Just in case, Qin Zhou returned to the village.

After all, someone had once declared with absolute certainty—

“No one can break my barrier.”

“Not a soul in all the Zhutian can breach it.”

Standing before the village entrance, Qin Zhou suddenly thought of that ‘Immortal Lord’ for no apparent reason. Arrogant, but he probably had some basis for it.

Resetting here would at least eliminate external interference.

Qin Zhou pushed open the gate and stepped into the courtyard.

Then he stepped back out.

Perhaps because he was mortal, even slowing his pace made it difficult to discern the barrier’s presence.

Yet viewing the courtyard from outside revealed a completely different scene. This further confirmed the barrier’s existence.

Therefore, the barrier wouldn’t stop him.

He stepped back in.

Then stepped back out.

Chen San had followed him inside these past few days and hadn’t been blocked by the barrier either. It was highly likely that the reason lay with himself.

Could this mean Wen Jue was the one who set up the barrier, and that he was the master recognized by this village?

But why could he cross Wen Jue’s barrier unimpeded?

Now, he shared the same question as Wen Jue.

Still, Wen Jue had set up the barrier to protect this place for him. Next time he came, he ought to treat him with courtesy.

For the next three hours, Qin Zhou remained in the village.

Perhaps this body truly lacked innate talent, for the Marrow Cleansing Pill proved exceptionally potent.

After swallowing the pill, excruciating pain coursed through Qin Zhou’s entire body, nearly causing him to collapse.

After a moment’s respite, he crawled from the floor to the bed.

Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he clutched the bedsheets tightly, his skin still flickering with a faint glow.

Marrow cleansing—truly cleansing the marrow.

It felt as if every bone and tendon was being shattered and reshaped.

He knew from gaming that the Marrow Cleansing Pill was unpleasant. But he never imagined that when applied to a real person, it could nearly knock one unconscious from the pain.

He had no idea how long the agony lasted.

As the pain eased slightly, Qin Zhou lay limp on the bed, his consciousness hazy. Yet, memories from several years ago suddenly surfaced in his mind—

He enjoyed naming and numbering the villagers.

Using his mother’s surname, he numbered them from one to one hundred.

His favorite among them was Lu Yi.

During the period when he accidentally discovered the [Marrow Cleansing Pill] formula and successfully refined it, he became quite enthusiastic about washing points for the villagers.

Then, one day after washing points—

[Village Chief, ‘Lu Yi’ is ill and unable to move today.]

He clicked into the villager list and saw the red words ‘Weakness’ on Lu Yi’s character card.

So he went to check on him personally.

“Lu Yi, are you alright?”

[Was the immortal pill the Village Chief fed me yesterday poison? I felt like I took a trip to the underworld.]

Seeing the chat bubble appear above the boy’s exquisitely drawn character portrait, Qin Zhou smiled at his computer and typed—

“The Marrow Cleansing Pill cleanses innate talents. Only those who endure extreme hardship can rise above others.”

[……]

“So you need to take it again today.”

A terrified emoji popped above the boy’s portrait.

[I won’t take it! I’ll die if I take it again!]

Without a second thought, Qin Zhou opened the character card and performed another talent reset.

[I’m dying! I’m really going to die!]

[Village Chief! You stinking old man!]

[Aaaaaahhhhh!!]

With each reset, cursing chat bubbles appeared above the youth’s portrait.

At the time, Qin Zhou had thought: :<

Qin Zhou thought hazily—

This pain was so real that it made you want to curse your mother.

No wonder Lu Yi wanted to run away whenever he saw him back then.

As the pain gradually subsided, Qin Zhou finally exhaled slowly.

But before he could fully relax, a figure suddenly appeared before him.

A moonlit robe.

A bright moon reflecting snow between his hair.

And that familiar ‘blurred-out’ face.

It was Wen Jue.

“You little brat, are you playing hopscotch inside my barrier? Going in and out like that—I was wondering how many intruders had breached my defenses.” Immortal Lord Wen Jue’s voice was cool, yet still tinged with gritted-teeth irritation.

