Five years had passed.
Liam had done his best to adjust to the strange new world he was reborn into. Life went on—though it felt more like being dragged behind it than walking his own path.
He'd grown, slowly, into the body of a local noble's child. His family name, Yuwei, held some weight in the modest city of Shulan, nestled safely within the borders of one of the Four Great Dominions of Fawei. Yet even from a young age, Liam understood that their noble status was more bark than bite. Compared to the towering clans and Law sects of the inner dominions, they were little more than privileged commoners.
Still, Shulan was peaceful. There were gardens to wander, tutors to obey, and quiet evenings beneath starlit skies. The rhythm of life gave him space to think.
He didn't forget.
He never would.
But in this life, revenge would have to wait.
Then again—revenge for what? The people who had wronged him back on Earth were long gone. So were the courts, the headlines, the endless days spent waiting for justice that never came. The system had devoured itself. All that remained was the echo of resentment, carried in memory.
There was no one left to kill.
Only his own weakness to overcome.
So he watched. He listened. He learned.
And in that learning, one truth became clear:
Lawyers ruled this world.
Not kings. Not warriors. Not saints or scholars.
Lawyers.
They were everywhere—spoken of in reverence or fear. Some mediated blood feuds between ancient clans; others penned contracts that moved armies or silenced rebellions. A Tier 5 Lawyer could halt a city's economy with a clause. A Tier 7 could draft a regional Law that bent reality for years.
Merchants courted them. Officials served them. Clans bowed before them.
Wherever they walked, doors opened. Contracts shimmered into being. The very world reshaped itself to their wording.
It was the first time Liam truly understood:
This world didn't just respect Lawyers.
It belonged to them.
---
That night, he sat beneath the shadow of the garden wall, staring at his hand.
He clenched and unclenched it slowly. These fingers were stronger than they were five years ago—but still soft. Still incomplete.
And yet, there was something in the air. An invisible pressure. He couldn't name it, but he felt it everywhere: in the wind, in the stone, in the breath of servants who passed by with unnatural ease.
He had seen things. Ordinary people doing extraordinary feats.
A merchant lifting a collapsed cart with one arm.
A farmer leaping over a fence with sacks of grain.
A maid darting across rooftops to retrieve a child's kite.
None of them glowed. None of them flew.
They were simply… stronger.
And then one day, lingering near the stables, he overheard it.
> "All young masters enter it by sixteen," the stableman said proudly. "Some by thirteen, if they're born under good contracts."
Sainthood.
He asked his caretaker about it later.
She only smiled and ruffled his hair.
> That's just the body waking up. When it's strong enough to endure the weight of Law, we say you've entered Sainthood.
> Everyone reaches it?
> In Fawei Dominion? Of course. The air's thick with energy. Once your body ripens, it takes care of the rest.
Sainthood.
The name sounded divine—but in truth, it was only the threshold.
A body strong enough to survive the burden of Law.
A prerequisite. A key.
It was said that once one reached Sainthood, their lifespan extended by at least a hundred years. Their strength became double—or more—what any peak mortal could ever achieve. They could shatter brick with a fist. Dash faster than arrows. Endure wounds that would kill any Earth-born man.
And only then—only then—could one begin to walk the True Cultivation path.
Only then could one become a Lawyer.
Liam looked at his hand again.
Still small. Still unfinished.
But not forever.
He would reach Sainthood.
And then… then he would begin to understand the very Laws that ruled this world.
---
His mother's voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"Liam," came the gentle call from the terrace above, "come inside. It's cold."
She stood in soft robes, her eyes full of concern. Lady Yuwei Lanyin. A woman of grace and quiet strength—sharp when necessary, but never with him. He had grown closer to her than anyone else in this life.
If his mother was warmth, his father was steel.
Lord Yuwei Junren, head of the Yuwei household, was a man of law and discipline. A mid-tier Lawyer himself, he served as a legal retainer for the city's governor. Stern, dutiful, respected—but distant. Every conversation was a test. Every word, a clause. Liam had learned early on to speak carefully in his presence.
Their house, like many in Shulan City, was one of tradition and hierarchy. But there was no cruelty here. Just expectation.
And Liam had learned to meet expectation well.
Still… it was his mother's touch that eased the weight of days.
He stood, brushing dirt from his sleeves.
"Coming, Mother."
As he walked back toward the light of the manor, one thought pulsed behind his eyes like an oath unspoken:
The path begins with the body. Then the Law. Then the world.
And once again, Liam dreamt of something he once loved—
and hated most of all.
Damn lawyers.