2: The Great Compassion Ode to the Interplay of Heaven and Earth and Yin and Yang

Thick darkness enveloped him along with warm amniotic fluid. The moment Shen Guyan's consciousness awakened, he suddenly opened his eyes.

This body, still in the womb, was curled up like a shrimp, its weak heartbeat vibrating in sync with the mother's pulse.

He wanted to raise his hand in disbelief, only to find that his limbs had not yet fully developed; he could only float in this chaotic World in the most primitive curled position.

"So, I really have been Rebirth?"

He could not make a sound from his throat, but his thoughts were incredibly clear.

Memories of his past life surged like a tide—Ming Yuexin's cold corpse, the relieved leap at Ghost Sorrow, and the conversation on Yellow Springs Road...

Shen Guyan took a deep breath. Amniotic fluid poured into his underdeveloped nasal cavity, yet it did not cause him to choke.

This newborn body was adapting to its living environment in a way that defied common sense.

First, according to the guy who called himself the Lord of the Plane and was named Douluo, he must have arrived in a place different from his original World.

Second, this World had a peculiar cultivation system. It seemed that something called Soul Power had replaced Internal Energy, but this did not prevent him from starting to Cultivate while in the womb.

After Shen Guyan retired from the Jianghu, he naturally studied the Great Sorrow Scripture he had obtained, that legendary Secret Manual said to be able to fuse all martial arts under heaven.

The seven martial arts recorded in the "Heavenly Yin Earthly Yang Great Sorrow Scripture" were: Heavenly Yin Earthly Yang Great Primordial Art, Heavenly Netherworld Earthly Vast Great Teleportation Technique, Heaven-Collapsing Earth-Splitting Great Annihilation Saber, Heavenly Shift Earthly Turn Great Acupoint Relocation Method, "Heavenly Cry, Earths Grief Great Sorrow Curse", Heavenly Doom Earthly Annihilation Great Soul Searching Hand, and Heavenly Sever Earthly Annihilate Great Purple Sun Hand.

Legend had it that when this book was completed, it rained blood from the sky and ghosts wept at night; the person who wrote this book also vomited blood and died upon writing the last word.

These super-first-class peerless martial arts were the crystallization of the heart and blood of the Seniors of the Martial Forest, every move being the essence of martial arts, and they tended to be used externally.

In his past life, he exhausted his whole life and finally understood its true meaning at the end of his life.

Now that it was a Rebirth, why not start right here?

One had to know that the conditions for practicing the Great Sorrow Scripture required abolishing one's original martial arts, and also included the Foundation of Yin and Yang theory, Internal Skill cultivation, and the cultivation of martial virtue.

Yin and Yang theory emphasized the unity of opposites, Internal Skill cultivation required using intent to move Qi through the body, and martial virtue cultivation required possessing noble character.

The Great Sorrow Scripture was a miraculous book that fused ancient philosophical thought, martial arts essence, and literary art.

It was not only a martial arts Secret Manual, but also a treasure book exploring life philosophy and the truths of the Universe.

Through unique Yin and Yang theory, it revealed the laws governing all things in the Universe, and how humans could achieve the Realm of unity of body and mind, and transcend into sainthood through Cultivation.

In his past life, Shen Guyan obtained the Great Sorrow Scripture and the Peacock Plume, and he had told Fu Hongxue that, in fact, the Great Sorrow Scripture and the "Peacock Plume" were not as powerful as people imagined.

The reason was simple: all martial arts under heaven, as long as they were cultivated to the extreme and reached the Transcendent Realm, all returned to the same Great Dao.

The Great Sorrow Scripture just happened to have a higher lower limit than other martial arts.

As for the "Peacock Plume", its power lay in its user; the stronger a person's Internal Energy was, the more they could unleash its power, and it was absolutely not something that Tang Sect imitations could compare to.

Although the Tang Sect's eldest daughter-in-law, Madam Xu, was proficient in metallurgy and the principles of Hidden Weapons, and had spent six years of painstaking effort, even turning her hair white in the process, the four pairs of "Peacock Plume" she crafted did not have that legendary power at all.

He began to try to circulate the Mind-Cultivation Technique of the Great Sorrow Scripture, feeling the unformed Meridians within his body vibrating slightly as his intent flowed.

A fetus's body had no Internal Energy to speak of, but the mystery of the Great Sorrow Scripture lay in its ability to guide the power of the life Origin, drawing nourishment from the purest life energy.

Time passed quietly in this dark womb.

Shen Guyan immersed himself in the cultivation of the Great Sorrow Scripture every day, feeling every transformation of his body.

He could clearly perceive the growth of his bones, the formation of his Meridians, and even detect the subtle emotional fluctuations transmitted from his mother.

As his cultivation deepened, Shen Guyan discovered that practicing the Great Sorrow Scripture in a fetal state had unexpected effects.

His consciousness became increasingly clear, and he could even perceive external sounds through his mother.

In the dead of night, the secret talks between his father and the guests, and the rumors and anecdotes of the continent, all became his window to understanding this World.

What was currently known was that people on the Douluo Continent all possessed something called a Spirit.

The Spirit was a part of their body and could be any animal, plant, or object.

At the age of six, through an Awakening ceremony, one could awaken their own Spirit.

