"Huh? I'm actually still alive?"
Lin Tianfeng felt a headache coming on as he suddenly recalled memories from his past life.
In his former life, he was the Rune Martial Holy Emperor of the Profound Yellow Great World, a pinnacle power of the Six Realms of Heaven. Simply because he had contemplated the Holy patterns of Heaven and tried to peek into the source of Heaven, he had been chased by a group of people who would not die of old age.
Having no choice, he had to throw his soul into reincarnation and be reborn.
He had thought that with the intervention of these undead, the chance of successfully being reborn was very slim. But even he didn't expect that he had indeed achieved it.
As his memory just woke up, he was very unaccustomed to this weak body that only had the first level of the postnatal Qi nourishing stage. He was slowly adapting to his body while sorting out the somewhat chaotic memories of his two lives.
"Boss, although we are not dead yet, we are not far from it," A slightly frightened voice drifted from behind.
Lin Tianfeng slightly furrowed his eyebrows, lifted his head, and quietly observed his surroundings.
This was a rather secluded back mountain, and those standing against him were a group of disciples from the outskirts of the Heavenly Martial Gate. Each of them held a steel knife in their hands and surrounded him with unfriendly faces.
The person standing beside him was a little fatty who was in the second level of the postnatal Qi-running stage. The one who just spoke was him, whose name was Du Feng, his most faithful follower.
Lin Tianfeng searched his own memory and recalled the entire course of events. It turned out that before his memories woke up, Lin Tianfeng was the son of King Lin's Mansion. He was uneducated, daring, and a typical spoiled young master. After being sent to the Heavenly Martial Gate by his father, Lin Jiantong, his bad habits remained, and he dared to publicly tease Yun Qianmo!
Yun Qianmo was the most outstanding student of the Heavenly Martial Gate. Not only was her talent extremely high, but she was also stunningly beautiful, the dream lover of every disciple in the Heavenly Martial Gate.
When Lin Tianfeng teased Yun Qianmo, he immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of all the Heavenly Martial Gate disciples. He had just left the Heavenly Martial Gate and was blocked by a group of outer gate disciples in the back mountain.
After rifling through his memories, Lin Tianfeng secretly checked his storage ring. My goodness, it was filled with all kinds of aphrodisiacs, spring medicines, and women's clothing.
It seemed that before he woke up, he really was a damned scoundrel!
"Lin Tianfeng, I want to see where you'll run this time!"
A youth stands out among the crowd in his erect posture and extraordinary demeanor, his voice permeated with resentment, "Well done, Lin Tianfeng, daring to openly harass Yun Qianmo! Miss Yun, being generous in character, decided to not take it to heart. But I, Zhou Yan, cannot swallow this insult. Today, I shall teach you a lesson on her behalf and vent this grievance!"
Zhou Yan's father is an elder of the Tianwu Sect, he himself carries great prestige among the junior sect disciples and is one of Yun Qianmo's pursuers.
"This brat is just a hopeless case, just knock him off."
"Castrate him, see if he dares to harass Miss Yun ever again."
A group of junior disciples of Tianwu Sect were yelling, seemingly sharing an irreparable hatred with Lin Tianfeng.
"Boss, we can’t hold it anymore. Let's run, okay?" Du Feng looked weak at the knees, repeatedly glancing at their surroundings as though searching for a path to escape.
"Run? Why should we run?"
Lin Tianfeng turned back. One slap landed on Du Feng's head as he scolded: "Although Zhou Yan and the others outnumber us, they are nothing but trash of the Postnatal Stage One Qi Cultivation Realm. You at least possess the strength of the Postnatal Stage Two Qi Cultivation Realm, can't you even stand up to these losers?"
Lin Tianfeng's voice was loud and clear, unobstructed, ringing distinctively into Zhou Yan and the other junior disciples' ears. Zhou Yan’s face darkened, his eyes slowly starting to seethe with a deadly aura.
"Boss, but there are so many, at least ten plus of them. Even though I do possess the strength of Postnatal Stage Two Qi Cultification Realm, I'm still no match for them!" Du Feng said with a mournful face.
