“Who’s Mommy’s little good boy~?”

  A brown-haired woman of remarkable beauty with a voluptuous figure cradled a baby in her arms. That baby was making a funny-looking blank expression while being forced to gulp down this woman’s breast milk directly from the source.

  “Come on, come on, tell Mommy who the good boy is~”

  “What are you doing, dear?”

  A roguishly handsome man in his early 30s entered the scene. He wore clothes that would normally only be found in museums or cultural festivals, appearing oddly Eastern. Furthermore, he carried a long sword and scabbard at his waist, the scars on his hands proving the sword training he had put himself through.

  “What am I doing, you ask?” the mother repeated with a small pout. “Obviously, I’m trying to get my baby boy to scream to the high heavens how much he loves his Mommy!”

  “He was born less than a few weeks ago and you're already doing something like this??” The roguish man shook his head, sighing over the silliness of his wife. “What’s next? Are you expecting him to ascend straight to the Golden Core Realm??”

  “You really think my baby boy will be able to achieve something like that…?” The mother considered it seriously. “But seeing how cute he is, I believe he’ll be able to do it, fufu!”

  “Lan Yue…”

  The father was rendered helpless in the presence of his wife.

  “At this rate, little Xue will inherit some bad habits.”

  “Ptui,” Lan Yue blew hot air, her cheeks still puffed. “You know nothing. My Xue Ren will grow up big and strong, and whether he awakens with good Spiritual Roots or not, I know he’ll be a wonderful person.”

  “Isn’t that right, little Xue?” she warmly smiled, rubbing her button nose up against his much smaller one.

  The baby, with breast milk still trickling down his lips, blankly stared into his mother’s large brown eyes.

  “Haiz, well let’s just get him to sleep for now,” said the father, whose name was Fang Ren.

  “Fine, fine,” Lan Yue pouted, though she still rose from her spot and carried little Xue Ren to the crib sitting off to the side.

  “Have sweet dreams, my darling,” she quietly whispered into his ear before leaving the room alongside her husband.

  “Have you never wondered why little Xue never pitches a fit? Like just now, he gave no complaints…”

  “That’s just because you were there; he doesn't like how scary you look, hihi!”

  “You…”

  The voices of both man and wife gradually faded into the background. And with the closing of the bedroom door, the baby was left alone to stare up at the ceiling.

  The expression he was making made it seem like he had constipation.

  And it wasn't far off from the truth…

  ‘So I've actually been reincarnated…’

  Some weeks ago, Xue Ren found himself in a very dark space. He couldn't speak, and his movements were severely restricted.

  But there, at the end of this expanse of darkness, was a crack. One that he… slowly came out of…

  That was when he first met these parents of his, both of whom were retired Elders of the Bluemoon Sect.

  Nowadays, they only cultivated whenever they had free time. This led to their cultivation levels borderline stagnating.

  However, even without the euphoria that came from breakthroughs, this married couple was happier than ever.

  Their first child, a cute 6-year-old girl called Linghua, was their first source of joy.

  Then there was their second child…

  ‘I’m so bored…’ Xue Ren thought as he indifferently stared at the ceiling.

  In this new life of his, other than suckling his mother’s teats and soiling himself, there was nothing to do. Most of the time, you could find him just listlessly looking at nothing in particular, his face as expressionless as they came.

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  Even sleeping was boring.

  It always ended up reminding him of the incompetency of his previous life.

  ‘To fall to a hunk of metal floating in space… I'm a disgrace.’

  An unusual-looking sigh escaped his tiny lips.

  Shifting his black eyes across his room, he stopped when a windowsill came into sight.

  The view outside was quite nice. The moon was full and hung low, casting a moonlit glow that did well to soothe Xue Ren’s unrest.

  ‘If only I could train as an infant… How nice would that be?’

  The night passed very slowly, but Xue Ren ultimately fell asleep.

  Even while sleeping, his face was very deadpan.

  It was so… odd.

  Some days later, while as bored as usual, Xue Ren noticed a shadowy figure out of the corner of his eye.

  The figure was sneaking around, acting as if no one could see her.

  But Xue Ren could.

  Her hair was long, her face as cute as a button, and her stature small. She wasn't even 5 feet tall, yet carried quite the confident poise.

  “So you're my new brother,” the girl said once she had made it to Xue Ren’s cradle. “You’re so adorable…”

  “Huhu, it’s decided then,” she said while poking his cheeks, much to his annoyance. “From now on, I’ll take care of you. Under my protection, none shall harm a single hair on your body!”

  ‘....’

  Xue Ren’s opinion of this girl was undecided… for now.

  However, as the days rolled on by, becoming weeks and months, he came to learn something ‘unique’ about his older sister’s personality…

  ...

