In the antique-style room, Ling Tian woke up suddenly.
"Oh no, it's a trap!"
Before he could even open his eyes, he instinctively slapped his hand down against the bed, trying to use the rebound force to leap up and escape...
This was the instinctive reaction of an elite special forces soldier!
The moment his hand touched the surface, an electric shock of soreness and utter weakness rippled through him.
How could I feel so frail?!
As a jolt of shock went through his heart, Ling Tian opened his eyes.
"Tian'er, you're finally awake."
A gentle, overjoyed woman's voice reached his ears.
Hearing the voice, Ling Tian looked over and saw an exquisite face gazing at him with tender care.
She was a classic beauty, breathtakingly gorgeous, her looks fully worthy of being described as capable of sinking empires and toppling cities.
What is going on here?
Didn't I fall for the R Countrymen's trick and get riddled with bullets?
A familiar stream of memories rushed into Ling Tian's mind...
Ling Tian, a citizen of Hua Country.
He had served in Hua Country's most elite Lanya Special Operations Unit, earning countless merits during his service.
He had participated in the world-class special forces trials, winning the individual honor for first place in solo combat capability, and was universally recognized as the "King of Soldiers"!
Later, during a transnational SSS-rank mission, a minor personal mistake of his led to the sacrifice of a comrade.
Overwhelmed by self-reproach, he chose to retire and leave Lanya.
After retiring, he laid low for a time before choosing to go abroad, becoming the ace of a globally renowned mercenary organization.
Any mission he took had an unprecedented success rate of one hundred percent!
Though retired from Lanya for many years, his heart remained tethered to his homeland.
Any mission disadvantageous to Hua Country, not only would he refuse, but he would hunt down the person who issued it and subject them to brutal, inhumane torture.
Over time, he became a thorn in the side and a bone in the throat for every nation outside Hua Country.
In the eyes of other countries, he was a ticking time bomb.
Wherever he went, a storm of blood and slaughter would follow.
Various nations began plotting against him, sparing no expense to hire the world's top assassins...
Yet, as one assassin after another vanished from the face of the earth, Ling Tian lived more comfortably than ever, and no assassin dared to accept this "death mission" anymore.
To kill Ling Tian was tantamount to seeking one's own doom!
This was a universally acknowledged saying in the global mercenary and assassin underworlds.
Ling Tian was not just a powerful King of Soldiers, but also a Xingyiquan grandmaster who had cultivated inner strength...
Looking across the entire Earth, he had barely any rivals and had never tasted defeat!
Not long ago, Ling Tian received news from the manager he trusted most.
R Country had manufactured a colorless, odorless biochemical weapon and intended to smuggle it into Hua Country to carry out a monstrously wicked conspiracy.
Naturally, Ling Tian was not going to sit idly by and watch this happen.
He made his move!
With his manager's help, he tracked down the location of that batch of biochemical weapons.
Just as he carved a bloody path, entered the underground research facility, and prepared to destroy those biochemical weapons—
The underground facility suddenly collapsed inward, trapping him inside a completely sealed cage.
When he saw R Countrymen holding all sorts of firearms appear outside the cage, Ling Tian understood.
This was a conspiracy, a conspiracy targeted squarely at him...
He had been betrayed by the person he trusted most!
Otherwise, given his shrewdness, the R Countrymen's plot could never have succeeded.
Why?!
Until he was riddled with gunfire and killed, Ling Tian still couldn't figure it out.
Why would the manager and brother who had depended on him for mutual survival for years betray him?
To think that I, Ling Tian, traversed the world for a lifetime, only to fall in the end at the hands of the brother I trusted most.
Ridiculous, truly ridiculous!
Still, I, your father, didn't get a bad deal out of this!
In this lifetime, the terrorists, corrupt officials, and various spies who died by my hands add up to well over ten thousand...
I've broken even!
It was worth it!
"Hahahaha..."
