Continuously gathering spiritual energy into the body, constantly cleansing the mortal flesh tainted by countless worldly impurities—when the cleansing reaches a state of complete clarity and purity, that is considered perfection. After breaking through once more from the stage of Gathering Spirit Perfection, one transcends the mundane, able to soar through the skies and burrow into the earth, command the clouds and summon the rain, becoming a terrestrial immortal or deity, known as the True Person Realm.

In his previous life, although Brian Carter chanced upon an opportunity, the deceased cultivator he encountered was merely a novice at the mid-stage of Gathering Spirit, and the things left behind were not valuable. With no one to guide him, he had to fumble his way forward alone. It took him five years just to get started, four years to cultivate to the peak of the early Gathering Spirit stage, where he was stuck at a bottleneck for a year, and then another seven or eight years to reach the peak of the mid-stage Gathering Spirit.

Seven or eight years later, he finally learned, through another stroke of luck, where the Spirit Domain actually was.

After entering the Spirit Domain, although the spiritual energy there was dense—making cultivation efficiency more than ten times higher than the outside world—he was still a lone soul, only at the peak of mid-stage Gathering Spirit, with little experience fighting strong enemies. In those early years, he spent most of his time hiding, racking his brains just to find a safe place to settle down. Only after he finally adapted to that brutal world, and broke through continuously in the rich spiritual environment, did he reach the Gathering Spirit Perfection stage, barely gaining the capital to seek out a cave-dwelling of his own.

With Gathering Spirit Perfection, one could gain a foothold in the Spirit Domain, but only just—especially for rogue cultivators, this foothold was still fraught with great danger.

Brian Carter was stuck at the Perfection stage for several more years, still frequently encountering all kinds of crises and dangers. It wasn’t until years later that he finally seized his opportunity and broke through to become a True Person.

At that moment, Brian Carter’s confidence was stronger than ever before. Given his background and opportunities, to have reached that point truly meant he could survive in the Spirit Domain with relative ease.

After years of bloody struggle, he finally carved out a path for himself, becoming a minor expert among the rogue cultivators.

Brian Carter was indeed in his prime, and even though he was nearly seventy at the time, once one became a True Person, their lifespan would double; a True Person in their sixties or seventies was still considered in their prime.

Yet, in the midst of his high spirits, Brian Carter was struck by sudden misfortune. Before he even had a chance to make his mark in the Spirit Domain, two powerful cultivators fought near his cave-dwelling, and he was killed in the chaos without even knowing what happened.

Looking back on that life in detail, even though he had long since steeled his nerves through countless dangers and hardships, he still felt a sorrow so deep he wanted to weep.

In his final moments, his heart was filled with unwillingness and rage.

Rage at the heavens—he had struggled so hard all his life, finally carved out a bloody path in the Spirit Domain, just as he was about to rise, disaster struck out of nowhere. That kind of anger and unwillingness was like a tidal wave, but what was even more frustrating was that he didn’t even have the chance to feel angry or unwilling, because in that instant, he was utterly annihilated.

But who could have imagined—

Not long before, he had been burning with rage at the injustice of fate, and not long after, he actually returned to fifty years ago?

Was this fate’s compensation to him?

Or did some mysterious force, seeing how tragic and sorrowful his life had been, grant him a second chance?

But no matter what, once he fully realized that not only had he not died, but had returned to fifty years ago—a few months before his parents suffered that calamity, before the great upheaval of the Carter family—Brian Carter was so excited and emotional he wanted to cry his heart out.

That great upheaval happened just a few months later, during the summer break, starting in the days after the college entrance exam results were released.

If not for that car accident, his father wouldn’t have left so abruptly in the prime of his life, he himself wouldn’t have given up on himself, and his grandfather wouldn’t have been so grief-stricken at losing his beloved youngest son in his old age, leading to his health rapidly declining. If his grandfather had lived, those political enemies of his uncle… might not have dared to go so far.

Ultimately, the reason his fate changed so drastically in his previous life was that car accident a few months later.

Silently staring at the phone in his hand, waiting as the ringtone blared again and again—so loud that several people passing by outside the washroom stopped to look—Brian Carter finally took a deep breath and put the phone to his ear.

“Xiao Zheng.”

A gentle, caring voice sounded from the other end of the phone. Just those two simple words, and Brian Carter immediately turned his back to the outside of the washroom, tears streaming down his face.

“Xiao Zheng?”

Perhaps because she hadn’t heard a reply for a long time, there was a hint of confusion in the voice on the other end. “Are you still mad at your dad? Sigh, there’s no overnight grudge between father and son. Be good, don’t be upset anymore. Come down quickly, Mom brought you something delicious.”

Tears were still streaming down Brian Carter’s face, but a trace of doubt flashed through his mind—mad at his father?

He searched through memories that had almost faded into the depths of his mind, and finally found the source.

It was just after the Spring Festival, only a few days into the start of his senior year of high school.

In the final exam before the Spring Festival, there were ninety-one students in Class Five of the senior year, and Brian Carter had the dubious honor of ranking tenth from the bottom. If you looked at all six senior liberal arts classes, his ranking wasn’t even worth mentioning.