NOVEL NEXT Chapter 258: Auspicious Signs
Chapter 258: Auspicious Signs
After filling their pill bottles with the water from the pool, everyone turned their eyes to Xu Lian, clearly treating this inconspicuous young man as their strategist.
He was the one who first suggested building the human tower, which led them to the large stone tablet, then to the “fake” pool, and finally to the “real” pool. It could be said that he played a crucial role in getting everyone this far.
Unconsciously, everyone began to trust his ideas and judgment.
The burly middle-aged man asked, “What should we do next?”
Xu Lian thought for a moment, “Does everyone still have the power to build the Human Tower?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Our cultivation and physical strength have been suppressed. We’re just ordinary people here. It’s been about ten hours since we entered the ruined world. We’ve built the human tower so many times, and we’re thirsty, tired, and hungry. We don’t have the strength to build it again.”
“I can’t do it either. I can barely walk now, let alone build a human tower.”
Xu Lian said, “Since everyone’s physical strength has reached its limit, we don’t have the ability to search for clues elsewhere. This reincarnation pool is our last clue. All we can do is jump in and see what happens.”
“I’ll go first!”
Someone stepped forward and jumped into the pool.
It wasn’t out of selflessness – what if there was an advantage to jumping in first?
As soon as this person entered the pool, they turned into specks of starlight and disappeared, similar to what happened with the “fake” pool earlier.
Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what this meant.
“We have no power left. We have no choice but to jump in.”
Xu Lian said and jumped in.
Liu Qing and A-Xian followed.
The stocky middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then followed.
The moment Xu Lian jumped in, he felt extremely drowsy, and then he knew nothing.
After an unknown amount of time.
He felt warm all over, as if he were curled up in a cozy bed on a winter day. It was so comfortable that he didn’t want to move or open his eyes.
After another unknown amount of time, he finally felt like he had slept enough.
He opened his eyes.
And what did he see?
1, 2, 3, 4.
He, Liu Qing, A-Xian, and the burly middle-aged man had all turned into babies, connected by umbilical cords and surrounded by amniotic fluid. Obviously, they were in a mother’s womb after being reincarnated.
Liu Qing, A-Xian, and the middle-aged man also woke up.
Liu Qing said, “We have been reincarnated. I’ve experienced this before in the broken world!”
The burly middle-aged man frowned, “I’ve also experienced it once, but this time is clearly different. The last time I was reincarnated directly. This time, we went through so much trouble to find the method of reincarnation.”
Liu Qing said, “I was also directly reincarnated before. This time is really different.”
The short-haired girl A-Xian asked confusedly, “Why are we all in the same womb?”
Xu Lian speculated, “It must be because we were in a team before we jumped into the pool, so we were reincarnated into the same womb.”
Liu Qing and the middle-aged man also agreed with this speculation. It was the only possibility.
A-Xian covered her mouth and laughed, “If ten people formed a team, wouldn’t that mean ten babies in one womb?”
The four of them were very small, and their bodies were not yet fully developed. It seemed that they weren’t ready to be born, so they had to stay here.
After talking for a while, they learned the name of the middle-aged man: Wang Heng.
A-Xian joked, “The four of us are siblings now. Whoever is born first will be the eldest.”
Xu Lian speculated again, “I jumped into the pool before all of you. If nothing goes wrong, I should be born first.”
Wang Heng was the last to jump into the pool, so he would likely be the youngest… but he didn’t care about that. He only cared about whether he could gain any opportunities in this broken world.
“Look over here!”
Liu Qing exclaimed, as if she had discovered something.
The three of them looked at where she was pointing. There was a line of text on the uterus wall: “Everything in this life will disappear, only memories will remain. Memories can be exchanged for anything you want, as long as you have enough memories to pay for it.”
Xu Lian, Liu Qing, A-Xian, and Wang Heng looked at each other in confusion.
A-Xian said gravely, “From this sentence, it seems that memories are our advantage in this world. We can exchange them for anything. But memories are the most precious thing for a human being. If we lose them, we might lose our sanity or even our sense of self. Will we still be ourselves?”
However, Liu Qing had a gleam in her eyes, “This is inside the broken world. No matter what happens here, we’ll return to normal once we leave. What’s wrong with using memories to trade for things here?”
Wang Heng said, “Exactly. Using memories to trade for things is clearly the rule here. If we don’t use memories, we’ll be ordinary and won’t be able to rise in this world. We won’t get any opportunities!”
Xu Lian was worried, “What if someone behind the scenes in the broken world is using this rule to collect our memories?”
Upon hearing this, Liu Qing, A-Xian and Wang Heng were all startled.
Wang Heng then said, “That’s impossible. The broken world is the result of a legendary ancient holy land being struck by heavenly punishment. That holy land has long been destroyed. There’s no way someone is controlling all this behind the scenes.”
Liu Qing also thought that it was impossible.
