Yang Guo: I defied death and reached the heavens in The Return of the Condor Heroes

Autumn comes early to Jiaxing.

It's only the end of September, and the willows along the canal have already started to shed their leaves.

Withered yellow willow leaves float on the water, pushed away by passing cargo ships, then gathered together, then pushed away again, as if repeatedly solving some unsolvable problem.

The boy squatted on the stone steps by the dock, staring at his own face on the water, and had been staring for almost the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The water was churned up by a grain transport ship, but once the ripples subsided, the face reappeared completely.

A dirty face, messy hair, and tattered clothes that looked like they'd been worn for ages.

Even though it was so dirty, it couldn't hide the underlying features of his face.

With sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and a straight nose, every feature was perfectly proportioned, as if someone had measured it with a ruler before attaching it.

The thirteen-year-old boy, not yet fully grown, was already so handsome that people couldn't help but take a second look.

But that's not what the boy was looking at.

He looked at the eyes reflected in the water and felt they were unfamiliar.

Those were a child's eyes, clear and bright, yet there were things in their depths that shouldn't have appeared at that age.

......

Three days ago, he was another version of himself in another world.

For an ordinary person struggling to make a living, the biggest worry is that the rent has increased by another two hundred yuan.

Occasionally, I would argue online with people about who is the true number one in the world of martial arts novels.

Then one night in the early morning, he stayed up all night to finish reading a web novel, fell asleep immediately, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself here.

In a dilapidated cave dwelling outside Jiaxing City, he was covered with a thin layer of straw, and next to him was a bonfire that had burned out.

His body shrank.

At that moment, he thought he was dreaming and pinched his thigh hard.

pain!

It hurts!

The pain brought tears to his eyes, and it wasn't until later that he realized what was happening.

The hand that was pinching itself wasn't its original hand—it was too small, the skin was rough, and there were traces of frostbite on the knuckles.

Along with the pain in my leg came a jumble of chaotic yet incredibly vivid memories.

All the memories from the past ten years flooded into his mind like a torrent, crammed into his brain.

"Yang Guo," he murmured the name to himself.

Yang Guo...son of Yang Kang.

The future Condor Hero... a one-armed... Little Dragon Girl... the sixteen-year promise...

He transmigrated to a fictional yet real martial arts world and became Yang Guo.

No, it can't be said that he "became Yang Guo".

To be precise, when he woke up, this body already belonged to him.

Where did the original Yang go? He didn't know.

Did it disappear? Or did it merge? He had thought about these questions, but couldn't find the answers, so he simply stopped thinking about them.

Since we're already here, let's make the best of it...

Over the next two days.

While begging for food in Jiaxing City, he tried to figure out what he could do at the moment.

After all, they weren't natives, so they had to figure everything out on their own, and they couldn't rely on begging to survive forever.

These past two days, all he's been doing is trying to make a living.

I loved sitting by the teahouse entrance listening to storytellers recount tales from all corners of the world.

What about Huang Yaoshi of the Misty Rain Pavilion fighting the Seven Immortals of Quanzhen in the Heavenly Dipper Formation... what about the Five Greats of the Central Plains competing in the Mount Hua Sword Tournament to see who is stronger...?

The storyteller talked about everything under the sun, speaking fluently and eloquently.

He secretly lurked at the entrance of the teahouse, listening with great interest.

Listening to a piece of music in this immersive way is a completely different experience from watching a TV series in a past life.

......

Yang Guo squatted on the shore, reflecting on the events of the past few days and contemplating how he should conduct himself in this world from now on.

He pondered the martial arts manuals in his previous life, such as the "Nine Yang Divine Skill" in the Shaoshi Mountain Sutra Pavilion and the "Nine Yin Manual" on the wall of the Tomb of the Living Dead in Zhongnan Mountain.

If you acquire either of these two divine skills, you'll have the means to establish yourself in this world.

Yang Guo was indulging in wild daydreams, but his stomach was rumbling uncontrollably.

"Sigh, the most important thing right now is to fill our stomachs and survive. Speaking of which, the food of the ancients is really not fit for humans. We should get used to it as soon as possible."

Yang Guo stood up helplessly, lowered his eyes and muttered to himself.

