「Liyang Dynasty, Chun’an County, Tian Family Manor.」
In the massive estate of the landlord Tian Fugui, which covered dozens of acres, a huge, bustling crowd was gathered in the rear courtyard, their gazes fixed anxiously on a tightly shut door.
"WAAH! WAAH! WAAH!"
The sound of a baby crying rang out.
Several midwives emerged from the delivery room, clustered around a baby boy. Their faces beaming with joy, they announced, "Congratulations, Master! It’s a boy!"
Upon hearing this, the gathered Tian Family relatives all wore mixed expressions, their gazes toward the infant filled with complex emotions.
Only Tian Fugui, the Tian Family Patriarch standing at the very front, was overjoyed. He nearly jumped in the air and exclaimed, "Excellent! Wonderful! I, Tian Fugui, finally have a son to carry on my name!"
Tian Fugui was nearly fifty and had fathered two children, but both were daughters.
Now, well into his middle age, he finally had a son to continue the Incense. How could he not be ecstatic?
At the very least, he no longer had to worry day and night about his predatory relatives devouring his estate.
Holding the chubby, fair-skinned Li Chang’an and feeling the disappointed gazes of the relatives around him, Tian Fugui couldn’t help but roar with laughter. "Prepare a banquet! A banquet! Invite all our relatives and friends from all the surrounding villages! I, Tian Fugui, want them all to come and celebrate with me!"
...
Under the strange gazes of his many relatives, Li Chang’an sensed danger. ’This cheap father of mine in this life... I can’t tell if he’s reliable or not.’
’Making such a big deal just because he had a son.’
’If these relatives really were planning to seize the family fortune...’
’...then wouldn’t I, a baby not even a month old, be the first to suffer?’
At this thought, he didn’t hesitate. He turned, grabbed hold of his wet nurse, and began to gulp down her milk with loud slurps!
Although his situation in this life wasn’t as luxurious as his last one in the Cyber World, where he was fed in rotation by Transcendents, Tian Fugui had still prepared a good number of wet nurses for him.
In one go, Li Chang’an drained the milk from the breasts of three wet nurses.
Only then did he let out a satisfied burp.
The Nine Heavens Chaos Technique activated, and his tiny body began to rapidly break down the nutrients and Energy from the milk, converting them into fuel for his growth.
Li Chang’an fell into a deep sleep.
...
「In the blink of an eye, three years passed.」
Li Chang’an grew steadily, reaching the age of three.
Thanks to his continuous practice of the Nine Heavens Chaos Technique, at just three years old, he already possessed the strength to lift a great tripod cauldron.
When he ran around the courtyard, he was like a little beast.
He would charge about wildly, and not even three or five household servants could catch him.
Tian Fugui was very satisfied with the strong physique Li Chang’an displayed. His only worry was that Li Chang’an seemed to have no interest in the Four Books and Five Classics that were neatly arranged in the courtyard.
Seeing that Li Chang’an was growing bigger and showing more and more intelligence, Tian Fugui found a time to speak with him. "Chang’an, Dad has hired a tutor for you. From now on, you’ll go to town with the other children from the village to study!"
Li Chang’an thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Dad, I don’t like studying. I want to learn Martial Arts!"
Hearing this unexpected, yet somehow logical, reply, Tian Fugui was clearly displeased. He frowned and said, "What’s so good about learning Martial Arts? It’s hard and tiring, not to mention you could be killed at any moment! I’m counting on you to take care of me in my old age, not for me to bury you! You must study for me. All pursuits are lowly; only scholarship is noble!"
In the world today, the Martial Dao flourished.
But the killing and fighting in the Jianghu never ceased.
In the eyes of a landlord like Tian Fugui, the so-called Jianghu was clearly a Xiuluo Scene, where countless men and women who loved to fight lived each day amidst a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, their lives at risk at any moment.
How could that kind of life ever compare to earning a scholarly title and official position?
Li Chang’an had expected that Tian Fugui wouldn’t agree to him learning martial arts, so he settled for the next best thing. "I can study, but you have to let me learn Martial Arts!"
In truth, Tian Fugui couldn’t have stopped Li Chang’an from learning martial arts whether he agreed or not.
Because Li Chang’an was born with the talent of Heaven-defying Comprehension and the memories of several Martial Dao worlds, he could have found a way to begin on his own by spending some time figuring it out, even if no one taught him the basics.
But there was a difference between finding a way on his own and learning systematically.
Li Chang’an couldn’t afford to spend a huge amount of time fumbling through the introductory stages of this world’s Martial Dao.
After all, according to his predetermined fate, a Cultivator would suddenly appear in this world when he was forty-one years old.
If he couldn’t make thorough preparations before then, he would likely still be unable to escape the tragic end of being refined into a remnant soul by the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
Hearing Li Chang’an’s proposal, Tian Fugui closed his eyes and pondered for a good while before finally nodding. "Fine. After you’ve learned the Four Books and Five Classics, I can have the household guards teach you some rudimentary Martial Arts. After all, Martial Arts is one of the Six Arts of the Gentleman!"
Clearly, Tian Fugui’s mind was still stuck on the idea that "all pursuits are lowly; only scholarship is noble." The reason he agreed wasn’t that he truly thought Martial Arts were any good, but simply because they weren’t considered a wicked or heretical path.
...
Having received Tian Fugui’s permission, Li Chang’an began traveling to the tutor in the next village to study.
Relying on his Heaven-defying Comprehension, Li Chang’an memorized all the books his tutor taught him in just a few months, knowing them inside and out.
Finding the tutor’s lectures exceedingly boring, Li Chang’an began to rummage through the tutor’s room on his own, looking for miscellaneous books to read.
Half a year later, Li Chang’an was standing at the lecturer’s podium.
The tutor and a group of children sat in the classroom below.
[Ding! Defying Fate successful!]