Chapter 1: Transmigration into my past life.
I looked down at my sweat-covered palms as I tried to calm my breath.
When my master Ryom Un-Ju had told me I would have to redo the process, I thought I would just go back to my old body and wait a bit longer to ascend. I never would have thought that the Other Side would send me all the way back to the beginning of my life!
Isn't this the perfect chance though? Now that I'm back in my younger self's body, I can prevent all the hastiness I once had and make myself stronger!
Not only would I be able to become stronger faster, I could also prevent all the needless deaths I wasn't able to stop in my previous life!
I tossed the sheets off my body and slid out of my bed, but before I stood up, I paused and looked back down at the spot I had been lying on.
"Maybe I should take a bath first…" I chuckled out as I noticed the sweat stain spanning across the entire bed.
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Splash!
"Ahhhhh~"
I leaned back against the bathtub wall and closed my eyes, letting the water's warmth sink into my body. It wasn't as relaxing as when I had all stress removed from my body during Ascension, but it was still rather relaxing for my now younger body.
Speaking of younger, it turns out I returned to my ten-year-old self's body while retaining my memories of my original life. In the future they had some books that went along the lines of this type of situation, but I had always called them outlandish since I thought reaching the Other Side was the end for a martial artist.
"Wait, ten-year-old self's body? Doesn't that mean the entrance exam for the Mount Song Sect is soon?!"
I didn't even have time to improve my bone, muscle, or organ structure by myself! I had hoped to refine my body's structure so I could become a Ryom Disciple* during the test, but if the test is today my chances are completely shot!
I jumped out of the bathtub and began drying myself off, hoping that the entrance exam wasn't today so I could at least improve my body a little bit before the exam.
Stepping out of the bathroom after sliding my robes on, I darted toward the main room of the house leaving a trail of water dripping off my long hair on the floor.
"Woah, Ryu Il! Where are you going with your hair that messy? And without shoes no less!" I heard a voice from the main room ask as I reached the front door.
Realizing who the voice belonged to, a kind warmth began to spread through my body, as not even the span of five thousand years could make someone forget their own mother.
"Mother! I was just going out to get some fresh air."
"Well dry your hair off properly first! And put some shoes on, we don't need you getting your feet injured the day before the entrance exams!"
The entrance exams are tomorrow? That's a relief, I should be able to prepare my body a little bit then. I thought as I walked back to the bathroom.
Though, I wasn't exactly going to the bathroom to dry off my hair. As once I had reached the bathroom, I leapt out the window used to let light into the room.
Dry my hair? Put on shoes? Even in the future I did no such things. I lived however I wanted after every one of my peers in the Mount Song Sect ascended.
The Mount Song Sect is one of a kind in the Jianghu*, despite being in the center of the territory shared by Orthodox and Unorthodox sects alike. The Mount Song Sect's teachings derive from neither of the two types of teachings.
The Mount Song Sect's teachings were focused on bringing cultivators to the stage of immortality so they could face the tribulations given by the Other Side so they can ascend. Whilst the Orthodox and Unorthodox practitioners only worry about their own strength and the political power of their sects.
I quickly reached the large old pine tree atop the hill my house was located upon.
The essence of martial arts starts with the energy of nature, so to begin learning, one must be completely in tune with nature. Though, I wasn't here to start creating my Dantian*, my body isn't ready for that yet.
Sitting down against the old pine tree's sturdy trunk, I positioned my body into the lotus position and slowed down my breathing.
After slowing my breathing down more and more I began to feel the energy of nature around me, flowing in and out of everything around me.
The first step of the Mount Song Sect's teachings is to cleanse the body of all impurities at a young age. So, when they later tempered their bones, organs, muscles, and skin, the impurities wouldn't cause mistakes in the shape and placement.
Letting the energy of nature flow into my body with each breath, I began filling my meridians with all the energy they could hold before bursting. Despite the excruciating pain this caused, it was the best way to remove all the impurities within my meridians.
After several minutes of holding the energy within my meridians in place so it could absorb the impurities, I finally exhaled and forced all the qi out through my breath. Causing a small amount of black liquid to seep out of my mouth as the last of the energy left my meridians.
Despite the liquid coming out of my body showing signs of progress, I knew my meridians were far from cleansed. Thankfully, it was the middle of a bright and sunny day, so I could focus on the absolute cleanse for as long as I needed to.
"For such a young boy to be preparing his body with an absolute cleanse. Have the teaching of Mount Song spread all the way down the mountain already?" A voice whispered from above.
Though the voice that whispered from above was familiar to me, I was in the midst of filling my meridians with energy again, so I couldn't respond to his words.
"You even have the focus to tune me out, do you?" The voice whispered from behind me.
A few moments of me filling my meridians with energy and holding it in before expunging it from my body alongside the impurities within would pass.
As I stood up from the ground the voice whispered to me, this time from directly in front of me.
"To properly perform an Absolute Cleanse at your age by yourself, Young boy, may I have your name?"
I opened my eyes and saw the man whom I had heard whispering to me, his black and grey hair tied back and his calm and gentle facial expressions leaning in to stare at my face.
Oh, Master Un-Ju, even though I just saw you in the Other Side, why does it feel so good to see you here?
Author's Notes:
Ryom Disciple: The Mount Song Sect uses given names of the original founders of the Mount Song Sect to determine the level of practitioners. Ryom = Elder disciple, Baek = Master disciple, Chung = 1st class disciple, Hwang = 2nd class disciple, and Tae = 3rd class disciple.
Jianghu: Translates to "Lakes and Rivers," it traditionally refers to the underworld of martial artists.
Dantian: Known as the "sea of energy," and is broken into three sections, the lower Dantian, the middle Dantian, and the upper Dantian. Is commonly used to refer to the lower Dantian, a martial artist's main source of qi/energy.