Chapter 10: Rebirth (Part 1)

The man slowly descended from the sky and stood in front of Guo Shier.
Guo Shier said calmly, “Do you want to kill me? Hehe, actually, it doesn’t matter whether you do or not… Hmm, isn’t that person Li Ran?” He wasn’t sure if the person before him was really Li Ran or his main soul.
“Shier, it’s me, Li Ran!”
Hearing this, Guo Shier’s worried heart suddenly relaxed. He couldn’t help but laugh loudly, “Haha, you actually won… Haha…” He couldn’t contain his joy, for he knew that even if the entire team was destroyed, it wasn’t true death. As long as they could be reborn successfully, they could gather again. But if Li Ran lost, things would be truly tragic.
Li Ran touched his face and said reluctantly, “Damn, it’s a bit uncomfortable being in a different body…”
Guo Shier said, “Brother, I can’t hold on anymore. Please… give me a tracking rune. I’m… leaving now…”
Li Ran replied, “Shier, it’s my fault that you all got involved. Don’t worry, I’ll find you all one by one. I’ll search everywhere—I promise!” With that, he conjured a set of tracking runes and said, “Alright, you can go now. We’ll meet again soon. I’ll teach you… the real way to train the body. Hehe, this rebirth might be a great opportunity.”
Guo Shier nodded. “I understand. Your main soul is too powerful; it has abilities we don’t know about.”
Li Ran pointed to his head and smiled. “It’s all here. It’s truly extraordinary. Now it belongs to me.”
Guo Shier sat cross-legged and added, “Brother, it’s fine if my body is burned.”
Li Ran nodded. Neither of them felt the pain of separation. It was as if Guo Shier was just going on a long journey, knowing they would meet again sooner or later.
Guo Shier’s soul trembled slightly. “Elder Shuai, please help… Seal my soul the moment I die.”
Elder Shuai replied, “Don’t worry. You’ve taught me everything.”
Guo Shier began silently reciting incantations and gave up control over his body. Elder Shuai skillfully cast a series of runes, and Guo Shier’s head suddenly drooped. Li Ran reached out and found that Guo Shier was already dead. A golden light flashed from his body and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Li Ran looked in the direction the golden light disappeared and sighed, “Don’t worry, brother. I’ll find you.” His body gradually faded and soon disappeared too.
…

Guo Shier only retained a trace of his soul outside. Under the control of Old Shuai, he could clearly sense changes in the outside world. This time, with a soul consciousness, he was no longer as ignorant as in the previous two reincarnations, unaware of anything.

Although Guo Shier knew about the changes outside, he couldn’t control them and could only go with the flow.

It was pitch black around him. He could still communicate with Old Shuai, but his soul, being sealed, couldn’t enter the altar. He had realized this from the moment he died. Once his soul entered the altar, he wouldn’t be able to reincarnate smoothly, and the altar would manifest—then it would really be the end. With Old Shuai in control of the altar, he didn’t have to worry about his soul disappearing.

After what seemed like an eternity—perhaps thousands of years or just a moment—he suddenly felt a hint of warmth in his soul.

Old Shuai laughed, “It worked. Interesting. I don’t know where this place is, but… you have a body again. Hehe, go ahead and sleep for now…”

Guo Shier felt extremely tired. He barely moved his soul and said, “Damn it, I’m left with just my soul, and I’m still tired… Don’t let me sleep for too long…” Then he fell into a deep sleep.

…

When he opened his eyes again, Guo Shier found himself as a two-year-old child. He looked around and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. It was clearly a poor household, extremely poor at that—a dilapidated thatched cottage with drafts everywhere. The climate was decent, quite warm. He was naked, lying on a broken earthen bed, covered with a tattered blanket of indistinct color. A stench of sweat and a strange sour smell filled the air.

There was no one in the room. Guo Shier wailed inwardly. This was unlucky—how could he be reborn in such a place? He stretched out his hand, and a pair of small hands appeared before him—dark, like little claws, who knew what they had grabbed. Suddenly, he felt itchy all over, and Old Shuai’s laughter echoed in his mind, “Haha, good, you’re awake, awake… I was dying of boredom.”

Guo Shier asked, “What’s going on? Old Shuai…”

Old Shuai replied, “It’s fine. You’re lucky!”

Guo Shier snapped, “Lucky? This hellhole!”

Old Shuai said, “Your body is in great condition, with excellent quality. What does it matter if this place is good or not? Do you think you’re still an ordinary person?”

Guo Shier thought about it and agreed. He asked, “What kind of place is this?”

Old Shuai carelessly replied, “I don’t care what kind of place it is. As long as you can regain even one percent of your strength, it doesn’t matter!”

