"Am I considered to have transmigrated, or was I reborn...?" Lin Xuan massaged his temples. The memories that had just merged were truly not easy to digest.
Before his rebirth, Lin Xuan's Dharma Ending Era had declined to the absolute limit. Whether it was the three heavens and nine realms, or the vast eight desolations, the origin qi of heaven and earth had almost completely dried up.
At that time, not a single new martial artist had appeared in the ninety thousand minor worlds for over ten thousand years. Even in the three hundred major worlds, the number of martial artists did not exceed one hundred thousand.
The glorious era where everyone cultivated had long become history.
To preserve the inheritance of the Martial Dao, the eight remaining Great Emperors on the Summit of the Gods had sought out Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan possessed a heaven-defying ability: anything imprinted in his mind would never be forgotten for the rest of his life.
"Those eight bastards, a whopping thirteen million secret manuals! Did they want to make my head explode?" The eight Great Emperors had used a secret technique to engrave all the Martial Dao manuals collected over the past hundred thousand years on the Divine Mountain into Lin Xuan's mind.
But an accident occurred midway. Because Lin Xuan's cultivation was too low, when the inheritance ended, he couldn't withstand it... and died.
"When others are reborn, at most they return to their childhood. Yet when it's my turn, I'm sent back a hundred million years ago, to the Era of Ten Thousand Supremes Questioning Heaven."
The Era of Ten Thousand Supremes Questioning Heaven was the most prosperous age of the Martial Dao. In stark contrast to the Dharma Ending Era, the world was filled with dense origin qi. Even those with the poorest aptitude could become powerful as long as they studied diligently and trained hard.
This era had given birth to a hundred thousand Supremes, and even the Heavenly Dao had to bow and submit! To put it colloquially, this was an era where Supremes were everywhere, and Great Emperors were worse than dogs.
"To be reborn into this era is truly my greatest fortune!" Lin Xuan took a deep breath. The dense origin qi made his entire body feel as comfortable as if he were bathing in a spring breeze.
"In my past life, I yearned to cultivate but couldn't. In this life, I must live a magnificent life!" While Lin Xuan's emotions were surging, a loud bang suddenly rang out in his ears.
*Crash!* Lin Xuan snapped out of his reminiscence and looked at the large door in front of him, which had been kicked open. Standing outside was a young man dressed in luxurious clothing, with dragons embroidered on his sleeves and a fierce expression on his face.
"Lin Xuan, three days have passed. Have you prepared the money?" Lin Xuan remembered that in this life, he was a sweeping servant in the Scripture Pavilion of the Qianlong Sect. He was usually bullied by an outer sect disciple named Hu Zong. Every month, he only received four silver coins for allowance, but three of them were snatched away by Hu Zong.
This month, the elder in charge of distributing allowances had gone out for training, so the allowance was delayed until next month. However, Hu Zong was unreasonable. Seeing that Lin Xuan couldn't produce the money, he beat him up and declared that if Lin Xuan still didn't have the money in three days, he would beat him again.
Having suffered such humiliation and being unable to take revenge, Lin Xuan was so overwhelmed by grievance that he committed suicide in the Scripture Pavilion.
Lin Xuan rubbed his forehead; the bone-deep pain was still there.
"Committing suicide just because of a beating, what a coward!"
"Well, since I've taken over your body, I'll help you get revenge!"
The person who kicked the door open was indeed Hu Zong, the one who had beaten Lin Xuan. He strode over to stand before Lin Xuan.
"I'm talking to you, where's the money? Or do you want another beating?" Lin Xuan smirked. Although this body's foundation was rather weak, having not even reached any cultivation realm yet, he was still extremely confident that he had a thousand different ways to make Hu Zong cry for his mother and father.
"Hu Zong, you take three silver coins from me every month. You've been 'borrowing' for three years and six months, totaling one hundred and twenty-six silver coins. When do you plan to pay me back?" Hearing Lin Xuan's questioning, Hu Zong shuddered in surprise.
"Kid, did I beat you stupid? How dare you demand money from me!" "Lin Xuan, don't play dumb with me. If you don't hand over the money today, I'll give you another beating!" Hu Zong was annoyed. In the past, if Lin Xuan had been threatened like this, he would have been scared out of his wits. Today, however, not only was he not afraid at all, but he even looked at him with utter contempt.
