What is vitality?

In essence, vitality can be interpreted in various ways. Even in the Black Sea language, it implies a chance for survival.

In other words, if we understand it as a chance for survival, the Eternal Vitality might become clearer.

It offers you a chance to survive eternally. If you can seize it, you will naturally achieve the highest state.

But if you fail to grasp it, you will be utterly annihilated.

Cruel and realistic.

Li Cheng颐 felt somewhat uncomfortable, but upon careful reflection, this harshness did indeed align with the difficulty of Eternal Vitality.

"Gongshanzhu, 'a hundredfold review yields new insights'—what does this mean?" the teaching master suddenly asked.

Clearly, among the group of children, he had immediately noticed the distracted Li Cheng颐.

Li Cheng颐 looked serious and stood up.

"This sentence means that reviewing something repeatedly will always lead to new discoveries." Isn't this just revisiting the old to know the new?

He was speechless. It seemed that principles were the same in different worlds, only the forms of expression and the people who discovered them were different.

"Not bad. Although you understand it, do not be distracted during your studies," the master said with a satisfied nod.

Although Gongshanzhu was a branch of the main family, with inherently weaker blood, if he could embark on the right path in scholarship, he might not be unable to become an assistant minister in the future.

Even the strong needed help to acquire resources and intelligence, and even to arrange their daily lives.

The Gongshan family was a large family of moderate strength within tens of millions of miles. Gongshan Rong had cultivated the family's martial art, the Fiery Sun Star Melting Art, to the supreme twelfth level, defeating the Black Ebony King lurking in the sea, destroying many nearby demonic tribes, and relocating the family. From a small city clan of a hundred and eighty people, he elevated the group to the status of a mid-tier aristocratic family.

If not for the lack of experts within the clan, Gongshan Rong's achievements alone might have brought the family to the upper-middle level.

This was also the reason why the Gongshan family constantly hired teachers to instruct in martial arts and history.

Li Cheng颐 sat down, straightening his back.

The background he was born into this time was not bad. Although he was from a branch family, he at least had a full set of training resources from the start, unlike the last time when he had to find everything himself.

"A'Zhu, how come you suddenly seem so amazing?" the little fatty sitting behind him quietly poked his back.

The fatty was called Gongshan Heng, also a cousin from the same branch family. Because of his love for eating and drinking, his weight was quite impressive; he already weighed three times as much as an average child.

His father was a steward managing the family's small treasure vault, so he enjoyed good treatment and martial arts conditions.

The Gongshan family's strongest martial art was naturally the Fiery Sun Star Melting Art, which could be classified as a peerless martial art.

In the martial world, martial arts were ranked as divine arts and peerless arts, with divine arts being mostly top-tier martial arts created by gods and demons. Peerless martial arts were completely different. Though weaker than divine arts, there were some talented individuals who relied on them to defeat a few masters who had achieved great success in divine arts.

The little fatty, Gongshan Heng, had recently begun practicing one of the five Gold and Jade martial arts mastered by the Gongshan family—the Heavenly King Fire Torture Palm.

These were the five strongest martial arts besides peerless martial arts; the rest were basically not ranked.

Martial arts themselves were difficult to rank. Many martial arts described the highest realm in mythical terms, but no one knew if anyone had ever actually achieved it.

So, apart from the Gold and Jade martial arts, the rest were mostly divided into first-rate, second-rate, third-rate, and acrobatic tricks.

"Not bad," Li Cheng颐 replied casually, uninterested in the little kids.

"What do you mean, 'not bad'?" the little fatty persisted. "We're about to be assigned to different halls and start our martial arts training. Have you decided which martial arts master you want to choose?"

"No, I plan to go home," Li Cheng颐 said calmly.

"Go home? Your dad will teach you himself?" the little fatty was stunned.

"Yeah. As long as I pass the assessment regularly." Passing the assessment was required to receive resources and money.

This was a family rule.