Guo Shier tried moving his body and gave it a quick check, then wondered, “Huh, this body is really good—no signs of malnutrition at all… Looking at this house, it must be very poor!”
The handsome old man said, “Of course it’s poor. They can’t even afford three meals a day. If it weren’t for me secretly feeding you… do you think you could grow up so healthy and strong?”
Guo Shier was stunned. He exclaimed, “You fed me?”
The handsome old man replied, “Of course. Is there anything I don’t know? I have everything—how could I lack food?”
Guo Shier couldn’t understand at all and asked, “How… how did you feed me?”
The handsome old man said, “It’s simple…”
Suddenly, Guo Shier felt something soft in his mouth, not knowing where it came from. He chewed a few times and said, “Not bad, tastes good. Haha, handsome old man, you’re amazing.” He couldn’t help but praise him. Then he asked, “Handsome old man, in this life… are my parents still alive?”
The handsome old man replied, “Unfortunately, in this life… your parents are both dead. It was your sister-in-law who raised you… Well, don’t thank me yet. She basically ignored you. Hehe… If it weren’t for me feeding you, you’d probably be dead of hunger by now.”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but curse, “I’m damn unlucky.”
At that moment, a plump woman stormed in, cursing, “Get up, lazy brat! You only know how to sleep. I don’t know what sin I committed to have to take care of you, this curse!”
A man followed behind, extremely thin. He looked at Guo Shier and said, “Once he grows another year older, sell him. At least it can help with household expenses.”
Guo Shier’s hair stood on end. The handsome old man laughed heartily from the altar, saying, “Sigh, Shier, you’re going to be sold, hehe.”
The plump woman suddenly pulled back the tattered blanket and raised her hand to slap him on the butt, cursing, “You pig… You only sleep all day. Other than sleeping, nothing else! I’ll kill you, you curse!”
Guo Shier suddenly rolled away, and the plump woman’s hand slapped against the broken bed, with a loud crack. She cried out in pain and cursed, “He can even dodge! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
The man behind her quickly pulled her back, trying to stop her, saying, “Don’t hurt him—otherwise, we won’t get a good price…”

Guo Shier laughed in anger. He slowly stood up. Though he could only control a small part of his soul, he was no ordinary person—he had been a top-tier professional in his past life. Now that he had regained consciousness, how could he allow ordinary people to bully him? He said calmly, “If you want to die, go ahead and attack again!”
The fat woman and the thin man were both stunned. It was the first time they had heard Guo Shier speak. The boy had remained silent all along, and they had thought he was a bit stupid. They never expected him to be able to speak, and moreover, he exuded a terrifying aura. Although they didn’t understand what aura meant, when Guo Shier stood up, they couldn’t even breathe, their bodies trembling uncontrollably as a chill spread from deep within them.
Guo Shier glanced at what he called his “elder brother” and “sister-in-law” in this life and said indifferently, “Get lost!”
The fat woman’s heart trembled violently, as if she had seen a terrifying devil. She let out a shrill scream, grabbed her man, and fled outside, shouting, “Oh my God, it’s a ghost…”
The handsome old man smiled and said, “They ran away. Hehe, why didn’t you kill them?”
Guo Shier replied, “There’s no need to kill them. After all, they gave me a place where I could wait until I regained consciousness. Scaring them a bit is enough. Handsome Old Man, give me a large wooden basin. I want to take a bath. Also, prepare a set of clothes for me. Damn it, in this life… I don’t even have any clothes on. This is too miserable.”
The handsome old man said, “Since you all reappeared together, I guess you’ll regain consciousness the fastest. Hehe, you still have to go after them. You’ve got a lot to do.” As he spoke, a large wooden basin appeared on the kang, filled with hot water.
Guo Shier climbed into the basin and couldn’t help but moan in comfort. He asked, “Was spiritual spring water added to it?”
The handsome old man replied, “Of course. It can quickly nourish your body, but I didn’t dare add too much. Your body can’t handle it right now.”
Guo Shier said, “I know… Add a little more soul spring water later. Also, loosen the seal a bit. My soul is too weak now; I can’t do anything.”
The handsome old man said, “No problem.”
Guo Shier added, “Give me a mirror. I still don’t know what I look like now.”
Looking at himself in the mirror, Guo Shier was completely speechless. He was a little child slightly older than a baby, with baby teeth. After washing, he looked fair and clean, quite delicate. He felt his bones were soft and couldn’t help but sigh, “Damn it… There’s no sense of appearance at all. I’m too weak…”

A set of magnificent clothes appeared on the kang, and Guo Shieru put them on. It was a set of silver-white talismanic robes inscribed with defensive runes; once worn, they made him almost immune to extreme temperatures. There were also a pair of small leather boots, likewise inscribed with runes, which allowed him to walk several times faster.
The handsome old man sighed, “Hurry up and practice some more. You’re too weak now. I even doubt… you might die from just falling!”
Guo Shieru threw the tattered blanket on the kang to the ground, sat cross-legged, and began to recite scriptures silently.