The barrier alarm, which hadn’t sounded in centuries, now blared incessantly in his mind as if it cost nothing.

“What are you doing?”

Before Qin Zhou could speak, Wen Jue had already snatched the porcelain bottle hanging from his waist.

He popped off the lid and held it to his nose, taking a light sniff.

“Marrow Cleansing Pill.”

“This is quite the treasure.”

Qin Zhou couldn’t see his face clearly, but sensed the other was smiling—not a normal smile.

“With your talent, you’ll need several more to truly purify your essence.”

Qin Zhou watched helplessly as Wen Jue emptied the entire contents of the porcelain bottle. Then, with a swift motion, he shoved every last pill into Qin Zhou’s mouth.

Qin Zhou: “I—”

He desperately wanted to scream for help, but the pain left him speechless.

In less than two seconds, Qin Zhou passed out.

Wen Jue waited a moment, but saw no sign of movement from Qin Zhou.

“Hm?” Wen Jue tapped his cheek.

Oh no, no response.

Could he be dead? Did he take too many at once?

Wen Jue felt a twinge of guilt and sent a surge of spiritual energy into Qin Zhou’s forehead.

Qin Zhou’s pain seemed to ease visibly, his furrowed brow relaxing.

Wen Jue gave a light cough.

Now that he thought about it, what had his own experience of taking the Marrow Cleansing Pill been like? He couldn’t recall, but the pain was so intense that even the memory alone made him wince.

By that measure, Qin Zhou was remarkably resilient.

Wen Jue found himself regarding Qin Zhou with a bit more respect. Yet when his gaze settled on the man’s face, it lingered for several seconds.

Qin Zhou’s mortal form was quite handsome.

Cultivators forged their appearance with spiritual energy; the higher their cultivation, the more striking their features.

Wen Jue had seen countless handsome men, some delicate, others rugged.

Qin Zhou fell somewhere in between—his features were sharp and angular, yet undeniably pleasing. For a mere mortal, his looks were quite striking.

Wait. That wasn’t the point.

The point was, this Qin Zhou… was a major problem.

He could refine Marrow Cleansing Pills, and he wasn’t hindered by the barrier.

Wen Jue narrowed his eyes, his finger already touching the youth’s forehead.

A soul search now would reveal his true identity. Perhaps even the old man’s whereabouts…

Yet moments later, his hand withdrew.

With his power conducting the search, Qin Zhou would likely meet a fate of soul-shattering obliteration.

“Very well.” Wen Jue rose.

If he truly is the old man’s descendant, he’ll let him live.

But if he really is the old man’s descendant, why would he possess the body of the Qin family’s young master…

How intriguing.

Wen Jue flicked his sleeve lightly and walked out.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Qin Zhou slept exceptionally deeply this time.

In the days since arriving in this world, this was his first deep sleep. Of course, it was forced.

In his dream, he was still in that bustling, technologically advanced metropolis.

That day, Qin Zhou rose early as usual. After a hurried wash, he drove to the company once more.

His game project was nearing its launch phase, and as both project lead and chief technical officer, he had no time to rest.

So, having slept only five hours over the past three days, he once again grabbed his laptop and drove to work.

Not resting wasn’t so bad—being busy meant he didn’t have time to dwell on troublesome matters.

A message popped up on his phone. Qin Zhou glanced at it during a red light—

Father: Come home this weekend. I’ve arranged for you to meet Uncle Zhou and his daughter.

“I have plans this weekend. I won’t be coming home.”

Qin Zhou numbly tapped his phone screen to turn off the light.

His father simply refused to believe that his orientation could be changed—unless he was sent back to his mother’s womb to be remade. Even after six years away from home, he still hadn’t earned his father’s acceptance. Truthfully, Qin Zhou didn’t have anyone special in mind either.

While he was attracted to men, he wasn’t willing to settle for just anyone.

