1: Breaking the Secrets of the Womb

Turbid river water poured into Li Qinghe's mouth, nose, and ears.

He understood nothing; his ten-year-old head was filled with mush.

The village children who played and frolicked always loved to surround him, laughing and giggling as they said things he couldn't understand.

They would point at the mud on the ground and call it candy, or point at dog droppings and call it cake, then urge Li Qinghe to take it. When he foolishly reached out to grab it and stuffed it into his mouth, it would immediately draw a louder burst of ridicule.

Today, a fat little boy named Goudan approached him again, pointing at the small river behind the village with a wicked look in his eyes.

“Qinghe, there's candy in the river! Sweeter than mud! Glowing candy!”

Li Qinghe's dull eyes moved slightly, and he grinned, saliva trickling down the corner of his mouth.

“Candy... sweet... he likes sweet.”

Goudan grabbed him, half-dragging and half-coaxing him to the riverside.

The river water flowed with a splash, shimmering dazzlingly under the midday sun.

Goudan pointed to a blindingly bright spot in the middle of the river channel.

“Look! Bright candy! It's right there!”

Li Qinghe stared blankly at that patch of light. Words of desire escaped his slurring mouth as he foolishly lifted his foot and stepped into the water.

As soon as he entered the water, his foot slipped. The slippery moss on the bank offered no grip, and he fell straight into the cold, turbid river like a heavy stone.

Water surged from all directions, frantically plugging his mouth, nose, and ears, seizing his throat, and drilling into his ear canals.

The water poured into his ears with a muffled sound, like an old ox panting beside him. He instinctively opened his mouth to breathe, but only sucked in foul-smelling river water, which choked him until his lungs burned with pain.

Right then!

“Boom!”

A dull roar exploded in his head.

A massive jumble of memories, chaotic images, sounds, and emotions poured into his mind all at once!

“Overtime! Everyone has to work overtime! This damn project must go live tomorrow! BUGs? I don't care about BUGs! You have to get it done tonight even if you stay up all night!”

“Get it done, and the whole team's performance bonus doubles! Fail, and it's halved!”

The technical supervisor's greasy, fat face twisted and enlarged before his eyes.

---

“Old Li, let's go! Let's get some skewers! Have a drink! Celebrate you finally escaping this sea of misery!”

A familiar colleague patted his shoulder. Under the dim lights, the air was thick with the greasy smell of skewers, cigarettes, and beer.

---

“Bang!”

The ear-piercing sound of brakes! The sight of the windshield shattering! The world spinning! Cold fear instantly seized his heart!

...And then... there was water, endless suffocating water, exactly like now!

Li Qinghe woke up with a start! His ignorance vanished completely, replaced by an unprecedented clarity. Accompanied by tearing pain and bone-chilling fear, it instantly occupied his entire consciousness!

He wasn't the muddle-headed fool Li Qinghe who had lived in Li Family Village for ten years!

He was Li Ming!

An unlucky programmer from another world, exhausted by endless overtime, who finally got dead drunk on the night he celebrated leaving his job, stepped on the gas, and sent himself into a river to drown at the bottom!

He had undergone Rebirth! He was reincarnated into this godforsaken place! In this remote corner called Li Family Village, he had been a fool!

The cold, turbid river water was still frantically pouring into his lungs. The sensation of death had never loomed so realistically.

His newly Awakened consciousness was gripped tightly by an intense will to survive and a massive fear of death!

He didn't want to die! He had just woken up!

