1: Six Paths of Reincarnation

Qingzhou, Shanghe County, the thousand-mile Taihu Lake.

It was early winter, the Jianghu was cold at night, and a thin mist hung in the air.

The water rippled slightly, a lone boat drifted, and a single lamp glowed like a fisherman's fire.

“Whoosh~”

Tightening the rough, worn hemp clothes he wore, Gu Chang, pale-faced and gaunt, continued to add firewood to the clay stove.

“Gurgle gurgle”

The fish soup in the clay pot was already boiling, the broth milky white, and the fish tender and smooth. The only drawback was the lack of vegetables or seasonings in the soup.

After a quarter of an hour, the stove fire gradually died down. Gu Chang sprinkled some coarse salt into the pot and eagerly began to eat.

The soup was scalding hot, the fish burned his tongue, but Gu Chang didn't care. He slurped it all down until it was completely gone.

His originally cold body finally warmed up considerably as the fish soup went down.

After simply rinsing the clay pot with lake water, Gu Chang crawled into the boat cabin.

The lake, dark and without lights, was exceptionally quiet, with only the slight rise and fall of the water rocking the fishing boat. However, he had long since grown accustomed to this.

Lying in the cabin, the thin quilt covering him didn't provide much warmth, but the most critical issue was something else inside him that was continuously devouring his heat.

“Damn it! Again!”

His body, which had just warmed up after drinking the fish soup, rapidly turned cold again, causing him to shiver uncontrollably even while wrapped in the quilt and curled up on the bed.

“Clack clack clack”

As he closed his eyes, six swirling vortices appeared in his mind, revolving around him.

This thing had been with him since he Transmigrated to this world.

Originally, Gu Chang thought it was his Golden Finger, but he never expected this thing to be an absolute swindler!

Every night, it would madly devour his life force, making him appear exceptionally weak since childhood, constantly falling ill.

Even if he continuously exercised, supplemented his diet, and took medicine, it had no effect whatsoever.

Now, his body remained extremely weak, looking as if he could die from illness at any moment.

“Why do others get a System or treasures when they Transmigrate, but I get something like this?”

Gu Chang looked at the six vortices that only he could see, feeling utterly heartbroken. Heaven knows how much suffering and hardship he had endured since coming to this world.

Ever since he had the Awakening of his past life's memories at the age of ten, this thing had been tormenting him.

At that time, his parents in this life were still alive and spent a lot of their savings to treat his illness. Unfortunately, besides saving his life, it was impossible for him to regain his health.

Later, due to forced labor, his parents left and never returned, only knowing that they had died outside.

From then on, Gu Chang piloted this old fishing boat, leaving the areas where other fishermen usually lived in Taihu Lake, and wandered between the lonely, uninhabited lake surface and some Islands within the lake.

Ultimately, he was a Transmigrator. Even if he deliberately acted taciturn, some habits were still difficult to change.

It was fine when he had his parents' protection and care, but after their passing, when he was alone and helpless, staying with others was not an option.

In this world, there were many instances of people taking advantage of the vulnerable, committing murder for wealth, and bullying the weak.

At the same time, his reclusive life was also to try out some of the knowledge and experiences from his previous life.

For example, compared to ordinary fishing with a rod or net, he could also make fish traps, set snares, create special bait, and so on.

Although he wasn't a fishing enthusiast in his previous life, he was, after all, a modern person who had spent many years navigating the internet, and he had seen a lot of knowledge related to fishing and trapping.

After coming to this world, he was intent on trying these more effective fishing methods. Day after day, he achieved results, allowing him to survive until now even in his weak and helpless state.

Gu Chang's mind constantly replayed the five or six years he had spent in this world.

“Sigh, tomorrow I still have to sell fish to exchange for money to buy firewood, rice, oil, and salt…”

Life for ancient people was far from as simple as he had imagined in his previous life. Any illness or accident could lead to a family's ruin and eternal damnation.

Even without encountering these things, living an honest life was not easy.

As the saying goes, the three greatest hardships in life are piloting a boat, forging iron, and grinding tofu. So, how simple could it be for Gu Chang to make a living on this Taihu Lake?

Putting aside other things, just firewood, rice, oil, and salt were enough to cause headaches. Every single item cost money, and none could be lacking.

Lost in thought, in a daze, Gu Chang suddenly felt a jolt in his mind.

Immediately after, he suddenly discovered that one of the six constantly rotating vortices in his mind had undergone a sudden change!

The vortex, originally filled with gray mist, gradually stopped. Then the gray mist disappeared, revealing a circular black hole, connected to an unknown place.

“Boom!”

Gu Chang stared blankly at the changes before him, unable to understand what was happening for a moment.

However, after a short while, he suddenly realized that his body was no longer as uncomfortable. The six vortices in his mind had stopped drawing his life force.

“This, this is?”

Instantly, Gu Chang seemed to realize something. He abruptly opened his eyes, and after carefully feeling his body for a while, he finally confirmed that his condition had indeed improved!

“Hahaha!”

He was so happy with this change that he couldn't help but laugh, but as he laughed, tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

It was so bitter! He had lived such a bitter life these past years!

He had originally thought he would eventually be ruined by the thing in his mind, but he never expected that it would now give him hope to continue living.

“No, no, no, that's not right, the biggest problem isn't that!”

Gu Chang suddenly realized the crux of the problem. He immediately calmed his mind and focused his attention on his consciousness.

The black hole that had stopped rotating was still there, so he cautiously sent out a wisp of his consciousness to try and make contact.

Although he didn't know why, he vaguely felt that this black hole was not simple. Now that it had changed, it must have some function.

【Six Paths of Reincarnation: Human Dao】

【Reincarnation Points: 3 points】

【Enter this gate, Reincarnation as a human, life and death in an instant!】

Immediately, a very brief string of information automatically appeared in Gu Chang's mind. Although the information was sparse, Gu Chang immediately understood what this black hole was and what its function was!

In short, it meant that as long as Gu Chang put his spiritual consciousness into the black hole before him, he could undergo Reincarnation by consuming one Reincarnation point, with each Reincarnation lasting until death.

“Three Reincarnation points, representing three chances, which means three lives!”

“So that's it! Is this why it was absorbing my life force? To accumulate Reincarnation points?”

“Thump thump! Whew~”

After understanding the effect of this so-called Human Dao, Gu Chang's heart began to beat wildly, and his breathing became exceptionally heavy, because he finally saw an opportunity to change his fate!