When it came to choosing a partner, he preferred to wait rather than compromise.

Work kept him busy, leaving little time for romance anyway.

As for arranged meetings, since he was attracted to men, he never considered forcing himself to accept a woman. It would waste both parties’ time.

Better to focus his energy on his career.

Watching the red light turn green, Qin Zhou gathered his wits and slowly started the car.

Just then, a car running the red light from the side slammed straight into him—

In the blink of an eye.

Qin Zhou yanked the steering wheel.

But it was too late—

A thunderous crash echoed as the airbags deployed. The screech of tires tearing across the asphalt accompanied the impact, nearly sending his car airborne.

Qin Zhou’s vision blurred crimson.

The metallic taste of blood surged in his mouth. Through blurred vision, Qin Zhou caught sight of the laptop bag on the passenger seat. Regret flooded his eyes.

He’d never been in love.

Six years of hard work, finally on the verge of going public, now gone with him in this crash.

How tragic.

Would his father relent upon hearing the news of his death?

After what felt like an eternity, he mustered his last ounce of strength to reach for his phone.

He wanted to call for emergency help.

His hand, clutching the phone, hung limply in midair before finally dropping to his side.

The sound of the ambulance siren seemed to linger in his ears, growing fainter and fainter.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Qin Zhou woke with a start, rubbing his temples as he propped himself up.

He’d actually dreamed of his own car accident.

Thankfully, it was only a dream.

Being alive was a blessing. In any world.

Qin Zhou opened his stats panel. After several rounds of Marrow Cleansing Pill refining, his stats were no longer pitifully low.

But it wasn’t exceptionally high either.

Talent Growth: 4.01

The highest talent growth a mortal could achieve was 5.0. While 4.0 wasn’t top-tier talent, it still placed him among the elite. With his current talent points, just a few low-grade Spiritual Pills would be enough to break through directly to the Qi Condensation stage.

Could 15 Marrow Cleansing Pills really achieve such an effect?

Impossible.

Even if Qin Zhou couldn’t recall how many Marrow Cleansing Pills he’d used to max out his villagers’ stats back then, fifteen was absolutely out of the question. Moreover, the quality of the pill ingredients in the Qin family shop was merely average—they couldn’t possibly yield such extraordinary results.

Suddenly, Qin Zhou remembered the surge of spiritual energy that had abruptly invaded his body amidst the excruciating pain.

Was it Wen Jue?

Qin Zhou looked up, but Wen Jue was nowhere to be seen.

Wen Jue had forced him to swallow all the Marrow Cleansing Pills in one go, nearly making Qin Zhou—who prided himself on his composure—swear like a sailor.

But then Wen Jue had channeled spiritual energy into him, helping him endure the ordeal.

Should he curse him or thank him?

Qin Zhou shook his head, utterly helpless.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Stepping outside, Qin Zhou immediately heard commotion beyond the courtyard gate. Approaching, he saw Chen San pacing anxiously outside the compound.

“Young Master! Young Master! You’ve finally awakened!”

Qin Zhou hurriedly opened the courtyard gate. “What’s happened?”

“The Zhang family shop has started selling the Spiritual Pill. They’ve even invited numerous disciples from immortal sects to Ping City to build hype. The Zhang family patriarch declared he’d challenge the Qin family’s pills to a contest. He said that if we lose, the Qin family must leave Ping City.”

Qin Zhou frowned. “How long have I been here?”

Chen San: “You haven’t returned to the Qin residence for three days.”

He’d actually slept that long.

“I came looking for the young master, but couldn’t enter the courtyard. Every time I stepped over the threshold, my mind grew dizzy, like walking on the edge of a cliff. Remembering your words about this place being shrouded in immortal illusions, I could only wait here,” Chen San explained softly.

Strange as it seemed, during previous visits when accompanying the young master inside, he’d never encountered this phenomenon of being trapped in a loop.

Qin Zhou offered no further explanation, merely stating, “Let’s return first.”