Chapter 13: The Past

“Master, what is this?”

Looking at the three people in the illusion, Shen Yuying walked to Chu Fan’s side and asked.

“Yuying, do you remember what I told you when you first joined the sect?”

“What are you referring to, Master?”

“As a cultivator, what is the most important thing if you want to become stronger?”

“Master said it is ‘to desire’.”

“Yes, exactly. It is the desire—having a heart that wants to become stronger. This miniature world is the same. Only if you want to return here can you come back.”

“But they all want to leave. Wouldn’t that involve an element of luck?”

“You are wrong, Yuying.”

“Wanting to leave the illusion and wanting to return here —”

“Are not the same.”

….

“I’ll teach you to steal! Steal, will you!”

In the evening, in a dark alley, a young girl dressed in rags like a beggar was being kicked repeatedly by street vendors for stealing two buns.

But the girl still stubbornly protected the buns in her arms.

She knew she would be beaten even if she returned them, so she might as well endure it.

If she couldn’t endure it, then she would die.

She couldn’t live without food anyway, so she might as well take the risk.

She had nothing left to lose but a miserable life.

If the heavens wanted to take this miserable life back, let them.

Despite her thoughts, it was clear that the girl’s frail body could not contain her stubborn will.

Her vision blurred, and her consciousness began to fade.

‘Was she going to die?’

“You two, why make things so difficult for a little thief?”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Who I am is not important. Here are a few pieces of silver. Consider it a gift. It’s best to be lenient whenever possible. Why don’t you two show some mercy for the sake of this silver?”

“Humph, consider yourself lucky! Pah!“

Before leaving, the two men did not forget to spit twice on the girl’s clothes.

“Master!”

The voice did not come from the girl, nor from Chu Fan.

It was the current Chu Lingshuang, watching this past scene unfold.

Seeing the vendors leave, Chu Fan squatted down and looked at the girl on the ground with interest.

“Oi, are you still alive?”

The girl did not speak—or rather, she couldn’t.

Her breath was gradually weakening.

Seeing this, Chu Fan took the gourd from his waist, unscrewed the cap, and dripped a few drops into the girl’s mouth.

The next moment, the girl’s vital signs began to recover.

Although it didn’t solve her hunger, her physical injuries had clearly healed.

The girl sat up and looked at Chu Fan, scrambling backward until her back hit the wall.

“What? Do I look that much like a bad person? That’s hurtful.”

Chu Fan didn’t say much more and turned to leave.

Behind him, the girl followed cautiously while gnawing on a bun.

She didn’t know why she was following Chu Fan; she just kept a distance from which she could run away at any time.

After finishing the bun, the girl asked, “Are… Are you an immortal?”

Chu Fan turned back with a slight smile.

“That depends on how you understand ‘immortal’.”

Hearing this, the girl’s eyes suddenly hardened, and she fell to her knees with a thud.

“Immortal! Please take me as your disciple!” the girl said while kowtowing.

Chu Fan was clearly startled by this scene.

How did she suddenly start a master-disciple ceremony out of nowhere?

But Chu Fan still acted nonchalant.

He walked to the girl and squatted down.

“Why should I take you? What’s in it for me?”

“I can serve tea and water, carry luggage, serve Master, warm the bed, and…”

“Stop, stop, stop!”

Chu Fan quickly cut her off.

What was wrong with kids these days?

She wasn’t even fully grown yet, and she was talking about warming beds?

“Then tell me, why do you want to be my disciple?”

“I don’t want to be hungry anymore, and I don’t want to be bullied. If someone hits me in the future, I want to hit them back.”

“Good kid. I like your ruthlessness!”

Chu Fan was clearly satisfied with those words.

“Then what is your name?”

“Reporting to Master, your disciple has no name.”

“Huh?”

“Your disciple has no father or mother, so naturally, I have no name.”

“Fine…”

In any case, Chu Fan first took the girl back to the inn.

To allow a mortal to step onto the path of cultivation, the most important thing was meridian reshaping.

While Chu Fan was clearing her meridians, he was surprised to find that her meridians were exceptionally cold.

That didn’t mean she had a congenital defect, but rather an extraordinary constitution.

Chu Fan’s energy probed deeper until it reached her internal organs, and his eyes suddenly widened.

‘The Ice Phoenix Dao Heart!? This… I hit the jackpot on my first try?’

The more Chu Fan thought about it, the more he couldn’t understand it, but he also became more pleasantly surprised.

This one-in-10,000 constitution, a talent that would allow one to breeze through everything before the Nascent Soul Realm, had actually been found by him?

“What’s wrong, Master?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing.”

Although pleasantly surprised, Chu Fan decided not to say anything yet.

The Ice Phoenix Dao Heart was unique, but it had an absolute flaw.

It could be transplanted.

In history, the reason why powerful experts with the Ice Phoenix Dao Heart could grow up safely was that they had powerful masters by their sides.

But even more of them failed to leave their names in history, and those people had undoubtedly all died.

A commoner is innocent, but treasuring a jade ring becomes a crime.

The Ice Phoenix Dao Heart was a special heart that would not cause any rejection reaction and could be transplanted by anyone.

The person whose heart was removed would die on the spot, while the recipient would enjoy its endless talent.

In this world where strength reigned supreme, although Chu Fan had the confidence to protect himself, he really didn’t have the confidence to face a swarm of wolves and tigers—especially those unscrupulous old masters—who wanted the Ice Phoenix Dao Heart.

He could keep his mouth shut, but what about this child?

If she found out about her talent and then happily showed it off all over the street, wouldn’t she be the death of him?

‘Forget it, I won’t say anything.’

“My name is Chu Fan. From now on, you will take my surname and be called Lingshuang. How about that?”

This was the name Chu Fan had just come up with after considering the girl’s constitution.

He thought it was quite good.

“Chu Lingshuang… Chu Lingshuang! Thank you, Master! I have a name! I have a name!”

Young Chu Lingshuang ran around the room, and Chu Fan looked at her with a doting smile.

On the other side of the room, the current Chu Lingshuang watched this scene, her lips curling upward for the first time in a long while.

She was witnessing the beginning of the story once again.

She looked at her past self and the days spent with Chu Fan day and night.

The youth who once was her entire world, whose eyes held only her.

A feeling called happiness began to spread in her heart.

Chu Lingshuang sat on the floor, hugging her legs, her chin resting on her knees.

She tilted her head and watched everything happen in a daze.

It was so beautiful; everything was so full of happiness.

Until that day arrived.