Great Yan Dynasty.
Qing State.
Snow Plum Manor.
Petals of plum blossom, like snow, fall one by one, mixed with blood, appearing even more desolate. Shouts of battle completely break the peaceful beauty of the manor's past.
"Kill!"
"Today in Snow Plum Manor, leave not even a chicken or dog!"
"Not a single ant is to be spared!"
The cold, merciless cries pierce through the chilly wind, evoking a bone-chilling feeling.
It is in such an environment that Ning Qi's consciousness revived.
"Have I… crossed over?"
It's no wonder he thinks this way, clearly just a second ago he was on a hospital bed waiting for the countdown to death, yet in the next moment, he went from being an adult to an infant, seemingly caught up in an assassination incident.
Indeed.
Ning Qi was absolutely certain, he had become a newborn baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, the warmth somewhat alleviating the discomfort brought by his tiny body. Still, it was much better than his previous life.
In his past life, he contracted a rare form of ALS at a young age, spending his final years bedridden, ultimately dying in darkness and loneliness.
"At least I'm still alive… although the situation is not good."
Perhaps due to the crossover, Ning Qi easily understood the meanings embedded in the voices.
Ning Qi heard those voices filled with murderous intent penetrating through, causing the body of the woman holding him as she ran to tremble slightly, making him nervous too. If possible, who would want to greet death again just after being reborn?
He struggled to open his eyes, but his eyelids were still sticky with dried fluids.
From his perspective, he couldn't see the woman's true face, but just the sight of her snow-white chin filled him with a warmth of tenderness, and Ning Qi seemed to feel a bond between him and the woman, like a resonance of blood.
"Is she my mother in this life?"
Ning Qi had just risen to this thought.
The young woman swiftly dashed into a study, then pressed something in a specific pattern on a mechanism, revealing a secret compartment.
The woman bent down, gently placing Ning Qi inside the secret compartment.
In the faint light, Ning Qi finally saw the outline of the woman's face.
She possessed a comfortable delicacy, her brows filled with gentleness, a new mother whose maternal radiance was enough to make one's heart tremble.
The woman's weak, sorrowful voice rang out:
"Qi'Er, you must live on. Mother has to accompany your father to confront the enemy. If you are protected by an Immortal or Gods, do not blame us, your parents."
Ning Qi felt warm lips imprint on his forehead, a few teardrops gently falling on his face, the woman's eyes full of tangible reluctance.
Then, the woman resolutely turned away, the sound of the mechanism echoed, and darkness enveloped Ning Qi once more.
A wave of sorrow surged in Ning Qi's heart.
Though he had just crossed over, the resonance felt in his blood was undeniably genuine – this was his biological mother. Even in brief interaction, he could fully feel her protective intention.
But now, the situation looked grim.
From his mother's weak tone, it was clear: she was forced to face the enemy just after giving birth, the situation dire, the enemies unknown but seizing this moment like venomous snakes striking, they would not easily relent.
Having just crossed over to such peril, Ning Qi's nerves were already tense.
He did not want to die like this.
He began to listen carefully.
The thick walls of the secret compartment muffled most sounds, but he could still hear the sounds of slaughter drawing closer, the clash of metal, and various explosive sounds incessant.
Ning Qi discerned two pieces of information.
First, the martial prowess of this world was undoubtedly high.
Second, the Snow Plum Manor of his birth was about to fall.
His heart sank continuously.
"What to do? If these enemies slaughter everyone in the manor, can I evade their search?"
Despite currently being safe in the secret compartment, what if the enemies detect his presence through some sort of Perception or breathing technique?
In a world of high martial skill, Ning Qi could not afford complacency.
He began to reduce his movements as much as possible within the swaddling clothes, keeping his breathing to a minimum.
Yet the sense of unease still lingered about him.
Especially as the shouts of battle grew quieter, the dense footsteps, door smashing, and cries for mercy increased, the uneasiness intensified, he had a strong premonition he would be discovered, be found.
He knew, Snow Plum Manor was doomed.
His father and mother likely faced grim odds too.
But Ning Qi had no time for sadness, the heavy sense of crisis left him no room for other thoughts.
"Search! Search thoroughly!"
"Do not overlook any corner, not a single life is to be spared!"
"Especially find Ning Ye and Jiang Xuemei's child, they must be wiped out, root and branch!!"
The deep voice, filled with malice, made Ning Qi's heart beat intensely.
He desperately tried to minimize his movement, but his body's instinctive reactions were beyond control.
"What to do? What to do?"
Ning Qi's mind spun wildly, thinking of countermeasures.
He was now just an infant without any ability to resist, not even able to move, escape was impossible, the only option was to avoid being discovered by the enemies, otherwise, he faced certain death.
At this moment.
The world suddenly quieted down.
It was as if light and time had lost their meaning.
Ning Qi felt his mind enter a marvelous state in an instant, as if he could be omnipotent and control everything.
