Chapter 1: Li Rui

Yu Kingdom, Yunzhou, Anning Prefecture, Qinghe County.

Winter arrived; a night of snow.

The hour of Chou.

The door of a small room in the southeast corner of the Zhu residence creaked open.

Li Rui tucked his hands into the sleeves of his cotton robe, his boots crunching through the snow as he shivered his way to the stable.

He came to the stable every night to check whether the two young apprentices had been slacking off—though at this age, when he’d long since wet his boots with urine, he’d lost the habit of sleeping in.

Seeing the hay piled high to the brim of the manger, Li Rui nodded in satisfaction and returned to his room.

Horses don’t grow fat without night feed.

The Zhu family’s horses were more precious than their people.

If Master Zhu noticed the horses had grown thin, even a stable hand who’d served for fifty years wouldn’t escape a beating.

Back in the warm room.

Li Rui had lost all sleepiness; he pulled a tobacco pipe from beside his pillow, tapped the brass bowl against his heel, packed it with tobacco, and smoked a few slow puffs until the room filled with smoke.

He leaned back comfortably, gazing at his own shriveled, aged, calloused hands.

“How did I live this long?”

By next spring, he’d be seventy. In this era, living to seventy was exceedingly rare—perhaps even the county magistrate would come to visit, and the Zhu family might grant him freedom from his lowly status.

But to him, it meant nothing anymore.

He looked back on his life.

He had no passions, no achievements, nothing accomplished.

Well, smoking tobacco counted as one.

“What a curse—I was a man from the modern age.”

Indeed, Li Rui was a transmigrator.

But the most tragic one: no system, no golden finger, stuck in this world for fifty years.

The original body’s family had suffered disaster; he’d been sold into servitude at the Zhu household, couldn’t endure the hardship, and froze to death one winter—Li Rui then took over his body.

Thanks to his literacy and wit, he’d barely managed to secure this position as a stable hand.

As a skilled laborer, the stable hand’s treatment was far better than that of other servants—he never lacked food or clothing.

Use knowledge from his past life to defy fate?

He was lowborn; doing anything too unusual would make his masters see him as a monster and kill him.

Later, as he grew older, his status in the Zhu household rose; people began calling him Li Lao, and he took on two apprentices, no longer needing to feed the horses himself.

Life had been bearable enough.

He’d never considered marrying or having children—he’d signed a red contract; unless his master granted him mercy, no ransom could free him from lowly status.

According to Yu Kingdom law, lowborn status passed down generation after generation—his children, once born, would be slaves.

Why burden his descendants with the same fate?

He’d had a few lovers in his youth, but even the youngest among them had passed away years ago—he’d buried her himself.

He’d passed on all his horse-rearing skills to his two apprentices, hoping that when he died, they’d give him a thin coffin for burial—so his life might end decently.

All is fate; not a single thing depends on man.

Just then—

A line of small characters appeared before his eyes.

【Host detected. Congratulations! You’ve unlocked Perfect Life!】

“Golden finger?”

“Why so late?!”

Li Rui’s once-dead calm heart stirred again—but what the hell was “Perfect Life”?

He was nearly seventy, on the verge of the grave—could this still be “Perfect Life”?

The next instant, another line of characters appeared, interrupting his thoughts.

【You were born under celestial omens—a once-in-ten-thousand-years innate martial bone, destined from birth to become the strongest under heaven!】

Li Rui’s expression twisted.

This life was perfect—yet it had nothing to do with him.

Forget innate martial bone—he’d trained in martial arts for a few days back in his youth, under the Zhu household’s martial instructors.

The strongest under heaven?

He couldn’t even touch the threshold of martial cultivation. Martial arts demanded extreme innate talent; ordinary people struggled immensely just to enter the path.

And he was already seventy!

What the hell was “innate martial bone”?

But instantly, a glowing interface appeared before his eyes.

【Talent acquired: Martial Bone!】

【Name: Li Rui】

【Age: 0】

【Talent: Martial Bone (once-in-ten-thousand-years, naturally invincible)】

【Achievements: 0/100】

The moment the interface appeared, Li Rui felt something new stir within his spine’s great dragon; his previously icy limbs suddenly warmed, his blood and qi surging far beyond what they’d ever been.

It really was Martial Bone?!

Li Rui’s eyes widened in disbelief.

But this Martial Bone came far too late…

According to the average lifespan in ancient times, he’d already outlived it by decades; even living another ten years was optimistic. What good would Martial Bone do him now?

“Mortals have lifespan; immortals do not. If Martial Bone can exist, perhaps true immortals truly walk this world. Seventy is old age among mortals—but in the cultivation world, it’s prime age!”

Li Rui forcibly suppressed his excitement.

“Anning Prefecture has martial cultivators who practice health-preserving arts and live two full lifetimes. Martial cultivation isn’t all about brute force—it includes methods to extend life.”

“The Yu Kingdom’s great Daoist sects are full of white-haired old immortals whose power cannot be measured by age.”

Moreover, compared to someone born with innate martial bone, he had one great advantage.

That was stability.

If one were born under celestial omens, with extraordinary talent, a child carrying such a treasure would surely attract envy. If his parents lacked strength, that martial bone wouldn’t be fortune—it would be disaster. Only what one can truly hold onto counts as true blessing.

The late Master Huang was the perfect example.

Some things are not better for being acquired too early.

Seventy is perfect!

And it seemed there were more rewards beyond just the Martial Bone.

He turned his gaze to the Achievements column, and countless small characters appeared before him.

“Top the Imperial Exam, Fame Across the Jianghu, Dominate the Battlefield…”

Completing these achievements would grant him achievement points, which could unlock new rewards.

Seeing “Become an Immortal and Found a Sect” further solidified his resolve.

Li Rui calmed his emotions.

These achievements were too distant. Right now, he needed only to cultivate.

“I remember Master Yang, the Zhu household’s guard, bragged last month that he had a method that could extend life to a hundred—called Eight Pieces of Brocade. I’ll go ask him for it tomorrow.”

With Martial Bone, how could he fail to master a simple Eight Pieces of Brocade?

Early morning.

Li Rui wrapped himself in his cotton robe and headed toward the Zhu household’s training ground. The Zhu family was a major clan in Qinghe, with over a dozen guards—ordinary bandits dared not trouble them, and nothing had happened in decades.

He knew every path in the Zhu estate by heart; he walked effortlessly to the open space at the very back of the estate.

This was where the Zhu guards trained daily.

A seven-foot-tall middle-aged man spotted Li Rui and grinned: “Old Li, what brings you to the training ground? Planning to stretch your old arms and legs?”

The other guards chuckled in agreement.

Li Rui was used to such scenes; he ignored them.

He found the oldest guard in the corner: “Old Yang, is that Eight Pieces of Brocade you mentioned still available?”

The elderly guard, Yang Yong, blinked in surprise: “Old Li, you really want to learn martial arts?”

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(End of Chapter)