Chapter 1 (2/2)

But the Xu family did not mistreat the Zhou family!

When Zhou Daogan revealed his aptitude for the Martial Way, Lord Mingde had already passed. With no worthy successor in the Xu family, Xu Yi’s grandfather chose to gift Zhou Daogan the Martial Way manuals that Lord Mingde had left behind, even financially supporting his efforts. It was only because of this that Zhou Daogan even had the chance to become a formidable practitioner.

After all, human potential is often limited. It is said that studying is for the poor, and martial arts is for the rich. Without the financial means to obtain medicinal herbs and training manuals, even a prodigy would end up being mediocre in the long run.

Of course, Xu Yi’s grandfather’s goodwill was not purely selfless. He had hoped that if Zhou Daogan would go far along the Martial Way, the Xu Family would get his primary support in the future.

Both parties were striving for a win-win situation — a common occurrence in daily life.

But in a twist of fate, despite suddenly becoming a noble one day, his former identity as a servant became an object of ridicule amongst his fellow disciples in the sect. At first, he could tolerate it. But as the days passed, it twisted him. Instead of blaming his ancestors for not being accomplished, he began to harbor a grudge against the Xu family for having his family as servants.

One was an esteemed disciple of the Lingxiao Hall with high status, while the other was just a wealthy landowner in the country.

Since Zhou Daogan bore a grudge against the Xu family, their fate was sealed.

However, the Xu family were once the Zhou family’s masters. Although Zhou Daogan wanted to do them in, he still had to bear his own reputation in mind. He thus resorted to long-term machinations to whittle them down.

Having been framed for a crime, the old master of the Xu family was angered to death, bringing the Xu family to their downfall.

Over the next twenty years, under constant suppression from the Zhou family, the Xu family suffered and were slowly unable to support themselves.

In the end, the Xu family lost their entire fortune. Xu Yi’s parents were also tricked by the Zhou family’s underhanded means, and they were forced into hard labor and servitude, eventually being worked to death.

With the Xu family in shambles, Xu Yi naturally had no means to train in the Martial Way. All that was left was for him to study. When he was sixteen, he set himself up as a children’s teacher in the Xu family’s village, somehow managing to make ends meet.

But even so, when the Zhou family got news of this, they went out of their way to destroy Xu Yi’s only source of income.

The Zhou family was merciless!

Overcome with a mix of rage and fear, Xu Yi astonishingly died just like that. Before his body could become cold, another soul had coincidentally travelled across time and space into it, becoming today’s Xu Yi.

With the melding of memories, Xu Yi could feel his emotions becoming one with the other Xu Yi as well. He truly felt hatred for Young Master Zhou and Zhou Daogan before him.

“Very well, since I’ve borrowed your body, let me resolve this grudge for you. You can rest in peace.”

Xu Yi looked up to the heavens and silently offered a sentence of prayer.

After a short rest, Xu Yi got up and entered the rundown wooden hut. He haphazardly made a simple dinner, swallowed it down, then stepped outside.

The night was already dark, and in the night sky hung a crescent moon. Bright and white, it’s light scattered over the land, illuminating the mountain forest in the distance, which looked like a giant resting beast.

When he entered the forest, Xu Yi’s body suddenly accelerated. With every step, he crossed a few meters. In a few flashes, he was already deep in the jungle.

He found an open area, then spread his legs out and assumed a stance.

Hu!

Ha!

Hu!

Ha!