"The whole world respects martial strength. The weak suffer the disgrace of living aimlessly, enduring bullies, suppressed aspirations, and unable to extend their ambitions. Only by reaching the pinnacle of martial arts, one can carve mountains and split waters, living splendidly and above the masses. If you aren't fearless in your pursuit of martial arts, how will you ever reach the pinnacle? If you can't even deal with these losers of the Postnatal Stage One Qi Cultivation Realm, what achievements can you possibly make in a lifetime?" Lin Tianfeng sternly rebuked Du Feng without any mercy.
The martial practice is divided into three stages of the Postnatal Realm and three stages of the Prenatal Realm. Beyond this, there are even higher realms that exceed the confines of martial arts.
The three stages of the Postnatal Realm are: the Qi Cultivation Realm, the Qi Circulation Realm, and the Qi Condensation Realm.
The three stages of the Prenatal Realm are: the Meridian Penetration Realm, the Primordial Opening Realm, and the Primordial Breaking Realm.
According to the memories of his past life, he was born in the spiritual continent of Lingwu, where the essence between heaven and earth was thin, making cultivation extremely difficult. If one wanted to reach higher levels, they must be willing to confront hardships, fear nothing, and possess the heart of a formidable fighter.
Du Feng was an orphan who was adopted by the King Lin mansion. He grew up with Lin Tianfeng and they became inseparable brothers. When Lin Tianfeng joined the Heavenly Martial Sect, he brought Du Feng along.
Du Feng's innate aptitude was not bad, even at a tender age, he possessed the strength of the second level of the acquired realm. However, his humble background had shaped his character into a timid and insecure person.
What Lin Tianfeng intended to do with his words was to see if Du Feng could shed his usual timidity and become strong. If Du Feng could awaken his warrior's heart, he had the potential to become a true martial artist, and his future achievements would be beyond measure. But, if Du Feng remained trapped by his inner fears, he would forever be an ordinary martial artist, without any notable accomplishments.
After hearing Lin Tianfeng's motivational speech, Du Feng's blood boiled with fighting spirit. But upon seeing the gleaming steel knife in the opponent's hand, his face twisted in fear again, he whimpered, "Boss, they have knives..."
Lin Tianfeng sighed slightly, he would usually ignore such fears but decided to help Du Feng one last time given his years of loyalty.
"Come here."
Lin Tianfeng walked over to Du Feng, suddenly pulled out a dagger gleaming with cold light, and ruthlessly cut open his right arm, blood gushed out.
"Ah... Boss, what are you doing?" Du Feng was stunned by Lin Tianfeng's action, clutching his injured arm he screamed in agony.
"Don't move."
Du Feng obeyed Lin Tianfeng, standing still on the spot, not daring to stir. He felt that Lin Tianfeng had changed beyond recognition, devoid of his usual nonchalance.
Lin Tianfeng frowned, dipped his right index finger into Du Feng's blood, then meticulously drew a mysterious symbol on Du Feng's round face.
"That's it."
Lin Tianfeng looked at the bloody symbol on Du Feng's face, patted his hands in satisfaction, and said, "You can go now. With the protection of this spirit tattoo, those noobs can't hurt you."
"Boss..."
Du Feng wore a gloomy face, unconvinced that Lin Tianfeng painting randomly on his face could prevent damage from a steel knife.
"Du Feng, since you've called me 'boss', I'll be honest with you. As long as you can defeat those wastes in front of you and awaken your spirit of martial arts, soaring to great heights and standing above all others is entirely within your grasp. If you couldn't even take care of those wastes, for the rest of your life, you'd be just a lowly commoner, subject to others' humiliation. So, what's it going to be: standing above all, or being a lowly commoner? Make your choice." Lin Tianfeng stood with his hands behind his back, his face utterly serious, not at all like he was joking.
Du Feng looked at Lin Tianfeng in disbelief, closely pondering the words he had just said. Would he rise to stand above all, or end up a forever-abused lowly commoner?
Looking back, Du Feng had always been an outstanding disciple in Tianwu Sect, possessing the strength of the Postnatal Second-Aura Stage at a young age. Despite that, he was still bullied by outer sect disciples who were even weaker than him.
Just because those who bullied him were the descendants of the Wang noble family, while he was merely a lowly commoner.
"No, I, Du Feng, absolutely refuse to be a lowly commoner for my whole life!"