The first thing Lin Tian registered was the smell of fine, expensive sandalwood and the sickening, overwhelming urge to cry.
A baby?
The shock was a physical blow, yet he lacked the coordination to even gasp. He was no longer the twenty-two-year-old software engineer, Li Wei, who had spent his last moments contemplating the irony of tripping on a loose charging cable. He was now Lin Tian, a fragile infant lying in a crib crafted from what felt like spirit wood, surrounded by the opulence befitting a general's household.
He was a transmigrator—a soul from another world—reborn.
His mind was sharp, containing two lifetimes of memories, but his body was useless. He spent two frustrating months simply learning to move his limbs and control the ridiculous gurgling noises that erupted every time he tried to form a coherent thought.
If this is a world of cultivation, why do I have the body of a spoiled, useless noble child? Where's the talent? Where's the ring relic?
As if summoned by his cynical thoughts, a cold, mechanical voice resonated solely within the depths of his consciousness.
[Heaven-Shaking Dao System (HSDS) — Host Soul Anomaly Detected. Initializing...]
Lin Tian's infant body momentarily froze, his eyes, wide and black as ink, staring blankly at the ornate silk canopy above.
[Initializing Core Function: Omni-Talent. Status: MAX.]
[Initializing Diagnostic Tool: The Observer's Eye. Status: ACTIVE.]
[Host Identity: Lin Tian, Son of General Lin Zhao. Current World Tier: Mortal Realm (Azure Cloud World).]
[Immediate Goal: Survival. Warning: Host's current physical talent rating is F. This is unacceptable. Initiating **Perfect Foundation Protocol**.]
The rush of information was instantaneous, flooding his mind with clarity that transcended his childish body. He understood. He had the ultimate cheat code—a system designed to override the laws of this universe.
He was no longer frustrated. He was thrilled.
A heavy wooden door creaked open, and two figures entered the large chamber. Lin Tian instantly recognized them: his father, Lin Zhao, the revered General of the Azure Cloud Kingdom's Southern Army, and his mother, Mei Lan, a woman of fierce beauty and grace who hailed from a prominent scholarly clan.
Lin Zhao was a man of impressive stature, usually radiating the calm power of a high-stage Core Formation cultivator, but tonight his brow was furrowed with anxiety.
"The petition is ready, Lan'er," General Lin Zhao said, his voice low and gravelly. "I will present it to the Emperor tomorrow. It demands the removal of Elder Han from the supply audit."
Mei Lan knelt by her son's crib, her hand resting gently on his chest. "Husband, I fear this is too risky. Elder Han has deep ties to the Crown Prince. To openly challenge him is to paint a target on our entire Lin Clan. We must find solid proof first."
Lin Zhao sighed, pacing the expensive jade floor. "Proof is impossible! For months, the military funds have been siphoned, but every audit report comes back clean. If I don't act now, the army will starve through the winter campaign. Our loyal troops will freeze and mutiny, and the Emperor will blame me."
Lin Tian, listening with his mind now free from the baby fog, processed the information. Elder Han, a rival clan, military sabotage. Typical political maneuvering in a cultivation empire.
But then, the Observer's Eye activated automatically. His gaze, directed at the worried General, shifted. He saw past the muscle and bone, past the cultivation energy, and into the very essence of the plot.
He focused on the nearby writing desk, where a beautiful, meticulously crafted scroll lay—the petition to the Emperor.
[Object: Imperial Petition Scroll (Minor Artifact). Dao Code Analysis: Corrupted.] [Flaw: Minor Spiritual Seal Imprinted. Effect: Upon presentation to the Emperor, the petition will release a residual trace of **Demonic Intent**, subtly poisoning the Emperor's faith in the petitioner (Lin Zhao) and causing him to suffer a minor Qi deviation.] [Source: Elder Han's Seal—a common, low-grade **Soul-Snaffling Art** designed to frame others.] [Solution: Expose to purified Mortal Qi for 1 breath to neutralize the Seal.]
Lin Tian's core instantly coiled with white-hot rage. His own supposed grandfather—Elder Han was an elder of the clan, not a direct relative, but an elder of the Lin Clan—was betraying them not just politically, but with black arts that would frame his father and likely lead to the execution of the entire Lin family.