At this thought, Ling Tian couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter, his tone brimming with vindication.
"Tian'er, what's wrong with you? Don't scare your mother."
The gentle voice came again, carrying a few extra notes of anxiety.
A wave of chaos spun through Ling Tian's mind...
He was dead certain that he did not know the woman before him.
Yet the look in her eyes right now was as if she were gazing at her own flesh and blood—devoid of any hypocrisy, brimming with genuine sincerity.
Who is she?
Calling me Tian'er, and claiming to be my "mother"...
Is "mother" a title you can just hand out to anyone?!
Just as Ling Tian was about to reason with this beauty, a strange set of memories poured into his mind...
Ling Tian was struck as if by lightning, freezing completely in place, as though paralyzed by an acupoint strike.
I...
Did my damn self get isekai'd?
This world was somewhat similar to the ancient eras of his past life.
In this world, martial artists ran rampant, and the strong were revered.
As long as you were strong enough, all authority had to bow before you, including the supreme imperial power.
Only, crossing over into this world was one thing, but of all people to possess, why did he have to inhabit such a deeply unfortunate fellow?
The only thing that satisfied Ling Tian was that this fellow was also named Ling Tian, with the full name "Duan Ling Tian".
Duan Ling Tian, fifteen years old.
An out-of-clan disciple of the Li Family in Qingfeng Town.
His mother, "Li Rou", was the Ninth Elder of the Li Family.
His father... in his memories, there was no father at all.
A single-parent family, then?
At least he had a mother who loved him; in his past life, he had been an orphan with neither father nor mother.
During the process of fusing with these unfamiliar memories, Ling Tian also learned the reason why Duan Ling Tian was lying heavily injured on the bed.
Early this morning, "Li Xin", the youngest son of the Li Family's Seventh Elder, cursed Duan Ling Tian as a wild bastard born of a mother with no father to teach him.
Duan Ling Tian flew into a rage and got into a fight with Li Xin...
Yet, having not even completed body tempering, how could he possibly be a match for Li Xin, who was at the Second Level of the Body Tempering Realm? He was directly beaten into heavy injuries by Li Xin, left on the verge of death.
Just as Duan Ling Tian took his very last breath, he—coming from Earth—took over everything belonging to Duan Ling Tian.
Including Duan Ling Tian's body and memories.
Useless, utterly useless!
"Forget it, I can't be bothered to scold you... Rest in peace, from now on I'll help you take good care of your mother."
After fusing all the unfamiliar memories, Ling Tian sighed in his heart.
He knew that from this moment on, he would integrate into this unfamiliar world under the identity of Duan Ling Tian.
From now on, he was Duan Ling Tian, and Duan Ling Tian was him.
Hmph!
If not for that fellow's betrayal, he would still be living a comfortable life back on Earth.
Lacking neither beauties nor money.
"Madam, the Patriarch had someone send the medicine over."
A voice sounded by his ear, and Duan Ling Tian raised his head to look.
A maid walked hurriedly in from outside the room, handing an exquisite small box in her hand to Li Rou.
The box was opened.
Instantly, a medicinal fragrance drifted out.
"Tian'er, come, take the medicinal pill, and Mother will heal your injuries."
Li Rou took out a pitch-black medicinal pill from inside and handed it to Duan Ling Tian's lips.
This is a medicinal pill?
It smells quite fragrant.
Taking a deep breath, Duan Ling Tian opened his mouth and swallowed the pill.
The pill melted the moment it touched his tongue, turning into a warm current that entered his body.
Next, Duan Ling Tian saw that Li Rou pressed her hand against his chest...
A chilling stream of Qi passed into his body, dissolving the warm current formed by the medicinal pill and using it to heal his injuries.
So this is "Origin Force"?
It is rather similar to the inner strength of his past life.
An hour later, Li Rou withdrew her hand.
Duan Ling Tian discovered that the soreness in his body had vanished for the most part, leaving him entirely unburdened.
