Chapter 231: A Brand New Life

My name is Li Lingling.

I am a village girl in Li Family Village.

My father was killed by someone on the battlefield while serving corvée labor, and my mother, after hearing the tragic news, became depressed and passed away early as well.

After they departed from this world, my other relatives also passed away one after another, leaving only my younger sister and me to rely on each other for survival.

Although the other villagers would come to help us out from time to time because they pitied us, life was still very difficult.

Although we had a few mu of farmland, there was no real security; after paying the taxes, what remained was only enough for the two of us to barely scrape by.

Fortunately, relying on the craft passed down by my mother, I could still take on some work sewing wedding dresses for others to make a living.

Life is hard, but I am still living as best I can.

Everything is fine!

My name is Shi Xue.

How could I, Li Fengyao, be that kind of person? Since you all have no regard for our past ties, why would I lower myself to approach you?

Since you have revealed such faces, do not blame me when I recover in the future and seek justice from you.

What a pity.

This is a Holy Sword!

"How strange! I clearly hate dancing with swords and spears the most..."

The Eldest Prince was also able to see the outside world and heard that promise where Li Long used the National Fortune as a gamble.

The real blow had arrived.

Thus, I made a decision that went against my ancestors.

I believe that one day, I will definitely make these people who betrayed me pay the price!!!

"Strip Li Fengyao of the title of Holy Son, expel him from the sect, and he shall never call himself a disciple of the Zhengqi Sect for the rest of his life!"

My name is Li Qiushui.

"And abolish his cultivation!"

In a mere three years, my cultivation actually fell back to the Qi Refining Initial Stage!

They even said things like, "This act violates the laws of Heaven!", "People will laugh at you if this gets out!", "No one will want you in the future!"...

From then on, I left and never returned.

【You can think of it this way: although their physical bodies entered the illusion, it was their souls that entered.】

If he were still in this world, he would have remonstrated to stop it without hesitation.

A scholar would rather die than be humiliated!

How unreasonable!

In a mere ten years, I became the number one person with the fastest cultivation speed on record in the Zhengqi Sect!

When I became famous, the disciples of the sect surrounded me, honoring me as the Eldest Senior Brother of the generation.

I didn't mind these things, but my parents seemed to have a headache over it.

Life slipped away bit by bit like this, yet my cultivation made no progress at all.

"But it is truly too perfect!"

"I don't really care anyway."

I am truly amazing!

My father became honorable because of me; he was taken as a disciple by the Sect Leader and was promoted all the way from an ordinary disciple to a Sect Elder, his strength greatly improved.

"If you all think it won't work, then why not just break off the engagement?"

As for that fiancé I had never met, I didn't have any resistance to him either.

From this point on, I completely became a stray dog with no home to return to.

Everyone said I had extraordinary talent and would surely leave behind my own legend in the cultivation world in the future.

【Hmm? If you want to ask, then ask.】

"I might, perhaps, be a Demon girl?"

But...

Completely changing my name and hiding in the mountains.

Li Jiyang understood the risks behind it as soon as he heard it.

No matter how much certainty one has, one should never use the future of all people under Heaven as a gamble!

Golden Core Perfection, Golden Core Initial Stage, Solid Foundation Perfection, Qi Refining Perfection...

Is a refined young lady from a good family.

This tree branch is actually so perfect.

What I said, isn't that exactly what you want to do in your hearts?

Tianjian tilted its head, rolled its eyes, and said:

Furious, I walked out from the back mountain, wanting to confront that heartless woman and seek justice.

Ridiculous!

The blacksmith's son with innate talent, the lucky one who fell off a cliff while being hunted by enemies but survived by chance, the frustrated middle-aged man selling straw sandals by the road...

However, I did not use these skills solely for theft.

My cultivation was already half-crippled, and the Law Enforcement Captain who came after me still remembered a shred of our old friendship, so he only broke one of my arms before leading the team away.

In other words, being able to see Li Lingling the village girl, Li Fengyao who was forced to break off his engagement, Li Qiushui the refined young lady, Shi Xue who acts chivalrously...

Mother always said that as a woman, one should focus on supporting the husband and teaching the children.

I hate things like dancing with blades and playing with swords the most.

It seems, it's actually quite interesting?

No, no, no, how could I think like that!

He personally cut off his own head, and now he is just in the state of a lonely ghost.

My family arranged a marriage for me long ago, and I don't really care.

……

I don't want it!

Because, I always have a strange feeling.

In my daily life, I like to raise flowers, arrange flowers, and admire flowers; I also like to read poetry and songs, and play the zither and music.

I want to be the younger sister!

Who is Father's most useful child?

It is me, Tianjian!

And beside Tianjian, Li Jiyang, who had witnessed everything, slightly raised his hand and tentatively asked:

With a twitch of his mouth, Li Jiyang dispelled the chaotic thoughts from his mind, thought of something, and asked further:

I am clearly a man... hmm?

Looking at the withered branch broken off by someone on the side of the road, I suddenly have a strange feeling.

I kept insisting like this, until a few days ago...

Although I don't think what she said is entirely correct, I have nothing to refute.

Very good.

And without Father's support, my already unstable position in the sect became increasingly precarious.

Wuwu...

