After entering the apartment, the first thing Liu Fengying did was prepare a hearty meal, using an amount of ingredients that would have lasted her for 2-3 days before recovering her memories from her previous life when she never ate to satiety because she saved most of the money she earned from part-time jobs to hire a lawyer when she turned 18 to sue her father and force him to hand over her inheritance left by her mother.

While eating, Liu Fengying continued to analyze the events that had taken place in her current life, focusing mainly on those that occurred after she started living alone and made her realize that in this world, she had no allies to rely on.

Liu Fengying's first major disappointment occurred when she tried to seek help from the Jiang family, the family to which her late mother belonged. Relying on the fact that she had a very good relationship with most members of the Jiang family, who always treated her kindly and gave her gifts not only on her birthday but also on any festive occasion, Liu Fengying expected them to decide to help her confront her father without hesitation when they learned about her situation. However, Liu Fengying, who was not aware at that moment that the prosperity of the Jiang family depended heavily on the business their company conducted with her father's company, found no compassion in the eyes of the Jiang family members. They bluntly told her that they had no means to help her and that it would be best for her to return home and make peace with her father.

Other disappointments Liu Fengying experienced were caused by both the changing attitudes of those she knew, who seemed to increasingly disdain her, and the fact that all her academic achievements and awards she had won in various artistic competitions were seen as the last struggles of a bird with its head cut off.

However, all these things were nothing compared to the disappointment caused by the coldness with which her half-sister had started treating her from the evening she left home when Liu Zihan had refused to answer her calls, even though she had tried to call her dozens of times. Liu Fengying, who suspected that Liu Zihan was upset because she had broken her promise made about two years ago when she had told her that they would be together forever, tried for half a year to explain to Liu Zihan that her reasons for leaving home were well-founded and that she did not want her to be caught in the daily quarrels that occurred almost daily before she moved out to live on her own.

Unfortunately for Liu Fengying, her efforts did not succeed in repairing her relationship with Liu Zihan, who treated her with indifference or interrupted her with mocking comments every time. Furthermore, Liu Zihan began to surround herself with people who did not hesitate to show their contempt for Liu Fengying, either to gain her favor or simply because they enjoyed targeting someone in a bad situation.

Although Liu Fengying had a lot of affection for her half-sister, Liu Zihan's continuous disregard for her feelings and lack of effort to understand her changed Liu Fengying's attitude toward Liu Zihan, eventually causing her to treat her in the same way she was treated.

'After so many disappointments, it's no wonder I was always irritated, and most of the decisions I made recently were based more on emotions. A representative example of them is the decision to sue my father as soon as I turn 18. How did I convince myself that such a plan had any chance of success? Not only would the money I had saved from part-time work be enough to hire the cheapest lawyer, but also the fact that my father has an army of loyal lawyers and is a highly influential person with connections to politicians and law enforcement officials would render all my efforts in vain. And even if by some miracle, I managed to obtain my inheritance left by my mother and gain control of the company, how long would I be able to maintain my position considering my father had plenty of time to place loyal people in all key positions? Furthermore, if my suspicions are true and he indeed played a role in my mother's death, what would stop him from taking action against me when he finds out what I intend to do? Well, maybe he wouldn't kill me to avoid arousing more suspicion, but he might capture me and forcibly institutionalize me in a mental asylum... No... I don't like to admit it, but a fight to take over the company from my father is lost before it even begins. But that doesn't mean I'll let him continue to enjoy my mother's hard work, which he not only betrayed but might have also ended her life! No, if I can't get my mother's inheritance, I'll make sure no one else does! I'll destroy everything! I'll purify everything through blood and fire!', Liu Fengying thought, who had just finished eating, and was lying down in bed to rest for a few minutes.

Returning to her thoughts on the relationship between her and Liu Zihan, Liu Fengying, who had realized that the affection she had for her half-sister in the past had far exceeded normal boundaries and that she was most likely in love with her, couldn't decide whether she should treat her as an enemy in the future or try to involve her as little as possible in the war between her and her father.

