I want to make it clear: The protagonist is a Cultivation Saint Body, just waiting for the Spiritual Qi Resurgence version to begin! Moreover, the protagonist has a system that can add experience and proficiency, allowing players to cheat and completely bypass the need for cultivation to increase their power!
...
In the small courtyard, the large locust tree had sprouted tender buds, shining brightly and full of vitality under the spring sun.
"Second Master has a letter for you, Young Master!"
Xia Qian's face was slightly joyful; Second Master had finally remembered the Young Master. If he remembered correctly, the last letter was three years ago.
Xia Chen calmly took the letter from Xia Qian's hand, showing neither joy nor sorrow.
He only said with some surprise, "Has something happened in the outside world?"
No letters had been sent back for three years, and this sudden one made Xia Chen feel that things might not be so simple.
"Young Master is truly prescient. There's great news! Second Master slew a third-rank peerless great demon in the Eastern Wilderness. I heard it was even a overlord from the Eastern Wilderness Mountain Range. After this battle, all demons retreated a hundred miles, and the demonic scourge in the Eastern Wilderness was completely swept away, greatly boosting the might of our Wu Country."
Xia Qian was not very old, a year younger than Xia Chen, having just turned 16 this year. He was still in his youthful prime, speaking with immense excitement as if he himself had slain that third-rank great demon.
"Everyone says that the Eastern Wilderness might be completely pacified within the next year or two. By then, Second Master and Second Madam will be able to return triumphant."
Young Xia Qian's expression was agitated. Fourteen years had passed, and the Young Master could finally reunite with his family.
Upon hearing this, Xia Chen's eyes showed no joy. He had completely inherited the memories of the previous Xia Chen, which was entirely different from logging into a game in his previous life without the original owner's memories.
He felt as if he had been born and raised here, possessing all of the previous Xia Chen's emotions, as if he was Xia Chen, only having awakened his past life's memories two months ago.
Information about the Second Master mentioned in the words of the young servant Xia Qian involuntarily surfaced in Xia Chen's mind.
Second Master, Dong'an Marquis Xia Yuan, Xia Chen's birth father.
In Xia Chen's childhood memories, before the age of three, his father Xia Yuan doted on him and cherished him greatly. After he was detected as having a crippled body during his martial arts assessment at age three, Xia Yuan fell silent for a moment, but his gaze ultimately remained resolute.
"Although my son has a crippled body, as my eldest son, I will surely find a great fortune to change his destiny against the heavens."
The day after he said this, the Eastern Wilderness demonic tide erupted. Xia Yuan was appointed as the Pacifying Demon Marshal, commanding a hundred thousand troops in the Eastern Territory. Xia Chen's mother, Su Xiaoxue, a powerful spellcaster, accompanied the army on the expedition.
The young Xia Chen, though not knowing what this meant, only wanted to stay with his parents and go to the Eastern Wilderness with them.
But he was strictly refused, told that the Eastern Wilderness was too dangerous.
The mere three-year-old Xia Chen was left alone in the Marquis Manor, and that departure lasted for 14 years.
For the first three months, letters were still frequently sent to the Zhendong Marquis Manor, along with demon beast essence blood for Xia Chen to temper his flesh and blood.
Five months later, letters gradually became fewer.
The young Xia Chen only thought that the great demons in the Eastern Wilderness were causing trouble, and the battlefield was ever-changing, consuming their energy and leaving no time to write letters.
A year later, Xia Chen learned from the servants of the Zhendong Marquis Manor that the Zhendong Marquis Manor was about to have another legitimate bloodline.
Upon asking, he found out he had a younger brother.
Xia Chen's mother, Su Xiaoxue, had become pregnant again in the first month after accompanying Xia Yuan on the expedition.
After his younger brother was born, letters from the Eastern Wilderness went from one every three months to one every six months. After he turned six, there was only one, and medicinal blood essence and other items were no longer sent...
The original Xia Chen still firmly believed that the Eastern Wilderness Battlefield was dangerous, with various great demons emerging endlessly, and his father, as the army commander, had no time to care for him.
