newbobooks Chapter 359 - 232: The Third Life, the Northern Great Wall, I Am the Defender, Guarding This City Alone, Unrivaled in the World
Chapter 359 - 232: The Third Life, the Northern Great Wall, I Am the Defender, Guarding This City Alone, Unrivaled in the World
A reckoning from a Celestial God had cut his second life short.
Fortunately, Lu Mingyuan hadn’t forgotten the memories of his previous two lives.
This meant his Dao had not been sullied or altered.
He was born into a resplendent, antique room.
And his birth was accompanied by celestial phenomena.
Lu Mingyuan had thought this life would be one of carefree luxury, filled with wealth and glory.
But he soon discovered he was wrong.
A midwife quickly handed him over to a woman clad in Armor.
He overheard their conversation.
Lu Mingyuan couldn’t make out who his mother was, but he could hear her weak voice.
"The celestial phenomena at his birth reached the heavens... He is destined for greatness, but... to be born in Jiang Country as it is now... it is truly a misfortune... As per the instructions, take Yuan’Er and go."
"Yes, I understand, My Lady. I will take the Crown Prince to the town."
The conversation ended.
A bumpy journey followed.
Riding a swift horse under the cover of night, the woman departed, carrying the swaddled infant—Lu Mingyuan himself—in her arms.
Thus, Lu Mingyuan found himself in a place called Qingping Town.
He was adopted by a couple from an ordinary Farmer Family and lived with them in a dilapidated house.
In the blink of an eye, eight years passed.
Those eight years were not peaceful.
When he was five, his adoptive mother contracted a strange disease. Her body began to contort, her hair fell out, and she soon passed away.
His adoptive father, on the other hand, was killed by a wild beast while out hunting.
At least, that’s what the kind old woman who lived across from him told him.
Because of this, many in town called him a jinx.
The other children in town would whisper behind his back, calling him a bastard with no mother or father.
’I was supposed to be born extraordinary. Why am I being treated with such disdain?’
’Is the Scroll World trying to use the same trope on me that it used on Yun Qinghe?’
Fortunately, there were still kind people in town.
The old woman often helped him. She was all alone herself, yet she frequently prepared tasty meals for him.
She would often smile kindly and say he reminded her of her late grandson.
He had also taken the name Zhou Yuan, growing up in this small town on the charity of its people.
When he was six, he finally began to notice the town’s peculiarities.
’Why did a few of the divine statues enshrined at the village entrance disappear every few years?’
’Why did the people here only farm? They never left to do business or make money. Were they completely cut off from the outside world?’
’Why was the old, abandoned well in the mountain north of town considered a forbidden area?’
’Why were some children taken away every few years, with new people constantly cycling through the town, yet no one ever came for him?’
’Why did the creek bed glow with a rainbow of colors at night, but when you looked into the water, there was nothing there?’
’Why did every household own one or more old, antique-like objects, while he alone had nothing?’
...
Lu Mingyuan noticed many other strange things as well, but he couldn’t find any answers.
Then, in his eighth year, a group of outsiders arrived in town.
They were well-dressed in a variety of fashions. The men were handsome and dashing, the women beautiful and graceful. They all carried themselves like divine beings, with an ethereal, otherworldly aura.
Lu Mingyuan recognized them at a glance: they were definitely Qi Cultivators, their bodies enhanced by their Cultivation.
In those eight years, it wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to practice his Cultivation; his progress was just far too slow.
Just getting enough to eat was a challenge, let alone achieving a breakthrough.
He had only just broken through to the second realm of the Martial Dao, Inner Cultivation. It was the slowest progress he had ever made in any of his lives.
"Hey, kid. Come here."
One day, a young outsider wearing a white crane-patterned robe approached him with a grin.
Lu Mingyuan put on an innocent, harmless act and asked timidly, "What is it?"
The young man smiled. "You seem to be living in poverty. This little hut is full of drafts. I have some silver here. Want it?"
"Silver? For me?"
Lu Mingyuan asked, feigning curiosity.
The young man nodded earnestly. "That’s right. All you have to do is go to the widow’s house on Hongliu Lane and steal her Cyan Glaze Porcelain Bottle for me. Just bring it to me for a look, and I’ll give you silver. Lots of shiny silver."
Of course, Lu Mingyuan was no fool.
’If even a Qi Cultivator covets the Cyan Glaze Porcelain Bottle this much, it can’t be an ordinary object. It must be something precious.’
So he made an excuse.
"I just remembered, I have something I need to do at home..."
He clearly saw the young man’s expression darken instantly.
But just as quickly, the smile returned.
"Honored guest from afar, please don’t keep my grandson from his dinner."
Lu Mingyuan turned to find the old woman had appeared behind him at some point. The usual kindness was gone from her face, replaced by an inscrutable, placid expression.
The young man immediately bowed obsequiously and vanished from sight.
This turn of events made Lu Mingyuan think.
Meanwhile, the old woman had taken in his every expression and reaction.
The old woman sighed. "Alas, it seems some things can’t be hidden from you. When you turn sixteen, I will tell you the whole truth. For now, your meridians have just finished developing. It is time for you to begin your Cultivation."
Lu Mingyuan’s suspicions were finally confirmed.
The old woman gave him an ancient Cultivation Technique.
It was called the Eight-Nine Mysterious Scripture.
This Cultivation Technique was incredibly profound. Lu Mingyuan found that after he began practicing it, his previously unresponsive meridians transformed, becoming like a mighty, rushing river.