"Where am I?... Who am I? I am… Lin Fengyun!"
"Am I Lin Fengyun who dominated the very heavens with just the might of his sword, with his heaven-defying technique - 'Sword God'? Or Lin Fengyun who arrogantly looked upon the heavens themselves with the knowledge of making pills that could even change the fate of an ordinary person - 'Pill God'? Or that Lin Fengyun who was bullied by everyone in his class, a crippled good-for-nothing, because he was born without meridians and spiritual roots, incapable of cultivating… Arghhhh…!"
Lin Fengyun was unable to stop these thoughts as they kept emerging on their own. At the same time, his whole body groaned in pain. He let out a loud, painful cry.
Hearing his voice, several women rushed into the room where Lin Fengyun was lying on the bed.
"Feng'er!... Quickly! Call the master alchemist!" said a lady who looked to be in her forties to her maid. Seeing the young master in such a condition, the maid quickly left the room to notify the alchemist.
"Lin Fengyun, don't worry. Your mother is here. Everything will be fine. Just wait a few seconds, the master alchemist will be here soon," said the same lady, worry evident on her face as she tried to comfort him while holding his hand.
Lin Fengyun did hear her voice; however, the surge of memories of the 'Sword God' and 'Pill God' flooding through his mind, along with the pain throughout his body, didn't allow him to focus on her words. He continued to groan in pain.
Then the door burst open, and the same maid entered with an elderly man who looked to be in his sixties.
"Master Alchemist… ~sob~ please look at him! What is happening to my son?" said the lady, tears continuously falling from her eyes as she pleaded for help.
The alchemist quickly began examining Lin Fengyun's body, analyzing everything and trying to figure out what was happening. He checked his blood and blood vessels, and after thoroughly examining him, he realized the cause.
He quickly turned toward Lin Fengyun's mother, who was anxiously looking between her son and the alchemist, and said:
"There is no need to worry." He spoke first to calm her before continuing, "As you know, every person is born with meridians connected to the dantian, which help circulate Qi and the effects of medicine throughout the body. However, Lin Fengyun was born without meridians, so the medicine is forcefully trying to heal his internal wounds, which is causing this pain."
Hearing this, her tears gradually subsided.
At the same time the alchemist finished speaking, Lin Fengyun's pain suddenly disappeared, and he lay peacefully, like a sleeping baby, without making a sound.
Seeing this, his mother and the servants all let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry, Lady Lin Yuexin. The young master will be fine," said a maid named Lu Yao, trying to comfort Lin Fengyun's mother.
She nodded and said, "Let's go out. We shouldn't disturb him." They all left the room, and as time passed, the maids and Lin Fengyun's mother came from time to time to check on his condition. At least one person always stayed with him to look after him.
And like this, two days passed.
Finally, Lin Fengyun opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the ceiling above him as he lay on the bed. He tried to move his body, and he could, though the pain was still there. Slowly, he sat up in a position that felt comfortable.
A maid who had been quietly cleaning the room, careful not to disturb the young master's sleep, turned around and was stunned. Overjoyed, she quickly left the room to notify Lady Lin Yuexin.
She rushed to where Lady Lin Yuexin was preparing something for Lin Fengyun and told her the news. Shocked, she immediately hurried toward Lin Fengyun's room.
Door was burst opened and from which two ladies enter Lu Yao and Lin Yuexin and saw Lin Fengyun who is peacefully sat on the bed.
"Feng'er, you've finally awakened? Thank God, your mother was worried sick for you!" said Lin Yuexin, her eyes filled with love and concern. She checked his entire body, after which she let out a sigh of relief.
Lin Fengyun's memories were still merging with those of the Sword God and Pill God, creating confusion. He didn't even remember how he got hurt or what these memories were. He quickly tried to check his body with his spiritual sense; however, when he couldn't, he became surprised. Then he remembered that what he was trying to do came from the Sword God's memories, which he couldn't use in his present body.
"Why did you duel with those people? Do you know how worried I was when I saw your…" she started crying, unable to finish her sentence.
Lin Fengyun looked at this familiar yet strange face. His heart ached as he saw her crying in front of him. Then slowly, all his memories began arranging themselves.
A few seconds later, he remembered that the person standing in front of him was his mother.
Just what happened? I'm Lin Fengyun. How could I have such an unfamiliar feeling?
And all these confusing memories. where did they come from? I have memories of being an exceedingly powerful person… but at the same time, I remember being often bullied, a piece of trash who could not cultivate.
Pill God?... Sword God?... What are these memories?... Am I the Pill God and Sword God, or their reincarnation?... Or somehow, have I gained both of their memories?
Lin Fengyun's mind was full of questions. He tried to find answers, but sighed when he couldn't find anything, not even after searching through the memories of the Pill God and Sword God.
Well, it does not matter whether I was them, whether my soul merged with others, or whether I am their reincarnation. What matters is that I am alive.
According to what he could remember, after being bullied by his classmates, Lin Fengyun, in anger, challenged all of them to a duel in which he lost miserably.
Lin Fengyun was like a mortal without cultivation, and fighting cultivators was like courting death. It was a miracle that he survived; otherwise, it could have been disastrous.
It was also a relief that he didn't challenge them to a death match, or he would have definitely died.
