Great world, Tianxuan Continent, Great Yan Dynasty, Tiandu County.
The Mu Manor was nestled in a secluded corner of Tiandu County. The liveliest city for a hundred miles around was Qingyang.
In such a desolate place, resources were scarce, and powerful figures were few and far between. True masters considered these lands a backwater and didn't deign to notice them.
Although everything within a ten-mile radius was under the sway of the Mu Manor, the strongest in their clan was only at the initial stage of Heavenly Yuan.
"Is my start even worse than Lin Dong's?" a girl sighed.
She was about thirteen years old, with skin as white as porcelain. Although young, she was already graceful, like a young willow.
What was most captivating about her were her eyes—clear, radiant, and full of life. They held a striking insight, as if the whole world was reflected in their depths.
These were eyes full of wisdom.
The change in the girl began three days ago. For all this time, she had been locked in her room, immersed in the fusion of memories, undistracted by anything. Only now had she completed the process.
She had transmigrated into this world. Or, more precisely, not just transmigrated—she had awakened the memory of her past life.
Gathering her thoughts, the girl focused, and a seal appeared on her forehead. This seal was incomprehensibly mysterious—a single glance at it made one's head spin.
When the seal appeared, the girl's face became still and cold. Her radiant eyes seemed to lose all warmth, sending a chill down one's spine.
Relaxing, she hid the seal, and her former liveliness returned. Pondering the flood of knowledge in her mind, she sighed, a shadow of complex emotions flickering in her gaze.
"It seems to be... the Rebirth Seal!"
The Rebirth Seal on the Tianxuan Continent existed almost solely in legends. Super-strong masters of the Rebirth level, mortally wounded or having failed a rebirth trial, could, with exceptional abilities, preserve a spark of their soul. They would send it into the cycle of reincarnation, awaiting the moment when fate would allow this spark to awaken and be reborn between heaven and earth.
Awakening the memory of a past life, such reborn individuals would acquire the Rebirth Seal. Thus, this seal became almost synonymous with Rebirth level masters.
But the girl knew that in her past life, she was not a powerful Rebirth master. She was just an ordinary person from the Blue Star (Earth).
Although she was confused about why she had a Rebirth Seal, this question was beyond her ability to solve for now. Concluding that such contemplation was fruitless, she accepted reality as it was.
"Ha, if transmigrators in the World of Martial Spirits can strengthen their souls, then isn't it logical to awaken a Rebirth Seal on the Tianxuan Continent?" she thought, the corners of her lips curling into a slight smile.
Since this was the awakening of past life memories, there was no body snatching. There was no "old" her—she had always been herself. Just like the Ice Master in the original story.
"Today, I understood who I am. I am Mu Zi from the Mu Manor!"
When Mu Zi was very young, her parents died in an attack by a demonic beast during one of their expeditions. Upon learning of this, their elder clan brother, Mu Yun, took her under his care.
Mu Yun was an early widower and was left with a single daughter, Mu Lingsha.
Although he had to raise two girls alone, it wasn't a heavy burden for him. As one of the three late-stage Earth Yuan masters in the Mu Manor, Mu Yun held considerable influence. Mu Zi's life was not luxurious, but she lacked nothing.
Perhaps out of remembrance for his deceased brother and sister-in-law, Mu Yun treated Mu Zi like his own daughter, sometimes being even stricter with his own daughter, Mu Lingsha. In Mu Zi's heart, Mu Yun's family had long been her own.
Speaking of her cousin, Mu Lingsha, Mu Zi recalled something from her past life. In the original story, Lingsha participated in the very hunt where, along with Lin Dong and Wu Yun from the Mad Blade School, they captured three fire python-tiger cubs.
"Sister has already reached the eighth level of Body Tempering. This morning, she went on a hunt. It seems the plot began almost a year ago," Mu Zi mused.
From the moment Lin Dong obtained the Ancestral Stone to the hunting tournament, ten months had passed. During this time, Lin Dong rose from the third level of Body Tempering to Earth Yuan—a speed that could not be called slow.
However, possessing the Ancestral Stone—the greatest man-made artifact of the Tianxuan Continent—such cultivation speed was not surprising. Even in its dormant state, the Ancestral Stone provided immense advantages in training.
Take the Ancestral Stone from Lin Dong? Such a thought was not in Mu Zi's plans.
Not to mention whether she would have the strength to take the Ancestral Stone, even if it were possible, Mu Zi would not do so. Lin Dong did not get the Stone by chance—he was chosen by the Symbol Master himself.
More accurately, the Symbol Master likely did not have the power to choose an heir across millennia. Based on the original story Mu Zi knew from her past life, she speculated: the true chooser of Lin Dong was the will of the world.
Across the entire Tianxuan Continent, a person with the so-called "aura of affinity with ancestral symbols" had never been born. Even the ancient Eight Sovereigns, the strongest of the locals, did not possess it. The ancestral symbols were not ordinary divine artifacts of heaven and earth. They were born from the world itself as a defense against the invasion of outer demons.
Lin Dong's ability to merge with the eight ancestral symbols created against foreign demons could not be a coincidence. It was the choice of the world's will.