'Even with all the experience I have from my previous life, it's quite difficult for me to figure out what's going on in Liu Zihan's mind. Is she just upset with me, or has she genuinely started to hate me? Is she being pressured by her parents to keep her distance from me, or was the way she behaved in the past just an act to get closer to me, and her current personality is the real one? Is it possible that she also has some romantic feelings for me and is trying to keep me away because she believes there can be no love story between us?... Well, I guess I'll have the opportunity in the future to find out the answers to all these questions when I start to take revenge on both her parents and her younger brother. If she tries not to get involved and doesn't support them, I think I'll try to protect her, if not out of the affection I still have for her, which seems to be diminishing with every second since I regained my memories from my past life, at least for the sake of the pleasant memories she offered me in the past. But if she tries to oppose me... well, I'll see what measures I'll take then. Anyway, now I have something more important to think about, which is whether it's possible in this world to embark on the path to immortality again. Although I would be capable of seeking revenge and living a decent life even if I don't start cultivating, as long as I know that my life will always be at the mercy of fate and under the tyranny of time, I will never truly be happy. Yes, for someone who has tasted the power and freedom offered by cultivation, there is no greater punishment than losing the ability to cultivate. Unfortunately, at the moment, I have no way of knowing if I possess a constitution favorable to cultivation, and I don't know which elements my constitution has an affinity for, because these things can only be discovered by me when I enter the Qi Refining Realm, so I have no way of knowing which cultivation technique would be most suitable for me. So, to ensure that I don't suffer any adverse reactions, I'll have to use a simple cultivation technique for the time being, one that is suitable for any type of constitution and one that I can remember as accurately as possible... Hmm, I think the Qi Gathering Technique meets all these conditions. Although I've never used it, because, in my previous life, my constitution was identified at birth by my parents, so I knew from the beginning which cultivation technique was most suitable for me, I still know it quite well because, during my military campaigns, I often taught it to ordinary people who wanted to join my army... Well, now that I've settled all these things, the only thing that could still bother me in my first cultivation session is the density of spiritual energy in this world, which I don't expect to be too great. Anyway, depending on the results I'll achieve in the next few hours, I'll be able to get a clearer picture of the current situation... So, let's get to work...'

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Although assuming a specific meditation posture during cultivation had a relatively strong effect on concentration, the fact that her body was not very flexible and she couldn't relax in such a position led Liu Fengying to start cultivating while lying in bed. So, if someone had seen her at that moment, they might have thought she had fallen asleep because, apart from the movements of her chest caused by breathing, she didn't move at all, with all her muscles being completely relaxed.

Liu Fengying remained in this position and cultivated for nearly 8 hours, so when she opened her eyes again, it was already past midnight.

'Well, I think the situation is much worse than I expected. If in the world where I lived in my previous life, the density of spiritual energy could be compared to an ocean, in this world, it can only be compared to a pond...', Liu Fengying thought as she headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

Looking in the mirror after removing the bandage from around her head and seeing that the wound had already healed, Liu Fengying concluded that her work over the past 8 hours had not been in vain. Even though she was still far from entering the Qi Refining Realm, her body was much healthier at that moment than before the cultivation session.

'Although spiritual energy is quite scarce in this world, I think I should be grateful that cultivation is still possible. Plus, with a little effort, I believe I can solve this problem. Yes, perhaps for billions of big fish, an ocean might seem cramped, but for a single small fish, a pond is more than enough...' Liu Fengying thought, and then began to undress to take a shower.

'Hmmm, I think I look pretty good... Although I think I should add a bit more flesh in some places...,' Liu Fengying thought as she admired her completely naked body.

While Liu Fengying was a bit too slim because she had been too busy lately and wasn't eating enough, it was quite evident that she had the potential to become a true beauty, with her long legs and her breasts, which were quite voluminous despite her low body mass, serving as irrefutable evidence.

Looking in the mirror again and examining her face more closely, Liu Fengying concluded that, apart from the color of her eyes, which were now black instead of green, and the scar on one of her cheeks, she looked almost identical to how she did in her previous life when she was considered one of the most beautiful women on the entire continent where she lived.

'In my previous life, my high level of cultivation allowed me to always look perfect, and my beauty was enhanced by it, but I believe that with a bit of effort, I could bring my body back to a level comparable to the one I had for over 300 years. Anyway, I'm glad that the face I have now is almost identical to the one I had in my previous life because it gives me a sense of continuity...'

After analyzing her body for a few more minutes, Liu Fengying took a long and relaxing shower, and then got back into bed, intending to spend the rest of the night sleeping because, although her body was in good shape after the hours of cultivation, her mind was quite tired from all the events of the day.

'Although the hours I spent cultivating helped me heal and strengthen my body to some extent, if I continue at the same pace, it will take me almost a year to enter the Qi Refining Realm. That's not very good... I think the best thing to do tomorrow is to try to create a rudimentary formation for collecting spiritual energy to make the cultivation sessions much more efficient. Although such a formation will not be elegant at all, relying more on material elements than spiritual ones, considering that my cultivation level is almost zero, I can't create something more advanced... Anyway, I hope my savings will be enough to buy all the things I need...'

Liu Fengying wanted to continue thinking for a few more minutes about the materials she would need to create a formation for collecting spiritual energy, but in the end, the mental fatigue she had accumulated throughout the day took its toll, causing her to slip into a deep sleep, a sleep that would send her to relive some of the events from her previous life that had marked her the most and transformed her into a person willing to sacrifice her own life for the sake of revenge.