#Volume 1: Blooming Talent 

Chapter 1 - Taixing Town

Lin Haoxue felt that she was powerless. From head to toe, her entire body was in pain, and it felt as if her meridians were rupturing making it difficult for her to even move a finger.
Her mind was filled with resentment as she felt humiliated and powerless.
"Hahahaha, the Lin family's women look so beautiful, but they are fated to be just concubines," the insolent voice of a young man rang out in her mind.
　　
"You're unsatisfied about what I said? What can you do about it? If you're really something, then stand up and fight me!" Another young man said provokingly.
"Older brother Wu Ling, right now not even her family has anyone capable of protecting her..."
　
"Humph, Wu Gang, you're really courting death. She is still from the Imperial Capital and has been chosen to become a concubine. You dare to go after her? Won't you just be causing your own death?" The young man talked back fiercely since he seemed reluctant and annoyed at Wu Gang. Therefore, you could see that he had a dirty mind as well. 
　
"Tisk, it's such a pity that she's so young and already so attractive. It's hard to say how much prettier she will be in the future. It's really unfortunate that she is rubbish."
　
"Of course she has to be beautiful, otherwise, how would she have caught the He family's attention. Don't forget the He family's reputation in our empire."
　　
"It's a pity that we can't touch her. But, this is Taixing town which is our Wu family's domain. We are so far away from them so even if we did something they wouldn't know, right?" 
"Even if we can't touch her, we can just think about her to solve our hunger. Haha."
These unrestrained voices kept sounding in her mind. They made her feel nauseous as she remembered how his hand reached out towards her face, feeling it. She remembered how this ignited her anger and caused her to be completely humiliated.
　　
"Stop it!" Lin Haoxue shouted as she suddenly sat up. 
　
In a split second, the voices that echoed in her mind vanished into smoke. 
　
These voices were not from the present rather they were a memory. 
　
Now she was laying in bed, and when she looked down, she was surprised to see that her body had gotten smaller. Seeing her body, she could tell that she was now merely eleven or twelve years old. On her arm that was not covered by the quilt, she saw bruises, and the rest of her body ached.
"Second Miss, you're finally awake! You scared me to death," said a happy voice from nearby. Lin Haoxue looked in the direction of the voice, and she realized that she was surrounded by thirteen or fourteen young servant girls. When they saw that Lin Haoxue had woken up, they all gathered around her. Cui Lan said to her, "Old master was really frightened. If it were not for an urgent matter that came up, he wouldn't have gone out." 
"Cui Lan? What happened to me?" Lin Haoxue asked, a little confused about where she was and who this Cui Lan was. 
"You were injured. Quickly lie down! I will slowly explain," the young servant girl, Cui Lan, said hurriedly as she went to the bed and quickly tucked Lin Haoxue in. 
"So what happened?"
"I don't know. Lin Gui and the others found you lying in an alley next to East Street covered in cuts and bruises, so we quickly brought you back home. We are also unclear about what exactly happened. However, we heard others saying that Wu Cuo and his friends were seen leaving that alley; therefore, it's likely that they were the ones who did this to you Miss," Cui Lan explained, full of anger.
"Wu Cuo?" While Lin Haoxue was unconscious, she had heard the names Wu Ling and Wu Gang. It seems that this Wu Cuo had also been there.
"Yes, the Wu family is one of the big three families of our town. Wu Cuo is merely a branch disciple, how dare he be so bossy and harm our Miss," Cui Lan was quite furious. "Don't they know how powerful the Lin family was, even if that was a long time ago…"
While speaking, her voice which contained a hint of longing gradually became softer and softer. Lin Haoxue was clear about her thoughts. The Lin family used to be highly regarded, and only now were they in dire straits. It was like a tiger becoming a cat or a phoenix becoming a chicken. No matter how well respected they were in the past, now they were in bad shape.
"Enough, I'm fine now!" Seeing this young servant girl become so mad about what had happened to her warmed her heart. But she didn't want to let this young servant girl dwell on her feelings, therefore she changed the topic saying, "I'm a little hungry now, get me some food." 
"Okay, Second Miss, wait a moment. I will go prepare your favorite stir-fried lotus root for you. Just get some rest, it will be done soon." It turned out that changing the subject was useful in making Cui Lan think of something else.
"You lost consciousness and just woke up, so maybe congee would be better," Cui Lan murmured to herself as she quickly left the room shutting the door behind her. 