He had to act now. But he was an infant.
Suddenly, the system reacted to his furious intent.
[Host's Intent: Self-Preservation and Family Protection. Protocol Override: Initiating Forced Breakthrough to bypass current physical limitations.]
[**Perfect Foundation Protocol** — Stage 0 to Stage 1 Initiation.]
In the next instant, Lin Tian felt an energy source—not from his own dantian, but seemingly drawn from the boundless depths of the Dimensional Repository—flood his tiny body. It was a pure, golden stream of Qi, far superior to anything found in the Mortal Realm.
The energy ignored his mortal limitations. It scorched his infant meridians, shattering the weak channels only to instantly rebuild them, thicker and more resilient, coated in a layer of ethereal jade.
Shatter. Rebuild. Refine.
The process lasted less than a second, yet the change was profound. Lin Tian felt his mind snap into perfect clarity, his bodily control immediately jumping to that of a child five years old. He could sit up, he could move.
He was still a baby, but a baby who had already achieved a foundation purer than ninety-nine percent of the mortals in the Kingdom.
General Lin Zhao and Mei Lan, engrossed in their worries, failed to notice the subtle, silent surge of pure Qi that radiated and instantly dissipated from the crib. They also failed to notice their son suddenly sit up straight.
Lin Tian quickly assessed his capabilities. He couldn't speak, but he could make intentional noise.
He focused his immense, refined Qi into a simple physical action: reaching out his tiny arm and grabbing the heavy, carved jade incense burner on the side table.
Clang!
The jade burner struck the polished floor with a deafening noise that made both parents jump.
"Tian'er!" Mei Lan rushed to the crib, picking up her son.
General Lin Zhao turned, startled. "What was that? Did he knock that over?"
Lin Tian was now in his mother's arms, but his eyes were locked on the scroll. He used his newly gained muscle control to forcefully point a plump finger toward the petition scroll on the desk and then back to his father, making an insistent, frantic noise.
"What is it, Tian'er? Are you scared of the scroll?" Mei Lan asked soothingly.
Lin Zhao was skeptical but curious. "The boy is pointing at the petition. He seems upset."
Lin Tian repeated the action, pointing fiercely at the scroll, then at his father's face, and then gave a dramatic, fake cough, hoping to imply poison.
Mei Lan saw the genuine desperation in her son's eyes. She knew her son was unusually quiet and perceptive. "Zhao, wait. He is trying to warn us of something. What if the petition itself is compromised?"
General Lin Zhao frowned, shaking his head at the superstition, but his wife's plea and the child's unusual insistence swayed him. With a grim expression, he picked up the rolled-up scroll.
Lin Tian, unable to hold back his excitement, mentally focused his refined Foundation Qi—just a tiny, almost invisible wisp—and directed it toward the spiritual seal he had seen on the scroll's Dao Code.
The wisp of pure Qi touched the seal.
A soundless crack echoed only in Lin Tian's ears as the low-grade Soul-Snaffling Art instantly crumbled under the purity of his Perfect Foundation Qi.
The scroll was clean. The evidence was gone. Elder Han's plan was unwittingly destroyed by a two-month-old.
"Nonsense," Lin Zhao muttered, unrolling the clean parchment. He sniffed it, sensing nothing. "It's just paper, Lan'er. He must have just knocked the burner down for attention."
Mei Lan looked at her son, who now smiled broadly, his eyes sparkling with pure, innocent joy, the crisis averted.
Lin Tian smiled. Crisis averted, you naive fool. The General's son is now armed with a cheat that can analyze the fabric of existence itself. Elder Han, your Dao Code analysis is complete. Your downfall has begun.
[System Notification: Crisis Averted. Host's cultivation foundation is now **Perfect Foundation Stage 1 (Immortal Seed)**. Reward: Minor increase in physical maturity.]
Lin Tian closed his eyes, pretending to sleep, relishing the feeling of power that coursed through his impossibly pure meridians. The Mortal Realm was just the first step, and the game had just begun.