Morning exercise became a habit for Lu Jin'an ever since he embarked on the Immortal Path, unceasing despite the passing years.
As the saying goes, "Practice martial arts and cultivation, persistence is key."
Though he couldn't access true kung fu in his past life, after reincarnating into this Cultivation World, he was able to integrate and derive the martial arts knowledge from his previous life with the spells of his current one.
In this world where one can soar to the heavens and delve into the earth, these Fist Techniques, when combined with Spiritual Power, unleash formidable might.
As his morning practice reached its zenith, the Spiritual Power within him circulated along the Twelve Main Meridians and the acupoints on the governor and conception vessels, completing a circuit before finally converging in the Spirit Sea located at the Dantian.
In the Eleven Realms of cultivation, one starts with 'Qi Refinement', absorbing nature's spiritual energy into the meridians, penetrating 365 acupoints, gathering into the Dantian, transforming Qi into 'Gui Yuan', filling to capacity, then 'Solidifying Pill' in the abdomen, and progressing to breaking the pill into a sea to 'Yun Dao', then 'Sitting and Illuminating' self, introspecting, establishing Dao and 'Tongsheng', thus becoming a Saint.
Then 'Harmonizing' with self, opening the Spirit Sea Divine Platform, after ninety-nine 'Crossing Tribulation', akin to a 'Divine Presence', wielding the power of the immortal, gliding through the skies for thousands of miles, with a single thought moving Qi, achieving 'Divine Concealment' within the world, not within the Life Wheel Five Elements, finally grasping the sun and moon, plucking stars, unbounded by heaven and earth, leading to the free realm of 'Transcendence' spoken of in legends.
On Yunding Continent, children of the Human Clan can have their talent measured at the age of seven, stepping onto the path of cultivation because it is the age when Primordial Qi first emerges, and at this sexually naive age, they can easily preserve their essence without leakage, which is greatly beneficial to the Qi Refinement Realm.
Thirteen years into his cultivation, Lu Jin'an was long past a Qi Refinement beginner, having established Dao and achieved Tongsheng.
Closing his eyes to feel the circulation of Spiritual Power, Lu Jin'an still detected no signs of poisoning in himself, so he chose not to dwell on it, instead activating the "Great Freedom Visualization Technique."
The "Great Freedom Visualization Technique" is, without a doubt, an advanced cultivation Immortal Law, with its core in the word 'freedom'.
Concepts such as matter, time, space, energy, and life and death can all be described as free, and by visualizing oneself as a 'concept' to grasp the mysteries within, one can transform this into personal strength, allowing oneself, one day, to be unrestrained by all things, freely and autonomously.
It was by applying the visualization of 'space and time' onto himself that Lu Jin'an traversed the river of time, escaping being refined into a Sword Spirit.
Sadly, his own power had not yet reached the heavens and the depths, so returning to two days ago was already the limit.
As he pondered, Lu Jin'an fell into thought again. As someone who returned from the future to the past, is it the return of the soul or the regression of memory?
He didn't dwell on that question for long, after all, the concept of space-time is too profound, and delving too deep with his current realm of comprehension could easily lead to deviation.
Knowing that his fate was in his own hands was enough.
Moreover, now his future had already changed.
From birth to death, life is ultimately a series of choices. Different choices lead to different results and thus different futures.
Lu Jin'an understood that he had a chance to make a new choice, so he had to seize it firmly.
After all, crossing the river of time once more might not succeed...
Allowing his thoughts to disperse, Lu Jin'an mused on what it would be like if he could return to the first time he met Zhu Nanzhi?
He felt he was overthinking things.
Even if he could return to their first meeting, it would mean little.
Because now he knew that Zhu Nanzhi was just a face-chaser, and if he had refused her back then, he would likely have been knocked out and taken away by her, and he would probably have become her Lifebound Sword Spirit that very day.
At the time, having cultivated the "Great Freedom Visualization Technique," his Spiritual Power had depleted significantly, so he might not have even been able to resist her...
Discarding these stray thoughts, the practicing Lu Jin'an both pondered and practiced the "Great Freedom Visualization Technique" while replenishing his exhausted Soul Power and Spiritual Power, as this was an uncompleted piece of Immortal Law, and he aimed to completely perfect it by following the explorations of those who came before him.
If there was any benefit to nearly being refined into a Sword Spirit, it was that because of the Life and Death Boundary that Zhu Nanzhi brought to him, he had no choice but to personally cross time and life-and-death, thus elevating his comprehension of these profound forces.
So, at that time, he sincerely thanked Zhu Nanzhi because her obsessive thoughts deepened his understanding of the 'Dao' he comprehended based on the "Great Freedom Visualization Technique."
If not for her, he truly wouldn't know when he could approach the Life and Death Boundary.
Unconsciously, hearing hurried footsteps approaching, Lu Jin'an slightly returned to awareness, noticing the girl with dark circles glaring at him resentfully as usual, then heading towards her mistress.
The girl's pace was much more cheerful than usual, as if she had encountered something good.
Lu Jin'an understood deep down that Zhu Nanzhi would soon learn the secret of the Blood Pool from her maid Han Wu's mouth.
What was meant to happen would happen.
Lu Jin'an did not intend to stop Han Wu, as Zhu Nanzhi's plan to turn her husband into a Sword Spirit was long prepared, rather than a thought that arose only after discovering the Blood Pool.
Therefore, stopping it was of little consequence.
Lu Jin'an closed his eyes again to derive the "Great Freedom Visualization Technique", for the dialogue between the mistress and her maid was always soundproofed, rendering any useful information inaudible, and instead, it was better to quickly restore his Soul Power and Spiritual Power, subsequently deriving through the future and past to find clues to break the fate of becoming a Sword Spirit.
Having experienced life and death and reversed time, perhaps the current self could derive some segments of Zhu Nanzhi's future or past that were previously unseen, thus discovering what poison she used, and then finding the right remedy, subsequently...