The annual Awakening Day was the day to awaken the Spirit.

If the Spirit was a hoe, then this person's ability to till the fields would be stronger than others.

If the Spirit was a type of animal, perhaps this person could possess some simple abilities of that animal.

Therefore, the Spirit had long since become an important existence that changed people's lives.

Awakening Day was actually also a dividing day, a day that divided one's life.

Whether or not one possessed Soul Power would undoubtedly determine the trajectory of a person's life.

Shen Guyan could not help but recall the conversation on Yellow Springs Road; that Lord of the Plane named Douluo had once been the rule-maker of this continent, but...

This was a continent controlled by people from the Tang Sect...

The Lord of the Plane who had suffered Possession, the life core...

And that unknown enemy from the outer regions eyeing them covetously...

"If it is truly as that Douluo said, I am afraid the time left for me is very tight..." Shen Guyan thought to himself.

The only thing that made Shen Guyan feel at ease now was that in this World where he had his Rebirth, the so-called Divinities that could monitor the World situation at any time were no longer there.

This gave Shen Guyan, still in his mother's womb, a chance!

Cultivation was not all smooth sailing.

When Shen Guyan tried to forcibly break through a certain Meridian node, intense pain swept through his entire body.

His mother suddenly transmitted a violent vibration, seemingly having felt his restlessness.

He quickly restrained his mind and slowed down the pace of his cultivation.

It turned out that in this womb, his every move would affect his mother's safety.

"It seems I was still too impatient." Shen Guyan sighed softly, adjusted his breathing, and guided the movement of the power within his body in a more gentle way.

As time passed, he discovered that his consciousness could actually resonate subtly with his mother.

He could feel his mother's worry and joy, and could even soothe her emotions to a certain extent.

To strengthen his body, he had to make use of the Innate Qi transmitted from his mother and some Internal Skill Mind-Cultivation Techniques he had learned in his past life.

But the problem now was that the Meridians inside Shen Guyan's body were abnormally small and fragile.

Shen Guyan did not know if all infants were like this at this month, but in any case, he felt that he was a bit too weak...

"It seems... the starting point for people in this World is very weak..."

In for a penny, in for a pound; Shen Guyan extremely carefully guided the Innate Qi, slowly and step by step clearing the Meridians inside his body...

It felt as long as a century had passed... Shen Guyan finally completed the first cycle of the Innate Qi through the Meridians in his body.

After one cycle, Shen Guyan slightly felt that the Meridians in his body seemed to have strengthened a lot, and his confidence gradually grew.

Shen Guyan knew very well in his heart that for the Internal Energy execution route, the hardest part was just the first cycle.

For the first cycle, one not only had to be careful not to take the wrong route, but also had to carefully control the appropriate flow of Qi to enter the Meridians, to widen the Meridians bit by bit, then on the basis of widening, clear the Meridians, and only then could the Internal Energy begin to execute along the established route.

If any link in the middle went wrong, it would be a situation of eternal damnation.

In the womb, there was no calendar; years were unknown.

Shen Guyan had no idea how long he had been in his mother's womb; every day was just Cultivating, sleeping, sleeping, Cultivating, over and over again.

Shen Guyan knew that once he was born, there would no longer be such pure Innate Qi for him to absorb, so Shen Guyan particularly cherished the current time; almost all his time, except for sleeping, was used for Cultivation.

The changes he could feel were that his hands and feet were gradually growing out one by one, slowly becoming plump, and under constant exercise, his hands and feet were quite strong.

The function of the pure Innate Qi gradually revealed itself; the Meridians in Shen Guyan's small body were now completely unobstructed, and the Internal Energy Foundation he had laid was already quite deep.

Shen Guyan knew that the time he had left in his mother's womb was not much.

It might not be long before he would truly be born.

At the time of birth, Shen Guyan had Cultivated the Great Sorrow Scripture to the first level.

When the midwife's exclamation sounded, and when the blinding light pierced the darkness, he knew that a new life was about to begin.

The sound of crying resounded through the delivery room, and Shen Guyan opened his eyes, seeing this strange World.

"Congratulations, Master, it is a Young Master!" The midwife's voice was filled with joy.

In his father's warm embrace, Shen Guyan silently circulated the Great Sorrow Scripture.

He could feel the breath of the outside World like strands of Spiritual Qi, seeping into his body through his pores.

The mysteries he had failed to penetrate in his past life seemed to gradually become clear in this brand-new life form.

"Hehe, my good grandson, he looks so handsome, with this little nose and little eyes, he looks exactly like our Shen Family..."

Shen Guyan slowly opened his eyes.

Right in front of him was an old face, with faint wrinkles at the hairline and corners of the eyes, and graying hair.

At this moment, it was smiling at him so much that the eyebrows were hidden, and the corners of the mouth were almost stretched to the roots of the ears...

The person in front of him must be his grandfather in this life.

He seemed to hold a high position; although he looked kind and amiable, one could vaguely feel that aura that came from someone who had sat in a high position for many years.

Until this moment, Shen Guyan could basically be certain that in this life of Rebirth, he was still born into the Shen Family, just like in his past life, a member of the imperial nobility.

Douluo Continent, I, Shen Guyan, have arrived.