It turns out I'm a second-generation demon.

Midnight, Fudan University Affiliated Hospital.

Li Xianyu lay in a makeshift ward, her face pale and weak, an IV drip inserted into the back of her hand. The hospital was nearly empty at this hour; the corridors were quiet, with only the occasional nurse or patient passing by.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I'm going to die." Li Xianyu's voice was still hoarse, and he coughed violently every now and then.

Grandma sat on the edge of the bed, her delicate brows furrowed, unable to understand it at all: "It's impossible. The way you circulate your energy is correct, the breathing rhythm is correct. I was the one who opened the Heavenly Gate for your father back then, so how come it's going wrong with you?"

Li Xianyu sighed softly, "This isn't your fault, it's the world's fault."

Looking at his great-grandmother beside him, he felt a warmth in his heart. Being sick and having someone by his side was the best healing for his soul. Without his great-grandmother, he was afraid he would be alone in the hospital, unable to sleep because he would have to keep an eye on the IV drip.

After being forced to stop his breathing exercises, Li Xianyu experienced symptoms such as dizziness, coughing, and fever. He was almost scared to death, thinking he had gone mad. Sure enough, practicing Qi cultivation was not that simple. In martial arts novels, young heroes who were too eager to succeed only ended up going mad.

Then the female warriors had the opportunity to sacrifice themselves, yin and yang were in harmony, the young hero was fully revived, and from then on they were a divine couple, inseparable.

He had no female knight-errant by his side, only his great-grandmother. He had no choice but to call a taxi online and have the driver take him to the nearest Fudan University Affiliated Hospital, where he went to the emergency room.

After examining the patient, the doctor immediately diagnosed: "Smog poisoning!"

"Huh?" Li Xianyu felt his still-shaking worldview collapse again, and hurriedly said, "Doctor, I need a blood test, and if possible, an ultrasound. I might have a serious problem, like my meridians are all broken or my dantian is shattered or something."

The doctor said, "A sore throat, dry cough, increased nasal discharge, dry eyes, and a high fever, but no other pain or abnormalities—this sounds like smog poisoning. I'd like to ask you something else: even with a red smog warning today, it shouldn't be enough to cause severe poisoning. Did you take your air purifier apart and lick it?"

Li Xianyu didn't believe it and insisted on getting a blood test, so the doctor let him have his way.

The blood test results came back normal, with no other issues reported.

It's truly smog poisoning.

It wasn't my great-grandmother's fault; the world was at fault.

This time, the world is finally not being unfairly blamed.

Li Xianyu murmured, "Great-Grandma, you slept for twenty years. When you woke up, the world had changed drastically. Perhaps we are living in an era of Dharma decline?"

The human mouth is not an air purifier and cannot automatically filter out toxic gases in the air. When breathing, along with the intake of spiritual energy, toxic substances in the air are also inhaled at a rate dozens of times higher than usual.

Practicing Qi to the point of smog poisoning—how can Qi practitioners across the world bear this?

It is absolutely the end times.

Grandma said, "Miasma has existed since ancient times. Let's find a better place tomorrow."

Li Xianyu silently covered her face: "You don't understand, smog has spread all over the country."

My dream of cultivating immortality had barely begun when it was cut short.

fall!

Grandma frowned: "Is that so? Oh dear, I slept for far too long this time. I've never slept this long before. The world has changed so much when I woke up."

Li Xianyu: "You didn't used to sleep like this?"

Great-grandmother: "After each great-grandson dies, I fall into a deep sleep, which can last from a few months to several years. Before they die, they give me some energy, and I usually wake up on my own and then go to find the descendants of the Li family. This time, I was sealed away until the bead entered your body, and only then was I awakened by your bloodline."

The great-grandmother added, "But sometimes I can't sleep because I have to be responsible for educating the next generation of great-grandchildren. I didn't sleep during your father's generation. Your grandfather died early, and I started raising your father when he was very young. He respected me very much."

Li Xianyu: "..."

"What are beads?"

"The vessel that housed my battle spirit has already fused with your body. It can only be removed using a secret method, or you will die." The great-grandmother encouraged, "You must learn to cultivate Qi as soon as possible and properly refine the spirit pearl. Once you can merge your spirit and flesh with it, you can awaken your bloodline."

"Huh?" Li Xianyu was stunned. Did the fusion of body and soul in the will mean this?

Spirit Pearl + Physical Body = Fusion of Spirit and Flesh?!

Damn it, Dad, did your PE teacher teach you Chinese?

......

At 2:30 a.m., Li Xianyu took a taxi back to her residence. Her high fever had subsided, and she was exhausted both physically and mentally, so she fell asleep immediately.

