Chapter 1: Awakening (Part 1)

Since the age of six, Guo Shier’s mind had been filled with a strange text, accompanied by voices in his ears. Every night, those strange voices echoed in his head, preventing him from falling asleep. Strangely, this did not affect his physical health or mental state. Over time, Guo Shier simply let it be, eventually starting to recite along with the voices in his head.

He continued this for two years. The voices in his head gradually weakened, but he had become accustomed to them and the text. Every night, he would recite it as usual. After staying up all night, he would feel energetic the next day. If he failed to recite it, he would feel uncomfortable all day long, as if addicted. Even in his free time during the day, he would subconsciously recite it.

The day the voices and text disappeared completely, Guo Shier turned eight years old. That night, lying in bed, he habitually recited the strange text—167 characters, 167 pronunciations. He repeated them over and over. Suddenly, his mind seemed to explode, filled with countless memories. Guo Shier felt dizzy and soon lost consciousness.

It was like having a strange, incredible dream.

In the morning, Guo Shier woke up. He yawned, stretched, sat up from bed, and squinted around.

Guo Shier was no longer the same as before, but on the surface, he still looked the same. At that moment, he understood clearly that he hadn’t taken over another’s body but had successfully reincarnated. Since the transmission of a soul required a strong soul to bear it, that text and voices were scriptures for cultivating the soul.

Guo Shier was overjoyed because this was his second successful reincarnation—his soul hadn’t vanished into the world. Since his first successful reincarnation, it was as if he had gained a vast treasure, leading him down a unique path to immortality. This path was extremely difficult; he felt like a pawn crossing a river—failure meant everything would be lost.

At just eight years old, Guo Shier knew little about the world around him. His memories were limited to his parents and siblings. He was the twelfth child in the family, surnamed Guo. His father had six wives and seventeen children. His world consisted of a small courtyard and the house where his parents lived; he had never left. Thus, Guo Shier knew almost nothing about this world.

He carefully observed the furnishings in the room, which were very simple: wooden floors, a low bed, and a coarse cotton quilt. Aside from the bed, there was only a small table in the room, about one foot high and two feet square. On it lay a copper kettle, a ceramic bowl, and an oil lamp; nothing else.

Recalling his past memories, Guo Shier was secretly surprised. This place didn’t seem to be his original world, yet the writing here was in traditional Chinese characters. Looking at his own coarse clothes, they too seemed to be from ancient times. He wondered: Could a soul reincarnate back to ancient times? And which dynasty was this?

Having already reincarnated twice, Guo Shier quickly calmed down. He had enough patience and confidence to live peacefully in this world. He didn’t care where he was reincarnated; what mattered was whether he could reincarnate and whether his soul could awaken. Since he had succeeded in reincarnating, he could face anything.

“Shier! Shier! Time to get up!”

Guo Shier opened the door and saw a young man standing outside. He said, “Sixth Brother, I know. I’ve already gotten up.”

Guo Liu said, “After breakfast, Father wants someone to take you to the ancestral hall for a test.”

Guo Shier asked in surprise, “A test? What kind of test?”

Guo Liu laughed and said, “You don’t need to worry about what the test is. You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”

During breakfast, Guo Shier saw what a large family was like. There were over thirty people, most of them children. Each person had a small table in front of them with meat soup and flatbreads. An old man with strange patterns all over his face and arms was responsible for serving the meat soup and flatbreads. If anyone needed more, they just had to call, and he would bring it over.

Guo Shier had never found anything strange before, but now it was different. His reincarnated soul had awakened, filling him with curiosity about everything. He asked softly, “Sixth Brother, why does Uncle Puer have so many patterns on his body… Hmm, no—those patterns are moving!”

Guo Liu, chewing his flatbread quickly, mumbled, “He’s a talisman warrior. You’re still young… You’ll understand later.”

“Sixth Brother, what is a talisman warrior?”

Guo Liu took a sip of the meat soup and said, “Shier, what’s wrong with you today? You’re usually so quiet and rarely ask questions… Uncle Puer is a wandering talisman warrior. Father took him in to do odd jobs.”

Guo Shier realized that these eight years had been wasted—he hardly knew anything and was incredibly dull. It wasn’t surprising; he had focused on cultivating the scriptures of the soul and thus couldn’t pay attention to the outside world. The fact that he had managed to elevate his soul to a certain level at just eight years old and awaken the inherited soul memories was already a remarkable achievement.

“A Talisman Warrior?”

Guo Shier found this world quite interesting.

After breakfast, Pu Er came to Guo Shier and said, “Shier, the master wants me to take you to the ancestral hall.” Then he called for Guo Shi and Guo Shisan. It was only later that Guo Shier learned that Guo Shiyi, who was ahead of him in the line, had died at the age of three.

With the three children who had reached eight years old, Pu Er went to the Guo family ancestral hall.

The Guo family ancestral hall was a castle built from rectangular bluestone slabs. What surprised Guo Shier were the patterns on those slabs—strange designs that resembled both characters and symbols, similar to those on Pu Er’s body.

The walls were six zhang high, with railings, and there were watchtowers every few dozen meters. This wasn’t just an ancestral hall; it was essentially a defensive fortress. Guo Shier wondered why the ancestral hall was built like a fortress—was this world also unstable?

