Chapter 1 Rebirth

  Su Qing felt a bit depressed, a twenty-something year old person had actually been reborn into a pregnant woman's belly. Her whole body was sticky**, and she couldn't even open her mouth. She thought about how the beautiful genius she used to be had ended up in such a state.

  She was a talented disciple of the Tian Shan Men's Grand Elder in the Xiu Zhen world, and the old man who treated her like his own daughter made her feel a strong sense of family as an orphan. One day, while out on a trip with her master, they discovered the Phoenix God Ring in a mountain cave. The previous owner had left a note saying that only someone with fate could successfully recognize and use it, and Su Qing became the lucky one. After returning to the sect, the daughter of the sect leader, Zhang Lei, found out about the ring and wanted to take it for herself. The Grand Elder explained that the ring was conditional and not like ordinary spiritual objects that would recognize its master with just a drop of blood. Zhang Lei pretended to give up on taking the ring, but when the Grand Elder went out, she gathered her fellow disciples to attack Su Qing. Su Qing was a talented martial artist, but she couldn't fight off the crowd alone. As the sword pierced her heart, her only concern was for her master, hoping he would be okay. A white light enveloped Su Qing's soul as it drifted further and further away. When Su Qing woke up again, she found herself floating in mid-air with a transparent body, facing a completely unfamiliar world. In an instant, she entered the womb of a pregnant woman, feeling a bit disoriented but also happy that she was no longer an orphan.

  Su Qing was furious when she found out her mother had been poisoned. The poison would make the fetus weak and sickly, even deformed, and weaken the mother's body. It seemed like war was everywhere, she vowed to become stronger to protect her loved ones and make sure the bad people got punished. Su Qing now had a physical body that could cultivate, so she cultivated non-stop, helping her mother expel the toxins, waiting for the birth several months later.

  Su Qing was delighted that she had finally been born and could breathe the air, no longer confined to a small space. She saw her parents, her mother beautiful and elegant, her father majestic. Her name hadn't changed, still Su Qing. Every day she nestled in her mother's arms as a well-behaved baby, not crying or making a fuss, earning everyone's praise, this feeling wasn't bad at all.

  As I grew up day by day as a baby, I also came to understand the environment and family situation around me. This is a big family living in Beijing. My grandfather was a general, my grandmother worked at the Central Secretariat, they had two children: my father Su Qingyu joined the army, and my uncle Su Zhiyuan entered politics, both of whom were accomplished in their own right. My maternal grandfather was an old Chinese medicine doctor named Wang, my maternal grandmother was a seamstress, and they didn't have any children but later adopted my mother Wang Shuqin as one of their own. My mother learned good medical skills and became a doctor, she fell in love with my father and got married, but because of her humble origins, she wasn't liked by the Su family. Because of this reason, our family of four didn't live in the military compound. My aunt Zhou Meina was from a political family and worked at the court, always looked down on my mother yet envied her beauty. There's also an older cousin Su Qing, who is four years old, a pretty little boy who likes to tease me when he has nothing better to do. And there's a younger cousin Su Lisha, three years old, who acts like a proud princess but is actually silly and doesn't have any schemes, I really worry about what kind of foolish things she'll do in the future.

  Twelve years have passed in the blink of an eye, and life has been peaceful and happy, with no bad things happening and many good things. My father was promoted twice, my mother became a chief physician, and my brother was admitted to Tsinghua University as the top scorer in Beijing, and our family celebrated the good news with joy. But my parents both think that what makes them most proud is having a good son and daughter. My parents are even more loving, and my brother seems to have a severe case of overprotectiveness, wanting to protect me from any harm. Now I am very happy, and Master will be happy for me too.

  I was most delighted when I entered the Phoenix Ring at the age of three and achieved some success in my cultivation. There were mountains and rivers, with an abundance of spiritual energy; the creek water was sweet and nourishing to the body. A small field of medicine contained precious medicinal materials, including wild ginseng, garden ginseng, red ginseng, winter worm summer grass, Tibetan saffron, lingzhi mushroom, he shou wu, snow lotus, and more. Each type was not abundant in quantity, but all were over 500 years old. There was also a small portion that exceeded 1,000 years. As for ginseng, it goes without saying; I discovered the seven-color fruit tree and was thrilled to death. Legend has it that its fruit is a seven-color, once-in-a-century result, which ordinary people can eat to prolong their lifespan and cure all diseases. Cultivators can increase their power. Although 100 years seems long, I have confidence in being able to let myself and my family eat the seven-color fruit soon, given the extremely fast growth rate of plants in this space.

