Chapter 1: He Actually Came Back
Nan Yu stared fixedly at the face reflected in the mirror, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at it without blinking. Only after several long minutes did he seem to confirm something. He lowered his head and looked at his own hands.
Then, as though he had finally realized the truth, he let out a long breath of relief.
Feeling the youthful body of his fifteen-year-old self, Nan Yu was overwhelmed with joy.
At the same time, however, he was filled with rage and resentment.
But...
The marriage agreement between the Nan family and the Bai family—his engagement to Bai Zhouyun—wasn't something that could be canceled with just a few words.
Especially when Bai Zhouyun had always harbored the disgusting idea of keeping the "red flag" standing at home while letting the "colorful flags" flutter outside. He wanted to keep Nan Yu by his side while raising that revolting thing as a lover on the outside.
That was why he always acted so attentive, cheerful, and considerate in front of Nan Yu and his family. Even the Nan Yu of the past had genuinely liked him.
And then there was what happened afterward—Bai Zhouyun had saved his life, so he...
"Heh."
Nan Yu let out a cold laugh.
Forget about that.
With the aptitude that thing had, if Nan Yu hadn't constantly helped him in his previous life—though he had never formally taken him as a disciple, he had practically acted like a master, painstakingly guiding and supporting him every step of the way—
If he hadn't given him countless resources that even he himself had been reluctant to use or consume...
Could that person really have become a High-Tier Mental Power User in the end?
What a joke.
Nan Yu examined his mental power and found that he was currently only at the level of a Mid-Tier Mental Power User.
But that didn't matter.
He knew that in another three or four years, he would become a High-Tier Mental Power User.
At that point, he would stand among the most influential figures in the entire Empire.
The Empire would even classify all of his information as top secret.
And...
By then, unless Bai Zhouyun became a celebrated general, a marshal with outstanding military achievements, or some other major contributor to the Empire, he simply wouldn't be qualified to marry a High-Tier Mental Power User under Imperial law.
In his previous life, the only reason the authorities hadn't interfered was because Nan Yu had insisted on it himself. He had willingly thrown himself at Bai Zhouyun.
The corners of Nan Yu's lips curled upward.
To break off the engagement, all he had to do was become a High-Tier Mental Power User.
In his previous life, he had achieved that in his twenties. But now that he had been reborn and possessed all of his past experience, who knew how much time he could save?
If he could become a High-Tier Mental Power User before turning eighteen, he could completely rid himself of that scumbag Bai Zhouyun.
"Xiao Yu? Xiao Yu...?"
Nan Yu abruptly snapped back to reality.
Although he had returned to the age of fifteen, he still didn't know exactly when he had come back.
The person calling from outside was his older brother.
"I'm here. What's wrong?"
Nan Yun knocked on the door. Only after receiving permission did he open it.
"Xiao Yu, why are you still sleeping? That kid from the Bai family is already here. He said you two made plans to go gather medicinal herbs in Black Night Forest today."
So it was this time.
Nan Yu immediately remembered.
Wasn't this the trip to Black Night Forest—the very incident where Bai Zhouyun had saved him?
Since heaven had given him the chance to return to this point in time, then he certainly wouldn't be polite about it.
This time, he absolutely would not give Bai Zhouyun the opportunity to save him.
"Alright, I know. I'll come down right away."
He had to prepare himself mentally first.
After all, in his memories, it had only been moments ago that Bai Zhouyun and the others had plotted against him and left him without even a corpse behind.
Just moments ago he had hated Bai Zhouyun to the bone.
And now he had to pretend nothing had happened and go out with him as though everything were normal.
It was truly a severe test of both his patience and his acting skills.
After changing his clothes, Nan Yu headed downstairs.
Although he had no intention of giving Bai Zhouyun a chance to save him, he still needed to collect the herbs.
Because this time, his luck was exceptional.
Inside Black Night Forest, he would be able to obtain a small stalk of Nianshen Grass.
To Mental Power Users like himself, Nianshen Grass was an invaluable treasure.
Simply keeping a stalk nearby would gradually purify one's mental power.
Over time, advancement would become significantly easier than for others of similar strength.
Furthermore, the effectiveness of mental guidance and purification for Ability Users would improve considerably.
After all, if Ability Users wanted to grow stronger, they had to consume Ability Beast meat over long periods of time.
Yet Ability Beast meat contained impurities that were virtually impossible to eliminate.
They were a kind of mental impurity.
After ingesting them, Ability Users could only remove them slowly over a very long period of time. But hardly any Ability User could go without eating Ability Beast meat for that long.
That was why Mental Power Users were regarded almost as saviors.
Of course, if Ability Users truly wanted to avoid Mental Contamination, all they had to do was stop eating Ability Beast meat.
Unfortunately, once someone was identified as an Ability User, virtually nobody would abandon Ability Beast meat merely because of the contamination risk.
Every Ability User wanted to become stronger.
That was their shared goal.
As a result, the number of Mental Power Users was actually quite large. Otherwise, there would be no way to satisfy the needs of the Empire's countless Ability Users.
However, despite their numbers, ninety percent of Mental Power Users were Low-Tier.
Mid-Tier Mental Power Users were much rarer.
And High-Tier Mental Power Users made up only the tiniest fraction.
By the time Nan Yu died in his previous life, there had been fewer than fifty High-Tier Mental Power Users in the entire Empire—including himself.
Compared to the number of High-Tier Ability Users throughout the Empire, that figure was pitifully small.
As a result, Ability Users generally sought out Mental Power Users as marriage partners.
And High-Tier Mental Power Users were the targets of fierce competition among the Empire's most powerful, wealthy, and influential figures.
When the time came, why shouldn't he find one of those big shots instead?
How could someone like Bai Zhouyun possibly be worthy of him?
A person like that actually wanted to keep a High-Tier Mental Power User at home to purify his mind while maintaining a little lover outside for entertainment?
And the most infuriating thing was that, in his previous life, Nan Yu had never even known that the bastard was Bai Zhouyun's secret lover.
He had treated him as Bai Zhouyun's friend.
When he saw how envious the man was of Mental Power Users, Nan Yu had thought he looked pitiful and had constantly helped him.
Who could have imagined that after using countless resources on him—after even giving away his own Nianshen Grass and helping him become a High-Tier Mental Power User—
He would eventually join forces with Bai Zhouyun and the others to betray him.
Only after mentally preparing himself did Nan Yu walk downstairs.
The first thing he saw was Bai Zhouyun sitting on the living room sofa.
To be honest, Bai Zhouyun truly had excellent looks.
He was handsome.
Refined. Presentable.
Combined with the fact that they had grown up together as childhood sweethearts and that Bai Zhouyun had later saved him in Black Night Forest, perhaps it really had been inevitable that the Nan Yu of his previous life would fall in love with him.
But this life would be different.
He would never make the same mistake again.
In fact, Nan Yu already knew that at this point in time, Bai Zhouyun and that bastard were already involved with one another.
They were still young, however.
The feelings between them were vague and indistinct.
Neither of them had yet realized what those feelings truly were.
But after some time, they would understand.
And when that happened...