  “Little Xue, with a face like yours, all the girls will definitely be chasing after you… But you wouldn't leave your beloved sister for them, would you…?”

  “No,” Linghua added, her eyes crazily spiraling. “You’d never abandon your big sister. Not ever.”

  The more this little girl coddled his cheeks, the more shivers ran up Xue Ren’s spine.

  ‘I’ve decided on my opinion…’ He thought. ‘I just hope I can walk soon... That way I can begin training and aim to leave this place and this… sister as soon as possible.’

  He was mostly kidding, as he didn't actually dislike his sister. But she did scare him… just a little…

  The four seasons cycled one after the other.

  Precisely seven months after his reincarnation into this mysterious world that featured something called “cultivation,” Xue Ren was brought out of his house for the first time ever.

  As it turned out, once you reached the age of seven, your Spiritual Roots would awaken. But to figure out their quality and the elements you’d be most proficient in, you had to be tested with a Talent Tester Stone.

  Most villages and towns weren't in possession of precious Immortal items like that, so they normally had to wait around for Immortals to make their rounds to the various human settlements. Sects were always in search of new, undiscovered talent, so they provided the Talent Tester Stones whenever they stopped by.

  However, for the small Ren Family, who had two retired Sect Elders, there was no need to wait around for the Sect Recruiters. They could go directly to the Sect and have youngsters tested without any wait.

  So for the next few hours, Xue Ren and his family of four traveled from their hilltop mansion in Greensbury Village to the neighboring Sumar Village and eventually to a mountain range.

  In this range lay the elusive Bluemoon Sect, which the nearby mortals revered and feared. They termed the members of this Sect as Mountain Immortals and showed respect whenever they caught a glimpse of one gliding down on a sword.

  “Senior Gu, you there?”

  Fang Ren called from outside a large pagoda located in the Core Sect of the Bluemoon Sect.

  The Sect itself was massive, with this pagoda barely visible if one zoomed out enough to encompass the whole Core Sect. And though there were many Elders, there were very few with seniority over retired Elders like Fang Ren and Lan Yue.

  Senior Gu was one of them.

  His voice, both irritated and aged, echoed, “What is it you two want? Aren’t you supposed to be living it up and getting frisky on a honeymoon or something??”

  ‘Without even seeing us, he knew who we were… Senior Gu is as capable as ever.’

  While Fang Ren’s thoughts stirred with respect, Lan Yue walked past her husband. Approaching the door, she knocked a few times for fun, saying, “It’s me, Senior Gu! And no, the honeymoon ended long ago, unfortunately… But we still manage to get frisky all the time in our retirement!”

  “!!!”

  “H-Honey, why are you disclosing such things to Senior Gu??” Fang Ren rushed to cover his wife’s mouth with his hands. “We… were supposed to keep things on the down-low…” he whispered.

  “Oh, oops, teehee~”

  Fang Ren sighed, before cupping his hands toward the pagoda doors. “I apologize on behalf of my wife—”

  “You youngsters retired?” Elder Gu interrupted. “When was this?? And aren’t you too young to be retiring…?”

  Fang Ren’s lips twitched. “Senior Gu, it has been over twenty years since we retired. And we’re already over two hundred years old—when else were we supposed to call it quits…?”

  “Two hundred, huh?” Elder Gu rubbed his long white beard in thought as he opened the pagoda doors for the couple. “It feels like just yesterday that you two entered the Sect, coming to me seeking guidance. How time flies…”

  “…Yes…”

  Both Lan Yue and her husband could relate. Time came for them all.

  Xue Ren, on the other hand, was exhibiting levels of surprise that made his brows arch up to his hairline. ‘Two hundred years?? Just how is that possible!? Have they also developed serums for longevity improvement in this world as well??’

  Although his past life was rife with cultural enrichment, Xue Ren was born into poverty.

  When he was young, he didn't have the money to be wasting on quality Xianxia stories. And when he was old, he was too preoccupied with the never-ending pursuit of strength to have any free time.

  Thus, Xue Ren had close to no idea what cultivation was or what it entailed. He only heard some bits and pieces from his parents—not enough to paint the full picture.

  “You’ve come for this little one, right?” asked Elder Gu, his sunken eyes focused on the cute young girl standing beside the baby being carried in Lan Yue’s arms.

  Fang Ren nodded. “You’re correct. Linghua just turned seven, so we decided to celebrate her birthday by coming to the Sect and getting her Spiritual Roots checked out.”

  “I’d much rather be celebrating my birthday alone with my Xue,” Linghua muttered under her breath.

  ‘Please, no… Anything but that…’ Xue Ren’s baby face twisted in fear.