I'm dropping 10 chapters today! Make sure to add the story to your reading list ツ
....
Fine warrior's cap.
Round collar.
Wide-sleeved robe.
A smooth, pale face with not even the faintest hint of stubble; almost feminine in its softness.
Standing in front of a bronze mirror, Li Qing examined his outfit. No matter how he looked at it, he saw a eunuch.
"Ah..."
A raspy duck-like voice.
Last night, he was still hugging a 2D waifu, playing Evenicle. Now, he wakes up like this. Dressed as a useless damn eunuch?
The dim wooden room smelled faintly of old piss. The standardized eunuch uniforms hanging in the corner wasn't helping.
Everything around him pointed to one fact:
This wasn't a dream.
He had transmigrated.
And he'd landed right in the middle of the royal palace during the Great Qian Dynasty, as a low-ranking eunuch, no less.
"A craftsman in my past life. Now I'm just some eunuch who remembers the craft. Feels like I'm devolving."
Memories churned in his head like a storm before slowly settling down. Eventually, Li Qing pieced things together.
Same name. Same surname. Sixteen years old.
His father was killed by a tiger not long after he was born. His mother died of illness a few years later.
At nine, his uncle sold him to the imperial palace. He was castrated and trained as a eunuch. That had been seven years ago.
Aside from having no balls, being a eunuch wasn't the worst gig. It was a stable government job. Food, clothes, shelter all covered. If you were lucky, you might even get to hear a concubine sing or sneak a peek while she bathed.
Li Qing was currently assigned to the Cold Palace. He was one of the eunuch guards in charge of delivering meals and refilling the night soil for the palace concubines.
He had no power, no influence; he was at the very bottom of the palace eunuch hierarchy. His robe was plain gray, without a single embroidered thread.
He stretched a little. His whole body felt limp and weak. He drained by too much yin deficiency.
"With a body this fragile, how the hell am I supposed to spy on bathing concubines or eavesdrop on their songs?"
He sighed.
"There are three great unfilial acts, and having no sons is the worst of them."
"What a disgrace of a son I turned out to be."
In a world built on martial arts, it didn't take long for Li Qing to think of every eunuch's favorite—The Sunflower Manual.
Everybody knows: people without parents are never simple.
Li Qing gave it a shot.
"System!"
No response.
"Hey, System Daddy!"
"I don't need to be the strongest under heaven, just give me a copy of the Sunflower Manual!"
"Hello?"
Still nothing. Li Qing was starting to lose hope.
"This doesn't make sense. I've read enough web novels to know this is how it's supposed to work... maybe... Lanlan?" He tried one last time.
Buzz!
In an instant, golden light bloomed in his mind like a lotus of rainbow glass.
From the heart of the flower, a towering stone tablet slowly emerged. Glowing characters began to form:
The Monument of a Hundred Lifetimes
"The Monument of a Hundred Lifetimes? What the hell is that?"
The tablet was mostly blank. Only the first line held any words:
A hundred lives in the mortal world, seeking immortality in the dust of mortals.
"A hundred lives in the mortal world, seeking immortality in the dust of men?" Li Qing repeated softly.
And then...
The monument dissolved into a rush of memories that slammed into his brain like a tidal wave. His skull felt like it was splitting open.
Pain.
Blinding pain.
A line of text flashed through his mind:
[Monument of a Hundred Lifetimes]
[Monument Holder: Li Qing]
[Life 1: 16/62]
Li Qing rubbed his temples, trying to ease the splitting pain from the memory surge. Once the flow from the Monument of a Hundred Lifetimes settled, he finally understood what it was for.
Put simply, the monument gave him a hundred lives.
In each one, he would go through the full cycle. Birth, aging, sickness, and death. But once he reached the natural end of that lifetime, he would reverse from old to young, becoming the boy he once was.
Even at sixty or seventy, he'd still come back as a teenager.
"The Monument of a Hundred Lifetimes... my golden cheat. In this lifetime, my limit is sixty-two. But if I live through a hundred lifetimes, doesn't that mean I get 6,200 years in total?"
"But it's not even capped at that. If I manage to cultivate my lifespan to ten thousand years in a single lifetime, then across a hundred lives... that's a million years!"
"Pseudo-immortality?"
"Invincible!"