Xu Lian said, “I’d rather believe that it’s possible than not. Anyway, I won’t trade my memories for things casually. I’ll wait until I’m born and see what this world is like before I decide.”
Wang Heng nodded, “That makes sense. I’ll do the same.”
Liu Qing said worriedly, “It’ll be too late after we’re born! We’re in the infant stage now. It is during this stage that our cultivation talent is formed. If we wait until after we’re born to exchange for things, we might lose from the very beginning!”
Xu Lian pointed to the words on the uterus wall, “It says here that memories can be exchanged for anything. If we want to cultivate and become stronger after we’re born, we can exchange for cultivation talents. It’s not too late.”
Liu Qing insisted on her point: “Exchanging for cultivation talents during the infant stage is the right move. Even if we can exchange after birth, I suspect that the cost in memories will be different. Now might be the cheapest time!”
Xu Lian thought that this was also reasonable, “Do what you want. I’m just expressing my opinion.”
“I want to trade for the strongest cultivation talent!”
Liu Qing said, “Based on my previous five experiences, the starting stage is the most important!”
With that.
She closed her eyes, seemingly selecting memories to exchange for cultivation talents.
After a long time.
Her entire infant body became translucent, as if it had turned into glass, with divine light flowing through it, emitting an awe-inspiring aura.
Wang Heng and A-Xian looked at her with envy.
Liu Qing opened her eyes, a look of delight in them, “I feel every pore in my body opening and absorbing spiritual energy. This feeling is incredible.”
Xu Lian waved his hand in front of her eyes, “Do you still recognize us?”
Liu Qing said irritably, “This is my first time exchanging memories for something. Of course, I used some unimportant memories first. How could I not recognize you?”
Wang Heng and A-Xian were also tempted. It seemed like a good idea to use some unimportant memories to exchange for high level cultivation talents here, to lay a solid foundation. After all, once they left the broken world, they would return to normal without any losses.
A-Xian asked Liu Qing, “Do you feel any memory confusion?”
Liu Qing said, “I only removed some unimportant memories. My overall memory hasn’t been disturbed. How could I be confused? The only thing I feel is that I’ve forgotten some unimportant people and events. It’s no big deal.”
With that, A-Xian and Wang Heng no longer hesitated. They also closed their eyes and began to exchange memories for cultivation talents.
After the exchange, A-Xian and Wang Heng changed as well. One of them became ethereal, while the other emitted a purple light.
Xu Lian still held on to his view. He believed that he could exchange memories at any time and didn’t need to rush. He would wait until after he was born and see what this world was like before deciding.
After an unknown amount of time, perhaps an hour or half an hour, the bodies of the four infants had developed. The flow of time here was clearly different from the outside world.
They heard faint voices.
“The lady is in pain. She’s about to give birth. Go call the midwife!”
A young man’s anxious voice.
And then.
There was a lot of noise.
Xu Lian felt a “thud” and slipped out.
“Congratulations, Lord Marquis! The lady has given birth to a son!”
With a mole on her face, the midwife happily carried the infant Xu Lian to the door. The Marquis had a son, and her reward would surely be generous.
The young man excitedly took the infant Xu Lian, “Is it really a son? Are you sure?”
The midwife smiled, “Reporting to the Marquis, there’s no mistake. I have checked. There’s proof.”
“…” Xu Lian was speechless and could only cry loudly.
This made the midwife praise him even more, “His cries are strong. He’s very healthy.”
The young man was overjoyed and ordered someone to get silver from the treasury to reward the midwife.
A maid rushed over to report, “Something is wrong! The lady is still in pain!”
The midwife quickly went to check and soon exclaimed, “There’s more!”
The young man was stunned, then overjoyed.
Liu Qing was born without a hitch.
Just as the household was celebrating the birth of the twins, the lady felt pain again. The midwife checked and shouted, “There’s another one!”
A-Xian was born.
When they found out there was another one, the whole household was shocked.
Four babies in one birth?
This was an auspicious sign rarely seen in a thousand years!
When Wang Heng was born, the whole household was in an uproar. Not only were there four babies in one birth, but there were two boys and two girls-an auspicious sign among auspicious signs!
The four babies exchanged subtle glances, cried together for a while, and then tacitly began to rest.
From the conversations in the household, the four of them quickly learned about their family background. Their “father” was the Marquis of Yong’an. Their mother was also the daughter of a marquis. It was clear that the family was wealthy, with many maids, nannies, and servants.
When the wife of the Marquis of Yong’an gave birth to four children at once, it caused quite a stir. Everyone said it was an auspicious sign, even catching the attention of the Emperor, who bestowed many gifts upon them.
Soon six years passed, although due to the difference in the flow of time it felt like only five days.
The four of them turned six years old and had to undergo a cultivation talent test.
Xu Lian remained unmoved, sticking to his “memories” and not planning to exchange memories for cultivation talents. He decided to wait and see how things developed before making a decision.