Qin Haoran

By this time, no one was lingering outside in the courtyard. Father and Mother Li led everyone into the reception hall. As the youngest in generational seniority present, Qin Yanyan poured tea and served water for everyone. In terms of actual age, Qin Yanyan was about the same age as Li Haoran, Lu Yang, and Meng Jingzhou. But generational seniority was generational seniority. "Li Haoran's previous incarnation—which is to say, my husband—was named Qin Haoran. He was a cultivator at the peak Body Integration stage." Su Yiren spoke a name none of them had ever heard before. The listeners reacted with varying expressions. Father and Mother Li had never imagined their son had such an illustrious background. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou looked like they wanted to listen to the gossip, yet simultaneously sensed it was a whole mess of trouble. Although Qin Yanyan refused to accept Li Haoran's supposed identity, she still wanted to hear her mother speak about her father, whom her mother rarely mentioned. Li Haoran was expressionless. Having abandoned all resistance, he just wanted to see how this absurd situation would unfold. Perhaps because she had kept it bottled up for too long, or had drifted deep into memory, or for some other reason, Su Yiren spoke with growing fluency. "Qin Haoran and I first met five hundred years ago. Back then, I was living in seclusion deep in the mountains as a reclusive cultivator. Aside from heading down the mountain once every ten years to pay taxes, I rarely left. "One day, as I was meditating in the woods, a blood-drenched figure crashed through the barrier I had set up and plunged headfirst into the ground. When he saw me approaching, his instinct was to circulate magic power and raise his guard, but his injuries were so severe that his body could no longer support the use of spells, and he soon blacked out. "Seeing how pitiful he was, I saved him. He lay unconscious for a whole month before waking up. "When he came to, he was intensely guarded at first. But once he learned I had looked after him for an entire month, he lowered his guard and thanked me for saving his life." Su Yiren instinctively omitted a few details. For example, Qin Haoran's injuries had been internal, yet Su Yiren had wrapped his entire body in white cloth and encased him in plaster, such that when he first woke up, he looked like a mummy hiding inside a terracotta warrior. Or how, had it not been for Su Yiren's nursing, Qin Haoran would have regained consciousness half a month earlier. These were trivial little details, best left unmentioned. "He told me his name was Qin Haoran, a cultivator in the Body Integration stage. A month prior, he had been hunted down by enemies. Although he succeeded in turning the tables and killing them, he suffered catastrophic injuries in the process. He also apologized for crashing through the barrier I had erected. "I could tell he was speaking the truth. Even after waking up, he could only muster a tiny sliver of magic power. His body was so battered that his meridians were completely severed—a total mess. "He originally wanted to leave, but I worried that something might happen to him in that state, so I told him he could stay. "He stayed in the mountains to convalesce. One thing led to another, and feelings blossomed between us until we joined our lives in marriage. "Our wedding was very low-key. We invited only the spirits of the mountains and a few close friends. "After his injuries healed, he was busy day in and day out. When I asked what he was up to and whether he needed my help, he said that what he was doing was very dangerous, and that keeping me completely in the dark was safest. "Out of trust, I didn't press the matter. "Over the next five hundred years, Haoran progressed from late Body Integration to peak Body Integration, just one step away from the Tribulation Transcendence stage. He said that before meeting me, he had always kept his desires strictly in check, believing ascetic detachment was the best state for cultivation. But after knowing and marrying me, he realized his past thinking had been mistaken. "During his time with me, his rigid bottlenecks loosened, and his cultivation advanced again and again. "I asked him why my cultivation hadn't improved, and he said it was probably because my cultivation talent wasn't good enough. "It is exceedingly difficult for high-level cultivators to conceive children. We tried for five hundred years before I finally became pregnant with Yanyan. "After that, he said he had reached the threshold of the Tribulation Transcendence stage and only needed to survive the heavenly tribulation. He wanted to fight for a future for the two of us, mother and daughter. "The risk of crossing the tribulation was too high, and I wanted to dissuade him. But he said his identity was too peculiar; unless he reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage, he would have to live under a false name in the shadows for the rest of his days. Only by becoming a Tribulation Transcendence expert could he turn the tables. "Unfortunately, the heavenly tribulation was far too terrifying. Despite all his preparations, he failed to withstand the final thunder tribulation and fell from the sky. "Weeping, I caught him and desperately stuffed all kinds of top-grade pills into his mouth, but he told me he knew his condition best—there was no surviving this. "He told me not to worry. He said he cultivated a technique that allowed him to continuously reincarnate, with each lifetime's talent surpassing the last. Qin Haoran was only his eighth reincarnation. "Originally, he had planned to tell his subordinates about the reincarnation so they could watch over his next life and ensure he grew up safely. But later, he felt his subordinates couldn't be trusted, so he asked me to look after his next incarnation. "He gave me a secret method to locate his next life. Following its requirements, I found Auntie while she was still pregnant. "Uncle and Auntie had run into danger, so I stepped in and rescued them. After saving them, I arranged the betrothal with the unborn Haoran in her belly, hoping to resume our former bond." Li Haoran asked in disbelief, "Did it never cross your mind that this was just a lie Qin Haoran made up on his deathbed?" Su Yiren shook her head faintly. "I had my doubts as well, but your talent cannot be faked. When your spiritual root was tested when you were six, I was actually watching from the shadows. I saw with my own eyes that the test showed you possess a Fire Spiritual Root. "No matter how formidable Haoran was, he couldn't have randomly pointed at someone and known for certain they would have a single spiritual root." "What if Qin Haoran had a way to predict someone's talent?" Li Haoran was not ready to give up. Su Yiren smiled. "I know you don't fully believe what I'm saying right now. Time will prove everything. Haoran said that as his next incarnation's cultivation rises, he will regain fragments of his past life's memories. "Still, you needn't worry that these memory fragments will alter your personality. You will still be you." When the topic touched upon something as lofty as reincarnation, Lu Yang turned for help to the immortal who knew countless ancient secrets. "Fairy, is there really such a thing as reincarnation?" "Tales of reincarnation existed in eras even more distant than ancient times. Back then, paragons abounded, and people would always claim that so-and-so with supreme talent was probably the reincarnation of someone or other. Some even claimed that the five of us achieved immortality because we were reincarnations of so-and-so. "After the five of us became immortals, we joined hands in divination and perceived the fundamental mysteries of the world. We learned that reincarnation simply does not exist in this world. All the rumors before that were nothing more than the wild fantasies of mortals." "Which means Qin Haoran really was lying?" Lu Yang was startled. Just moments ago, he had genuinely thought Li Haoran was Qin Haoran's reincarnation. The Immortal Fairy shook her head. "I only said reincarnation didn't exist in ancient times. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist now." "What do you mean?" Lu Yang grew even more confused. "You must understand that the emergence of a Dao fruit signifies that a new rule has been added to the world. What if, during the time I was dead, someone condensed a [Reincarnation] Dao fruit? "Wouldn't that make reincarnation a reality?"