Following Cui Lan's departure, the room turned silent in a flash. Lin Haoxue carefully reviewed the many memories in her mind. 
Now her name was also Lin Haoxue, and she was the second granddaughter of Lin Geng, the head of the Lin family. As for her parents, she barely had any memories of them.
The Lin family of Taixing town was just a second-rate family, and her relatives consisted of her grandfather Lin Geng and her older sister Lin Ruoxue. These three people relied on each other for their survival. Lin Haoxue had some vague memories of what the Lin family was like when they lived in the Imperial Capital, but she couldn't remember exactly what had happened that forced the Lin family to leave. Those events occurred when Lin Haoxue was less than a hundred days old. At that time, grandfather Lin Geng received a severe injury causing him to fall from the Profound Saint realm down to the seventh layer of the Profound Ancestor realm. Their current strength was far from sufficient enough to intimidate the other families. Thus they had no other option but to leave the Imperial Capital.
Regarding what exactly happened back then, grandfather Lin Geng refused to say anything, so neither Lin Haoxue nor her sister knew anything about those events. 
　　
The relationship between Lin Haoxue and her older sister Lin Ruoxue was quite good. Two years ago, Lin Rouxue awoke the water affinity for her profound power perfectly and broke through, becoming a genuine Profound Practitioner realm cultivator. Afterwards, she enrolled in Taixing town's only academy for cultivators, and now she was already at the third layer of the Profound Practitioner realm.
But even up until now Lin Haoxue's profound veins still hadn't awoken.
　
On the Xinghao Continent, only the strongest reigned supreme! In this world, only one kind of power mattered, and that was profound power. During the cultivation of one's profound power, there were nine elemental affinities that one could awaken. These elemental affinities could be imbued with profound power and had different qualities to them. They could be imbued with the affinities of wind, thunder, water, fire, earth, light, darkness, gold, and wood. To cultivate profound power, one needed to have profound veins. The average person awoke their profound veins when they were six to eight years old, and at that point in time, they would be able to start cultivating their profound power.
　　
Lin Haoxue was currently twelve years old, and her profound veins had still not awoken. Basically, her body was the definition of a trash constitution.
　
But thinking about this, it was quite strange. In the last millennium, the females of the Lin family had all possessed heaven-defying beauty that was apparently passed down through their bloodline. 
　
Beautiful women were always something that men coveted, especially beautiful women who couldn't protect themselves. Her older sister, Lin Ruoxue, was studying at the cultivation academy, and because of this, no one dared to touch her as that would be the same as offending the academy itself. But for Lin Haoxue it was not the same, she was simply trash. Lin Geng was a gold elemental Profound Ancestor realm cultivator of the Lin family as such he couldn't stir up trouble with the younger generation. 
　　
Therefore some bad guys targeted Lin Haoxue. Of course, because she had been chosen by the He family, they could only take advantage of her by speaking out loud about their dirty thoughts. 
After a while, their accumulated indignation and hatred towards Lin Haoxue boiled over, and she was actually beaten to death. 
These personal feelings were the will of the previous owner of this body, her last and strongest emotion. Lin Haoxue firmly clenched her right hand and became determined. Since I've received your body, then I will take over your responsibilities and desires! I will fulfill your wishes, take over your hate, and protect your family! I will defend them! 
　　
"Haoxue, you're awake," the door was pushed open and an old man around fifty or sixty years old came in. Normally cultivators would look younger than their real age, however, Lin Geng didn't look young at all. It seemed like his wounds over the years were too much for him, and only his snow-white beard made him look somewhat like a cultivator. When she saw him, his face was expressionless, and he looked like he had a lot of worries on his mind. 
　
"Grandfather, I am fine," Lin Haoxue said while looking at the older man whose face was filled with worry and depression causing her heart to ache. In her previous life, she also had a grandfather who loved her dearly. His face was usually cold, but his heart was warm. Since she was unable to see her grandfather from her previous life, then she would treat her grandpa of this life well. Lin Haoxue shook off those memories in her head and thought that since she had been given another chance at life, then she would live well and not let anyone harm her grandpa.
　
"Waking up is good. Waking up is good!" Lin Geng said happily repeating his words before once more turning taciturn. Apparently, this new grandfather was very similar to her old one; he was not very good at communicating his emotions. But Lin Haoxue knew that this grandpa deeply loved her. 
