Days passed, and every night, Lin Tian would enter his soul world. There, he diligently practiced all the knowledge and arts inherited from the Primordial God.
All kinds of martial techniques, medical arts, acupuncture, pill refinement, mastery of formations, creation of arrays and dimensional portals—Lin Tian studied them all, one by one, with utmost seriousness.
Fortunately, Lin Tian's comprehension was extraordinarily fast. The Primordial God's intelligence passed down to him made even the most complex concepts feel easy to understand.
Lin Tian studied everything, from the lowest-level techniques to the highest-tier arts, but for now, he only practiced up to the limit of his current cultivation—the Primordial Sky Realm.
Time flew by quickly, and Lin Tian was now two years old.
At this age, Lin Tian could crawl around nimbly. In truth, he could easily levitate or fly, but he chose to hide that fact. Lin Tian did not want to raise suspicion from anyone, even his own family.
One morning, Lin Tian was crawling across the warm wooden floor, his eyes shining with curiosity, reaching for the objects around him. His older sister, Lin Yu, watched him excitedly.
"Wow, my little brother can crawl now! Mother, Father, come quick! Tian'er can crawl already, he's amazing!" Lin Yu shouted, her eyes sparkling, her face beaming with joy.
Jiang Yueli and Lin Zhanglong hurried into Lin Tian's room after hearing Lin Yu's shout. They were surprised to see Lin Tian crawling around cheerfully, giggling softly.
"Hahaha, my son is truly remarkable," Lin Zhanglong laughed proudly. "At two years old and crawling so quickly, even though no one taught him."
Jiang Yueli smiled softly, her eyes glistening as she watched Tian'er laugh when his sister patted his head. Such simple moments were enough to fill their hearts with happiness.
Lin Yu then sat beside Lin Tian, raising her arms.
"Come on, Tian'er, crawl to your big sister!" Lin Yu called gently.
Lin Tian crawled toward his sister with small giggles, "Aaa… uuu…"
Lin Yu carefully embraced Tian'er, planting a gentle kiss on his forehead.
"My little brother is so smart…" Lin Yu whispered with a warm smile.
That day, they played together, Lin Yu helping Tian'er stand while laughing happily, while Lin Tian savored the warmth of a family he had never experienced in his previous life.
.
Night fell.
As usual, after his mother laid him down to sleep, Lin Tian closed his eyes and entered his soul world.
But suddenly, Lin Tian's brows furrowed. His closed eyes moved rapidly as he sensed something from afar.
"There's an aura… so familiar…" Lin Tian thought.
In his mind's vision, he saw the figure of a woman with long hair dressed entirely in black, her face hidden behind a black mask with a large number written on her forehead.
That number was "3."
Lin Tian's eyes widened.
"No way…!"
His body remained still, but his mind roiled with turmoil.
He knew exactly who that masked figure was. She was one of the generals from the Demonic Sect he had faced in his past life.
The masked general with the number 3, a woman adept in deadly poisons, whom he had once defeated effortlessly.
"Li Hua…" Lin Tian whispered inwardly.
Disbelief clouded his thoughts.
"Why is she here now? Wasn't the Demonic Sect's attack supposed to happen in twenty-eight years? Why has one of their generals appeared at the Lin Clan's residence?"
Lin Tian tried to recall carefully. In his past life, his master Xue Ying once told him the Lin Clan only had one child, Lin Yu.
Xue Ying had never once mentioned the name Lin Tian.
"Wait…" Lin Tian opened his eyes slightly, staring at the carved wooden ceiling of his room.
"Could it be… that I never grew up in the Lin Clan in my past life?"
He remembered Xue Ying's words about the Lin Clan's destruction at the hands of the Demonic Sect, yet there was never a mention of any son other than Lin Yu.
"Don't tell me… I was kidnapped by the Demonic Sect as a baby in my past life?" Lin Tian murmured.
His heart turned cold, an uncomfortable feeling creeping into his chest.
"No wonder… Master never mentioned Lin Yu's younger brother…" Lin Tian thought, his eyes now shining with a renewed resolve.
He also recalled that the Lin Clan became the Demonic Sect's second target after they destroyed the Flower Mountain Sect.
"Was I kidnapped so they could find the Lin Clan's location? Or did they have a bigger plan?" Lin Tian clenched his teeth.
He took a deep breath, calming his chaotic thoughts.
"Li Hua, what is your purpose for coming here…" Lin Tian whispered, barely audible.
Lin Tian closed his eyes again, calmly waiting for Li Hua to come to his room.
"If you're here to kidnap me… I will use this chance to overturn fate."
In his heart, Lin Tian was prepared. He would face the darkness of his past with his newfound strength, ensuring that no one would ever harm his family again.
At that moment, Lin Tian lay on his bed, eyes closed, appearing to sleep soundly like any other baby. Yet in silence, his spiritual senses extended far into the dark of night, clearly sensing Li Hua slowly approaching his residence.
