novelnext Chapter 1083 - 654: Illusionary Life (Part 1) – Winds Rising at Dragon Mountain
Chapter 1083 - 654: Illusionary Life (Part 1) – Winds Rising at Dragon Mountain
Lu Lin could clearly hear the noisy sounds nearby, completely unaware of what these giants were saying.
However, he could sense that the giants were all very happy.
Was it because... they were about to have a delicious dinner?
With such thoughts swirling in his mind, Lu Lin suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness and drifted into a deep sleep.
Three years later.
Lu Lin finally understood that the challenge he was facing this time was life itself.
A hundred years of life, with each year being a level.
During these three years, Lu Lin also learned the language of this world, gaining parents, siblings, and servants.
This world resembled scenes from ancient China.
The family Lu Lin was part of was also named Lu, being local merchants in the county town.
The family owned a thousand acres of fertile land and ran businesses in silk and food, with four or fifty servants at home.
Because of his rebirth, Lu Lin had shown himself to be remarkably intelligent and sensible from a very young age. Since gaining the ability to act independently, he never wet the bed like other children of his age. He spoke early, and everyone at home saw Lu Lin as a prodigy.
The old man was named Lu Zhenweng, a scholarly elder, who upon seeing Lu Lin’s intelligence and agility, tirelessly chased him with a book every day, having him learn eight hundred ancient poems and a thousand classical couplets...
Lu Lin found the old man quite bothersome.
His goal was to diligently focus on health and longevity, living until 99, which would mean passing all 100 levels.
Whenever he had free time, Lu Lin would sneak out of the mansion to find some old men, ask about their age, and gather some secrets of health and longevity.
These were things Lu Lin had never paid any attention to before.
He was constantly cultivating, practicing martial arts, as Martial Artists have a sufficiently long lifespan.
Unexpectedly, in this Illusionary Realm, he became engrossed in studying methods for health and longevity.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Lin reached the age of seven.
Although all these years Lu Lin was unwilling to follow the arrangements of the old man Lu Zhenweng, he nonetheless memorized eight hundred ancient poems and a thousand couplets completely, purely out of being pestered by him.
It wasn’t that the old man specifically forced Lu Lin to memorize them. He would deliberately recite them loudly and triumphantly while Lu Lin was playing with other children.
With his strong Soul Power, Lu Lin could usually remember them after listening once.
Once Lu Zhenweng discovered this ability of Lu Lin, he was overjoyed and constantly boasted to others about having a child prodigy in his family.
As the old man was a man of culture, he had a group of mediocre friends, and Lu Lin often got dragged to their gatherings like drinking events and poetry salons.
Occasionally reciting age-appropriate poems like "The Goose" or "Thoughts on a Quiet Night," Lu Lin was hailed as the number one prodigy in the surrounding ten miles.
Over the years, Lu Lin and the old man Lu Zhenweng fought a battle of wits, but he met with his cheap dad and mom only a few times.
Back then, due to a great drought, Lu Lin’s cheap dad, Lu Xiaotang, surprisingly kept only enough grain for themselves and donated the rest.
For this, the old man Lu Zhenweng almost broke Lu Xiaotang’s leg.
But unexpectedly, the next year saw a rich harvest in the county, and Lu Xiaotang’s good deed from the previous year earned him a recommendation from an influential figure, allowing him to become a county master in another county.
However, from some rumors, it seemed Lu Lin’s cheap dad was a wooden-headed man, wholeheartedly striving to benefit the common people, angering many large families and wealthy landlords in that county.
"Young Lu Lin, you are almost seven years old now. This is the right time to go to school and study. Our Ping County is just a rural place; studying here would only waste your talent."
"I, the old man, don’t have any capability myself, but spent over a thousand taels hiring people to find you a good Master. Tomorrow, you will set off for Shangyang Prefecture in Longshan Prefecture, where you will receive better education."
Lu Lin couldn’t resist his fate.
Despite his strong Soul Power and cultivating methods, in this world Lu Lin was just an ordinary child who couldn’t control his own fate.
Studying for four years in the private school organized by the Zhu family in Shangyang Prefecture, Lu Lin had grown to over 1.7 meters tall, with ample nutrition making him the most robust among a dozen elite students in the small class.
One day, a student rushed into the dormitory to find Lu Lin and said: "Big brother Lu Lin, your dad is dead!"
Lu Lin immediately cursed him back, not just cursing, he even pinned the boy down and gave him a good beating.
Once the beating was over, Lu Lin learned that his cheap dad, the county master he’d only met a few times, Lu Xiaotang, had unfortunately encountered wolves while inspecting farmland. To let a woman with a child escape first, he was dragged away by the wolves himself.
Half a day later, after the wolves left, the people of the county found the only belonging of Lu Xiaotang.
A letter sealed in a small wooden box.
It was a letter Lu Lin had written to him upon Lu Zhenweng’s request.
Seven days later, Lu Lin returned to Ping County to attend Lu Xiaotang’s funeral.
On the night after Lu Xiaotang was buried, Lu Lin’s mother ended her life with three feet of white silk.
"Lu Lin my son, this life has been unbearable without your father, forgive your mother for being selfish this time."
Staring at this final note with only a few dozen words, Lu Lin did not cry.
He could not understand why his parents would have such feelings.
Afterwards, people from the county where Lu Xiaotang had served as county master came to the house, the common people bringing chicken eggs, wheat, insoles, and children’s clothes, placing them in front of the Lu residence before going to pay respects at Lu Xiaotang’s grave.