Chapter 1: Zhuangzi Dreams of a Butterfly

  A rare and historically unprecedented earthquake erupted on the Gobi Desert, resulting in the appearance of the world's largest and deepest fissure.

  Six months later, an expedition team from multiple countries ventured into the depths of the rift. However, a sudden eruption of flames killed most of the explorers, and the remaining ones lost contact in the chaos.

  At the moment of the underground explosion, Xu Ziyuan was pushed into a cave by someone. Inside the cave was a steep slope, and Xu Ziyuan rolled down all the way, losing consciousness after sliding for an unknown period of time.

  A faint cry woke up Xu Ziyan, her eyelids heavy and unable to open. However, she heard a woman's crying voice and a man's sorrowful sigh beside her ear.

  Xu Ziyuan's head was throbbing, she tried her best to recall what had happened. She remembered herself rolling down from the cave and losing consciousness. When she regained consciousness vaguely, she seemed to be lying on a square in front of her, there was a tall female statue, then the eyes of that female statue suddenly emitted light, shining on her body, and "inheritance" appeared in her mind, then she fainted again.

  So, where am I now? And who are the crying woman and the sighing man?

  Xu Ziyuan wanted to open her eyes, but she didn't have any strength in her body. After struggling for half a day, she finally managed to slightly open her eyelids. The room was very dim, and she couldn't see things clearly, only vaguely seeing a middle-aged woman sitting in front of her, bowing her head and crying.

  With a creak, Xu Ziyuan felt the door open. Then a dark shadow flashed in, followed by an old voice saying:

  "Xu Guang, now that Ziyan is dead, according to the clan's rules, the three mu of land allocated to Ziyan should be handed over to the clan tomorrow."

  The man who just sighed said in a low voice: "Let's do it as the village chief says!"

  *sigh*

  That old voice let out a long sigh, shook his head and turned around to leave the room.

  "Zi Yan? Still with the surname Xu? And sharing the same name as me? Are you talking about me?"

  Suddenly, a fragment of memories flooded into Xu Ziyuan's mind, which was not her own memory. After reading through those memories, Xu Ziyuan knew that she had crossed over and was now in the body of a 15-year-old girl.

  This continent is different from the world he comes from, it's a continent of cultivation. The girl he possessed is also named Xu Ziyuan, and the Xu family is a superfamily on the continent of cultivation. However, being a superfamily naturally has its own sorrows, Xu Ziyuan's parents are both unable to cultivate, so their status is very low, they can only live in a remote village far away from the center of the family. After arriving at such a village, it's basically been abandoned by the family. Even if a descendant becomes someone who can cultivate, no one cares, and no one knows, who would care about the descendants of ordinary people without spiritual roots?

  In my memory, it was when Xu Ziyuan crossed the bridge and was startled by a big yellow dog, falling into the water. When she was rescued, she had already died, but unexpectedly, her own soul possessed her body again. After a while, Xu Ziyuan had recovered some strength, slowly opening her eyes. She slightly turned her neck and saw a middle-aged woman crying in front of the bed and a middle-aged man sitting on a chair not far away.

  Xu Ziyuan turned her head and moved the old bed beneath her, causing the bedboard to creak loudly, startling the middle-aged woman who was crying. The middle-aged woman looked at Xu Ziyuan, her body stiffening, and after a while, she called out softly:

  "Cigarette?"

  Xu Ziyuan felt a wave of awkwardness in her heart, she didn't know how to address the person in front of her, so she could only force a smile and reveal a hint of a smile.

  "Smoke!"

  The middle-aged woman suddenly pounced on Xu Ziyuan's body, tightly hugging Xu Ziyuan and wailing loudly. This cry was so loud that it shook the heavens and earth, heart-wrenching and lung-splitting. It also made Xu Ziyuan feel a deep sorrow in her heart, as if her whole heart had shattered. In her past life on Earth, Xu Ziyuan was an orphan who had never experienced parental love. Now, being hugged by this woman's crying, she felt the other person's heartfelt love and her eyes couldn't help but moisten.

  "Smoke!"

  The man was already standing in front of the bed at some point, his large hands trembling constantly, with old tears streaming down his face.

  Xu Ziyuan was moved to tears by the two, and just as she wanted to comfort them with a few words, her weak body faltered, and she fainted again.

  When I woke up again, I was in a daze and was fed a bowl of porridge by someone, then I fell into a daze again. When I woke up once more, the sky was already bright.

  The house was quiet, probably because Xu Ziyuan's parents had gone out to work. Xu Ziyuan struggled to get out of bed and felt that her body had recovered a lot. Looking around, she felt a bitter taste in her heart. The room was empty with only a broken bed, which looked very poor. Holding onto hope, Xu Ziyuan pushed open the door and went out, looking into the opposite house, which was also empty. At this time, Xu Ziyuan's heart was left with only four words: extremely poor.

