"Houtian Realm, Profound Class, First Rank Martial Spirit, the aura of a weakling."

Ye Feng suddenly opened his eyes. Seeing the unfamiliar bonfire and the forest in front of him, he knew that he had been reincarnated again, losing count of the times this had happened.

In his first life, he was the feared ancestor of the Dragon Clan; in his second, he was the Sky-Raiding Master Thief who could reach the heavens and burrow into the earth; in his third, he was the universally revered King of All Pill Kings; in his fourth, he was the Beast-controlling Immortal with command over all under the heavens; in his fifth life he was... and in his sixth...

"Damn, I was so close to becoming a Martial God in my last life, but was sabotaged by that brat Xiao Ding at the very last moment - touch and go!"

Ye Feng had been stuck in this cycle of reincarnation, trying to escape this suffering through reincarnation after reincarnation, tirelessly pursuing the peak of martial arts. Only by stepping into the realm of the Martial God, could he break this cycle, coexist with heaven and earth, shining together with the sun and the moon.

In his last life, he was infinitely close to this realm, but that treacherous brat stabbed him in the back at the last moment of his breakthrough, causing him to attract heavenly fire to burn his body, fall into demonic possession, and his spiritual form completely destroyed - last-minute failure.

"Brother Ye, I am sorry. You have been standing in the first place for too long, it’s time for you to step down."

Every time Ye Feng thought of Xiao Ding’s treacherous face, he wished to tear him into a million pieces.

"What a pity, Xiao Ding, you may have provoked the only person in the entire Tianyuan Continent who can't die. Just clean your neck and wait for me. When I reach the peak again, it will be time to take your life!"

He quickly checked his Dantian and fortunately, all the treasures accumulated over several lives were still there, such as the "Heavenly Dragon Martial God Technique," "Sky-Raiding Book," "Emperor Pill Scripture," the "Mixed Yuan Domineering Qi," and so on. With these, his path to the Martial God in this life would surely be much easier.

Reluctantly accepting his current situation, Ye Feng began to examine his body in this life.

This young man was also named Ye Feng. Despite having the same name, the youth's fate was quite different. With a first-rank useless Martial Spirit, White Spirit Grass, and not being able to break into Houtian realm at seventeen, he was mocked by the world and despised by his family - he was truly bottom of the barrel.

Something's not right!

The talents of Ye Feng in his previous lives varied, but no matter what, they had some merits. This time, however, he was reborn as a complete loser. Was this an attempt to prevent him from breaking this cycle of reincarnation?

Wait! As Ye Feng was defining himself in this life, he suddenly noticed a black aura lingering behind his Dantian — an unexpectedly black Martial Spirit.

The Martial Soul is a destiny of life, predetermined from birth and divided into seven ranks from low to high, these ranks being colored with white, gray, green, blue, purple, red, and gold. This law applies to both the current first-ranked white Martial Soul Spirit Grass and the previous life's seventh-ranked broken star sword of golden hue.

Yet, this black Martial Soul? It's not Ye Feng's dullness, he genuinely never encountered it before.

Twin Martial Souls? Interesting…

Ye Feng suddenly realized why this teenager had been fervently training for years yet never achieved results equal to others. This was because most of the soul energy he cultivated was absorbed by this black Martial Soul. The obvious white Spirit Grass acquired only a pathetic fraction, causing stagnation in his cultivation level.

However, this boy is even more oblivious, not noticing the soul behind his back for seventeen years and being bullied needlessly for so long.

Ye Feng called out to his black Martial Soul and looked it over, realized it had already reached the acquired realm of heavenly rank, with overflowing soul power. With the absorption of only one first level heavenly-ranked beast soul, it could break through from the postnatal to the primordial realm.

With the Dragon clan's unparalleled technique of 'Heavenly Dragon Martial God' paired with this mysterious black martial soul, it seems like in this life, he will live more freely.

"Ye Feng, clean these socks for me."

In the midst of his thoughtful contemplation, a young man in blue clothes approached him from outside the camp, throwing a pair of smelly socks at him.

This person is called Ye Chu Fei, the eldest son of Ye Nan Tian, who belonged to the second generation of their hometown and Ye Feng's cousin. Having vastly surpassed Ye Feng in cultivation over the years, he had earned the title of the family's genius. Raised high and mighty since birth and pampered, while Ye Feng had spent his time under oppression. Even before his father mysteriously disappeared five years ago, Ye Chu Fei didn't dare to be too outlandish, but after his father's disappearance, he stepped up his bullying, making Ye Feng clean up after him and sleep in the woodshed, his food was no better than a pig's.

Therefore, seeing Ye Chu Fei, a surge of anger rose spontaneously in Ye Feng's chest.

Ye Feng looked at him coldly and said in a cold voice, "You're talking to me?"

