1: The Life of a Mayfly (Part 1)

(Dear readers! Since you're here, please have some patience and read the first ten chapters! Thank you so much!)

Qingyang City, Lin Family Estate.

Lin Yun was wearing a bright red wedding robe, his chest feeling a bit warm. His gaze passed over the rowdy guests and settled on the woman beside him, adorned in a phoenix crown and embroidered robe.

Liu Ruyan.

The number one beauty of Qingyang City, his childhood sweetheart and fiancée.

However, she seemed a bit off today; her smile was stiff, and her eyes kept drifting toward her father, Liu Qing.

“The auspicious hour has arrived!”

The master of ceremonies' high-pitched voice rang through the hall.

“First bow to Heaven and Earth.”

“Second bow to the parents.”

“Husband and wife bow to each other...”

Just as Lin Yun turned, preparing to complete the final ritual.

Boom!

A massive explosion erupted from outside the estate, followed by the clashing of weapons and sounds of slaughter.

The hall full of guests instantly fell into chaos.

Lin Yun's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively moved to protect Liu Ruyan.

But as he turned, what he saw was the coldness in Liu Ruyan's eyes as all her pretenses fell away.

Pfft!

A dagger slid from her sleeve, and without hesitation, she plunged it deep into Lin Yun's back, piercing through to his heart.

Intense pain exploded.

Lin Yun stiffly lowered his head, looking at the blood-stained blade tip protruding from his chest, more striking than his red wedding robe.

“Why... why...”

Liu Ruyan forcefully pulled out the dagger, letting the blood spray as she quickly retreated.

Bang!

The Lin Family's gate was kicked into pieces. Liu Family Head Liu Qing and Wang Family Head Wang Wei walked in side-by-side. Behind them was a smug Wang Teng, who pulled Liu Ruyan into his arms.

“Ruyan, you did well.”

“Brother Wang Teng...” Liu Ruyan leaned into him, her previous stiffness gone.

“Liu Qing!” Lin Yun's father, Lin Zhantian, had bloodshot eyes. “My Lin Family has always treated you well!”

“The winner takes all, that's all.” Liu Qing sneered.

Lin Yun stared fixedly at Liu Ruyan, using his last bit of strength to ask again: “Why?”

This time, Liu Ruyan spoke, her eyes filled with disdain.

“Why?” She laughed. “The one I love has always been Brother Wang Teng. He is the true favored son of heaven, a Disciple of the Cangyun Academy. And you? A piece of trash who can't even touch the threshold of the academy, you think you're worthy?”

Every word trampled on his dignity.

“Kill! Leave no one of the Lin Family alive!”

The massacre began.

“Yun'er, run!” His father burned his essence blood, roaring as he covered the retreat. “Go through the secret passage in the back mountain! Avenge us!”

A Wang Family Elder grinned as he bypassed the main battle and struck toward Lin Yun with his palm.

“No!”

A gentle figure blocked the way in front of him—it was his mother. She coughed up blood from the palm strike, but she had used her life to block the fatal blow for him, slowly collapsing.

“Young Lord, run!”

The last of the personal guards formed a wall of flesh and blood, only to be instantly overwhelmed.

With tears and blood mixing, and carrying boundless hatred, Lin Yun plunged into the back mountain's secret passage.

After running for an unknown amount of time, he could no longer hold on and collapsed by a small stream. In his fading consciousness, he seemed to see a cold, youthful girl's face.

“Young Miss, this person has been poisoned by the ‘Black Fiend Scorpion’...”

“Saving him is the priority.”

...When he woke up again, he was in a simple pharmacy.

The person who saved him was named Su Yueyao, a Young Miss from a branch of the Su Family in Chasing Wind City.

Lin Yun hid his identity, using the alias of a Loose Cultivator, and became her most silent guard.

Spring went and autumn came; three years passed in a flash.

He buried his hatred deep, Cultivating frantically, and his Heart-Nature became cold and hard.

One day, bad news arrived. Internal strife broke out in the main Su Family, and Su Yueyao's branch was implicated, to be driven out of Chasing Wind City.

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; the servants and relatives in the estate vanished in an instant.

Su Yueyao stood in the empty courtyard, her body trembling slightly, finally looking at the figure who had always stood behind her.

“Lin Yun, you... should leave too.” Her voice trembled.

Lin Yun looked at her reddened eyes; three years ago, he too had been betrayed by the whole world.

He didn't speak, but simply took a step forward and stood side-by-side with her.

“I will stay with you.”

Five simple words, heavier than any oath.

The path of exile was full of hardships, and Su Yueyao's father eventually died of illness during the journey. Before her father's simple grave, they bowed three times to Heaven and Earth and became husband and wife.

No wedding feast, no guests.

Wherever she was, that was home.