Li Cheng颐's identity was not bad; his parents were alive and well. As the eldest son, he had a younger brother and a younger sister, who were still wearing open-crotch pants and playing in the mud.

The family income was also good, providing a comfortable life. His father, Gongshan Qingyang, was a son of the family head, but his bloodline was insufficient, so he was classified as a branch family member.

His mother came from another major clan slightly weaker than the Gongshan family, with a family of scholars, whose martial arts were not weak, completely enough to enlighten Li Cheng颐's foundation.

Having completely replaced the original, he had been reborn by his parents, with a similar appearance to his original body, but with the local blood flowing through him.

Apart from his consciousness, he had no belongings from his original body. He was just an ordinary family member.

"It's really envious of those main family members. From the beginning of their martial arts practice, they have the qualifications of having their hundred meridians open and innate true essence surrounding their bodies," the little fatty muttered again.

"If we want to practice to this level, we have to work hard for more than fifteen years. And that's just a possibility. But their starting point is this. Why am I not from the main family?" the little fatty complained, sighing.

Li Cheng颐 was silent.

This was why the world valued the main family so much. Their starting point was the end point for many.

And for ordinary people, even the end point of this branch family was an unattainable dream for them.

That was the difference.

"You should be glad you're not an ordinary person. Otherwise, even if you had divine arts and demonic martial arts, you wouldn't be able to see them," a handsome young man with a lazy expression interjected, smiling.

"Ordinary people are better off. They have no hope from the beginning, so they live happily," the little fatty sighed.

Li Cheng颐 was somewhat surprised by the guy's precociousness. It was rare for someone of this age to speak such a truth.

As for the handsome young man, his name was Gongshan Leijiu. He was a newcomer who had only recently joined. He only had his mother with him. His father was said to have sacrificed himself for the family, but his name was unknown. His mother was now seriously ill in bed, making his background somewhat mysterious.

Li Cheng颐 glanced at him. There was an invisible force on this guy that could faintly isolate his subtle probes.

Although he had only extended a tiny bit of his tentacles to test, in order to avoid being discovered, it was still remarkable to be able to defend against even that tiny bit of consciousness.

Seemingly finding a connection with the little fatty, Gongshan Leijiu chatted with him casually.

Thirty minutes later, when class ended, the two had already agreed to go to the cafeteria together.

"A'Zhu, do you want to come along?" the little fatty still remembered Li Cheng颐, reaching out to call him.

"You guys go ahead." Li Cheng颐 was still thinking about the problem of dimensional base points, so he casually waved his hand, picked up his book bag, and walked towards home.

The Gongshan family now had more than five hundred people, all living together under the protection of the family head, Gongshan Rong.

In this world of rampant demons and monsters, without the protection of the strong, living alone outside would only result in being torn apart and devoured, leaving no corpse behind.

Not to mention the various妖灵 (yao ling - demon spirits) and monsters from other worlds that occasionally invaded, 天魔 (tian mo - heavenly demons) descending to wreak havoc on the world, and all sorts of chaotic disasters that emerged like rain.

Even every few years, a terrorist organization would emerge to destroy the world and achieve their ambitions.

Li Cheng颐 did not go with anyone. He carried his bag alone, following the tall gray walls of the alleyway.

About fifteen minutes later, he turned left into a side road, and after walking for a few more minutes, he left the alleyway and walked through some desolate courtyards and woodlands. Soon, he arrived at a large mansion with three courtyards in the front and three in the back.

The mansion was quiet and deserted. Only an old man with white hair was slowly sweeping the floor at the door.

"The eldest young master is back," the old man stopped his movements, carefully identified Li Cheng颐, and called back.

The door opened.

In the first courtyard inside, a handsome, thin man was standing quietly.

The man had a cold temperament, with a hint of melancholy between his eyebrows. He coughed from time to time, clearly not in good health.

Beside him, at a stone table, sat a woman with the same cold temperament and simple elegance.

The woman was beautiful, like a solitary winter plum blossom, silently stroking a qin in her hand.