"Well, if I'm not talking to you, who would I be talking to? Is there anyone else here?" Ye Chu Fei retorted. "Ye Feng, you have to understand that my father let you take part in the assessment, it's because he needed you to serve me. You’re a servant and should be aware of your situation, do you actually think you could rise from the ashes and soar to the highest heavens?"

Ye Feng sat there and responded in a frosty manner, "Who gave you the audacity to speak to me like this?"

Ye Chu Fei was taken aback, finding it peculiar. He was unsure of when this worthless person became so defiant.

"Ye Maple, you're quite the gutsy one, a good-for-nothing no less," a young master scoffed. "Refusing my orders, talking back to me. It seems like someone hasn't been disciplined for a few days now, itching for a reminder maybe?"

Ye Maple humphed lightly, stepping forward with his hands behind his back. After reincarnating a countless number of times and living for thousands of years, he had encountered various experts. Even Martial Deities had to kneel and pay respect to him. Would he let this kid walk all over him?

Just as he was preparing to fight back, a young girl clad in white suddenly stood in front of him.

Ye Qing, an adopted child of his father. She was his elder sister, growing up with him and taking care of him despite being just one year older.

"Ye Chufei!" Ye Qing pointed her finger at Ye Chufei, rebuking him. "Don't get overly arrogant. Ye Maple is your fellow disciple, how dare you treat him like a servant!"

Looking at Ye Qing, Ye Chufei sneered. "Oh, it's you, the nameless one. Ye Qing, since when did an outsider like you have any say in the Ye family's affairs?"

As an adopted child, he never thought of Ye Qing as a part of the Ye family. His words were a direct insult to her.

"Enough! You're going too far, Ye Chufei. If you continue to demean us so, don't blame me for getting disrespectful!" warned Ye Qing.

Ye Chufei smirked, "Disrespectful? And how are you planning to be disrespectful to me exactly? You can't beat me even if you tried. Ye Qing, why are you being overly protective of this waste? You wouldn't be worried that without him, there'll be no one left to 'make hay while the sun shines' with you?"

Ye Qing's face turned crimson, "You, you shameless!"

"Oh, looks like I hit the nail on the head." A frivolous look crossed Ye Chufei's face. "But it doesn't really matter. Although you're an outsider, you do carry some appeal. This kind-hearted master doesn't mind your past. Accompany me to the depths of the vine forest for a bit of frolicking, and I may consider sparing this beast. What do you say?"

Ye Qing was too mortified and angry to respond. She was dumbfounded by Ye Chufei's bald-faced proposal.

Seeing Ye Qing, Ye Maple tensed, a rush of feelings overpowering him...

It was her, the one who stood before him again and again, shielding him from the ensuing challenges. She held the world for him, with her tender shoulders, in an era where cruelty ruled.

Countless times, Ye Qing had sneaked into the woodshed and stole spiritual elixirs to heal Ye Maple, despite being injured herself; countless nights, in the cold winter, she held Ye Maple, told him stories and lull him to sleep.

Do you still remember that winter, with snow fluttering in the sky? When Ye Feng was so badly beaten that he was only left with half a life, thrown on the street with no one caring, it was she who used her weak shoulders to carry him back to the woodshed. Stripping off her clothes, she warmed him with her body, saving his life.

On that day, the two of them had seen each other in their purest, most vulnerable state. Although they hadn't crossed the line of intimacy, something between them had subtly shifted. It was from that day onwards that Ye Feng knew, this was a woman worth guarding with his life.

Snapping out of his reverie, Ye Feng found his eyes welling up with tears. The pain of his past experiences felt as if they had been cut into his heart.

This young man is indeed fortunate, to have a woman who loves him so deeply!

You had no power in the past, so from today onwards, I will protect this woman for you.

Sighing, Ye Feng shook his head and finally leaned on Ye Qing's shoulder.

Ye Qing felt the movement and looked back at him, slightly surprised, "Little Feng?"

"Come behind me." Ye Feng only said one sentence.

"What are you going to do?"

Ye Feng did not answer, just calmly pulled her behind him, then turned around like a thunderbolt, and slapped Ye Chu Fei's face!

"SMACK!"

A crisp sound echoed, Ye Chu Fei couldn't dodge in time and was slapped sideways and flew out. After spinning several circles in the air, he landed, cupping his face, which was burning with pain.

Ye Chu Fei hadn't come to his senses yet, and only after he realized was he furious, "You dare to hit me!"

"Of course I dare to hit you!" Ye Feng stood his ground, with a lofty attitude.

"You have the audacity of a lion!"

"Hmph!" Ye Feng emphatically spelled out each and every word, "Ignorant fool who doesn’t know the measure of the sky and the earth. By age, I’m older than you by a year, you should call me brother; by rank, my father is the clan leader, your father is the second son, you should refer to me as elder brother; by status, I am the first heir of the clan, and you are just an insignificant second son, you should call me clan leader! Your father is incompetent, not teaching you these things. Now I, Ye Feng, will let you know what order and hierarchy mean!"