better than him how to inflict an external injury that looked severe while leaving only superficial damage.
The motive was clear, the plan feasible! Lou Xingyao promptly picked up the stone from under the table leg.
Bang!
The brick came down, and Lou Xingyao instantly felt his head spin. His skull throbbed violently as though struck with a sledgehammer.
The intensity of the pain was nothing like what he’d expected. His thoughts blurred, “How does this scrawny, skin and bones body have this much strength?”
He had no idea how much time passed before the pain began to ease and his reason slowly returned.
Before he could even reflect on his reckless behavior, he realized that a flood of unfamiliar images had appeared in his mind.
These were… the original owner’s memories?
It didn’t take long for him to confirm their source.
So then what was the point of him bashing his own head?!
Staring speechlessly at the blood stained “weapon” in his hand, Lou Xingyao felt utterly at a loss.
Still, the fact remained: it was only after giving himself that blow that these memories surfaced.
The trigger mechanism was just like how Chinese people used to “repair” old appliances, when it’s broken, give it a smack. Smack it once, and it works again.
So, if he hadn’t bashed his own head just now, would those memories never have appeared?
After pondering the question for a long while without reaching an answer, Lou Xingyao stopped dwelling on this baldness-inducing philosophical problem and instead focused on examining the memories of the original body.
What he hadn’t expected was that he hadn’t traveled back to ancient times, but rather to a cultivation world called the Heavenbright Continent.
Cultivation!
To have lower strength was to have lower status. Even if someone of higher cultivation beat you to death, onlookers would merely sigh and say: “He provoked the wrong person.”
As for truth and justice?
Power itself was truth and justice.
If he wanted to survive safely in such a brutal world, he needed to understand it thoroughly. With that thought, Lou Xingyao combed through the memories even more carefully.
Fortunately, he discovered that the Heavenbright Continent wasn’t completely without rules.
For example: after a cultivator formally entered the path of cultivation, starting from the Foundation Establishment stage, every time they broke through to a major realm, the heavens would send down tribulation lightning.
The stronger the talent, the fiercer the lightning.
Moreover, a cultivator’s karmic entanglements also influenced the intensity of the tribulation.
If one bore heavy karma—such as harming mortals without cause or attacking juniors with vastly lower cultivation—then during their tribulation, the heavens would strike with merciless, overwhelming lightning, reducing them to ashes.
Countless so-called geniuses throughout history had perished under such ruthless tribulations before they even had a chance to make a name for themselves.
Over time, cultivators began restraining themselves. In order to gain even the slightest edge during their tribulations, they became less wanton in slaughter, giving mortals of the Heavenbright Continent a fragile chance at survival and reproduction.
Even so, in a world where strength defined everything, ordinary mortals lived extremely harsh lives.
Not only were they inferior before cultivators, they also lived in constant fear of being collateral damage during battles between cultivators.
Just as an elephant wouldn’t care about trampling ants, cultivators wouldn’t spare a thought for mortals killed by the aftermath of their spells.
Even if mortals were lucky enough to avoid such accidents, they could only eke out a living in the most barren lands, doing the most grueling labor.
In his previous life, Lou Xingyao had always been “the child others envied,” striving for excellence from a young age. Naturally, he would never accept mediocrity.
This was the ultimate fantasy engraved into the very bones of the Chinese people!
Who hadn’t, as a child, draped a bedsheet over their shoulders, grabbed the feather duster from home, and imagined themselves as a swordsman roaming the land?
But now, those childish and unrealistic fantasies could actually become reality here on the Heavenbright Continent!
Yet, before he could get too excited, the information flooding his mind told him that this world was far from the idyllic dream he imagined.
The very word “cultivation” laid the foundation for an unstable, perilous world.
The most defining feature here was: the strong are revered, and the weak are prey.
Even in this new world, he wasn’t about to live as an ordinary mortal, scraping by under the whims of cultivators.
But he soon realized that whether he was willing or not was only a subjective matter. The true key to becoming a cultivator lay in an objective factor, spiritual roots.
From the original body’s memories, Lou Xingyao learned that cultivation was the process of connecting with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, drawing it into the body, and gathering it within oneself.
The more spiritual energy one retained, the higher one’s cultivation. And spiritual roots were the foundation that allowed one to connect with this energy.
