Yanjing, Huadian Racecourse.
“Qingxuan, don’t run! I said I would marry you, and I mean it! Wait for me, wait!”
A young man dressed flamboyantly like a peacock called out passionately to the rider of a galloping chestnut horse. His voice was so saccharine that it could make anyone’s skin crawl with goosebumps.
Seeing the chestnut horse speeding farther away, the young man grew anxious. He quickly mounted a white horse, swung his whip, and gave chase.
Not far ahead, a young woman rode the chestnut horse with an air of grace and determination. She appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen, her slender figure exuding elegance. Her delicate features were as picturesque as a painting, and as she rode, her long, flowing lavender hair danced in the wind, shimmering with a captivating glow.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, her fair skin as smooth as jade, flawless and radiant. Upon hearing the shameless declaration, a fleeting expression of embarrassment and frustration crossed her stunning face.
“Jiang Feng, what nonsense are you spouting?” Her voice was clear and pleasant, but her anger was evident. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. This guy had been pestering her for quite some time, but he had always maintained a ridiculous pretense of gentlemanly charm. When did he become so brazen?
“Qingxuan, is your hearing off? How about we stop for a moment, find a nice spot, listen to some music, have some red wine, and talk about life and dreams?” Jiang Feng grinned cheekily, his gaze fixed on Ye Qingxuan with undisguised greed.
“In your dreams!” Ye Qingxuan gritted her teeth. Just exchanging a few words with this idiot made her uncomfortable all over. She truly couldn’t fathom how such an outrageous person could exist.
“Hey, hey! Qingxuan, look at me! Handsome and charming, as graceful as a jade tree in the wind. Marrying me is the greatest blessing of your life!” Jiang Feng shamelessly persisted.
“Jiang Feng, shut up!” Ye Qingxuan’s face flushed with anger, her eyes practically shooting fire. She had no intention of stopping. Squeezing her long legs against the horse’s flanks, she urged it to speed up.
Seeing this, Jiang Feng became even more frantic and shouted, “Qingxuan, my dear Qingxuan! How can you be so heartless?”
He was clad in garish red and green, resembling a peacock in full display. Though his features were well-defined, chiseled like a sculpture, he wasn’t quite handsome enough to make hearts stop. Still, he had a certain charm that could attract women. The only problem was his frail frame and unnaturally pale complexion—clear signs of excessive indulgence.
But the moment he opened his mouth, his frivolous nature was exposed. His leering gaze, exaggerated grin, and drooling lips painted a clear picture of a debauched wastrel.
The two horses, one red and one white, galloped across the vast racecourse. The chestnut horse was exceptionally swift and soon left the white horse trailing several dozen meters behind. Those watching the spectacle burst into laughter.
“Haha! That good-for-nothing from the Jiang family is trying to reach for something beyond his grasp again. Doesn’t he know that a toad can never catch a swan?”
“If I recall correctly, this is already the thirty-second time Young Master Jiang has been rejected by Yanjing’s number one beauty. Some people really never learn!”
“Maybe he thinks that just because he’s riding a white horse, he’s a prince. Look at him—so majestic!”
“Hey, don’t laugh too soon. At least Jiang Feng has the guts to try. Who knows? He might actually succeed in winning over our city’s top beauty!”
The crowd roared with laughter as if they had just heard the joke of the century.
Who was Ye Qingxuan?
In Yanjing, as long as you weren’t blind or deaf, whether you were eight or eighty, you would have heard of Ye Qingxuan’s name.
She wasn’t a celebrity, yet her brilliance outshone any star. Since childhood, she had held the title of school beauty, and in the end, she had surpassed all competitors to be crowned the undisputed beauty of Yanjing. Her looks were beyond question, but what made her even more remarkable was her distinguished family background.
There was a saying in Yanjing: “A daughter should be like Ye Qingxuan, a son should be like Qin Junlin.”
Qin Junlin—the undisputed number one young master of Yanjing. A peerless genius, the leader of his generation.
For Ye Qingxuan, at the prime of her youth, to be compared to Qin Junlin spoke volumes about her exceptional qualities.
People regarded them as a golden couple, a match made in heaven. Yet, even Qin Junlin had never received the slightest favor from Ye Qingxuan, let alone a useless wastrel like Jiang Feng.
The Jiang family was one of Yanjing’s seven great families, on par with the fifth-ranked Ye family. However, compared to the top-ranking Qin family, their strength and influence were worlds apart. Under such circumstances, who could possibly believe that this fool had any chance of winning Ye Qingxuan’s heart?
Unless the sun rose from the west. No, even if it did, it would still be impossible!
Moreover, Ye Qingxuan was no mere vase. She possessed both intelligence and beauty, excelling in academics and consistently ranking in the top three of her school. She was also an accomplished athlete, well-versed in various aristocratic sports.
A woman like her had been destined for greatness from birth. How could a good-for-nothing who wasted his days indulging in pleasure ever dream of obtaining her?
Within moments, the gap between them widened further. It was clear that there was no hope of catching up. The onlookers, having had their fill of entertainment, began turning their attention elsewhere.
But to everyone’s surprise, even in such a hopeless situation, that foolish young master refused to give up. Instead, he relentlessly swung his whip, urging his horse forward with all his might, determined to keep up the chase.
“D*mn, he’s getting faster! Did that brute eat something? How did he suddenly become so fierce? Tsk tsk, it looks like he won’t stop until he catches up with Ye Qingxuan.”