Li Cheng颐 entered the door and bowed slightly to the two of them.

"Father, Mother, I'm back."

"Go eat first. Aunt Yuan has prepared everything," the man was the biological father of this body, Gongshan Qingyang.

The woman was his mother, Gongshan Lin.

His younger brother and sister had already eaten and gone to bed, so only Li Cheng颐 had dinner with them in the dining room in the second courtyard.

The meal was simple.

Tomato and egg stir-fry, stir-fried baby bok choy, and seaweed soup with dried shrimp.

There was very little oil, but the rice was extraordinary. Each grain was the size of a pearl, with a luster on the surface, and some even had a rainbow sheen.

This was Jade Pearl Rice, grown with the blood of sea monsters, and was the fundamental resource that truly supported the cultivation of martial arts in aristocratic families.

Otherwise, those simple dishes would not be enough to eat.

"You can eat ten today," Father Gongshan Qingyang said softly, looking at Li Cheng颐 with a satisfied expression.

Although the family's three children were young, there were comparisons with the children of other branch families. In comparison, it could be seen that the eldest son, Gongshanzhu's, aptitude was quite extraordinary.

He valued calmness in dealing with people, and the temperament Gongshan Qingyang saw in his eldest son was exactly the same as his and his wife's.

"Yes," Li Cheng颐 nodded.

His body was indeed that of a seven-year-old child, extremely fragile. So he would naturally choose to be cautious when he could.

Judging from the content of the previous readings, the upper limit of martial power in this place was not low. They could destroy stars, and the Starfield Galaxy could be destroyed in a fight. Saving the world was also perverted; saving all living beings was recorded in one stroke. But if you think about it carefully, you can know, what is the concept of being able to instantly revive countless dead and wounded creatures?

Therefore, before figuring out the upper limit of martial power in this world, Li Cheng颐 did not intend to be reckless.

Moreover, the flow of time in this place seemed extremely fast.

The Eternal Vitality's time flow was calculated according to the Black Sea, and not within the dead corners of the small world.

Therefore, Li Cheng颐 could completely determine the ratio of the time flow between this world and the Black Sea based on the generation speed of the Eternal Vitality imprint of his body.

Although his body was not here, he could still sense its changes and state through their connection.

He had clearly been here for several years, but the 생기 (sheng ji - vitality) imprint of his body had only increased by less than one-tenth.

Obviously, the flow of time in this place was extremely fast.

Coming back to his senses, Li Cheng颐 looked at the ten grains of Jade Pearl Rice in his bowl, which added up to only a shallow spoonful.

He picked up his spoon, put it in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

"You're at the age to start practicing martial arts. Have you thought about what you want to learn?" Father Gongshan Qingyang asked after coughing.

"I'll just learn at home, following Father's example," Li Cheng颐 said.

He didn't lack ordinary martial arts, and only peerless martial arts and divine demonic martial arts had reference value.

So it didn't matter what he learned, it was just a cover.

"That's fine too. You can choose from my and your mother's martial arts," Gongshan Qingyang said, "They're all first-rate martial arts, enough for self-protection. Anyway, you're going to take over my job in the future." He managed one of the family's large commercial firms, handling countless resources and funds. Taking over his job was not a bad choice either.

"Yes," Li Cheng颐 nodded.

The mother, Gongshan Lin, looked at her son without any excitement and gently bit her lower lip.

"There's really no need to decide the child's path so early."

"It's better to decide early so that we can arrange a marriage. The children of large aristocratic families enjoy the benefits, but they always have to sacrifice something for the family," Gongshan Qingyang sighed.

Obviously, the family was planning to use the marriage of their children to exchange benefits with other large aristocratic families.

"Does it have to be this way?" Gongshan Lin said helplessly.

"It depends on their aptitude. We've already contacted three candidates," Gongshan Qingyang shook his head.

"Is it the Han Sect family?"

"Yes, the Fu family has been getting stronger recently, and the family head has to consider the overall interests."

(End of this chapter)