Just as Yang Guo stood up, a sudden "buzz" went through his mind.

It was as if someone had rung a bell in my ear.

His legs buckled and he almost fell.

My vision went black for a moment, and the buzzing in my ears grew louder and louder, as if something was about to burst out of my mind.

Then, he "saw" it.

It's not about seeing with your eyes, it's about "seeing" with your brain.

Deep within his consciousness, there was a white scroll, like a roll of gas.

The scroll was covered with tiny print, and on the far right were eight large characters: "Triple Rebirth, the Path to Heaven!"

As Yang Guo continued reading, the dense text seemed to come alive, flowing out and filling his consciousness.

The words and phrases were profound and obscure, referring to meridians, dantian, qi sea, and the circulation of qi throughout the body—all terms from the Xuanmen (Taoist) cultivation tradition.

Strangely enough, he was able to understand it.

No, it's not just about understanding.

It was as if he had already learned these things, but had forgotten them, and now he had remembered them again.

"Going with the flow can avoid calamity, while going against the tide can bring great success..."

Yang Guo sat down on the ground again, and the sunlight made him slowly open his tightly closed eyes.

He took a few breaths, and a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

The flood of information that had rushed into my mind finally subsided.

But those incantations, mental techniques, and energy circulation routes were as if engraved in his mind, clear as day, and he would not forget a single word.

The third level of reverse birth.

He remembered the name.

This is a supreme and unparalleled secret technique from a comic I read in my past life.

The acquired can reverse the innate; first, the power of the dragon and tiger; second, an unyielding life force; third, a divine-like existence...

Unfortunately, the Great Ying Immortal, who possessed extraordinary talent, ultimately failed to reach the heavens in the original work.

But that's a comic book; it's fictional.

However, the secret technique in his mind was a real and tangible thing.

Yang Guo was a little confused by this sudden turn of events.

One moment I was thinking about where to get a free martial arts manual, and the next moment the manual was already in my head.

Is this one of the perks of time travelers?

"Never mind whether this reversal of life can lead to heaven; having a divine skill is better than not having one!"

Yang Guo didn't stand on ceremony. He found a quiet spot on the shore, sat down cross-legged, and began circulating his inner energy according to the mantra in his mind.

This body was trained in martial arts, so it wasn't difficult for Yang Guo to circulate his Qi.

To Yang Guo's surprise, this reversal technique seemed to be particularly compatible with him.

When you circulate your Qi throughout your body, there are no obstructions in your meridians, and everything proceeds smoothly.

Yang Guo then circulated his energy several more times according to the technique.

Finally, when he was so hungry he could hardly stand it, he finished work and headed back to his cave dwelling.

There were still a few coarse flatbreads left over from yesterday in the cave dwelling, enough to fill his stomach for one meal.

......

Seven days later

Yang Guo was awakened by a sour, foul smell.

To be precise, it smelled like the moldy straw piled up in the corner of the cave dwelling.

Ten days ago, when he had just woken up, the smell made him sneeze several times.

Now, I'm used to it.

He opened his eyes. The soil on the top of the cave dwelling was blackened by smoke and fire, and cracks spread out like a spider web.

The morning light leaked in through the half-broken cave entrance, cutting a line of distinct light and shadow on the ground.

Yang Guo stared at the beam of light for a few breaths, then sat up and looked down at his hands.

Her hands were still the same small hands, thin, with distinct knuckles.

There were still a few fine scratches on the back of his hands from the weeds, but he knew that his hands were different from those seven days ago.

He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his energy in his lower abdomen.

Qi originates from the dantian, calming the mind and spirit, gradually stimulating the body to create a state of reversal.

A faint breath, like the first wisp of snow melting in a mountain stream in early spring, though subtle and ethereal, truly exists, slowly flowing along the meridians.

It travels from the lower dantian to the middle dantian, then to the upper dantian, and then along the Du meridian, passing through the Jiaji and Yuzhen acupoints, finally converging into the dantian.

It ran for a full week.

Yang Guo slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.

After seven days of arduous practice, he was finally able to make the Qi circulate completely throughout the body without any deliberate guidance.

Yang Guo slowly raised his hand, his Qi moving with his thoughts.