Now, all he needed was to somehow gain meridians and spiritual roots so that he could cultivate. And once he became a cultivator, he was not kind enough to let those who bullied him off easily. With the memories of the Sword God and Pill God, it wouldn't be impossible.
After that, he looked at his mother, who was still crying. He couldn't bring himself to say anything to her, as it was his fault. So, he remained silent.
She quickly stood up and brought him some soup that she had prepared for him.
"Take it and eat it all. I have prepared it using many herbs, so don't leave a single drop behind," she said as she handed the bowl to Lin Fengyun.
Lin Fengyun took the bowl and smelled it. The moment the aroma entered his nose, several names appeared in his mind:
Ginseng, Astragalus, Angelica Root, Licorice Root, and Goji Berries.
Having the memories of the Pill God had heightened his sense of smell. He could now easily identify the herbs used in the soup.
He finished it completely.
After he was done, his mother and the maids left the room, allowing Lin Fengyun to rest.
Once they all left, he immediately began checking his body, not using spiritual sense, since he didn't even possess it. Spiritual sense could only be obtained after reaching the Mind Tempering stage of the Self-Tempering Realm.
Although spiritual sense would have been far more useful, as it could detect even the smallest changes within the body.
What can I even do?
He sighed.
Carefully examining himself, he confirmed what he already knew. His dantian existed, but there were no meridians, and his spiritual roots were also absent.
Spirit roots were a crucial part of a cultivator. They allowed a person to sense and gather the various energies of heaven and earth and store them within the dantian. They were the very foundation of cultivation.
Without spirit roots, there was no way to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth let alone absorb it for cultivation.
However, there was a way for him to obtain meridians and spiritual roots, and that was through body cultivation. What was even more surprising was that this path 'body cultivation' was completely unknown in this world. Not a single person knew that there was another path besides Qi cultivation.
So even if he chose to cultivate his body, no one would notice, as people only knew of one path. As for how he could gain his spiritual roots and meridians.
This could be achieved by breaking through to the first realm of body cultivation, known as the 'Transformation Realm'. Once he passed through this realm, his body would reconstruct itself to match the second realm of body cultivation, thus granting him spiritual roots and meridians.
With these thoughts, three days passed. As it was impossible for him to cultivate in his current state, he could only lie on his bed and think.
After three days, his mother entered the room along with the same alchemist who had treated him earlier.
The alchemist examined him thoroughly and said, "He is completely fine now."
"That's good to hear. It's all thanks to you, Master Alchemist. If it weren't for you, I don't know what might have happened to him," she said, letting out a sigh of relief.
The alchemist smiled and handed a medicinal pill to Lin Fengyun. "Eat this, and you will be completely fine by tomorrow."
Lin Fengyun nodded. After saying this, the alchemist left.
Once the alchemist left, Lin Fengyun looked at the pill and was shocked.
What is this?... Is this even a pill?... It's not properly refined and has an irregular shape.
A pill that was not perfectly spherical meant it had not been refined properly. When energy is properly condensed within a pill, it naturally forms a round shape.
Pills could be divided into five grades: low grade, middle grade, high grade, top grade, and peerless grade. As for the pill in his hand, it couldn't even be counted among these five grades.
Lin Fengyun suddenly realized that this was nothing more than a defective product.
A trash pill.
Lin Yuexin noticed his disheartened expression and said,
"Young master, don't daydream. In order to obtain this precious pill, your mother sold many of her valuable belongings, including her jewelry. You should hurry and take it."
Hearing this, Lin Fengyun couldn't help but feel a sharp pain in his heart as he looked at his mother. She had done everything for him and what had he done in return? Only caused her suffering.
His expression turned resolute as he looked at the pill. And said in his mind:
'I, Lin Fengyun, will rise above all others and never let my parents suffer again.'
With this he consumed this pill.
Normally, cultivators assimilate the energy from a pill into the dantian and then slowly circulate it throughout the body through the meridians to heal internal wounds. However, he didn't have such a luxury.
So, he could only assimilate the energy in his stomach and forcefully circulate it through his cells.
It was extremely painful.
However, he didn't make a single sound.
It would be embarrassing if I, Lin Fengyun, who has lived two lives as a god, am unable to endure even this much pain.
With these thoughts, he endured it.
After a few minutes, he took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and checked his body.
"Excellent. Now that my body has completely healed, it's time to cultivate. And I have the perfect body cultivation technique to try."
The technique he was referring to was called 'Nine Heavenly Divine Cosmos Forging Art.'
Even he had not been able to practice it before, as it required a person to begin body cultivation with this technique from the very start. If someone had already begun body cultivation using a different technique, they would never be able to practice it.
He searched for this technique within his memories, but he was only able to find the first part.
The 'Nine Heavenly Divine Cosmos Forging Art' had nine stages, and what he possessed was only the first stage.
He frowned and decided to check something.
After a while, his expression stiffened.
He realized that the memories of both the Sword God and the Pill God are incomplete!
However, he didn't give up on this mysterious technique, because even its first stage was comparable to all the techniques he currently possessed. So, it would be highly advantageous if he could somehow recover more of his memories, thereby gaining the remaining parts of this technique.
"I don't want to give up on such a heaven-defying technique. It would be a waste if I don't use it."
He said as he readed the description this this technique. the more he read more he wanted this technique.
In the end, he decided to cultivate the Nine Heavenly Divine Cosmos Forging Art, even if he only had the first part of the technique for now.