How long had passed? The boy slowly regained consciousness. Pitch-black darkness surrounded him—he couldn’t see his own hand before his eyes.
*Am I not dead?* That was his first thought upon regaining awareness. Then he felt his entire body submerged in water. "Huh? What’s going on?" He stretched out his hands, fumbling blindly to understand his surroundings. But before he could fully extend his arms, his fingertips brushed against something soft. "???" Instinctively, he pressed slightly harder against the softness. He barely had time to ponder when a pained cry cut through the silence.
"Ouch!" A young woman’s voice yelped.
"Yue Xin, what’s wrong?" An urgent, authoritative male voice immediately followed. The man had a square-jawed face, thick eyebrows, and eyes so intense they made others shrink from meeting his gaze—eyes etched with the weight of history. His high nose bridge and tightly set lips were framed by faint wrinkles only visible up close. Dressed in a tailored suit, he radiated an aura of command that pressed down on anyone near him.
The young woman sighed. "This child… bullying his mother even before birth. He’ll surely be a handful later."
"Shall I call the doctor?" the authoritative voice asked again.
"No need. He’s just eager to come out. I’m fine," she reassured him.
"Hmm. Very well. But tell me immediately if anything feels off. I won’t risk your safety—understood?" His tone softened at first, then hardened into an unyielding command on the last word.
Yue Xin stuck out her tongue playfully. "Understood," she replied, half-teasing, half-chiding. She knew her husband Bai Mo well—once he decided something, no argument, however reasonable, could sway him.
Indeed, this man was her husband. Bai Mo, former commander of Luo Kingdom’s Demon Suppression Corps, had earned legendary battlefield honors before retiring from military life. Upon his departure, the Luo monarch granted him a hereditary dukedom.
He’d built a villa on Luo’s outskirts near the Divine Beast Forest, where he lived with his wife—the young princess of Yue Kingdom. Years ago, during her training journey, she’d been ambushed in the Divine Beast Forest by villains. Bai Mo rescued her and escorted her safely back to Yue. Through shared trials, affection blossomed. She later begged her father, the Yue monarch, to arrange their marriage. The king, shrewd and pragmatic, recognized Bai Mo’s valor and achievements. Marrying his daughter to such a man promised her happiness and strengthened ties between their kingdoms—a win-win.
Hearing their conversation, the boy’s mind reeled.
*What’s happening?* In his past life, he’d slaughtered countless demon beasts and eradicated legions of dark cultivators. A butcher with blood-soaked hands, he’d ultimately died peacefully for his sister’s sake—a death that would’ve made his enemies laugh their heads off. But that wasn’t the issue now. *Why am I here?*
He strained to open his eyes. Darkness. He floated in water within a cramped space, just large enough to turn. A cord—attached to his navel—anchored him. *Am I… a fetus?* As humanity’s deadliest weapon in his previous life, he recognized the situation instantly. Yet disbelief choked him. *Since when does this kind of thing happen?*
He’d heard tales of "reincarnation" during his past cultivation. Back then, he’d dismissed it as absolute nonsense.
But reality stared him down. *Maybe… it’s just a dream?* "Right. A dream." He tried to convince himself, even raising a hand to slap his cheek awake—when a sudden pull from his navel jolted him.
He froze. Then, as he focused on the sensation, ecstasy flooded him.
*"To grasp Primordial Energy, first master fetal breathing."* Only now, at humanity’s peak of power, did he grasp the true meaning of this ancient maxim.
A thread of pure white energy seeped through the umbilical cord—unlike anything he’d ever seen. One glance confirmed it: Primordial Energy. The primal force of heaven and earth, obtainable only within the womb, utterly unfindable in the outside world.
This Primordial Energy swept away his gloom. He immersed himself in cultivation. To cultivators of his past world, such energy was a heaven-sent treasure. Absorbing ordinary treasures risked bodily explosion from unstable energy—unless one specialized in body refinement. But Primordial Energy posed no such danger. Once absorbed, it dispersed harmlessly through the body, releasing its power gradually during cultivation. Its energy could drastically elevate a cultivator’s rank—truly all benefit, no drawback.
This very reason had once driven cultivators to attack pregnant women for their unborn children’s energy.
He himself had personally eliminated those who’d descended into darkness chasing it, quelling that chaos.
