Rebirth of the Useless Bastard Son

Continuing to look, Cheng Qi discovered that Li Tianyan was not born in the Chongyun Immortal Sect, but was a young master from a family of alchemists. The family was situated in a secluded place with beautiful mountains and clear waters, spanning thousands of acres of spiritual grass fields—it was like a paradise.

However, unlike behemoths like Chongyun Immortal Sect, the Li family was only a third-grade family, with their most powerful member an ancestor in the Void Refining Stage.

Li Tianyan lived a comfortable life since childhood, but what surprised Cheng Qi was that, apart from the servants who looked after him, Li Tianyan’s parents and elders rarely appeared in his memories, and only fleetingly.

As time passed, Li Tianyan gradually grew up. Cheng Qi watched as the young Li Tianyan played football alone in front of him, a smile on his face. He wanted to join him in playing.

But in the next moment, everything suddenly changed dramatically.

First, the Li family’s clan-protecting formation was easily breached without warning. Then a group of evil cultivators besieged and invaded, triggering even the Li family’s underground fire veins. The once peaceful and beautiful paradise turned into a hellish inferno in the blink of an eye.

“All of this is my fault. Tianyan, please run away and live a good life. Remember, no matter what happens in the future, you must never tarnish the Li family’s reputation, nor have anything to do with evil cultivators.”

Cheng Qi looked at the woman in front of her, holding a whip and covered in blood, but speaking with affection in her eyes to Li Tianyan—his mother.

He recognized her as Li Tianyan’s mother, the one who often hid in corners, peeking out briefly before fleeing if discovered.

“Mom, don’t leave me. Yan’er has remembered everything. Yan’er will be obedient. Please don’t leave again.” Li Tianyan, still unaware of the sudden upheaval, seemed to sense something wrong and clung to his mother, tears streaming down his face.

But his mother simply sealed something like a seed inside Li Tianyan’s body, then pushed him away and instructed the servant beside him, “Take the young master and escape through the secret passage.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The young Li Tianyan was powerless to resist, so he was taken away by the servant. The last thing he saw was his mother’s back disappearing into the sea of flames.

Later, Li Tianyan learned from the servant who rescued him that a traitorous clan member had colluded with a demonic sect to steal the Li family’s alchemy inheritance in revenge for being expelled. At the time, Li Tianyan couldn’t comprehend it fully, but every word resonated in his mind.

The servant took Li Tianyan away from the Li family, but they fell into the hands of a Nascent Soul evil cultivator. The servant, only at the Core Formation cultivation level, was quickly killed by the evil cultivator, and Li Tianyan was captured.

Cheng Qi saw the evil cultivator’s cave where Li Tianyan was held, filled with the drained bodies of boys. He immediately understood the evil cultivator’s intent and wanted to rush in to rescue the young Li Tianyan.

Fortunately, not long after Li Tianyan was taken into a cave, a Nascent Soul cultivator arrived seeking vengeance against the Evil Cultivator. They battled until darkness fell outside the cave, while Li Tianyan, imprisoned inside, finally fell into a coma from hunger after two days without food.

Cheng Qi’s mental energy was eager to withdraw from the memory fragments and move into the next piece to check, but his heart grew heavier and heavier, and the excitement he had felt just moments ago completely dissipated.

When Li Tianyan woke up again, he found himself already in the disciple room of the outer sect of Chongyun Immortal Sect. It turned out the Nascent Soul cultivator was a member of Chongyun Immortal Sect. After he killed the evil cultivator, he discovered a child in the cave and brought him back to the sect.

Seeing that little Li Tianyan finally had a safe place to stay, Cheng Qi felt a little relieved, but thinking about what he had just experienced, he felt extremely distressed.

Li Tianyan stayed in the Chongyun Immortal Sect and lived in the disciples’ house with other orphans who also had spiritual roots but no home.

However, although this place was relatively stable and a safe refuge for Li Tianyan, he was having a hard time. Before he was a young master with groups of servants around him, but now he was all alone with no time to play.

In the Disciple House, five-year-old Li Tianyan was about to begin doing some simple chores. Cheng Qi watched as little Li Tianyan stumbled along, but stubbornly completed all the tasks. He seemed to understand nothing, yet he knew everything. His silence made Cheng Qi panic.

Cheng Qi watched Li Tianyan grow up like this. At six years old, Li Tianyan started working in the Xianyi Pavilion and was often injured by the scissors in his hand. By seven, Li Tianyan was in the dining room, standing on a high stool, stirring a large pot of broth with a spoon taller than him.

Until Li Tianyan turned ten, he awaited the opportunity to become a disciple. If he could be favored by an inner sect ancestor, he could follow his master to practice at the peak.

.

Li Tianyan had clearly been awaiting this opportunity for a long time. On this day, he donned the sect school uniform that he had been reluctant to wear and stood among a group of children his own age.

Some of these children had emerged from the Disciple House, while others were sent here after passing the assessment. Today was the day to determine the fate of these children. If they were fortunate enough to be accepted by an ancestor as direct disciples, they would receive personal guidance and become inner sect disciples of Chongyun Immortal Sect.

Being accepted as a direct disciple meant having access to the inner gate, where they could also practice at the ancestor’s peak. If an ancestor did not favor them, they could only remain in the outer sect, starting as handyman disciples. Only those who reached the Core Formation stage by the age of one hundred could enter the inner sect.

However, outer sect handyman disciples had limited resources and needed to spend considerable time working. It was nearly impossible to reach the Core Formation stage by the age of one hundred. Therefore, the sole purpose of these children today was to become a disciple under an ancestor.

Note

A cultivator who reached Nascent Soul usually earned another title, Ancestor.

I am still not sure how far the cultivation stage the author would go, but for now this is the list:

Qi Condensation Stage
Foundation Establishment Stage
Core Formation Stage
Nascent Soul Stage
Divine Transformation Stage (Li Tianyan when meeting the Lihuo Beast)
Void Refining Stage (Li family’s ancestor)