Lin Xuan spoke up, "I'll return those words to you. If you don't pay me back, I will beat you once every three days until you've cleared your debt."
Hu Zong flew into a rage. "You dare mock me? You're dead meat!" Clenching his fist, he swung a punch straight at Lin Xuan's face.
But before Hu Zong's fist could even touch Lin Xuan, he felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen, and his entire body was sent flying backward.
Feeling the throbbing pain in his body, Hu Zong suddenly snapped to his senses. Had he just been... kicked flying by Lin Xuan? *How is this possible? I'm at the first layer of the Body Refining realm, and Lin Xuan isn't even a martial artist! Even if I stood still and let him kick me, he shouldn't have been able to force me back half a step!* Lin Xuan looked at Hu Zong. The moment Hu Zong had made his move, the contents of a secret manual had flashed through his mind.
"Earth-Breathing Body Tempering Art, a first-tier Yellow-grade cultivation method, created by the Sect Master of the Qianlong Sect on the Tianyuan Continent."
"One exhalation, one inhalation, absorbing the worldly essence energy, clearing the three acupoints of Tianshu, Qihai, and Shenshu to achieve the effect of Body Tempering."
In the Dharma Ending Era, cultivation was incredibly difficult for martial artists. To make themselves stronger, they had studied martial arts theory with meticulous care, constantly refining and improving it.
The theoretical knowledge of the Dharma Ending Era had far surpassed all previous eras.
Every single one of the 1,003,000 secret manuals engraved in Lin Xuan's mind came with detailed commentaries and improvements.
"Flaw: During the exchange of breath, the locations of the three acupoints become vulnerabilities!"
With just a single glance, Lin Xuan had clearly seen through the flaws of the cultivation method Hu Zong practiced.
Hu Zong struggled up from the ground. The throbbing pain in his Qihai acupoint made his legs feel slightly numb.
"A mere sweeping servant like you dares to strike an outer disciple like me?" "Today, even if I beat you to death, the sect won't punish me!" "Go to hell!"
Hu Zong rushed forward, even resorting to a martial technique.
"Torrential Fist!"
Lin Xuan stood rooted to the spot as if paralyzed by fear. However, if anyone had been standing next to him, they would have heard him muttering under his breath.
"Torrential Fist, a first-tier Yellow-grade martial technique, created by Elder Lin Yuan in the thirty-seventh year of the Qianlong Gate."
"When executing the Torrential Fist, the punches stack upon one another like a surging river!" "Flaw: When executing this fist technique, the lower body becomes unstable!"
Hu Zong lunged right in front of Lin Xuan. Seeing that Lin Xuan remained motionless, he sneered inwardly.
"How could a piece of trash who can't even become a martial artist be my opponent?"
"Just now must have been a fluke. That's the only reason Lin Xuan managed to kick my weak spot."
Hu Zong was brimming with confidence. He could already picture his fist landing and Lin Xuan covered in blood.
Suddenly, Lin Xuan's leg swept toward Hu Zong's knee. Hu Zong lost his balance and crashed heavily to the ground, falling so hard his nose was knocked crooked.
Hu Zong was terrified. What on earth was happening?
Just as he raised his head, he saw the sole of a shoe rapidly flying toward him.
Lin Xuan's foot stomped right onto Hu Zong's face, making him cry out in pain.
"Argh!"
"Are you paying up?"
"Lin Xuan, do you want to die?!"
"Argh!"
"I'll ask you one more time, are you paying up?"
"Lin Xuan, if you dare hit me again, I'll report you to the elders!"
"Go ahead and tell them. An outer disciple beaten into a pig's head by a sweeping servant—go ahead and spread the word. Let's see who becomes the laughingstock of the entire sect!"
"Argh! Stop hitting me, I'll pay!"
"If you'd said that earlier, wouldn't you have avoided a beating? You have ten days to pay me two hundred silver coins. Sign the IOU!"
"Isn't it one hundred and twenty-six silver coins? How did it become two hundred?"
"Who lends money without charging interest? You still dare to bargain? Do you want another beating?"
"Argh! Don't hit my face! I'll sign, I'll sign!"