The fewer roots one had, the simpler it was to draw in spiritual energy, and the faster cultivation progressed.
Thus, the number of spiritual roots became the measure of talent across the Heavenbright Continent, the fewer, the better.
But spiritual roots were innate. You either had them at birth, or you didn’t. They couldn’t be forced.
Realizing this, Lou Xingyao’s thoughts suddenly gained direction, and he began searching the inherited memories eagerly.
Before long, he found the answer he wanted: This body not only had spiritual roots, but in fact possessed a rather good pair, fire and wood dual roots.
That meant he already had the essential qualification to embark on cultivation!
Lou Xingyao’s lips couldn’t help but curl upward.
“I knew it. If I could hit the jackpot with something as improbable as transmigration, how could spiritual roots be any less easy to come by?”
But no sooner had he spoken than he sensed something was off.
On the Heavenbright Continent, aside from the one-in-a-thousand single-root prodigies, dual roots were already exceedingly rare, and those who possessed them were regarded as geniuses.
And yet…
Lou Xingyao lifted his eyes once more, taking in the drafty, dilapidated hut around him and the broken, crippled furniture. He couldn’t help but mutter in puzzlement,
“A dual-root cultivation genius is supposed to live like… this?”
✦ ✧ ✦
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The chapter has ended. The coffee propaganda begins.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
Next →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Crossing OverChapter 2 · Lu XioaWuChapter 3 · UncleChapter 4 · Substitute MarriageChapter 5 · Travelling Through BookChapter 6 · SpaceChapter 7 · InheritanceChapter 8 · ExplanationChapter 9 · He familyChapter 10 · CompensateChapter 11 · WeddingChapter 12 · LeavingChapter 13 · SuspicionChapter 14 · Change SurnameChapter 14 · Change SurnameChapter 15 · SummaryChapter 16 · Family BusinessChapter 17 · ResettlementChapter 18 · DeterminationChapter 19 · TreatChapter 20 · Enter the TaoChapter 21 · Private TrainingChapter 22 · BreakthroughChapter 23 · ExperienceChapter 24 Part 1 · Questions and AnswersChapter 24 Part 2 · Questions and answersChapter 25 · GiftChapter 25 Part 1 · GiftChapter 26 Part 1 · Sword IntentChapter 26 Part 2 · Sword IntentChapter 27 Part 1 · SelectChapter 27 Part 2 · SelectChapter 28 Part 1 · PastChapter 28 Part 2 · PastChapter 29 Part 1 · ConfessionChapter 29 Part 2 · ConfessionChapter 30 Part 1 · TradeChapter 30 Part 2 · TradeChapter 31 Part 1 · Male LeadChapter 31 Part 2 · Male LeadChapter 32 Part 1 · LuckChapter 32 Part 2 · LuckChapter 33 Part 1 · GuessingChapter 33 Part 2 · GuessingChapter 34 Part 1 · SystemChapter 34 Part 2 · SystemChapter 35 · OpportunityChapter 36 Part 1 · LingquanChapter 36 Part 2 · LingquanChapter 37 Part 1 · Hundred Flowers PartChapter 37 Part 2 · Hundred Flowers PartChapter 38 · Worth itChapter 39 · SaintessChapter 40 · ExperimentChapter 41 · Vampire SystemChapter 42 · NotesChapter 43 · WarningChapter 44 · PlanChapter 45 · Fellow VillagersChapter 46 · AssimilationChapter 47 · IlliterateChapter 48 · Pak WahChapter 49 · Sudden EnlightenmentChapter 50 · Wen ZhiChapter 51 · CarrierChapter 52 · LeavingChapter 53 · Follow UpChapter 54 · OutrageousChapter 55 · OnceChapter 56 · TeasingChapter 57 · Playing aroundChapter 58 · Beast fireChapter 59 · Watching a PlayChapter 60 · Extermination of the entire clanChapter 61 · ChoiceChapter 62 · PossessionChapter 