Monster Chronicles: My Daoist Skill Comes from Mythology-Chapter 730 - 630: Returning to Childhood, The Azure Earth.

This was the first time traveling with a specific goal.

It was vastly different from before.

In the past, when the puzzles hadn't been unraveled, every story was an unknown, and I had no idea where I was about to be transported.

But now, with the River Map and Luo Shu, I could directly reach the lost timeline of the West Queen Mother Country.

Song Lin was filled with anticipation—what exactly had happened?

The Queen Mother had lived through the primeval and ancient eras and must know many ancient secrets.

Perhaps the secrets of the Monster Chronicles would also be revealed as a result.

Song Lin took out the Luoshu Print.

The River Map robe on his body slowly began to glow, forming a starry sky in front of him, scaled down by billions of times.

The moment the Luoshu Print was placed inside, it instantly disappeared, transforming into golden threads that surged into the galaxy, resembling rivers of gold.

These golden rivers represented the world's timeline.

Fixing his gaze on any point in the river caused a transformation in the Star Domain. At certain moments in time, perhaps due to the limitations of the print, all that could be seen was the evolution of stars; the world of living beings appeared blurry and indistinct, faintly revealing the rise and fall of dynasties and the reincarnation of life.

But one specific point in time stood out brilliantly, like a gem embedded in the golden river.

"That must be the place."

Song Lin forced out a drop of essence blood and summoned the Monster Chronicles.

The blood-red tome emitted a profound and mysterious glow.

He scrutinized it for a long time but still couldn't tell that it was a mirror.

However, considering that it was a Magic Treasure created by Yuanshi Tianzun, no one could likely discern its nature.

The essence blood dripped onto the Record of Strange Treasures.

Whoosh!

In an instant, the heavens and earth spun.

Song Lin felt as if the star map in front of him was growing larger and larger.

The universe, the galaxy, the solar system, and then… a blue planet.

"Is this…"

Whoosh!

Song Lin opened his eyes, but what came out of his mouth was a wail.

"Where am I?"

With confusion, Song Lin surveyed his surroundings.

Everything seemed enormous—no, it was he who had become smaller.

Could he have turned into an infant again?

Flat cement roads, cars passing to and fro, harsh honking sounds.

Everything indicated this was the modern world.

The modern age—was this the past?

As soon as the thought arose, Song Lin suddenly understood.

He had certain cognitive blind spots. Earth's technological civilization, spanning at most a thousand years, was far inferior to that of the cultivator civilization, which had a much deeper understanding of the world, akin to an ancient stage in comparison.

What was labeled as "technology" was merely a type of Puppetry Technique, harnessing natural forces.

In the developed regions under Donghua's governance, the advancements were even more futuristic than those of Earth.

Images, music, photography, remote communication, planetary exploration—all were present. They could even use the City God or the underworld to have direct conversations with the dead.

In that sense, Earth's civilization wasn't particularly advanced.

Song Lin was about to summon the Monster Chronicles when he suddenly discovered that it was gone.

What had happened?

Where was the interface of the Monster Chronicles?

In that moment, he suddenly felt himself being embraced by something.

Song Lin opened his eyes to see a middle-aged woman who appeared to be in her forties or fifties, though her hair was entirely white.

"Grandma Zhang."

The sight of her instantly awakened memories within Song Lin that had been buried for thousands of years.

They were warm, tender memories.

As a child, Song Lin had been abandoned and found by a woman named Zhang Nan. He spent a happy childhood with her.

Until he graduated from high school, when Grandma Zhang Nan succumbed to cancer. From then on, Song Lin had been alone, working part-time while pursuing his university studies.

What kept him going all this time stemmed from those years of childhood experience.

"Am I living a second life?"

Song Lin pondered.

This was the coordinate the Queen Mother had left for him.

Did it mean the Queen Mother resided here?

And why had the Monster Chronicles disappeared?

Song Lin couldn't make sense of it.

Just as in his previous life, Zhang Nan waited for hours, but the child's parents never showed up. She eventually called the police, and the authorities found no trace of Song Lin's parents.