  With a creak, the courtyard gate was opened. The middle-aged couple walked in and saw Xu Ziyuan standing on the ground, hastily putting down what they were holding and rushing forward. Xu Ziyuan's mother even more so, with a pained and reproachful tone, said as she hugged Xu Ziyuan tightly:

  "Yan'er, your illness hasn't recovered yet, what are you doing getting out of bed? Hurry up and lie back down."

  Feeling an unprecedented warmth, Xu Ziyuan's heart skipped a beat as she softly said, "Mother, I'm fine!"

  "Yan'er, you've caught a chill from falling into the water, take good care of yourself and don't overexert again."

  Xu Ziyuan's father also stood beside him and held Xu Ziyuan's shoulder, Xu Ziyuan only felt a warmth in his heart, and gently lowered his head to say:

  "Uh-huh."

  Days passed day by day, and Xu Ziyanyan's body had long since fully recovered. In his daily life, he helped his parents with some things, and then locked himself in the house to cultivate.

  Can Xu Ziyuan cultivate? The answer is affirmative. In addition to her own memories and the original Xu Ziyuan's memories, there was another memory in Xu Ziyuan's consciousness, that is, the inheritance she obtained from the Gobi Great Rift on Earth in another space. In the inheritance, Xu Ziyuan knew it was a legacy left by a sect called "Danfu Sect". Except for a set of exercises called "Water Ice Jue", the rest were alchemy and talisman-making techniques.

  Xu Ziyuan's mental strength was not lacking, and the mental strength of two lifetimes allowed Xu Ziyuan to quickly enter into cultivation. What made Xu Ziyuan feel extremely fortunate was that she could actually cultivate the "Water Ice Technique".

  It can be confirmed that Xu Ziyuan has a spiritual root, and it is also a water spiritual root. Otherwise, she would not have been able to cultivate the "Water Ice Technique" of the water system. What surprised Xu Ziyuan even more was that her own spiritual root seemed to be of a high grade, as she found that her cultivation progress was very rapid.

  In three months' time, she had already drawn in air and entered the first layer of the Refining Qi stage.

  On this day, Wang Po from the village came to our home and shut herself in a room with my mother, I don't know what they were talking about. After Wang Po left, my mother came into Xiu Ziyuan's room, her face stern as she grasped her hand and said:

  "Yan'er, the village head has asked Old Lady Wang to be the matchmaker and wants you to marry his second son."

  Xu Ziyuan's heart was shocked, she looked up at her mother in front of her and then looked at her father standing at the door, a wave of sadness rose in her heart. She knew what kind of person the village head's second son was, he was almost an idiot with intellectual disability.

  "Must I really marry a fool and spend my whole life in this dilapidated village? No! I refuse to resign myself to that!"

  Thinking of this, Xu Ziyuan's eyes became firm, and she said softly to her parents: "Dad, Mom, I don't want to get married!"

  *sigh*

  Xu sighed softly, and Xu Guang's expression also turned gloomy. How could the couple be willing to marry their precious daughter to a fool? But as people living at the bottom of society, how could they resist their fate? Looking at her parents' gloomy expressions, Xu Ziyuan suddenly had an idea, remembering that she was a person with a spiritual root and was already in the first layer of the Refining Qi period. In this Cultivation Continent, strength was respected above all else. The people in the village where she lived were all abandoned by their families, unable to cultivate, and even the village head was only at the eighth layer of postnatal cultivation. Shouldn't she tell her parents that she had a spiritual root and then leave the village with them?

  But Xie Ziyuan suddenly had a move in her heart, she came to this world and suddenly had an extra pair of parents. Although they were moved by their own love and care, but deep down in Xie Ziyuan's heart, she hadn't truly accepted them. She thought, why not take advantage of this matter, try out how much these parents in this realm loved her. Thus, Xie Ziyuan steadied her expression, speaking softly:

  "Father, mother! I won't get married!"

  The room fell silent, the atmosphere was oppressive. As if the air had become heavy and suffocating, making it hard to breathe. Finally, Mrs. Xu spoke in a low, hesitant voice:

  "Hey dad, look?"

  "Alas! Since Yan'er is unwilling, then let's not get married! Only we probably won't be able to live in the village afterwards."

  "Would the village chief dare to expel us from our clan?" Madam Xu said in surprise.

  Xu Guang's face was bitter and his expression was dull as he said, "I'm afraid it's not just a matter of being driven out of the clan, you've forgotten what happened to the Zhang family next door before."

  "Would he still kill us for this?" The Xu family had already begun to tremble with fear.

  "Alas! People like us who can't contribute to the family are worthless. The village chief is like a god here, whatever he says goes. No one dares to say no. Alright, let's pack up quickly and escape from the village today."

  "But will the village chief let us escape?" asked Mrs. Xu anxiously.

  "We'll make our escape at midnight; whether we can get away or not will depend on fate."

  After finishing, Xu Guang pulled Xu Shi out of Xu Ziyuan's room to pack up their things. Xu Ziyuan gazed at the two elderly people's suddenly hunched backs and felt a surge of emotion in her heart. She had completely accepted this life's parents, but her heart was also filled with fear for the future.