If anyone were watching at this moment, they would be horrified.

His skin on the back of his hand was faintly white, and his Qi flowed around him as if it were swaying in the wind.

The first stage of rebirth has been achieved!

He crawled out of the haystack and walked to the outside of the cave dwelling.

Beside the cave entrance lies a large stone, its shape fairly regular, too large for even a strong man to move. It has been left there for years, serving as a stone table.

Yang Guo moved to the stone table and activated the Reverse Life Triple Technique.

With his hands gripping the edge of the stone table, he suddenly exerted force and lifted the boulder, weighing over a hundred pounds, off the ground with ease.

Yang Guo gently put down the stone table and looked down at his own hands.

Is this the wonderful use of the triple rebirth?

He was overjoyed that the first level of the Reverse Life technique, which was only the beginning, already possessed such great power.

Yang Guo took a deep breath, feeling the real and tangible energy in his dantian.

Seven days ago, he was just a simple and ordinary boy.

In just seven days, he can now easily lift a boulder weighing over 100 pounds.

Such strength is naturally insignificant compared to that of a true martial arts master.

But the sensation of concentrating his mind and breathing, entering a state of reverse life, and being able to respond to any thought, made his pores tremble.

It wasn't ecstatic elation or restlessness, but rather a profound sense of peace that arose within my heart.

Having been in this world for more than ten days, he was filled with anxiety.

He didn't know where the original Yang had gone, nor did he know why he was here.

It is even more impossible to determine whether future events will follow the original trajectory.

Perhaps I will perish in some nameless, desolate place tomorrow; who can say for sure?

This unease is like a sharp thorn buried deep in my heart; I can suppress it during the day, but it surges back and forth at night.

Now that he possesses cultivation and has learned the secret mental techniques, the thorn in his heart has loosened slightly and been removed a bit.

...

Yang Guo turned back to the depths of the cave and walked to the simple stove he had built himself at the very back.

The so-called stove was nothing more than a circle of rubble with a chipped earthenware pot on top.

There was still half a can of cold water left in the jar. He picked it up and took a few gulps. The icy water made him shiver.

One of the coarse cakes he had asked for yesterday was still left, its hardness comparable to a rock. Yang Guo broke off a piece and put it in his mouth, chewing it slowly.

Crumbs of coarse grains rubbed against the tip of the tongue, carrying a musty, stale taste.

"This is absolutely awful."

He sighed inwardly at the poor taste, but ultimately swallowed it all.

For seven days, he went into the city to beg or do odd jobs to earn food.

After finding something to eat, he hurriedly returned to the cave to devote himself to cultivation.

Some kind-hearted shopkeepers in the city, seeing that he was young, would occasionally ask him to carry some light goods, rewarding him with half a bowl of leftover rice or a copper coin or two.

He was not picky and accepted any job that offered a livelihood.

On one occasion, he helped an old fisherman carry three baskets of fresh fish at the dock.

The old man was a kind person and gave him a crucian carp about the width of a hand.

He carried the fish back to the cave dwelling.

Without a pot or oil, they had no choice but to bake it over a wood fire.

The fish was roasted until the skin was charred and the inside was half-cooked. One bite filled his mouth with a fishy and gamey smell, but he still ate it all, even chewing and swallowing the fish bones.

No matter how difficult my past life was, I never experienced the pain of hunger.

Having personally experienced this feeling in this lifetime, it is etched in my memory.

After finishing the last bite of the coarse bread, Yang Guo brushed the crumbs off his hands, stepped out of the cave, and planned to go to the riverbank for a bath.

After days of intensive training, he was covered in a sour smell.

The cave dwelling where he lived was located on a barren slope outside Jiaxing City.

A few poor families scattered around the city could not afford to rent houses in the city, so they had to dig holes outside the city to make their homes.

Below the slope is a dirt road that leads directly to the North Gate of Jiaxing.

The roadside weeds were ankle-deep, and a gentle breeze rustled through them.

Two figures were slowly walking towards them on the dirt road.

Two boys of similar age to him.

Their clothes were slightly better than Yang Guo's, but still not exactly presentable. Each of them carried a bamboo basket and walked along laughing and joking.