Li Hua's footsteps made no sound. Each step was like a whisper of wind, using a high-level shadow step technique that was nearly undetectable by the Lin Clan's guards.
"Hmph, Silent Shadow Step… I remember this technique… Li Hua's strength is on par with a Saint Warrior…" Lin Tian thought without opening his eyes. He still remembered clearly how, before killing the Demonic Lord, he had defeated each of the Demonic generals, including Li Hua.
Li Hua stopped in front of Lin Tian's window. With a smooth motion, she opened the window and stepped inside silently, letting the night breeze sway the thin curtains.
Li Hua's gaze scanned the room before settling on Lin Tian, who appeared to be sleeping soundly.
"Strange… this baby is too calm…" Li Hua muttered inwardly but ignored the thought. There was no way a baby could sense her presence.
"Ohh… what a handsome child…" she whispered softly, her long, delicate fingers gently touching Lin Tian's warm, soft cheek.
From her fingertips, a thin red mist slowly emerged—a sleeping poison potent enough to render an ordinary martial artist unconscious without a trace.
But Lin Tian remained still. His poison-immune body did not react at all, but he chose to pretend to remain powerless.
"Such a weak poison… just a mix of wild herbs and animal venom… too easy to neutralize…" Lin Tian thought coldly.
The mortal world truly relied on such simple toxins to eliminate enemies. It was nothing compared to the cultivation world, where poisons came in countless varieties—fire poison, demonic poison, blood poison, even spiritual poisons.
Lin Tian exhaled softly, letting his body go limp, feigning unconsciousness with a breath-control deception technique he learned from the billions of pieces of knowledge of the Primordial God.
"Haha… good child… now come with me…" Li Hua whispered with a thin smile, carefully lifting Lin Tian from the bed, wrapping him in a thin black cloth, and stepping back toward the window.
"So… where are you taking me tonight?" Lin Tian thought, keeping his breathing steady while his closed eyes continued observing his surroundings with spiritual sight.
As Li Hua slipped out of the courtyard, the ring on Lin Tian's finger emitted an invisible flash, creating an illusionary formation that concealed Lin Tian's disappearance. Anyone checking the room would see Lin Tian still sleeping peacefully on the bed.
As his mother approached the room, guided by a strong maternal instinct, a sudden drowsiness overcame her, causing her to fall asleep right at Lin Tian's door. His father and sister, who were about to check on him, also fell asleep, unaware of anything.
"Forgive me, Father… Mother… Sister… I have to settle this tonight…" Lin Tian thought, his eyes still closed while his mind remained sharp as a blade.
Li Hua moved swiftly under the dark night, her body like a black shadow darting through the back courtyard, leaping over the Lin Clan's walls toward the forest.
The sounds of night insects echoed faintly, leaves rustling in the cool night breeze as the silent witnesses of their journey. Li Hua continued to dart across tree branches, her sharp eyes scanning ahead to ensure no one followed.
When they reached the forest bordering the Lin Clan's territory, Li Hua paused, glancing at the seemingly unconscious baby Lin Tian.
"Tsk… this baby is truly handsome… the Lin Clan's son will make a fine offering…" Li Hua muttered with a sinister smile.
But just as she was about to leap again, a loud explosion shook the air.
Boom!
The blast echoed, leaves raining down, and night birds fleeing from their nests in panic.
Li Hua's eyes widened in shock as her body was pushed back a few steps, a thin smoke and strong wind brushing against her face.
"What?!" Li Hua immediately took a defensive stance, dark aura enveloping her body as her hair fluttered wildly from the blast.
From within the forest's darkness, the sound of steady footsteps echoed. One step… two steps… each step carrying the weight of a walking mountain.
Slowly, a figure emerged from the shadows of the tall trees, clad in yellow robes with a large fist emblem on his chest, his eyes sharp, his face as hard as carved stone.
"What are you doing with the Lin Clan's child!" his voice boomed, splitting the night's silence.
Li Hua quickly turned, her eyes narrowing as she saw the figure radiating an aura equal to her own.
Meanwhile, in Li Hua's arms, Lin Tian opened his eyes slightly, looking at the figure under the moonlight filtering through the treetops.
"That… the emblem of the Zhou Clan…" Lin Tian recalled his time as the head librarian of the Flower Mountain Sect.
In his past life, he had only met the young heir of the Zhou Clan, never the head of the Zhou Clan himself.
"Could it be… he's the Zhou Clan's patriarch…"
Lin Tian took a deep breath inwardly.
"And in my past life… perhaps on a night like this… he was gravely wounded trying to stop Li Hua… poisoned… forced to hide for years to heal… until only his heir came to the sect seeking medicine…"
Lin Tian's gaze turned sharp.
"If this is a repeating destiny… then this time… I will change it."
The night air grew colder, the wind carrying the scent of damp earth, becoming the silent witness to the great battle about to erupt tonight at the Lin Clan's forest borders.
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