A shock went through his heart.
Could the thing he swallowed just now have been a miraculous fairy pill?
At this moment, Duan Ling Tian noticed that Li Rou's face was pale and beads of sweat were still rolling down her forehead—clearly, healing him had consumed a massive amount of her Origin Force.
"Mother, are you all right?"
Warmth bloomed in Duan Ling Tian's heart.
This cry of "Mother" rolled off his tongue naturally and affectionately, without the slightest awkwardness.
"Mother is fine, just need to rest for a bit and I'll be alright."
Li Rou smiled and shook her head.
For her son, consuming this bit of Origin Force was nothing at all.
"Madam, the Patriarch sent someone to ask if young master Li Xin can be released now? He and the Seventh Elder are still waiting at the Hall of Punishment."
Half an hour later, the maid walked into the room once more and spoke softly.
"Released? Go tell the person sent by the Patriarch: this matter, I will go handle personally!"
The amiability on Li Rou's face vanished completely, replaced by an icy coldness that seemed to drop the temperature in the room by several degrees.
A thought stirred in Duan Ling Tian's heart.
To think that this beautiful mother of his was quite protective of her own...
"Mother, what kind of medicinal pill did you give me just now? I feel like my injuries are practically healed."
Duan Ling Tian got off the bed and gently stretched his body.
"Silly child, that was an Eighth-Grade Metal-Acupoint Pill."
Li Rou smiled softly.
An Eighth-Grade Metal-Acupoint Pill!
Duan Ling Tian searched through that unfamiliar set of memories in his mind...
As it turned out, even for the Qingfeng Town Li Family, there were only two such Eighth-Grade Metal-Acupoint Pills in existence, and now one had actually been used on him, an out-of-clan disciple.
It seemed his mother's status in the Li Family was not low.
"Tian'er, the Patriarch is still waiting, let's head over."
Li Rou took Duan Ling Tian and arrived at a spacious courtyard within the Li Family estate.
The sprawling courtyard was sparsely populated with a few instruments of torture scattered about...
This was precisely the place where the Li Family enforced clan law.
The Hall of Punishment!
It was currently high noon, and the scorching sun hung directly overhead.
The surroundings of the Hall of Punishment were packed with people—all Li Family disciples looking on to watch the excitement.
In the middle of the courtyard, a young man was tied to a torture pillar to bake in the harsh sun, while two middle-aged men stood off to the side.
The cross-eyed middle-aged man on the right looked at the mother and son pair with a face full of fury.
"Duan Ling Tian has come too... The medicinal efficacy of the family's treasured Eighth-Grade Metal-Acupoint Pill is truly ferocious!"
"Yeah, I saw Duan Ling Tian when he was carried back, half-dead. Now that he's taken an Eighth-Grade Metal-Acupoint Pill, he's full of life again."
"Li Xin is at fault too. Normally, bullying Duan Ling Tian casually is one thing, and the Ninth Elder wouldn't say much, but this time he went so heavy-handed he almost got Duan Ling Tian killed. It'd be weird if the Ninth Elder didn't blow her top."
...
One by one, the Li Family disciples whispered amongst themselves as they watched Li Rou and Duan Ling Tian arrive.
"Patriarch!"
Li Rou brought Duan Ling Tian and bowed to the middle-aged man on the left.
"Ninth Elder, regarding today's matter, my son Li Xin was in the wrong first, but now that your son is unharmed and my son has also been baked in the sun for an entire morning, can he be released from the pillar now?"
At this moment, the cross-eyed middle-aged man—none other than Li Family Seventh Elder "Li Kun"—wore a gloomy expression.
Who would have thought that Li Rou simply ignored him entirely, paying him no mind whatsoever.
Leading Duan Ling Tian directly, she walked right up to the bound Li Xin.
"Tian'er, how he injured you earlier—now, return it all to him, word for word, blow for blow!"