But this feeling was just fleeting, and then the world became noisy again.
Then.
A flash of spiritual light passed through his mind.
It also allowed Ning Qi to instantly understand what had happened; he had traveled across, reliving a life, seemingly activating something incredible. He now only felt his thoughts leaping extremely sharply, with comprehension extraordinarily enhanced!
The spiritual light illuminated past and present lifetimes, letting him know that this was indeed his hundredth life, and the previous ninety-nine lives were all suffering. Even the beginning of this hundredth life was also suffering.
"A hundred lives of suffering, even heaven can't stand it and wants to give me a golden finger?"
Ning Qi was stunned.
Then came the surprise.
He did not forget the current crisis and immediately began to comprehend.
As the spiritual light gradually dissipated, it also made him understand that his current comprehension was the strongest that could be sustained at the current life intensity; no one can surpass it.
"That means, under the same life intensity, my comprehension reaches the limit that can be sustained, which is unparalleled, and not only that, if my life intensity leaps in the future, the comprehension will always remain in the strongest full load state!"
"This is full-level comprehension, always at full level no matter when!"
Ning Qi was filled with joy.
This might be his dawn!
He could feel his mind at this moment being unprecedentedly active, with any casual thought spawning thousands of ideas, miracles beyond mortal understanding.
"Full-level comprehension is amazing, but it doesn't make me become an unparalleled expert instantly; the urgent task is still to get out of the predicament first!"
Previously, Ning Qi couldn't control his breathing and heartbeat, but now it's different. He can completely perceive his physical condition and find the patterns.
The commotion outside was becoming more and more intense.
Ning Qi's thoughts were rapidly racing.
"In the previous life, I have heard of breathing without using mouth and nose, like being in the fetal womb, which is fetal breathing."
"I have just been born, my body has not been fully polluted by the outside world, occasionally I can enter into fetal breathing state, but I couldn't capture it previously. But now it is different, I can not only capture it, but also find the patterns and control them..."
"The faint warm breath flowing in my body, could it be the innate Qi that infants have? How wonderful. If it flows in specific patterns, converging all innate Qi within me without dispersing, this warmth will be greatly enhanced, able to protect my infant body!"
"..."
With thoughts moving rapidly, Ning Qi quickly captured that marvelous state and even further integrated it with the innate Qi.
At a speed visible to the naked eye, his originally disordered heartbeat and breathing sound began to become uniform and faint, until it completely disappeared!
If Ning Qi were to close his eyes at this moment, others might think it's a dead infant.
Ning Qi's eyes were filled with surprise.
"Let's call this breathing skill Innate Fetal Breathing Skill."
This is not some ultimate martial path skill but simply an Inner Breathing Technique, rooted in the special state of an infant, yet incredibly miraculous with innate Qi augmentation.
Ning Qi began to fully operate the Innate Fetal Breathing Skill he had just created.
At this moment.
As the warm breath flowed within Ning Qi, even with his mouth and nose tightly shut, he felt no discomfort. Every pore on his body slightly opened and closed to replace breathing, even the intense hunger that grew stronger with time was largely dissipated.
It is incredibly miraculous indeed.
And the anxiety entwining Ning Qi also finally waned significantly.
Ning Qi entered the state of Innate Fetal Breathing, with perception extraordinarily keen, able to hear the outside situation clearly.
Chaotic and dense footsteps sounded continuously, entering the study room where he was located more than once, accompanied by sounds of sabers and swords swinging, and various roaring sounds, seemingly destroying everything around violently.
He guessed it might be Blade Qi or Sword Qi, which terrified him.
Fortunately, Snow Plum Manor was large enough. The study room where Ning Qi was located was inconspicuous and had not been given focused attention without revealing traces.
Instead, some hidden servants were caught and killed on the spot.
On the rooftop of Snow Plum Manor.
A burly man in black clothes frowned, clutching his shoulder with his left hand, where there was a grim sword wound, while occasionally swinging Sword Qi with his right, splitting houses in two, with formidable might. Occasionally some survivors were discovered, but this was undoubtedly too inefficient.
Moreover, he most wanted to find Ning Ye's son without any trace whatsoever.
His inner irritability grew.
The black-clad men from all directions gathered, respectfully saying:
"Lord Feng, all the places that should be searched have been searched, not a bit of movement has been found, your subordinates also carefully sensed every corner but found no baby cries or heartbeats; could it be..."
Before he finished speaking.
Lord Feng interrupted with a wave, coldly saying:
"Absolutely impossible!"
"Jiang Xuemei has just given birth, the couple has already died at my hands, this child cannot have been sent away so quickly!"
With a fierce gaze, he warily scanned around, venting by swinging large areas of Sword Qi, quickly leaping around the manor, yet still unable to sense the slightest sign of a baby.
Finally, Lord Feng sinisterly smiled.
"Really can hide!"
"Set fire for me! Reduce Snow Plum Manor to ashes!"