Dao Qitian silently recalled his current situation.
Dao Mei and her husband Dao Yin were mortal cultivators who'd taken him in when he arrived unconscious and seemingly brain-damaged.
He was simply dropped off before them and to the couple it was heaven's will considering they couldn't have a child of their own.
They were descendants of a disgraced Dao clan member from a million years past, their bloodline so diluted they barely registered as cultivators at all.
"Where are you?" Dao Mei called out again.
"I'm coming, Mother," he called back, testing his voice. It cracked awkwardly—definitely still a twelve-year-old body, then.
The main room of their modest home was decorated with colorful banners and filled with the warm scent of celebration.
Dao Mei had prepared his favorite dishes, though his previous self had been too mentally absent to properly appreciate them.
Dao Yin sat at the head of their simple wooden table, his weathered face creased with genuine affection as he watched Qitian enter.
"There's our birthday boy," Yin said warmly. "Twelve years old today. Hard to believe it's been a full year since..."
He trailed off, but Qitian knew what he meant. A year since a strange dream had told these childless parents to care for a catatonic boy who'd appeared from nowhere.
A year since bloodline tests had revealed that impossible truth—this random child somehow shared their ancient bloodline, proving their clan had once been far more significant than anyone remembered.
"The whole village is talking about you today," Mei added, ladling soup into his bowl. "Ever since you started responding normally this past week, everyone's been so excited."
Qitian's adult mind processed the implications. His gradual awakening hadn't gone unnoticed. In a small village like this, any change was news worth discussing.
"I feel... clearer," he said carefully, which was true enough. "Like I've been asleep for a long time."
The food was simple but nourishing, prepared with obvious care. As he ate, Qitian studied his adoptive parents with new eyes.
Dao Yin was maybe forty-five, his cultivation at the peak of Qi Condensation Realm—respectable for a village leader but laughably weak by the standards of his birth clan.
Dao Mei was gentler, her cultivation merely at the mid-stage of Body Refinement, but she had a skill and was considered the village's top physician.
They loved him, though. That much was unmistakably genuine.
"Father," Qitian said between bites, "tell me again about our clan's history."
Yin's eyes lit up. This was clearly a favorite topic. "The Dao clan was once mighty beyond imagination. Legend says our ancestors could reshape reality itself, command the very forces of creation. But that was so long ago, most people think it's just myth now."
"Until you showed up," Mei added softly. "When the bloodline test confirmed you truly carry our ancient heritage... it changed everything we thought we knew about ourselves."
Dao Qitian was dropped off as a baby on the same night Dao Mei was supposed to give birth but had a miscarriage.
They were away from the village then and it was so sudden, the had to camp in the woods. But that same night was when Dao Qitian as a baby was dropped before them with merely a certain jade token with his name inscribed on it.
They decided to hide the fact that Dao Qitian wasn't truly their child and when the returned the village rejoiced with them.
They thought their son wouldn't amount to much until the dream a year ago...
*Dud!* *Dud!* *Dud!*
A knock at the door interrupted the conversation. Yin's expression immediately darkened as he could guess the visitor.
"Village head business," he muttered, rising from the table. "I'll be back soon."
Through the paper-thin walls, Qitian could hear muffled conversation outside.
His enhanced hearing—one small benefit of his recent awakening — caught fragments of angry words.
"...protection money... doubled again... Black Snake Gang... no choice..."
The conversation ended abruptly. Yin returned looking grim, a letter clutched in his white-knuckled fist.
"I have to go to the village council immediately," he announced. "There's been... a development."
Mei's face went pale. "The Black Snake Gang?"
"Their demands have become unreasonable. We can't keep paying what they're asking, but if we refuse..." Yin didn't finish the sentence, but his meaning was clear.
After he left, Mei fussed over Qitian with obvious anxiety, preparing more food than one boy could possibly eat.
"Don't worry about Father's business," she said, trying to keep her voice light. "Today is your special day. Here, drink this nourishing soup—it'll help you grow strong."
The soup was infused with low-grade spiritual herbs, probably worth more than their family could comfortably afford. Qitian drank it gratefully, feeling the weak energy flow through his meridians. His body was still developing its spiritual pathways, but even this minor nourishment felt significant.
"Now rest," Mei instructed, leading him to his small room. "All this excitement has been a lot for you to handle."
She tucked him into his simple bed with motherly care, humming softly until she thought he'd fallen asleep. Only when her footsteps faded down the hall did Qitian open his eyes again.
Moving silently—skills from his previous life as a researcher had included some unexpected abilities—he crept to his door and pressed his ear against the wood.
"...can't keep this up much longer," Yin's voice carried clearly from the main room. He must have returned while Qitian was pretending to sleep.
"The protection money was manageable when it was just a few spirit stones per month," Mei replied in a harsh whisper. "But now they want fifty stones monthly, plus tribute goods. It's impossible."
"The other villages are suffering too. But the Black Snake Gang knows we can't fight back—our strongest cultivators are barely at Qi Condensation level."
"What about asking the Shen clan for help? They're the regional power, surely they wouldn't allow bandits to—"
"The Shen clan doesn't care about villages this remote unless we can offer them something valuable in return. And the one thing we have of value..."
Qitian's breath caught as understanding hit him.
"The Divine Blood Pearl," Mei whispered. "We can't possibly offer that, the whole clan have out their hopes on Qitian using that treasure to forge a perfect foundation."
"Indeed, as long as his foundation is perfect then every major power within ten thousand li would come looking for him," Yin confirmed grimly. "A boy with an 'unknown' ancient bloodline and possibly a Divine Physique even if not yet awakened? He would possibly be taken in directly as a disciple of a great figure which is what's more important that the Clan's desire to rise."
The conversation continued, but Qitian had heard enough. He slipped back into bed, his mind racing with implications.
So that was the situation. His adoptive family was trapped between impossible demands from local criminals and the need to pour our their hopes on him.
Although his parents are not seekers of glory, they genuinely want the best for him, but in order to pool in all the Clan's resources on helping him recovery his father had to reveal his ancient bloodline.
The village itself had made sacrifices of theirs.
Having their children's supplements being reduced isn't easy in itself.
Qitian will neither reject nor be ungrateful for this.
Meanwhile, he possessed the knowledge and memories of humanity's greatest scientist in his twelve-year-old body with a supposedly legendary bloodline.
'At least,' he thought with dark humor, 'my problems have gotten more interesting.'
But more importantly...
'The Book of Stories.'