I did not fail the expectations of the masses; I began cultivation at age three and ascended to the Earth Realm by age thirteen.

That is what I said, but I don't know why my parents' expressions changed drastically, and they even gave me a harsh lecture.

I want to...

Regarding the decision of the Zhengqi Sect, although I hate it, I do not care.

【As for what happens after, it depends on how they perform themselves.】

Those people who once surrounded me scattered and fled, never mentioning the events of that year; one by one, they treated me like a plague, terrified that I might bring up bits and pieces of the past.

The participating contestants each entered a completely different life.

"Lord Artifact Spirit, may I ask a question?"

The only thing to say is that name of his; every time I hear it, I feel a bit unhappy.

It seems he was once a genius in the mouths of others, with outstanding natural talent?

Hmm... I don't really understand those fights and killings; if they say it is so, then it is so.

"Li Fengyao deceived his superiors and concealed the truth, used Magic Cultivation to forge the illusion of entering the Earth Realm, and caused a bad influence within the sect!"

No!

I am a Knight-Thief with noble aspirations!

I feel very wronged.

However, some news seemed to come a while ago; it seems he ran into some trouble?

It seems he encountered a bottleneck on the path of cultivation, and his strength regressed all the way?

Under the huge blow, Father has aged a lot, and there are many gray hairs on his head.

"I actually don't want to be the older sister!"

From him, I learned a whole set of skills.

Starting three years ago, my cultivation suddenly made no further progress.

"Lord Tianjian, will my Imperial Father... participate in it later?"

Not only was there no progress after the Earth Realm, but it even began to regress!

【It's fine? Although there are risks, there aren't many, right? Hmm... this depends on how you think about it.】

"Why is life so hard!"

Hahaha!

I really am a good person!

……

I don't understand.

On the day I was born, a mysterious bird descended from Heaven, and Heaven itself was celebrating my birth.

It is so straight, the length is also just right, and the weight in my hand is neither too heavy nor too light.

In the years since finishing my apprenticeship, I have always robbed the rich to help the poor, suppressed the strong to support the weak, and upheld justice.

Is the Holy Son of the Zhengqi Sect.

No!

This is not a tree branch.

Perhaps no one expected that a young lady of a noble family like me would run away, and the escape was actually smooth sailing.

He left without saying goodbye one day and went alone to the perilous Great Snow Mountain to seek medicine.

The reputation of the Holy Son of the Zhengqi Sect?

【Additionally, just call me Tianjian; I like this name.】

As long as I am still here, I will absolutely not let my younger sister live a life of hardship with me.

"Yes, Lord Tianjian."

Tianjian tilted his head to look at the various scenes before him, very satisfied with his own masterpiece.

And today, I saw another wealthy young lady traveling alone.

How strange.

I have contracted a strange illness!

Because of the chaos of war, I was reduced to an orphan and was picked up and raised by my master.

Wherever there is injustice in the world, there will surely be the figure of me, Shi Xue!

I have traveled throughout the world and have never failed, gradually carving out a reputation for myself.

Nagging in front of me all day long—isn't it just because you want me to propose it myself?

Moving his gaze away from his own brothers and sisters, the former Eldest Prince Li Jiyang asked with some worry:

"They should all be fine, right?"

Hmph!

Looking at her fine silks and satins, she must have extorted who knows how much of the people's blood and sweat!

Perhaps she is innocent, but the hands of her family members are absolutely stained with heavy blood debts!

Watch me steal her luggage and then distribute this silver to the poor.

【Everything they are experiencing at this moment can be regarded as a dream; even if they die, it is merely a loss of some spiritual power.】

……

I had also long ago arranged a marriage with the daughter of the Sect Master of the Qiling Sect; as soon as she comes of age, I can marry her.

"Then... what about the risks?"

……

【Hmm, that's about it.】

【They cannot wake up, and as they remain immersed in their dream selves, even if they eventually wake, their original consciousness will be influenced by the self within the dream.】

The child-like Tianjian puffed out his small chest and nodded triumphantly.

Influenced by the self in the illusion, immersed in an illusory world...

I, the dignified Holy Son of the Zhengqi Sect, have actually had my engagement broken!

I have never met him, so naturally, there is no question of liking or disliking.

Because I am the elder sister!

It is just that, in the dead of night, I cannot help but let my imagination run wild.

Am I?

……

Basically everything has been done according to Father's requirements.

That identity does not belong to me; the identity that belongs to me has another name.

I have had my engagement broken!

Treating the sounds of the outside world as nothing, I focused my heart and continued to cultivate.

However, before I could arrive, I heard the news coming from the Zhengqi Sect.

Run! Away! From! Home!

Hmph!

Just wait until I escape, then you all can wait to regret it.

……

Is a thief.

……

My name is Li Fengyao.

Carrying my luggage filled with jewelry and silver, I actually managed to walk out of the city gate all by myself.

【Participate afterwards? What are you talking about?】

【Wasn't he in there from the very beginning?】

Looking at Li Jiyang strangely, Tianjian pointed to one of the scenes and curled his lip, saying:

【That farmer who died doing corvée labor, the Sect Elder who went to the snow mountain to find medicine, the Qiling Sect Sect Master, the master who trained the Knight-Thief, the blacksmith... aren't these all him?】