Over the next few days, Lin Dong continued his rigorous training in the dense forest behind the mountain peak, just as he had in the past. His arms and ankles remained weighed down by heavy, dark iron blocks.
However, Lin Dong no longer felt fatigue. Still, he immersed himself completely in the familiar rhythm of cultivation. The timeline in his memories and the events unfolding around him seemed to overlap—converging, then drifting apart, leaving him uncertain whether this was reality or a dream.
"Hmm, not bad..."
Just like in his deepest recollections, Lin Xiao stood under a large tree in simple clothes, a rare smile softening his usually stern face.
"Father, are you here to teach me martial arts?" Lin Dong asked, his voice trembling slightly as he looked into that familiar face. His eyes grew moist. Lin Xiao had suffered greatly in the past. After being crippled by Lin Langtian, he had lived in seclusion, placing all his remaining hope on his son.
"You brat, so obsessed with martial arts already? Don't rush—haste leads to failure. Before, you couldn't cultivate at all, and now that you've barely reached the third level of Body Tempering, you can only begin learning techniques." Lin Xiao smiled and shook his head as he passed on the Tongbei Fist.
"Tongbei Fist... fluid, adhesive, explosive..." Lin Xiao began explaining the technique.
Snap! Snap!
Two sharp, crisp sounds rang out before he could finish. Lin Dong withdrew his fist casually.
"Huh, not bad for a martial technique—it has bite," Lin Dong said with a faint smile.
He made sure not to perform too well, fearing his father might suspect possession. Lin Dong intended for Lin Xiao to gradually recover his dignity, starting with the upcoming clan competition.
Even so, Lin Xiao was stunned. He stared at Lin Dong for a long time before finally murmuring, "You really inherited my talent… even surpassed your old man."
Lin Dong scratched his head sheepishly.
"Keep training, and don't forget dinner later." Lin Xiao seemed unusually pleased. When he had learned the Tongbei Fist himself, it had taken him a full week to produce even a single echo. Lin Dong, however, had achieved two clean strikes in just one demonstration. This talent exceeded that of even his father.
"Got it. You should go rest, Father," Lin Dong replied.
Lin Xiao nodded with satisfaction and turned to leave.
'Time to check on Xiao Diao.'
After watching Lin Xiao's retreating figure, Lin Dong turned toward the depths of the mountain. Soon, a familiar cliff appeared before him, stirring something deep within his heart. This place had marked a turning point in his life. Without the ancestral stone and Xiao Diao, he might never have defeated Lin Langtian two years later.
He pushed aside a pile of stones, revealing a narrow, hidden entrance. Leaping in, a cool aura enveloped him—the same sensation he remembered clearly. A stone pool came into view, calm and quiet.
Just as before, Lin Dong removed his clothes and stepped into the pool. He lay down beside it, gazing at the cave ceiling. Reaching out, he summoned a small, smooth stone into his hand.
The ancestral stone.
Staring at it, Lin Dong fell into a daze.
"Xiao Diao..." he muttered.
The stone no longer held any mysteries for him. In one of its corners, a faint demonic spirit lay dormant—Xiao Diao, the future second-in-command of the Martial Realm.
With a thought, Lin Dong's spiritual consciousness entered the ancestral stone.
Within the darkness, a phantom version of himself was practicing the Tongbei Fist, each movement flowing smoothly, powerfully—flawlessly.
'The turning point of fate…' Lin Dong exhaled quietly. 'A man, a weasel, and a tiger... it really was enough to break the heart.'
He approached the dormant demonic spirit that pulsed faintly, on the verge of dispersing.
"Little weasel, let's rewrite the legend together. But you'll need to suffer a bit more this time. If I healed you right now, you'd never call me 'senior' again," Lin Dong teased gently.
His gaze shifted to the nearby spiritual grindstone—the same one that had once tormented him until he hovered at the edge of death. He stared at it in silence.
'How many times did I throw myself at this grindstone...?'
"Yan, you really had a good eye." Lin Dong looked deeper into the ancestral stone. There, the spirit named Yan slumbered quietly. Back then, when even the Flame Lord and Dark Lord had doubted him, it was Yan who had believed and followed him.
'Tch… probably just luck,' Lin Dong muttered with a faint smile as he exited the inner world and lay back in the pool.
Time passed.
Suddenly, the sound of shifting stones echoed from the cave entrance.
"Lin Dong, hehe, I knew you were hiding here." A cheerful voice echoed as a delicate figure appeared. The young girl, no more than thirteen or fourteen, wore a light-colored dress. Her petite face was lively, her large eyes sparkling with mischief.
It was Lin Dong's younger sister—Qing Tan.
"It's already dark. Mother's been calling you for a while." She skipped over and naturally linked her arm around his.
"You better not plan to sleep in the cave again like last time. That stone path's totally invisible at night."
Lin Dong chuckled softly. 'Still the same as always, this little girl…'
But after he left the Great Yan Dynasty in his past life, Qing Tan had joined the Dark Temple and suffered tremendously. Lin Dong clenched his fist slightly. Someday, he would confront the temple master of the Dark Temple himself.
That night, after dinner, Lin Dong lay quietly on his bed.
His thoughts wandered.
'Xiao Yan… I wonder how he's doing. He reached the Sovereign Realm too… Could he have returned like I did?'
Lin Dong focused his mind, channeling his supreme power. Countless planes lit up before his eyes, like stars scattered across the sky. Eventually, one plane locked into view.
The Martial Qi Continent.
Time flowed differently there. It was still daytime.
He focused his gaze.
In a familiar grand hall, Xiao Yan's father and others sat quietly. Standing beside Xiao Yan was a young girl with flushed cheeks—Nalan Yanran.
"Miss Nalan, for the sake of Old Master Nalan, Xiao Yan advises you: 'What goes around comes around. Don't look down on a young man just because he's poor!'"
Lin Dong blinked.
'So… Brother Xiao didn't return with his memories and Sovereign cultivation like I did…'