  In this space, there were all sorts of rare and precious flowers in shades of purple and red, and valuable tree species covered the large and small mountain peaks. If a flower enthusiast or woodcarving master were to see it, they would surely be delighted to the point of fainting. In this space, there was a white fox and a swarm of purple bees collecting nectar, and they discovered an un-hatched phoenix egg. A year later, a beautiful and noble phoenix was born, and it, along with the white fox and the bee king, acknowledged Su Qing as their master, and they shared a deep understanding. Su Qing often came to this space to cultivate or play with them, and she even doubted whether her own mind was also that of a child. The white fox could be considered a treasure-hunting fox, and it brought Su Qing to the forest to find many precious medicinal herbs such as ginseng and lingzhi, which they transplanted into a small medicine garden. They found five-colored silkworms, whose naturally colorful silk was not only beautiful but also made of indestructible fabric. The white fox was also very sensitive to spiritual energy-emitting gold, silver, jewels, and precious stones. Although the white fox could shrink its body, and the phoenix could transform into a ordinary yet beautiful small bird, Su Qing decided that she couldn't let them appear outside the space without careful consideration. Su Qing always felt that something was missing in this space, but eventually, she realized that she wanted to build a small wooden hut. However, the phoenix stopped her, saying that the previous owner had sealed off a part of the space and told her to cultivate patiently and wait. The phoenix also informed Su Qing of some things: the time inside the space was proportional to the outside world, and the higher one's cultivation, the larger the proportion; in this world, people practiced ancient martial arts but no one cultivated their true nature except for her, and the rules of heaven and earth prohibited anyone from knowing that she was cultivating her true nature or teaching others. The ring space had to remain a secret forever, and even if one cultivated to a high level, they would not ascend to become an immortal but only prolong their lifespan indefinitely.

  Su Qing was still young, and since the secret couldn't be made public, she couldn't make any big moves. She also hoped that her loved ones would be healthy and strong, so she only added space spring water to their drinks at home. Her grandparents lived in a bungalow, and every time they went there, Su Qing would pour the spring water into the well, giving her parents and brother more opportunities to drink it. Although they visited the military compound many times, they rarely took any of the spring water out with them. Su Qing clearly felt that her grandparents didn't like her, always doting on her cousin Su Lisha who lived in the compound but was born outside. Her brother was okay since he was the eldest son, but Su Qing's existence there was as if she were air - nonexistent. However, she didn't care about them; as long as her parents and grandparents loved her, that was enough. As for Auntie Er, don't even think about getting a single drop, because after releasing a pair of space bees to investigate, they found out that it was indeed her who had poisoned Su Qing's mother back then. Su Qing steeled herself to remain low-key until she possessed absolute power; playing dumb and eating the tiger should be fun. When the time is ripe, I'll give everyone a big surprise.

  The effect of the spring water is very obvious, and everyone is getting healthier. My grandparents no longer have back pain and look younger, my father looks even more youthful and handsome, my mother's skin is smooth and delicate, looking younger and more beautiful. Hospital colleagues often ask what high-end skincare products she uses, but she says none, and they don't quite believe it. Even my brother has become smarter, learning with ease like drinking water, his grades are among the top. It's just that his skin is too good, he looks too cute, and in school, he's often surrounded by admirers, which brings him a lot of trouble, always trying to find ways to make himself look darker.

  At the age of six, Su Qing pestered her parents to change her age and add two years, directly skipping grades to read third grade. Firstly, elementary school knowledge is not worth wasting time learning, and secondly, she wants to protect herself and her loved ones earlier because many things cannot be done before the age of 18. At first, they did not agree, but they could not help her persistence. Although she was often teased for being taller than her peers due to her frequent visits to space, among classmates who were three or four years older than Su Qing, I was still too young. In the early days, she was treated as a rare species and surrounded by people, but later everyone regarded her as a little sister and protected her. A year later, she skipped grades again to fifth grade, and after her brother found out, she jumped to sixth grade. Although she only spent three years in elementary school, she had a good relationship with her classmates and made acquaintances with many descendants of military and political families, laying the foundation for future development. What's more delightful is that she met Chen Shan, who has a lively and generous personality. On the surface, it seems like she doesn't care about anything, but Su Qing knows that she is actually clever and wise. Su Qing and Chen Shan became close friends without any political intentions, purely because of their shared interests. Chen's family was considered a scholarly family, and her grandfather was a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. From then on, Su Qing often went to their home to learn calligraphy and Chinese painting. Although she had mastered these skills in her past life, she pretended not to understand and occasionally showed off a little, which earned her praise from Chen's grandfather. Soon after, Su Qing's brother also completed his junior high school curriculum in two years and entered a key high school. During this period, their cousin was stimulated by the siblings' consecutive grade skips and also skipped a level, but ended up struggling to keep up with the pace and returned to her original grade, causing quite a stir. Now Su Chen is about to attend university and is preparing for his third year of high school.

  It's possible that because my brother is the future successor of the family, Grandfather has a much better attitude towards him. My brother often goes to play chess with him or stays for short periods during holidays and receives strict military training together with other young people from the army district who are around the same age. My brother's physical condition was improved by the spring water, he is willing to endure hardship, his mind is agile, and he has received universal praise from the older generation. Grandfather is also delighted and beaming with joy. Grandma is old and retired at home, and after all these years have passed, she is still satisfied with my sister-in-law's family background and other aspects, and now that she sees her grandson is so excellent, her anger has dissipated by half. She often invites us to stay in the big courtyard for two days.

  Compared to her brother, Su Qing is much more low-key. She has a delicate and beautiful face with fair skin, looking like a porcelain doll, but she hides her features behind thick bangs and a ponytail. Beautiful things can make people like you, but they can also make some people jealous or want to possess you for themselves. When your own strength is not enough, these two situations can bring trouble or danger. She has good grades but never stands out, participating in school activities without drawing attention to herself. Medicine, calligraphy, painting, tea art, chess and so on, she has learned everything she could think of. She hasn't attended any high-society gatherings, Su's mother doesn't attend many events, and Su Qing stays home with her, also because she believes that only having real abilities gives you the capital to make connections with others, relying on family relationships is not reliable.