When he woke up the next day, he had pain in his lower back, an unusual feeling in his throat, and discomfort in many parts of his body. He didn't go to class and called his homeroom teacher to ask for leave.

Upon hearing his weak, as if his body had been completely drained, the homeroom teacher immediately agreed and told him to rest well and remember to see a doctor.

All morning, Li Xianyu did nothing but teach his great-grandmother how to use a mobile phone and play games, and then lay at home resting.

"Ouch~ Grandma, my back hurts so much. It hurts after sitting for a while. You're going too far." Li Xianyu lay on the sofa with his grandma sitting next to him, looking down at her phone.

When he woke up this morning, his eye bags were really heavy, he looked exactly like...

She said casually, "A ten-day rest will do. If you want to nourish your kidneys, then practice your Qi cultivation."

"Come on, my throat is still itchy, I'm suffering from smog poisoning." He coughed a few times and asked, "Practicing Qi will make your back stop hurting? I understand, as long as I have spiritual energy to supply you, you won't have to drain my energy anymore, right?"

"You're wrong." Grandma flicked Li Xianyu's forehead with her slender finger. "Practicing Qi will help your body recover faster."

A sense of foreboding welled up in Li Xianyu's heart: "What do you mean?"

Grandma glanced at him, paused for a moment, and slowly said, "I've said before that Qi cultivation and bloodline abilities are two different systems. The basis of our contract is the power of the Li family bloodline, which belongs to the bloodline system. Right now, I'm like this cell phone. It has many functions, but because the battery is low, it's shut down, and all of its functions are unusable."

"How do I turn it on?"

"Waiting for you to awaken."

"Then, then your electricity..." The ominous premonition grew stronger.

"Yes, it's not spiritual power, it's your essence, energy, and spirit. And the kidneys are where essence is stored, so they're the first to be affected. That's why you feel lower back pain and mental fatigue when you wake up today. Once you master the Qi cultivation technique, you can greatly alleviate this dual physical and mental fatigue. However, the physical depletion is irreversible because my energy consumption is much faster than your spiritual energy cultivation speed. To give an analogy, I'm like a computer, but the charger isn't the original one; it's a mobile phone charger. That's why my great-grandchildren are always running a deficit. Every one of my great-grandchildren inevitably suffers from kidney deficiency and mental weakness."

"Ancestral...hereditary kidney deficiency?" Li Xianyu's face turned pale.

So he died young?

No wonder the dead old man said in his will that he might never have any children in his life.

At this moment, he had a deeper understanding of the phrase "his great-grandmother was a troublesome little devil".

"Great-grandmother, you'll lose me if you do this." Li Xianyu's lips twitched. "I was truly blessed to be born."

There were so many things to complain about that he didn't even know how to start complaining. First, he sympathized with his mother, then his grandmother, and then he sympathized with each generation onward.

The great-grandmother scratched her head and said with distress, "To be honest, the direct descendants of my Li family are few, and I have to take the blame for this."

Li Xianyu collapsed on the sofa in tears, crying, "Grandma, I'm still a child! I haven't made enough friends yet, and I don't want to suffer from kidney deficiency."

Grandma comforted him, saying, "Then give up women."

Li Xianyu: "..."

Yamete, my three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines.

Suddenly I understand why the biological father cried for three days and three nights in the will. It's hard not to cry when you have such an old man.

If that's the case, why did our ancestors inherit from our great-grandmothers again and again?

Grandma, having lived for over a hundred years, easily saw through Li Xianyu's thoughts and said quietly, "When you possess supreme power, you won't care about mere kidney deficiency."

Li Xianyu echoed softly, "Can I return it? I wonder if SF Express offers underworld delivery services. Or, Grandma, could you please sleep for another ten or eight years, and I'll try my best to have a son to inherit your legacy?"

Upon hearing this, Grandma rushed over, grabbed Li Xianyu by the collar, and said angrily, "Don't even think about it! I don't want to be sealed away. Since you've awakened me, you have to take responsibility for me, you know?"

Li Xianyu said, "There must be some way to treat kidney deficiency. Modern medicine is very advanced, but we can't rely on it. Does the Bloodline Realm have any miraculous medicines?"

"Don't always think that things from the past are good; times are constantly changing, aren't they?" Grandma thought for a moment, then pressed her index finger to her lower lip, as if recalling something. "I remember your father often took a medicine for kidney deficiency, called '…' capsules. Go to the pharmacy and take a look; they should be quite effective."

Li Xianyu was overjoyed. He took a few hundred-yuan bills from the drawer and rushed downstairs.