Another dozen or so years passed. They took root in the remote Panyan City, and Lin Yun also broke through to the Spirit Nurturing Realm, founding a new Lin Family. Five years later, his wife Su Yueyao gave birth to a son, named Lin Dong.

Holding the infant in swaddling clothes and watching his wife and son laughing in the courtyard, the hatred buried deep in his heart seemed to gradually gather dust along with the peaceful days.

But he forgot that the happiness of the weak is ultimately difficult to sustain.

His talent was ultimately limited, and his cultivation stalled at the Spirit Nurturing Realm Third Level. The rise of the Lin Family became a thorn in the side of the old powers in Panyan City.

A long-planned ambush erupted in the middle of the night.

History was strikingly similar.

The Lin Family Estate turned into a battlefield. Lin Yun fought a bloody battle, his spiritual power nearly exhausted.

Amidst the chaotic fight, a poisoned cold arrow flew through the crowd, silently aimed at his heart!

He wanted to dodge, but his body was pinned down by enemies.

“Husband!”

Su Yueyao's shrill scream tore through the night sky. He only felt himself being violently pushed aside by a warm body.

Pfft.

He turned back and saw the black arrow lodged in Su Yueyao's chest. Dark blood seeped from the corners of her mouth, but she had a lingering smile on her face as she slowly fell.

“No...”

Lin Yun's head buzzed, and the world lost all sound.

“Yueyao—!”

He let out a roar that didn't sound human, the string of his sanity snapping instantly. He burned his Foundation, becoming an Incarnation of an asura. Holding his wife's cooling body and grabbing his terrified young son, he slaughtered his way out of the bloodbath.

The Lin Family was destroyed once again.

For the next five years, he took Lin Dong and hid everywhere. Old injuries gnawed at his vitality, and his cultivation never advanced again. At only forty-some years old, his hair was gray and he was as thin as a skeleton.

One morning, he left all his resources to his sleeping son.

“Dong'er, Father is going to settle the score. You must live on well.”

Revenge for Yueyao was hopeless in this life. But for the blood debt of the entire Lin Family, even if he died, he would splash his blood on his enemies!

Half a month later, Qingyang City, Liu Estate.

Wang Teng and Liu Ruyan were at a banquet, drinking and enjoying music and dancing.

A white-haired figure burst in like a ghost.

“Liu Qing! Wang Teng! Liu Ruyan! I, Lin Yun... have come back to collect the debt!”

Lin Yun burned his last bit of life. Wherever his sword light reached, the banquet turned into a living hell.

But it was only that.

Deep within the Liu Family, an aura far exceeding his own surged up.

“Presumptuous!”

A Liu Family Elder appeared and, with just one palm strike, hit him on the crown of his head.

His skull shattered.

As he fell, through a veil of blood, he saw the spiteful and slightly terrified faces of Wang Teng and Liu Ruyan.

In the end... nothing... could be changed... His consciousness sank into boundless darkness.

An unknown amount of time passed, and just as Lin Yun thought he would dissipate eternally, a cold mechanical voice rang in his mind.

【Host Soul detected, Reincarnation System binding... Binding successful.】

Lin Yun discovered he still had consciousness. He “saw” a void space, with a semi-transparent blue light screen in front of him.

【First life trajectory scan complete.】

【Starting evaluation...】

【Name: Lin Yun】

【Identity: Young Lord of the Qingyang City Lin Family (Exterminated), Head of the Panyan City Lin Family (Destroyed)】

【Cultivation: Spirit Nurturing Realm Third Level (Limit)】

【Main Experiences: Family exterminated, betrayal by beloved, exiled to another land, married a virtuous wife, established a Family, destroyed again, tragic death of wife, failed revenge, death and end of the Dao.】

【Comprehensive Evaluation: White Grade Three Stars.】

【Based on the experiences of the first life, rewarding Host with: 25 Reincarnation Points.】

The light screen changed, and new options appeared.

【Aptitude: 0 (+)】

【family background: 0 (+)】

【Comprehension Ability: 0 (+)】

【Luck: 0 (+)】

Golden Finger?!

Lin Yun's remnant Soul fluctuated violently, the hatred and resentment of two lives churning in his consciousness.

Aptitude! Ultimately, it was because his Aptitude wasn't enough! If he were a peerless Genius, why would he waste twenty years in the Spirit Nurturing Realm? Why would he have to watch his mother and beloved wife die tragically for him!

The thought of revenge overwhelmed everything.

His will carried a sense of determination as he made his choices on the light screen.

“Aptitude, add 10 points!”

“family background, add 7 points!”

“Comprehension Ability, add 5 points!”

“Luck, add 3 points!”

Following his choices, the points on the light screen returned to zero. An irresistible pulling force came, and his consciousness fell into a deep sleep once again.