BTTH: From Genius to Invincible-Chapter 550: Hundred Reincarnations

Word Count: 2,392 Words

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Xiao Yan swept his hand. The Yin-Yang Twin Flame surged forth, weaving itself into a protective barrier around Nalan Yanran, who remained deep in enlightenment. With her safety secured, he clutched the Bodhisattva Pill and strode toward the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree’s projection, passing through into the profound space within its core.

The tree spirit’s domain had warped dramatically since his departure. A miniature black hole had formed where Mao Wu’s black flames blazed, its pull so fierce it threatened to devour the entire Bodhisattva Ancient Tree.

The tree spirit’s branches rustled frantically at his arrival, as if crying: If you’d taken any longer, I would have been sucked in!

’So this is the power of the Nihility Devouring Flame at the Heaven Seed level!’ Awe flickered through Xiao Yan’s eyes as he gazed at the slowly burning black flames.

There was no time to waste. He hurriedly sat cross-legged and, alongside the freshly refined Bodhisattva Pill, produced a Nine Revolutions Heaven-Changing Pill. His plan was straightforward: use both medicines in tandem to push his cultivation another full change higher.

Taking breakthrough pills and then using Heavenly Flames to temper his Dou Qi was an old routine that had served him well since his days as a Dou Grandmaster. He had assumed those days were behind him, believing he had no further Heavenly Flame to refine. But with Mao Wu’s evolution to a Heaven Seed Flame, he could employ this method once more!

The moment the two pills touched his throat, they dissolved into fierce currents of Dou Qi that surged through his limbs. Xiao Yan formed a hand seal and activated the Flame Mantra. As his lips parted, the Nihility Devouring Flame, now on the very cusp of the Heaven Seed level, transformed into a stream of black fire and plunged down his throat.

BOOM!!

Searing agony exploded within him. When Mao Wu had been at Earth Seed level, he had simultaneously been refining the Ghostly Poison Flame, so he hadn’t felt the full brunt of the Earth Seed’s impact. Now, with its leap to Heaven Seed, not only did a tremendous surge of energy flood back into him, but the evolved flame felt like an entirely new Heavenly Flame requiring refinement from scratch, its temperature absolutely terrifying.

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth against the pain and circulated the Flame Mantra. Since Mao Wu had already submitted to him, re-refining it posed no fundamental problem. Still, a Heavenly Flame remained a Heavenly Flame, especially one of this caliber. Even the most docile would burn upon entry.

A soft hum resonated as the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree released waves of life force to ease his suffering. The tree spirit bathed him in green light, and then a deep, soul-level exhaustion swept over him without warning. His eyelids grew impossibly heavy, his head drooped forward, and consciousness slipped away.

...

When his eyes opened again, an unfamiliar ceiling and unfamiliar bedding greeted him. Everything around him was utterly foreign.

A flood of soul information rushed into his mind.

’I am Dugu Qing, the only son of the Heaven Sword Gate’s master?’ Xiao Yan frowned. He still remembered his true identity perfectly well and understood that this was the Hundred Reincarnations.

Creak—

The door creaked open. A middle-aged man in ancient clothing stepped inside. Though Xiao Yan had never seen this person before, he instinctively knew it was Dugu Cai, the Heaven Sword Gate’s master and his father in this incarnation.

His body moved of its own accord, slowly sitting upright with a faint click.

Dugu Cai sighed. "You’re injured. Don’t try to get up. With your current cultivation, forcing yourself to practice the Heaven Sword Three Forms will only cause the sword qi to backlash and wound you further."

Another wave of spiritual information surfaced: he had been gravely injured while attempting to force his way through a particular Dou Technique.

Understanding the situation, Xiao Yan’s soul shook its head in resignation. A voice from the very depths of his being rang out: "Stop."

Click.

Dugu Qing froze mid-motion. Not just him. Dugu Cai halted as well, completely still. The entire world seemed to have been put on pause.

A wisp of soul drifted from Dugu Qing’s body. It was Xiao Yan’s soul body!

He surveyed the frozen scene and sighed, a wry smile tugging at his lips. "So this is the Hundred Reincarnations..."

Understanding came quickly. The Bodhisattva Ancient Tree had collected fragments of remnant souls while hidden deep underground. Through analysis and projection, it had constructed these cycles of ’reincarnations.’