Seeing how adorable the baby was, Zhang Nan couldn't bear to send him to an orphanage and decided to adopt him herself.

After going through a series of procedures under the Zhuxia Federation, Song Lin was officially adopted under Zhang Nan's name. His name came from the two characters "Song Lin" sewn onto the baby's clothing.

Unnoticed, five years passed in a flash.

"Lin'er, dinner's ready!"

A shout came from a third-floor room in a village-in-the-city area.

"Coming, Grandma… General!"

Song Lin, who was playing chess with Grandpa Zhang, called out helplessly, then quickly sealed the game with a few masterful moves.

"That doesn't make sense… this is unbelievable…"

"Grandpa Zhang, I'm going home to eat."

A pint-sized Song Lin jumped off the stool and ignored the bewildered look on the old man's face.

Returning home, Grandma Zhang lovingly patted Song Lin's head.

"You rascal, why don't you play with the other kids? Are they bullying you? Grandma will go talk to their parents right now!"

"They're too childish. I'm not interested."

"You little grown-up, eat first."

Song Lin scarfed down two bowls of rice before heading off to watch TV.

"Oh, wait, you haven't finished the meat yet."

"You eat it, Grandma. I'm full after having breakfast with Grandpa Zhang earlier."

Song Lin was doing this on purpose.

Grandma Zhang ran a small tailoring shop. As times changed, people gradually stopped mending clothes, and she only managed to make ends meet through the patronage of neighbors.

When she developed cancer later, it was perhaps because she had given all her nutrition to him.

Song Lin often played chess with Grandpa Zhang to win small wagers, which he used to buy food. Otherwise, there would have been no way to grow properly.

At night, Song Lin sat up in bed.

"It's time to cultivate."

Song Lin thought to himself.

One shouldn't start cultivating too early; five years old was the stage when the body's meridians were just beginning to form and could handle some basic cultivation.

He first sensed his own body and began refining True Qi.

Strengthening True Qi would eventually allow him to enter the Fetal Breathing Realm.

With his current mortal body, it would likely take over a decade of cultivation to reach the Fetal Breathing Realm, eventually progressing to Qi Cultivation and then Divine Establishment.

Even though the Monster Chronicles were gone, and everything had vanished, and he could no longer summon any Magic Treasures—

Song Lin was determined to reclaim the pinnacle of power purely through his own efforts!

In the early stages, he decided to also practice the Martial Artist's path of strengthening his essence and qi, as it would speed up the process of refining his energy.

In the future, when Grandma Zhang developed cancer, he would be able to use True Qi to cleanse her disease at its root.

"I need to find a way to make money—something suitable for a child my age but hidden from suspicion."

Writing songs or articles wouldn't work; it would be too miraculous.

Even a fifteen-year-old genius in such fields would raise eyebrows, let alone a five-year-old child.

Could he make money playing chess with Grandpa Zhang? No, that wouldn't work either. What little pension Grandpa Zhang had wouldn't cover his expenses.

"I've got it!"

The next day—

Song Lin went to the park and, step by step, began to showcase astonishing talent in chess, particularly in Go.

After teaching himself for three months and defeating an amateur holding a fifth-dan rank, he finally caught the attention of a Go school coach looking to recruit a prodigy.

"Grandma, I want to learn Go!"

At six years old—

He became the champion of the National Amateur Go Cup.

During this time, he won countless tournaments, earning over a million in prize money.

At seven years old, he passed the professional qualification matches as the top-ranked rookie.

Between ages seven and fifteen—

He swept through domestic and international competitions, claiming twenty world championship titles.

He established an undefeated record playing as white, revolutionized traditional tactics, and crushed old standards.

Song Lin made no attempt to hide his talent.

The niche nature of Go allowed for prodigies to rise, and no one would want to "slice him up" for his exceptional gameplay.

The prize money and endorsement deals earned him tens of millions, completely subsidizing the costs of his cultivation.

His cultivation progressed steadily.