"Don't worry, grandfather. Look, I'm okay," Lin Haoxue said acting like a spoiled child. Because of the blood relations between them, she instantly felt connected to this old man. 
　
"Okay!" Lin Geng merely nodded his head. He had not spoken any unnecessary words, and the atmosphere once again fell into tranquility. 
　
"Second Miss, the food is coming. Ah! Old master," the energetic servant girl Cui Lan came in with congee, and when she saw Lin Geng at her side, she became quiet. It seemed that she revered Lin Geng a lot.
"Haoxue, eat your congee. When you've finished, I have something to tell you," Lin Geng hesitated for quite a while before he finally opened his mouth to speak. 
　　
Lin Haoxue sensed the seriousness of her grandpa from his tone. She knew that the matter was related to herself and that it was grave. With Cui Lan's assistance, she struggled to sit up as her entire body ached in pain. The look in Lin Haoxue's eyes turned cold. She thought, 'Wu Cuo, Wu family, you best pray that you can live longer. This hatred, I will make sure to pay you back ten-fold!' 
　
Lifting her right hand, Lin Haoxue refused Cui Lan's help as she was no longer willing to be a useless person. She picked up the spoon and gracefully drank the congee that Cui Lan had made with the utmost care.
　　
Next to her, no matter if it was Cui Lan or Lin Geng, both people noticed the change in Lin Haoxue's temperament. At least before, Lin Haoxue wouldn't have been so obstinate and refused Cui Lan's help. 
　　
The bowl of congee was eaten rather quickly, and when she finished, Lin Haoxue put down the spoon and accepted a handkerchief from Cui Lan which was used to wipe the corner of her mouth. Afterwards, she lifted her eyes and looked at Lin Geng, waiting for an explanation about what was going on.
Lin Geng suddenly didn't dare to look into Lin Haoxue's eyes. He couldn't bear to tell her these things while she was looking at him with such clear eyes, but, in the end, some matters had to be confronted. 
　
"Just now, I saw Lin Haiyue."
　
Lin Haiyue was Lin Geng's trusted aide. He was the Lin family's specialist for gathering information. Although the Lin family's position was not high and their strength was not great, his information network could be considered not bad.
　　
"He informed me that the He family is on their way to Taixing town. They are on the road and ought to arrive in the next few days."
　
He family? Lin Haoxue suddenly recalled a memory from when she was unconscious. 'She is however still engaged to the He family from the Imperial Capital. You dare to want her? You obviously don't want your life, huh?'
　　
"You might not remember, but our Lin family and the He family originally had an engagement set between you and the He family head's eldest son, He Lingyun. It was something your father and He Guanying agreed upon, but now they have changed the terms of the agreement," Lin Geng's strangely desolate voice sounded out. He was wondering how he could protect his second son's daughter. 
　　
"How has it changed?" Lin Haoxue asked and again had a bad premonition. 
"You know the He family's Second Young Master, He Guanxiong, is very famous for being promiscuous. At home, he already has forty-seven concubines. This lecherous man has now set his sights on my Lin family which is currently down on its luck. Since He Lingyun is very dissatisfied with the engagement, they figured that they would change it. Such a shameless thing!"
"What about He Guanying? Doesn't he care?"
"He Guanying has been in closed-door cultivation for eleven years. He wants to break through from the Profound Saint realm to the Profound Immortal realm, and for this reason basically everything is now controlled by He Guanxiong."
　
"The reason they're coming here is to change the engagement?"
"It should be so. We are quite weak now and are basically unable to resist," Lin Geng said, feeling quite helpless.
　
"That He Lingyun is dissatisfied with the engagement?"
　　
"He is a genius that appears once every hundred years in the He family. At seventeen years old he stepped into the Profound Spirit realm and shocked the entire Wuhuan Empire. He likes strong people and believes that the Lin family's women are merely flower vases, so he is dissatisfied."
Lin Haoxue lowered her eyes and hid her hands that were clenched so tightly that her fingernails almost dug into her palm. So she was being looked down upon and humiliated, she would keep this feeling in her heart. 
Suddenly, she lifted her head, and a smile appeared on her lips as she looked at Lin Geng and said, "Rest assured grandfather, soldiers will come and the generals will block them. There's always a way out."
Lin Haoxue laughed in high spirits. She had exceptional confidence in herself, and although, in the beginning, Lin Geng was not entirely convinced, but after seeing her full of confidence, he also felt some relief.