On the tenth day of the caravan journey, they arrived in Huizhou. On the last night before entering the city, while the caravan camped in the wilderness, Ji Xiu found the perfect opportunity. Using the excuse of a call of nature, he left the camp for two hours and returned with the secret manual.
Shen Lang, sleeping in the same carriage, was startled awake. Seeing him covered in dust and grass, she gasped. "Where did you go?"
Ji Xiu lowered his voice and smiled. "Nowhere. I took a fall into a pit on my way back from the bushes."
Shen Lang brushed the dirt off him, worried. "Why didn't you call for help? Did you climb out yourself?"
"Mhm," Ji Xiu replied, clutching the manual. He didn't say more, urging her to sleep. Once she was out, he sat up and examined the book by moonlight.
The manual was tattered, but four characters were visible on the blue cover: Ancestral Origin Cultivation.
In the original timeline, this manual was pivotal, but the plot never detailed its contents. Ji Xiu had expected a top-tier martial arts method, perhaps inferior to second-rate immortal cultivation techniques. But upon opening it, he realized he was wrong.
This manual didn't rely on the abundant spiritual energy of a cultivation world. Instead, it allowed a practitioner to absorb a different energy called "Ancestral Qi" in a world where spiritual energy was nearly non-existent. This was an incredible innovation. The creator was a genius who had touched the boundary of true cultivation.
Ji Xiu realized that Ji Zian was the only one in this world with the talent to truly inherit the creator's legacy. Even the protagonist, Fu Chang’an, lacked that level of innate aptitude. If Ji Zian were in a cultivation world, he would be a "Single Spiritual Root" genius fought over by every sect.
…
The next day, the family settled in Jixi County. Jixi was a small town famous for producing Huizhou ink. Shen Lang's maternal family, the Wangs, were ink-makers.
After resting a day at an inn, Ji Xiu and Shen Lang went searching for the Wang family. Ink-making was a grueling job; the family lived at the foot of a remote mountain to collect pine oil. When they arrived, they saw a dilapidated house and a large courtyard filled with burning pine oil lamps. Five children were tending to them.
Compared to these ragged children, Ji Xiu’s family looked like nobility. Ji Xiu wore a refined cotton robe, Shen Lang looked elegant with her pearl hairpin, and Ji Zian—well-fed and dressed in new clothes—looked like a young master.
"How can we help you?" the oldest Wang boy asked tentatively.
Shen Lang, her voice trembling, asked for Wang Yisong. "Tell him... Yu-niang's daughter has returned."
Chaos ensued as the Wang family recognized her. When they learned that Wang Yu-niang had died years ago during childbirth, the entire family collapsed in grief. Old Grandpa Wang, who had lost the use of his legs years ago and survived only because Yu-niang sold herself as a concubine to pay for his medicine, beat his chest in regret. "It's my fault! I should have died instead of her!"
Shen Lang wept, truly accepting her relatives for the first time. Their genuine grief proved they had never forgotten her mother.
…
The Ji family stayed with the Wangs. However, with over twenty people crammed into three rooms, it was incredibly crowded. After two days, Ji Zian—who had zero empathy for "family ties"—bluntly told Ji Xiu he wanted to go back to Yangzhou.
Ji Xiu didn't want to live in a shack either. He needed space to practice the new manual. He decided to build a three-room house nearby on the bank of a clear stream. In Huizhou, land and labor were cheap; it cost only forty taels of silver—a small fraction of their 230-tael savings.
Half a month later, their new home was finished. Ji Xiu enclosed a large yard, telling Shen Lang it was for exercise due to his poor health. He claimed he had bought a common martial arts book for two taels to help his fitness. Shen Lang, knowing nothing of the martial arts world, believed him.
…
Time flowed by. Ji Xiu’s health improved drastically as he practiced the manual. Though he still looked like a thin scholar, his internal strength was growing.
One day, Ji Zian followed Ji Xiu into the mountains. Over the past year, the boy's temper had stabilized in the quiet mountains. He was fascinated by Ji Xiu's martial arts. He wanted to learn so he wouldn't look so messy when fighting others.
Initially, Ji Xiu refused, fearing he wouldn't be able to control a super-powered Ji Zian. But eventually, he reconsidered. If Ji Zian was the only one who could fulfill the manual creator's legacy, Ji Xiu didn't want to stand in the way of talent. Besides, Ji Xiu was already an "A-list" expert; he could suppress Ji Zian for at least three years—enough time to instill a sense of moral boundaries.
On Ji Zian's ninth birthday, Ji Xiu officially began teaching him. Unlike the original timeline where Ji Zian taught himself through trial and error, Ji Xiu taught him with a solid foundation.
…
Five months later, Ji Xiu was nearly at the level of a "Pre-heaven Expert," and Ji Zian had already reached the level of a "Second-rate Expert"—enough to defeat most martial artists in the world.
Then, a letter arrived from Yangzhou.
Old Master Shen had passed away after a long illness. The new Master Shen sent letters to all concubines' children, demanding they return for the funeral.
"I... I don't want to go back to Yangzhou," Shen Lang whispered. She preferred the peaceful life in Jixi over the hostility of the Shen family.
Ji Xiu smiled. "We’ll just go for the funeral and come back. We won't stay."
But before they could depart, trouble knocked on the door. It wasn't looking for the Ji family, but for the Wangs.
Join the discussion
Log in to comment.