He wasn’t afraid of death; he had experienced war before. In his first life, he had been a lama, one deeply versed in Buddhism. By chance, he learned the scriptures for soul cultivation. During his first reincarnation, he was born into a poor farming family. Later, he joined the army and rose to the rank of regiment commander. After retiring due to injury, he opened a small shop with the help of friends to make a living. Although he got married, he had no children. It was only later that he realized this was due to his soul cultivation.

From the perspective of a former soldier, this fortress was excellently constructed, with almost no blind spots. What puzzled him was that, in an era of cold weapons, its design concept seemed somewhat too advanced.

As he wandered in his thoughts, Guo Shier followed Pu Er through the main gate. Inside was a large open area where a hundred or so children around eight years old stood in ten groups. Pu Er seemed very familiar with the procedure. He took the three children to one of the groups and said, “Line up here. Come out after the tests are done. I’ll wait outside.” With that, he turned and left. This wasn’t a place where he could stay long.

Guo Shi and Guo Shisan chatted among themselves, paying little attention to Guo Shier.

Guo Shier didn’t show much interest in their children’s topics and was glad that they didn’t disturb him. He observed everything around him and could deduce a lot from many subtle details. For example, the adults here were all very fierce, exuding a murderous aura. From his experience in the military in his past life, these people must have killed people or fierce beasts, otherwise they wouldn’t have such a strong killing intent.

Unfortunately, Guo Shier had almost no useful memories from his first eight years of life; most of his time was spent eating, making him quite good at nothing but eating. The Guo family also had strange rules—children were made to live separately at the age of five and only came to eat at set times, rarely seeing their parents, except at the beginning of each month when they would pay respects to them.

As for washing clothes and bedding, someone would come to collect them regularly, so the children didn’t need to do it themselves. Guo Shier felt as if he were in a boarding school from his past life, except without any study tasks, like a domesticated animal.

A dozen or so elders from the Guo family entered, including three Symbol Warriors covered in patterns, though they were all quite old. There were also a few outsiders present. Guo Shier guessed that these three Symbol Warriors were at least over sixty years old.

No one announced the start of the test, but the child at the front already began it.

Guo Shier stood on tiptoes to see what they were testing. Unfortunately, the children in front blocked his view. Those children didn’t care about the test and continued to laugh and fight. But Guo Shier wasn’t a child anymore; he understood that the Guo family wouldn’t conduct a test for no reason. This must be a very important event.

“What kind of test is this?”

Guo Shier couldn’t hold back anymore and asked Guo Shi beside him. But Guo Shi turned to talk to someone else and ignored him. Instead, another unfamiliar child said, “My uncle said it’s a potential test… But I don’t know what potential means.”

Guo Shier said, “My name is Guo Shier. What’s your name?”

“My name is Guo Dan!”

Guo Shier shook his head inwardly. That name was rather absurd. It seemed people here were very casual about naming. He said, “Guo Dan, thank you.”

Guo Dan was very thin and small, looking like a child of six or seven. Hearing Guo Shier’s thanks, he seemed pleased and said, “Guo Shier, my uncle said that if one has potential, the family will nurture them and even send them outside… Sigh, I don’t want to go outside! If I go… I won’t be able to see my parents.” He really didn’t understand what potential meant.

Guo Shier was in the fourth queue. The queue moved at a moderate pace, and after waiting for just over two hours, it was their turn.

The test was simple. The children didn’t need to do anything; they just had to have an object about the size of a lighter placed on their foreheads, with a few words spoken to them, followed by a two-minute wait.

Guo Shier’s attention was focused on the old man conducting the test. The man had a thin face and a rare type of goatee—white as snow, with each strand clearly visible and neatly groomed. His long, narrow eyes sparkled with wisdom. His eyebrows were also snow white. The robe he wore caught Guo Shier’s attention especially—it wasn’t hemp or cotton, nor seemed it to be silk, with a light green color and intricate patterns embroidered on it. Being observant, Guo Shier noticed that the patterns on it were similar to those on the bluestone slabs he had seen before. There was a belt about the width of a palm, neatly adorned with rectangular objects. Guo Shier couldn’t make out what those rectangular objects were.

He kept pondering in his mind. He wasn’t just an eight-year-old as he appeared; he knew much more, but he felt very unfamiliar with this world. Who were martial symbol warriors? What did the potential test mean? How was this world different from his previous one? He had no idea at all. Last time, he was reincarnated in the same world, so he was able to integrate quickly, but this time something seemed wrong—this world felt very strange to him.

“Child, what’s your name?” asked the old man in green kindly.

“Guo Shier.”

Someone nearby was responsible for taking notes. The old man in green said, “Stand still and keep your eyes on me.” He lightly touched his waist, and a rectangular object appeared in his hand. He then placed it on Guo Shier’s forehead and said, “Stare at it… Hehe, not with your eyes, but with your focus.”

Guo Shier thought to himself, “How many children here can understand what you’re saying?” He simply closed his eyes and focused his attention on his forehead.

In an instant, he saw that object. It had intricate patterns, and following those patterns was incredibly smooth. He was astonished—had he grown eyes on his forehead?
The old man in green suddenly widened his eyes and saw a glowing red light emanating from Guo Shier’s forehead. With a mix of surprise and joy, he said, “Hey! Potential for talismans! It actually has potential for talismans!”
“Hurry! Go call Old Chen! Tell him we’ve found a child with potential for talismans.”