It was a well-known fact that for a wanderer, the road home was always the hardest.

Su Chen couldn't agree more.

Five days had passed. Forget reinforcements, he hadn't even seen a single messenger bird with news of support.

"Damn it, those sons of bitches!"

Su Chen didn't even have to think to know that some idiot in the imperial court was causing trouble.

The Canglan army had already surrounded the city. It wouldn't be long before they launched their final assault.

Su Chen let out a bitter laugh. He knew this life of his was likely coming to an end.

"The settlement this time should yield more Fate Reversal Points, I suppose."

This life had been far more brilliant than his last.

At this moment, Su Chen's heart, contrary to expectation, grew calm.

He was just an ordinary man.

One among the countless masses.

Su Chen looked at his many soldiers, their wounds still fresh. "Gentlemen, are you willing to fight to the death with this general?"

The remaining soldiers looked at their general with sorrow in their eyes.

"G-General... I want to go home... I haven't been back in ten years."

The tough man, who hadn't even cried out when his arm was hacked off on the battlefield, now hung his head, letting out a beast-like roar of anguish.

The light in Su Chen's eyes dimmed. He calculated the time; he himself hadn't been home in twenty years.

Although his family came to visit him every year.

"Brother Jiang... do you think those bastards in the court will really send someone to save us?"

Song Feng stared at Su Chen's face, trying to read something from his expression.

Su Chen's expression was calm as he said, "They will. They definitely will!"

"If we survive this battle, our names will echo throughout the Tianfeng Kingdom. Our descendants will have endless glory, and our families will enjoy the best treatment."

Song Feng grinned. "Then I'll believe you, Brother Jiang. If I die and you live, please bring my body back. If I can't return home alive, at least my corpse can."

"It's as they say, 'falling leaves return to their roots.'"

Su Chen filled a bowl with wine and passed it over, smiling. "If I, Jiang, should fall, I ask that you all carry my body back as well. After all, it's been twenty years. I miss home too."

Everyone filled their bowls to the brim and drained them in one go.

The next day, at the crack of dawn.

Ten Spirit Sea Realm experts arrived with a great army.

Su Chen stood atop the city wall, spear in hand, his gaze serene.

Behind him, his soldiers were already resolved to die.

No words were exchanged between the two sides. A great battle erupted.

To call it a great battle was an overstatement; it was, in reality, a one-sided slaughter.

Su Chen was not the Son of Destiny—at least, not in this life.

Facing the shameless siege of ten Spirit Sea Realm experts, even with the aid of the city's defensive formations, he soon faltered, his body mangled and bloody.

Su Chen could clearly feel his life force slipping away.

Everyone in the city was dead. Only he remained. And now, he too was about to die.

Su Chen felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier, his vision blurring.

He had died too quickly in his previous life, never knowing what it felt like to wait for death, bit by bit.

This life, in a way, made up for that regret.

"Jiang Chen, you bastard, you can't die!"

Dimly, Su Chen saw a familiar purple figure in the distance, breaking through the Canglan Kingdom's army formation and cutting down two Spirit Sea Realm cultivators.

Su Chen felt himself being lifted. Droplets of water fell onto his body, one by one.

He could no longer see the face of the person who had come.

‘Have the reinforcements arrived?’

He heard the calls by his ear grow more and more distant.

Was someone wailing?

Su Chen lost consciousness.

........

When he awoke again, Su Chen found himself back in the mysterious space, staring blankly into the pitch-black void.

Everything he had experienced felt like an illusion, a fleeting dream. But the scenes replaying in his mind told him it was no dream.

"Idiot!"

Su Chen cursed under his breath.

He never expected that Nangong Meng, whom he hadn't seen in half a lifetime, would actually charge into the enemy army all by herself.

"What the hell is the Tianlan Sect doing? And where the hell did Li Qingyue go?"

"Damn it, how could they let such an idiot act so recklessly!"

Su Chen cursed again.

War between two kingdoms is no child's play!

Su Chen didn't know if Nangong Meng had managed to fight her way out in the end. He couldn't think about that now; he himself was already dead.

Su Chen picked up the Destiny Altering Book, the name he had given his 'golden finger'.

He opened the Destiny Altering Book to the first page, which recorded his first life.

Now, however, he could turn to the second page.

[Second Life: You were a young genius who achieved fame early. You avenged the blood feud of your past life, resolving your inner demons. You obtained a great fortune, and your cultivation broke through the limits of your aptitude. You had a harmonious marriage and left your bloodline in the world. You joined the army, achieving glorious military merits. Though you were later ostracized by petty people, exiled to the border, and died a heroic death, your legend was left behind in the Tianfeng Kingdom. Your only regret is that you moved too quickly in your youth and failed to pay close enough attention to the people around you...

Evaluation: White Nine-Star

Fate Reversal Points: 90]

"Bullshit!"

Su Chen spat at the Destiny Altering Book. What regrets could he, Su Chen, possibly have had in his youth?

Still, the reward of 90 Fate Reversal Points wasn't bad.

He had achieved so much with only 30 points in his last life. With 90 points, wouldn't his next life be an explosive start?

[Aptitude: 0 (+)

Comprehension: 0 (+)

Background: 0 (+)

State of Mind: 10]

Su Chen pondered for a moment.

Aptitude is very important, so let's add 40 points.

Comprehension is also important. Add 30 points.

In his previous life, he had only deciphered half of the Tongling Technique when he suddenly realized something very important.

He had translated it, but when it came to the levels above the Spirit Sea, he couldn't understand a thing. Even the parts about the Spirit Sea Realm were hazy.

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With the last 20 Fate Reversal Points, Su Chen added them to Background.

Background was also crucial. It represented cultivation resources and determined how far he could ultimately go.

After doing all this, Su Chen decisively chose to begin his next life.