Simply put, he would enter another person’s life, experience their entire existence, and learn whatever that person had mastered throughout their years.

This was the Hundred Reincarnations: experiencing a hundred different lifetimes.

For Xiao Yan, though, it felt rather hollow.

’This Hundred Reincarnations is too dull... What’s the point of living through a hundred other people’s lives? Others are others.’ He sighed with helplessness. These experiences were illusions. Even if he lived through a hundred lifetimes in others’ bodies, he would still be Xiao Yan in the end, not someone else. He could never fully replicate another’s path.

Different people practicing the same Dou Technique would inevitably produce variations. This was precisely why techniques gradually disappeared from history: different practitioners introduced subtle changes that compounded over generations until the corruption became so severe that even achieving major mastery became impossible. At that point, the Dou Technique was lost forever.

A thousand people yielded a thousand different interpretations. Even with identical technique scrolls, different practitioners would achieve different results.

’I’ll just treat this like watching movies. Might learn something and broaden my horizons.’

Xiao Yan shook his head in resignation. He had hoped the Hundred Reincarnations would let him truly live a hundred lives. Clearly, he had expected too much.

He re-entered Dugu Qing’s body. His soul body extended its right hand, fingers twisting slowly like gears turning. The world accelerated around him. Sunrise and sunset flashed by like lightning, days and seasons blurring as years rushed past in rapidly shifting images.

With his current Spiritual Strength enhanced by the Emperor Soul Technique, his perception and learning abilities had reached monstrous levels. His soul could absorb information at a glance, memorizing everything instantly. Otherwise, how could any normal person retain countless pill recipes without missing a single detail?

Soon enough, Dugu Qing’s entire life ’played out’ before him.

The story was simple enough: in the ancient era, a sect fell to its enemies. The sole survivor was Dugu Qing, who cultivated tirelessly until he finally achieved vengeance. Knowing his injuries were beyond cure, he retreated to a secluded mountain forest and quietly passed away.

On one occasion, the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree happened to appear at the very spot where Dugu Qing had died. When the tree took root, it absorbed fragments of the remnant soul lingering in the earth. After obtaining this soul information, it used its divine abilities to reconstruct Dugu Qing’s entire life, forming one cycle of reincarnation.

But...

After the first cycle ended, Xiao Yan’s soul returned to a blank white void. He shook his head. A flash of golden light swept through him as he actively purged the vast majority of the soul information he had received.

’No wonder one cannot undergo the Hundred Reincarnations without the Bodhisattva Heart. Such massive floods of soul information... without the Bodhisattva Heart to maintain mental clarity, anyone would become confused, unable to distinguish themselves from these borrowed lives.’

He acknowledged inwardly that the Hundred Reincarnations were not entirely useless. At minimum, they broadened his knowledge. He had learned about ancient medicinal ingredients, pills, culture, and history.

For his alchemy, gaining knowledge of rare medicinal ingredients held genuine value. Though modest, it was still something.

However, he actively discarded the Qi Methods, Dou Techniques, and personal emotions that Dugu Qing had cultivated throughout his life, because they simply did not suit him.

If he tried practicing according to another person’s techniques, who knew what kind of mess would result?

’On to the next one.’

White light engulfed him as he entered the second reincarnation...

...

The pattern repeated continuously. Xiao Yan accelerated through each life, and after every cycle ended, he actively purged most of the soul information, retaining only a vague memory that such a person had existed.

This continued until the ninety-ninth reincarnation. By then, he had experienced what felt like countless millions of years. Among these lives, some people’s experiences paralleled his own, and several were even alchemists, allowing him to pocket numerous valuable pill recipes at no cost.

Those chosen by the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree had all reached at least peak Dou Venerate level, with some achieving Half-Saint or even true Dou Saint.

The Bodhisattva Ancient Tree probably never imagined that Xiao Yan’s inner resolve would prove so unshakeable. Without needing the Bodhisattva Heart, he maintained perfect mental clarity and preserved his sense of self throughout. Even now, his eyes remained as clear as they had been at the very start, his heart never wavering in the slightest.

Though occasionally greedy and meticulous in pursuing every last advantage, when faced with the Hundred Reincarnations, Xiao Yan chose not to absorb everything indiscriminately.

A Dou Saint’s lifetime of accumulated wisdom. For any cultivator below that realm, such knowledge would be a supreme treasure beyond price. But for Xiao Yan, it would become dross that corrupted his own path.