63 · CalculationChapter 64 · GuaranteedChapter 65 · Grand OpeningChapter 66 · Grand OpeningChapter 67 · Protecting one’s ownChapter 68 · Secret RealmChapter 69 · BetrayalChapter 70 · DetailsChapter 71 · FramedChapter 72 · MeetingChapter 73 · KillChapter 74 · MapChapter 75 · FoundationChapter 76 · Strange Phenomenon!Chapter 77 · ExchangeChapter 78 · LetterChapter 79 · ShortcutChapter 80 · God of Slaughter!Chapter 81 · Poison PillChapter 82 · Lou ShuChapter 83 · ProgressChapter 84 · An attemptChapter 85 · Movement and StillnessChapter 86 · Good intentionsChapter 87 · ChangeChapter 88 · Childhood friendChapter 89 · ThoughtsChapter 90 · Old storiesChapter 91 · HeritageChapter 92 · TestChapter 93 · LoverChapter 94 · Heartfelt wishesChapter 95 · MasterChapter 96 · TeachingChapter 97 · IllusionChapter 98 · Mutual RestraintChapter 99 · ObstructionChapter 100 · PalaceChapter 101 · Core TechniqueChapter 102 · OathChapter 103 · Dual cultivationChapter 104 · AccessChapter 105 · VulnerabilityChapter 106 · DensityChapter 107 · WantedChapter 108 · EntrustChapter 109 · RevisitChapter 110 · MonitoringChapter 111 · Secret RealmChapter 112 · NourishChapter 113 · InventoryChapter 114 · Get Rich QuicklyChapter 115 · ElderChapter 116 · Grand FormationChapter 117 · Heaven’s WillChapter 118 · BountyChapter 119 · GainChapter 120 · BlameChapter 121 · ChattingChapter 122 · GuessChapter 123 · Zheng TianChapter 124 · SparringChapter 125 · Sword intentChapter 126 · KenshinChapter 127 · Auditing a classChapter 128 · CoincidenceChapter 129 · ContradictionChapter 130 · RouteChapter 131 · CostChapter 132 · ConfiscatedChapter 133 · Holding a grudgeChapter 134 · SupportChapter 135 · DeteriorationChapter 136 · Unable toChapter 137 · PriceChapter 138 · VariantChapter 139 · Start AnewChapter 140 · ShamelessChapter 141 · Black PotChapter 142 · Benefiting fromChapter 143 · PieChapter 144 · DifferencesChapter 145 · DetoxificationChapter 146 · Current situationChapter 147 · TeasingChapter 148 · IntelligenceChapter 149 · Returned GiftChapter 150 · Old debtChapter 151 · FleshChapter 152 · OpeningChapter 153 · GrudgesChapter 154 · RegretChapter 155 · Gang fightChapter 156 · GentleChapter 157 · ComplaintChapter 158 · ScreamsChapter 159 · GeniusChapter 160 · ConcernChapter 161 · Hidden StoryChapter 162 · StingyChapter 163 · Guilty conscienceChapter 164 Part 1 · StruggleChapter 164 Part 2 · StruggleChapter 165 · Win or LoseChapter 166 · TasteChapter 167 · Shifting The BlameChapter 168 · MoonlightChapter 169 · Past EventChapter 170 · RegretChapter 171 · RetributionChapter 172 · Cause and EffectChapter 173 · BackgroundChapter 174 · FlatteryChapter 175 · HonestChapter 176 · BookkeepingChapter 177 · FarewellChapter 178 · GuidelineChapter 179 · BottleneckChapter 180 · HabitChapter 181 · Casual ChatChapter 182 · Flowing WaterChapter 183 · RumoursChapter 184 · Seeking AdviceChapter 185 · PityChapter 186 · FormationChapter 187 · BasicChapter 188 · Fake TombChapter 189 · BewareChapter 190 · TraceChapter 191 · DiscussChapter 192 · Ancestral preceptsChapter 193 · Loose CultivatorChapter 194 · AllocationChapter 195 · Thank you for your kindnessChapter 196 · ExplanationChapter 197 · ErrorChapter 198 · Culinary skillsChapter 199 · Starry SeaChapter 200 · ComparisonChapter 201 · FrustratedChapter 202 · Don’t watchChapter 203 · LonelinessChapter 204 · NoChapter 205 · Exposing ShortcutsChapter 206 · CraftsmanshipChapter 207 · Bottom LineChapter 208 · StrikeChapter 209 · Ten GoldChapter 210 · Pretentious