Yang Guo recognized the two of them.

They were the two sons of the Li family; the elder brother was named Li Da Kui, and the younger brother was named Li Er Kui.

His father sold tofu at a stall in Jiaxing City. The family was slightly better off than other cave dwellers, but they were still barely making ends meet.

When Yang Guo entered the city to beg for food, he encountered these two men several times.

Li Daikui still knew a little about propriety; if they happened to meet, he would nod in acknowledgment.

However, Li Erkui was eccentric and would mock him by calling him "little beggar" whenever they bumped into each other, and his older brother would always pull him away and persuade him to go back.

Yang Guo walked slowly forward, watching the two of them stagger towards him.

"Hey, little beggar, you're up early today. Did you wake up hungry?"

Li Er Kui spotted Yang Guo from afar, grinned to reveal his gap-toothed maneuver, and made a mocking remark.

Li Daikui tugged at his younger brother's sleeve:

"Don't talk nonsense."

"I didn't say anything wrong."

Li Er Kui broke free from his brother's hand, walked up to Yang Guo, and looked him up and down.

"Our father said that beggars are the most worthless people. Look at him, begging in the city every day, what else could he be but a beggar?"

Yang Guo glanced at it indifferently and ignored it.

Having experienced nearly thirty years in his previous life, he had long since lost the will to argue with children.

In his eyes, Li Erkui was such an unruly and mischievous child that he didn't even have the energy to pay attention to him, and it wasn't worth the trouble of dealing with him.

However, this indifferent demeanor was seen as disrespect and neglect by Li Erkui.

"Are you perhaps mute?"

Li Erkui threw the bamboo basket to the ground and shoved Yang Guo hard with his palm.

Why do you ignore me when I speak to you?

This push carried a certain amount of force.

Seven days ago, Yang Guo was weak and malnourished, and his body was as thin as bamboo.

They would definitely stagger back two or three steps, and even a short run would leave them breathless and exhausted.

But at this moment, Yang Guo remained motionless, which surprised even himself.

The hand that Li Erkui pushed towards his chest was like a blow against a stone wall.

"you……"

Upon seeing this, Li Erkui was startled and suspicious, and his previous arrogance suddenly froze.

Yang Guo looked down to make sure he hadn't moved an inch before looking up at the other person.

Without exchanging any pleasantries with Li Erkui, he raised his hand and grabbed the other man's wrist, which was still pressed against his chest.

He did not exert any effort; it was merely a light grasp for him.

But Li Erkui's expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Ouch—it hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

Li Erkui's body slumped, his knees buckled, and he half-squatted down, his face flushed red.

"Let go! Your hand is going to break! Let go now!"

Yang Guo slowly released his grip.

Li Erkui staggered back several steps, clutching his wrist, his eyes brimming with tears.

Looking down, five clear finger marks were visible on his wrist, as if they had been squeezed out by iron clamps.

In that pinch just now, Yang Guo did not activate the Reverse Life Technique; he merely grabbed casually without exerting any force.

He wouldn't let a few words from a brat cause him to suffer a lifelong disability.

"Hiss...you..."

Li Er Kui was no longer arrogant at this moment. He hid behind Li Da Kui and stared at Yang Guo in fear.

"What bizarre sorcery have you used!"

Li Daikui had witnessed the entire scene and was deeply shaken.

He was more composed and knowledgeable than his younger brother, and he realized that Yang Guo was using martial arts skills, so he remained silent for a moment.

"You little brat, stay far away from me next time you see me. If you cause trouble again, I'll show you what real sorcery is all about!"

Yang Guo spoke softly to Li Erkui.

Seeing Yang Guo's calm expression, Li Daikui was certain that he possessed martial arts skills, so he quickly grabbed his younger brother and pulled him back.

"Brother Yang, my younger brother is unruly and reckless and has offended us in many ways. We hope you will forgive him. We will never dare to do such a thing again."

"Stop crying, go home."

After saying that, he grabbed the trembling Li Erkui and walked quickly away along the dirt road without looking back.

The two figures disappeared into the weeds in an instant.

Yang Guo paid no further attention, considering this to be a minor setback, and headed straight for the riverbank.