Watching the white horse gallop away, kicking up dust as it closed the distance in an instant, many onlookers were left stunned.
“Eating something? At best, he’s just a horny mutt. Even if he manages to chase down Ye Qingxuan, so what? Does he think she’ll suddenly fall for an idiot like him?” someone else commented, a smirk on their face as they watched the spectacle unfold.
The crowd agreed. Ye Qingxuan was a delicate and stunning flower. Even if, one day, she had to settle for a pile of dung, there was no way she would ever pick Jiang Feng, who was nothing more than a piece of filth.
The bigger a scene he made, the worse it would be for him later. Some, eager for drama, even took out their phones to record, already planning to upload the footage online so the entire nation could witness Jiang Feng’s so-called “majestic” presence.
At that moment, an unexpected accident occurred.
The galloping white horse suddenly let out a hoarse and miserable neigh, white mist spraying from its nostrils. It lost control and bolted toward a nearby slope. The speed was too great, giving the rider no time to react before he was violently thrown off, flying over ten meters through the air before crashing heavily to the ground.
No one had expected such an incident. The staff at the racetrack were horrified and quickly rushed forward to help.
The onlookers were left in stunned silence. Someone hesitantly asked, “Should we go check on him? He’s an idiot, sure, but if he actually dies, that wouldn’t be good.”
“He did this to himself. Who cares? Come on, drinks are on me—no one gets to skip out!” a voice from the crowd called out.
With that, everyone dispersed, leaving behind the fallen Jiang Feng. No one noticed that the moment they turned away, a misty golden light streaked down from the sky like lightning, piercing into Jiang Feng’s motionless body.
*****
“Pain! Pain! Pain!”
Every inch of his body throbbed with agony. It felt as if he had been torn apart, as though his very flesh no longer belonged to him. The unbearable torment made it impossible to endure even another second.
Lying on a hospital bed, the young man suddenly bolted upright, instinctively reaching forward with both hands.
His hands met something soft, bouncy, and smooth. At the same time, a familiar scent of perfume filled his nostrils. Inhaling deeply, he felt instantly refreshed, as if his breath had cleared and his body had relaxed.
“Ah! Pervert! Where do you think you’re grabbing?!”
An angry voice rang out in the hospital room.
Bang!
Something hard smacked against his head.
Compared to the searing pain ravaging his body, this was nothing. However, the impact was enough to snap Jiang Feng out of his daze.
Slowly, he opened his sore eyes, scanning his surroundings in confusion. Everything before him was unfamiliar—gone were the towering, mist-shrouded peaks, the beautiful woman who had always been by his side, and the overwhelming presence of the heavens that instilled fear and awe.
Blinking, he withdrew his gaze and finally noticed a woman standing in front of him.
She was petite, with large, almond-shaped eyes that were currently glaring at him in fury, her expression filled with murderous intent.
But Jiang Feng ignored this harmless “killing intent.” His mind was in turmoil, drowning in a strange sense of displacement.
He stared at the woman blankly for a moment before rasping, “Who are you? Where am I?”
His words seemed to remind the woman of something. She shoved him forcefully and shouted, “You pervert! How dare you take advantage of me!”
Jiang Feng was pushed back onto the bed, his face immediately darkening.
Since when could a weakling like this, someone he could have crushed with a flick of his finger, actually pose a threat to him?
What was going on?
He attempted to gather his spiritual consciousness to examine his body for any abnormalities. But the moment he tried, a sharp pain exploded in his head, as if it were about to shatter, making it impossible to focus.
Failed?
He, a once-in-a-millennium cultivation genius of the Tianyuan Continent, couldn’t even condense his spiritual awareness anymore?
Jiang Feng’s face grew even paler as cold sweat dripped down his forehead. At that moment, two completely different sets of memories flooded into his mind like a tidal wave, shocking him so much that he nearly fell off the hospital bed.
This wasn’t Tianyuan Continent.
This was a place called Earth?
His name was still Jiang Feng, but he was no longer the legendary cultivator of the spiritual world. Instead, he was now a spoiled, good-for-nothing rich kid?
What happened?
Jiang Feng clearly remembered that, by a stroke of fortune, he had refined an Earth Essence Pill. After consuming it, his strength had skyrocketed, and he had been facing a heavenly tribulation, preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm. He should have been on the verge of becoming one of the brightest stars of the Tianyuan Continent.
But just as he was about to overcome the tribulation, out of nowhere, eighty-one bolts of violet divine lightning struck, reducing him to ashes. Even his dao companion, Fairy Tantai, who had tried to help him in his final moments, was obliterated by the lightning, her soul scattered.
Could it be… that he had failed his tribulation?
But if he had died, why was he here?
And where was Tantai?
Jiang Feng had always been strong-willed, yet at this moment, a trace of fear flickered across his face. His expression darkened to the extreme.
The young nurse, seeing that he had groped her and was now giving her a cold expression, was so furious she nearly wanted to bite him. But remembering his identity, she gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, and ran off crying.
Jiang Feng paid no attention to her. His mind was consumed by thoughts of his failed tribulation and the unfamiliar body he now inhabited.
His new body was in an incredibly weak state. First, because its original owner had been frail to begin with, and second, because the failure of his tribulation had damaged his spiritual consciousness and shattered his dantian. He was now practically crippled.
“Crippled?”
Jiang Feng narrowed his eyes slightly before exhaling slowly. Then, he chuckled self-deprecatingly.
It seemed that, against all odds, he had survived.
Now, he had to adapt to this new identity.