In other words, Lin Dong was fate's chosen one.
The Symbol Master likely just followed the current, guiding the Ancestral Stone to assist the chosen one. The Stone's appearance in Qingyang was probably not accidental.
If this guess was correct, then even if someone else had obtained the Stone, they would have received only a fraction of its power. The Stone would not have helped a new owner as it helped Lin Dong in the original story.
An example is Little Marten from the original. He only became a user of the Stone but not its true master. He received little benefit but brought on a deadly calamity.
Lin Dong, even without the Stone, remained the darling of the world's will, a true "son of the world." Antagonizing him would be unwise. Furthermore, Mu Zi, knowing the original story, respected Lin Dong as a person and did not wish to resort to theft.
Her confidence in her own path rested on the Rebirth Seal.
Perhaps because in her past life, Mu Zi was not a Rebirth-level master, her seal was unusual. It did not provide direct power but only offered辅助 abilities.
Taking a bundle from under her bed, Mu Zi unrolled it. Five snow-white fruits the size of a thumb lay before her eyes. A light scent touched her nose, and she nodded in satisfaction.
These were snow fruits—a first-rank spiritual medicine. Knowing that Mu Zi had begun cultivation, Mu Yun had prepared them for her, spending a good deal of contribution points to exchange for them in the manor.
The Mu Manor was weaker than the Lin Clan of Qingyang, and resources here were limited. Such spiritual medicines, which aided in cultivation, were highly valued. If Mu Yun were not a key figure in the manor, he wouldn't have been able to get them.
Mu Zi understood this, and gratitude stirred in her heart.
Mu Zi had previously been saving these snow fruits, hesitant to eat them. But now, having become reborn, she decided to treat herself.
Taking one fruit, she carefully put the others away. After thoroughly washing the fruit with clean water, Mu Zi brought it to her lips but suddenly froze, deep in thought.
"Hey, Rebirth Seal, want some?" she said jokingly, pressing the fruit to her forehead.
Suddenly, a light, barely perceptible fluctuation rippled across her skin, and the fruit disappeared, absorbed by the girl's snow-white forehead.
"Seriously, you ate it? How audacious!" Mu Zi was surprised, though it wasn't completely unexpected.
A wave of energy surged from the Rebirth Seal, filling Mu Zi's body. Her cheeks turned slightly red. Before she could be indignant, she focused.
The energy was surprisingly pure, as if devoid of the slightest impurities. Mu Zi absorbed it with almost no loss—the efficiency was far higher than simply eating the spiritual medicine.
In less than ten minutes, the energy flow dried up. Mu Zi had completed her cultivation.
Looking herself over, she noticed that her skin had become slightly denser and more elastic. This amazed her—a sign of a soon-to-be breakthrough to the fourth level of Body Tempering! And she had only recently reached the third level. Such cultivation speed was impressive.
A satisfied smile blossomed on Mu Zi's face but then faded just as quickly, replaced by a frown. The change in mood was rapid, almost comical.
"The speed is good, but my skin has become as tough as a board," she muttered, dissatisfied with the changes in her body.
"Fine, I'll reach the sixth level of Body Tempering, Yuan Li will appear, and everything will return to normal," Mu Zi sighed, shaking off her annoyance. She began to summarize her cultivation.
"A few more sessions like this, and I'll break through to the fourth level. The speed is not bad. But at the Body Tempering stage, there are limits; it's better not to rush and let the body get used to it. I'll take the medicine once every two days."
Having summarized her progress, Mu Zi began to explore the other capabilities of the Rebirth Seal.
After its awakening, Mu Zi felt her mind become sharper and her thinking more flexible. This meant her comprehension ability had increased. By activating the Seal, she could enhance this ability even more, but the effect was temporary—after deactivating the Seal, everything returned to its original state.
Activating the Seal required a price: each time, the energy accumulated within it was consumed, and the higher the cultivation level, the more energy was used.
Mu Zi had just begun her journey and was at the third level of Body Tempering. The seed of Yuan Li had not yet been born in her body, and she could not absorb energy from the surrounding world. The Seal's energy could only be replenished with spiritual medicines. After using one first-rank fruit, Mu Zi felt that the energy reserve in the Seal had slightly increased.
"Replenish energy with medicine? This is ruinous! It seems that until I break through to the seventh level of Body Tempering, I'd better use the Seal less for enhancing comprehension," she sighed with regret.
But even without activating the Seal, Mu Zi felt that her comprehension ability was already high. However, she couldn't precisely assess how high it was just yet.
"Sister promised to teach me martial arts as soon as I reached the third level of Body Tempering. Maybe this will help me understand," Mu Zi thought.
At the thought of martial arts, her heart beat with anticipation. Martial arts! A mysterious power full of wonders—who wouldn't dream of such a thing? Finding herself on the Tianxuan Continent, she longed to see the pinnacle of the martial arts path.
"Lin Dong in the original was called a Martial Arts Master, but he mostly used techniques created by others. Ha, the title of Master doesn't really suit him," she chuckled.
Mu Zi's eyes sparkled with mischief. With a cunning smile, she thought:
"Lin Dong, the title of Martial Arts Master is too grand for you. I'd better take it!"