It wasn't until later that he learned from the servants of the Marquis Manor again that his biological younger brother, born on the Eastern Wilderness Battlefield and always kept by his parents' side, was found to possess a peerless bone structure and was hailed as a genius.
Only then did Xia Chen realize that he... had been abandoned!
...
Xia Chen was now accustomed to such a free and unrestrained life, although he was somewhat of a minor presence in the Marquis Manor.
But in the end, it wasn't as melodramatic as in TV dramas, with plots like evil servants bullying their master or snobbish behavior.
His uncle and aunt treated him very well, like their own son.
But now that his parents were returning, along with his younger brother Xia Hao, whom he had never met, who possessed extraordinary talent and a special bone within his body, would his life still be as free and unrestrained?
Especially since Xia Chen knew that the bone was the legendary Supreme Bone.
Although it couldn't compare to his innate Double Pupils, in the future 【Spiritual Qi Resurgence】 version, it could still burst forth with astonishing brilliance...
Moreover, they hadn't seen each other for 14 years, and even some information about the Eastern Wilderness was known by the manor's servants before him. Therefore, although Xia Chen had a blood connection with them, they were already no different from strangers!
"You may go now. Also, notify the kitchen to double the amount of food for lunch today!"
Xia Chen smiled and nodded at Xia Qian. This young man had been with him since he was four, and they had spent twelve springs and autumns together.
Speaking of which, Xia Qian was also part of the main family, but from a collateral branch that had split off over 200 years ago. Their bloodline was somewhat distant now, but they still bore the surname Xia. It was precisely because of this blood connection that Xia Qian could be sent to the Marquis Manor from a young age to be trained and to follow Xia Chen, a direct descendant of the Marquis Manor.
Xia Qian nodded, knowing that his Young Master had been diligently practicing martial arts recently and his appetite had greatly increased, but he was still a bit surprised. Doubling it again, wouldn't that mean one person would eat over 20 servings?
Watching Xia Qian leave, Xia Chen slowly lowered his head, his gaze focusing on the yellowish, yet kirin-patterned, envelope in his hand.
After a moment of silence, he reached out a finger and lightly cut his fingertip with the crimson long saber in his hand, a drop of bright red, hot blood falling.
Immediately, the kirin pattern on the envelope seemed stimulated, glowing brightly, and vaguely, there seemed to be the roar of a kirin.
This process lasted for one or two breaths, then the light receded, and everything returned to calm.
Xia Chen knew this was a technique of his mother, Su Xiaoxue.
Although spiritual qi had not yet resurfaced at this stage, there was still high martial arts.
Some individuals could stand against a hundred thousand troops, and a single sword strike could sever a great river, but those who reached this level across the entire world could currently be counted on one hand.
The vast majority, even if powerful, were still within the realm of ordinary people.
The system was also relatively rough, divided into martial artists and spellcasters.
In his previous life, when Xia Chen merely regarded it as a mysterious and interesting game, he simply categorized these two as warriors and mages.
Besides that, there were also demons in this world.
And Su Xiaoxue was a powerful spellcaster.
This letter was specifically sent to Xia Chen, so only Xia Chen's blood could unseal it. This was a spell to prevent outsiders from intercepting and knowing its contents, a spell that crude martial artists could not master.
Xia Chen opened the envelope. It was made of fine Xuan paper, soft and smooth to the touch, but there were only a few words on it.
"Your father will return home in half a year at the earliest, two years at the latest. Also, the Emperor has bestowed a marriage; as my son, you are to marry the Second Princess. Perform well, and do not disgrace the dignity of my Marquis Manor!"
Words were precious!
This was Xia Chen's first impression upon seeing the letter.
Xia Chen was not surprised by the first half of the sentence. The Eastern Wilderness victory, with the world divided into nine ranks in total, whether martial artists, spellcasters, or demons, all fell within these nine ranks.
Third-rank great demons were extremely rare in the world.
Having slain such a great demon, the war in the Eastern Wilderness, which had lasted for 14 years, should indeed be ending.
Moreover, Xia Qian had already told him just now.
What made Xia Chen's pupils contract was the latter half of the sentence: he was to marry a princess, and the Second Princess at that? The future Empress?