At this brink of death, a cold, rigid, and emotionless mechanical voice abruptly rang out from the deepest part of his consciousness:

【Ding! Strong survival will and Soul transformation threshold detected... conditions met...】

【daily intelligence System activating...】

【Activation successful!】

【Generating today's unique intelligence... generation complete!】

A paragraph of text, shimmering with a faint blue light like a low-quality game pop-up, was forcibly projected into the center of his chaotic vision:

【daily intelligence (Opportunity type): In the Li Family Ancestral Hall where you are located, beneath the third rafter east of the main hall's central beam, lies a moss-covered old genealogy record. This item is no ordinary object; its material is made from the heart of a centuries-old 'Soul-Subduing Wood'. Having been soaked in incense Power Of Will over time, if placed under moonlight at the third quarter of the Hour of the Rat (midnight), it will reveal the 'Qi Nourishing Mantra' Qi-guiding method left behind by the Li family ancestors.】

The amount of information was massive! Li Qinghe (or rather, Li Ming) was left with a blank mind by the sudden impact of this "System" and the intelligence content.

Soul-Subduing Wood? Qi-guiding method? Cultivation? This... this was his Golden Finger? Refreshing intelligence every day?!

The instinct to survive overrode his shock.

He slammed his mouth shut and thrashed with all his might! The clumsy body of a ten-year-old child exploded with unprecedented strength, his limbs flailing wildly in the water! His head finally broke the surface!

“Cough! Blech— cough cough cough cough!”

Turbid muddy water mixed with stomach acid was sprayed out all at once.

Every violent cough pulled at his burning throat and chest.

He greedily gulped down the air, which smelled of earth and moisture. The cold air rushed into his lungs, bringing a stinging sensation of having survived a disaster.

“He's awake! Dad! Fourth Brother is awake! He's not dead!”

A voice filled with a crying tone exploded in his ears, both shocked and joyful.

Startled by the voice, Li Qinghe turned his wet, heavy head with difficulty and looked toward the sound.

The riverbank was a mess, with chaotic footprints printed in the wet mud.

Third Brother Li Qingfeng's youthful face was covered in mud, snot, and tears, looking utterly wretched.

He was death-gripping Li Qinghe's waist, dragging half of his body out of the water.

Li Qingfeng's clothes were also completely soaked, clinging to his body, which was so thin that the shape of his ribs could be seen.

His face was bloodless, and his lips were still trembling. That loud shout just now seemed to have exhausted all his strength; now he could only pant heavily, his eyes fixed on Li Qinghe. His face held the extreme terror of a close call and the wild joy of a narrow escape.

His father, Li Dashan, squatted nearby. This farmer, who had dealt with the yellow earth all his life and was as silent as a hard stone, now looked like a helpless child.

His large hands, covered in thick calluses, kept pressing on Li Qinghe's cold, wet chest.

A few villagers who had heard the commotion were gathered on the bank, talking all at once, interspersed with angry scolding and shooing of Goudan and the other troublemaking children.

Cold river water flowed down Li Qinghe's hair and cheeks, running into his eyes and stinging them, but he did not close his eyes.

He looked at everything before him blankly.

He saw Third Brother Li Qingfeng's tear-streaked, worry-filled face.

He saw Father Li Dashan's terrifyingly red eyes, his tightly pursed yet uncontrollably trembling lips, and the warmth coming from those rough, large hands.

Surges of cold, earthy river water rushed up his throat, sour and bloated, making him vomit until he could barely breathe.

This feeling was even more uncomfortable than the choking earlier.

He opened his mouth to speak, but only produced a series of meaningless "Heh... heh..." sounds.

In his mind, that cold System prompt had long since disappeared.

Only that paragraph of text shimmering with faint blue light remained, as clear as a brand:

【In the Li Family Ancestral Hall where you are located, beneath the third rafter east of the main hall's central beam, lies a moss-covered old genealogy record... it will reveal a faint 'Qi Nourishing Mantra' Qi-guiding method left behind by the Li family ancestors.】

Qi-guiding method... Cultivation... Li Qinghe's gaze instinctively bypassed the anxious faces of his father and Third Brother, bypassed the noisy villagers, and bypassed the wet riverbank.

It looked toward the depths of the village, toward those few dilapidated houses—the Li Family Ancestral Hall.

Did that old genealogy record, hidden in a dark corner of the roof beams and covered in dust and moss... really hide a secret that could change everything?

He blinked, and cold river water mixed with something warm slid from the corner of his eye.