He had to extract the essence and discard the dregs.

’Final life at last. I hope Brother Ancient Tree delivers something worthwhile, or this really will have been too boring.’ Xiao Yan shook his head. The Hundred Reincarnations had not been without gains, but they certainly fell short of his expectations.

Hum!

A vast white light engulfed him. Countless streams of spiritual information surged into his mind like ocean currents.

[Thirty years east, thirty years west. Don’t you dare look down on me just because I’m poor now!]

[This contract isn’t for annulling our engagement. It’s my letter expelling you from the Xiao Clan!]

[You... you dare expel me?!]

[Father, in three years, I will go to the Misty Cloud Sect and personally wash away today’s shame!]

[Hehe, little one, it looks like you need some help.]

!!!!!?

[Do you want to become an alchemist?]

Xiao Yan jolted awake as if from a nightmare. His back was drenched in cold sweat, his forehead beaded with perspiration, and he gasped for air in heavy, ragged breaths. Genuine surprise filled his eyes. The spiritual information that had just flooded his mind had felt extraordinarily real.

’The person in those memories... was me?’ He quickly regained his composure. Of course he remembered he was inside the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree’s Hundred Reincarnations. This was the hundredth life!

’Did the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree read my soul information and project this lifetime?’ Xiao Yan flexed his fingers. This time he could control his body, but he could not accelerate the flow of time. His Spiritual Strength seemed to have vanished entirely, and there was almost no Dou Qi in his body.

’Nalan Yanran coming to break the engagement... that part matches.’ He began sifting through the memories, his brow creasing deeply. Though the engagement had also been annulled in his real past, the outcomes could not have been more different. In this version, he had lost his Dou Qi and endured three years of relentless bullying from his own clan. Miserable to the extreme.

Nalan Yanran’s arrival to break their engagement had then become the spark that ignited all his accumulated humiliation.

Xiao Yan smiled faintly and shook his head. ’It would take three years to defeat Nalan Yanran? Brother Ancient Tree, you really do know how to joke.’

Just as he tried to stand, a piercing stab of pain shot through his body and forced a sharp hiss through his teeth. Only then did he properly examine his condition.

He was sitting cross-legged, soaking in medicinal liquid. His body was riddled with injuries, and his Dou Qi had been overdrawn so severely that healing depended entirely on this solution.

He slowly raised his head and took in his surroundings. A cave. The thunderous crash of a waterfall echoed from outside. Enormous rocks blocked the entrance, permitting only thin slivers of light to filter through the dim interior, though three moonstones provided enough illumination to see by.

Xiao Yan drew a deep breath of the moisture-laden air. Everything felt incredibly, unnervingly real.

Using a crystal’s reflection, he examined his current appearance. He looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.

’...A 6-star Dou Practitioner?’ After carefully sensing the cultivation within his body, he spent a long moment before finally determining his current level.

Honestly, he had forgotten such a realm even existed.

’This cultivation is pathetically low.’ He shook his head in resignation. The Bodhisattva Ancient Tree probably intended for him to cultivate from the very beginning all the way to Dou Saint, gaining the insight needed to earn his breakthrough. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

But this suppression was far too ruthless. It was almost starting from zero!

Xiao Yan looked down at the medicinal liquid in the stone basin and scooped up a sample to smell. His eyes widened. From his vast experience, he could tell that although this solution was not high-grade and used relatively common ingredients, it had been flawlessly prepared and was perfectly suited for his current injuries.

’This medicinal liquid...’

Creating something like this demanded not just alchemy skill but, more importantly, a precise assessment of the patient’s condition. From the subtle combinations alone, Xiao Yan could tell that the alchemist who had prepared it was extraordinary.

"Preparing this small pool of restorative liquid for you cost me three or four days of work."

Xiao Yan snapped into a defensive posture, his gaze sharpening as it swept the cave. Not a shadow of another presence. He tried to extend his Spiritual Strength only to find it gone entirely. Circulating what pitiful Dou Qi remained, he called out in a low voice, "Who’s there!"

An aged voice drifted in from beyond the cave’s entrance, and with it came an elderly man’s ethereal figure, floating inside like a specter.

"Hey, did you get muddle-headed from sleeping, kid?"

The transparent old man hovered in midair, grinning at the slack-jawed Xiao Yan. "What’s the matter? Don’t recognize your own Master anymore?"