After climbing up the cliff, it took Li Lin three whole days. The cliff turned out to be a sheer drop outside the town. When he climbed up, Li Lin found himself unusually strong, as if he had endless energy. Otherwise, he probably couldn’t have climbed it.
The Li family mansion, with its high walls and extensive courtyards, reminded Li Lin of the architectural style of Suzhou gardens from his previous life.
"Thud, thud..."
Li Lin knocked on the Li family's main gate, his stomach growling with hunger.
With a "creak", the gate opened, and two servants in grey clothes and felt hats appeared. They seemed surprised to see Li Lin.
"You should use the back entrance. The mistress has ordered that you cannot enter through the front gate," the servants said, glancing at Li Lin without much regard, and then closed the gate.
"Those dog servants, still treating me like the old Li Lin. You'll see," Li Lin spat in front of the Li family gate and reluctantly headed towards the back entrance.
According to his memory, this Li Lin had never used the main entrance. Although he was a young master of the Li family, his mother was a lowly maid in the household. After his birth, she faced even more discrimination from his father’s first wife. His father dared not speak up, and his mother suffered endless humiliation.
"Young Master Lin, you’re finally back. You've been missing for five days. The second mistress was almost frantic with worry. Please go back quickly," an old, frail servant greeted Li Lin with a mix of concern and pity at the back door.
"I know, Uncle Jiang," Li Lin responded, recognizing the old servant from his memory as Uncle Jiang, who had been kind to him besides his mother, caring for him since he was a child.
"Eh, did I see wrong?" The old servant watched Li Lin's departing figure, his grey eyes flashing with a rare sharpness, then returning to their usual dullness as he slowly closed the door.
Li Lin walked through several long corridors to a low-lying courtyard, where the servants of the Li family lived. The Li family was one of the most prominent families in town, with two to three hundred servants and a total of about seven hundred direct and collateral family members.
In front of a somewhat dilapidated courtyard, Li Lin hesitated for a moment before pushing open the door.
"Lin, where have you been? Mother was so worried," a woman in her mid-thirties, wearing a light green silk shirt, appeared in the room. She was pretty, with a sharp face and long eyebrows, but her eyes were slightly swollen, seemingly from crying.
The woman immediately approached Li Lin with concern, her eyes moistening again at the sight of his ragged appearance.
"Mother, I’m fine," Li Lin said, looking at the kind woman before him. Her son had died, but he couldn’t reveal the truth. From now on, he would be her son.
"Lin, tell mother where you've been these days. Why didn’t you say anything before leaving?" the woman asked, holding Li Lin's arms, relieved to see he was unharmed.
"I had something to take care of, sorry for making you worry," Li Lin replied, unable to say that her son had been beaten to death and thrown into a ravine.
Stolen novel; please report.
"You must be hungry. Mother saved some delicious food for you." The kind and beautiful woman hurriedly brought over a few steamed buns and a bowl of meat dish. Li Lin could tell at a glance that the food was leftovers, but it was still decent.
"This is clean. Uncle Jiang secretly took it from the kitchen. Eat up, it's your favorite," the beautiful woman said to Li Lin, her eyes filled with kindness and a hint of apology. She whispered in a low voice, "It's all because I'm useless, making you suffer since you were born. If I had known, I wouldn't have brought you into this world."
"Mother, it's not your fault. From now on, your son will not let you suffer anymore." Seeing the eyes of this beautiful woman, Li Lin's own eyes became moist. In his previous life, he grew up in an orphanage, deprived of maternal love. Perhaps his transmigration was a compensation from the heavens, giving him this rare maternal love. At this moment, Li Lin silently swore in his heart that from now on, she would be his mother, and he would not let her suffer again.
"Good child, eat up. When you're done, take off your clothes, and mother will mend them for you," the beautiful woman said, smiling happily at Li Lin.
Li Lin was indeed quite hungry. He hurriedly devoured the steamed buns, consuming five in no time, and then returned to his room.
"Having transmigrated, I should plan for myself," Li Lin murmured to himself, looking around the dilapidated room. He had a bleak future in his previous life, but now that he had the chance to start over, how could he settle for mediocrity?
This was his second chance at life, a gift. If he didn't accomplish something significant, he would be letting down the heavens. He had no power to change his previous life, but in this life, he was determined to achieve great things – to lie in the lap of beauties and to wield immense power. These were his desires.
Thinking so, Li Lin felt as if the blood in his veins was boiling with ambition.
"It seems, though you've lived a mediocre sixteen years, there's a spirit of discontent buried in your blood. Don't worry, I will fulfill it for you," Li Lin said softly.
"I'm younger now." Sitting in front of an old, tarnished copper mirror in his room, Li Lin looked at his current appearance. He was supposed to be in his mid-twenties, but now he was just a sixteen-year-old – a gain indeed.
"Although you lived an ordinary life and are not exceptionally handsome, you still have a certain charm," Li Lin observed his tall and lean figure, wheat-colored skin, and well-defined features, especially his star-like eyes.
"Not bad, I quite like it," Li Lin smiled narcissistically, his thin lips curling up lazily, a hint of ambition lurking in his smile.
"Now, it's time to understand this world better." Li Lin lay on his bed, searching his memory for everything about this world.
This was the Ling Wu Continent, vastly different from his previous world, a land where martial strength was revered, and spiritual power was esteemed, home to warriors and spirit practitioners.
Warriors possessed immense strength, capable of moving mountains and shattering the void at a certain level. Their ranks were divided into several levels: Martial Disciple, Martial Warrior, Martial Master, Martial Soul, Martial General, Martial Commander, Martial King, Martial Venerable, and Martial Emperor.
Spirit practitioners were enigmatic and powerful, capable of controlling the weather at a certain level. Their ranks were also divided into Spirit Disciple, Spirit Warrior, Spirit Master, Spirit Soul, Spirit General, Spirit Commander, Spirit King, Spirit Venerable, and Spirit Emperor.
On this continent, reaching the level of Martial Commander or Spirit Commander meant absolute strength. The patriarch of the Li family, Li Lin's grandfather whom he had never met, was said to be a Martial General.
Besides warriors and spirit practitioners, the continent was home to demonic beasts and spirit beasts, formidable creatures that humans dared not provoke. Only the strongest warriors and spirit practitioners would dare to confront them, elevating their status on the Ling Wu Continent.
"It seems I have to become a warrior or spirit practitioner. But why can't I become one?" Li Lin pondered, recalling from his memory that his body had some issues with its meridians, making it impossible for him to become a warrior or spirit practitioner.
If he could become a warrior or spirit practitioner, his and his mother's status would not be lower than that of servants.
"I must find a way to become a warrior or spirit practitioner. That's the only way out," Li Lin thought to himself, determined to make a mark in this world through one of these two paths.
"Ah, I almost forgot about you, little one." As Li Lin took off his tattered clothes to give them to his mother for cleaning, he noticed a pale yellow little snake coiled around his arm.