"Other people get one lifetime. I get a hundred."
Li Qing was ecstatic.
From what he could recall, this world revolved around martial arts; but the monument spoke of seeking immortality in the mortal world.
That meant with its help, he could go beyond martial arts.
He could pursue the Great Dao. He could chase immortality.
And with enough time, pseudo-immortality might become the true immortality.
But the road to immortality wasn't some peaceful stroll. It meant fighting fate itself, seizing time from the heavens and dodging endless deadly trials. He'd have to stay sharp.
"I've got a hundred chances. There's no need to rush or gamble everything for quick results. I'll take it slow and steady."
"The monument only resets me when I die of old age. If I'm killed before that, all of this means nothing."
With that, Li Qing made up his mind: from now on, play it safe.
No unnecessary fights. No pointless rivalries. No taking what isn't his.
Play it safe, no matter what.
He wasn't here to chase glory in a single lifetime; he was here to make the most of a hundred.
The imperial palace was perfect for that. The world outside was full of martial artists who robbed and killed like it was nothing. Out there, safety was a luxury. But in here? The palace had one hundred thousand imperial guards and a million strong in the Forbidden Army. No matter how powerful a martial master was, breaking into the palace was nearly impossible.
The Great Qian Dynasty was only on its third emperor. There was no sign of collapse anytime soon.
Even being a eunuch in the Cold Palace wasn't a bad deal. As long as he didn't seek power or status, and avoided fights over promotion or influence, he'd be fine. Cold Palace eunuchs were at the very bottom; no perks, no glory, no competition. Which also meant no one bothered you. Living out a stable life here was completely doable.
"Returning to youth doesn't erase the cultivation. As long as I build slowly, I can get stronger, one lifetime at a time. What I need now is a technique. Any basic cultivation method will do. I don't care how weak it is, or how poor my talent might be."
"Even the dullest stone is shaped by the river in time."
"One thing I'm not sure of though… When the monument resets me, how old do I become?"
A troubling thought crossed Li Qing's mind.
He'd been castrated and sent to the palace at nine. If he kept resetting at ten every time… would he end up living all hundred lives as a eunuch?
"Whatever. No point stressing over it now. I seek longevity and clarity, to be a rare essence in a fading world. Once I start cultivating, I'll find a way to deal with the... egg problem. For now, I don't have a choice."
"Even if I have to spend three lifetimes as a eunuch, I'll get to see every last one of the emperor's three thousand concubines."
Li Qing dressed neatly and stepped out of his room.
It was time to report for duty.
A familiar duck-like voice came from outside the Cold Palace.
"By order of His Majesty: Consort Min is to be sent to the Cold Palace."
Li Qing blinked. Consort Min? Why was she being sent here?
A woman's pleading voice followed, full of sorrow:
"Your Majesty… please, spare Qian'er. He's your own uncle…"
The imperial throne of Great Qian had passed to its third generation. Consort Min had once been a concubine of the founding emperor. By seniority, she was the current emperor's grandmother.
Even a grandmother could be banished to the Cold Palace?
Li Qing jogged over to the palace gate and stood at his assigned post.
Creak!
The heavy doors of the Cold Palace opened. A woman, her hair a tangled mess, looking to be around forty but still strikingly beautiful, was pushed inside by two eunuchs in blue robes.
That woman was, of course, Consort Min.
The blue-robed eunuchs exited, and the doors shut behind them.
Li Qing stepped forward in quick, delicate steps and offered a formal bow. "Welcome, Your Grace. The Cold Palace has six courts and seventy-two rooms. Thirty-seven of them are currently unoccupied. You may choose whichever you like."
"I'll stay where I damn well please. A little eunuch like you doesn't get to tell me anything. Get lost."
Consort Min shot him a frosty glare and strode straight toward the inner courtyard. However disheveled she had looked, her pride was intact.
Still, she'd adjust.
Li Qing gave a faint smile and said nothing more, trailing behind her in small, measured steps.
People had to learn how to adapt to changing tides. And the days ahead? They'd be interesting for her.
Currently, there were thirty-five disgraced concubines living in the Cold Palace, with twelve eunuchs assigned to serve them. Most eunuchs were responsible for three concubines each; only Li Qing had just two.
Which meant this newly arrived Consort Min was his responsibility now.