University

The car rolled into Lin Qingyu's hometown, a quiet village nestled between green hills and terraced fields. The narrow roads were lined with old stone houses, their tiled roofs weathered by time. But some new concrete buildings can be seen with new roads. A few villagers glanced up as the car passed, their curious eyes following the unfamiliar vehicle.

She parked near the cemetery on the outskirts, a shaded plot surrounded by bamboo groves. Han Chen noticed the old house where his mother had grown up. Qingyu led the way to her parents' graves, her expression soft with emotion.

Kneeling before the headstones, Qingyu arranged fresh flowers and lit incense, murmuring a quiet prayer. Han Chen and his father stood respectfully behind her. When she gestured for him to join, Han Chen knelt beside her, clasping his hands and bowing his head. He never cared about his status as ex immortal, to kneel before his predecessors.

"Grandparents, " he said quietly, "I hope I'm making you proud. I'll take care of Mom and Dad." Qingyu smiled, her eyes glistening, and squeezed his hand.

"They would be so happy to hear that," she whispered. After tidying the gravesite, she turned to Han Chen. "Remember, no matter how far you go, family will always be your foundation. Never forget that."

...

The journey next, wasn't back to home, its where he would be in the next few years. To Lianfeng city, it took half a day in the vehicle. The institute was famous in country.

Azure Law University, but more commonly known internationally by its short form ALU, where they train the legal minds. The city itself was a sprawling hub of commerce and innovation, home to Yue Lan and her family's companies in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

Besides that the place is well developed and everywhere is concrete forests sky high. Its a metropolitan city and the ambiance was entirely different from where he come from.

Yue Lan, now the Chief Financial Officer of her family's company, was a figure of influence and ambition. There, he wish to be closer to her. In his past life, fate had intertwined their paths under tragic circumstances; in this life, he intended to reshape that destiny through deliberate action. 

Han Chen's early admission to ALU, secured through his top performance in the national entrance exam, meant he arrived before the bulk of new students. The campus was quiet, with only a handful of early arrivals like himself. Registration was a swift, formal affair, handled by staff who seemed surprised to see him. "You're one of the first," remarked an administrator, handing him his student ID registration. Han Chen accepted it with a polite nod. 

The university assigned him a hostel room, but Han Chen had no intention of staying there for long. His roommate, Sun Liyang, arrived a week later, a cheerful, talkative young man with dreams of becoming a corporate lawyer. Han Chen found the lack of privacy stifling. Within days, he used his money to rent a modest apartment off-campus. It was near to campus. He doesn't need any permanent residence here either.

It wasn't lavish, but it offered the solitude he needed. He intended to repay his parents soon, using his skills to generate income through discreet and legal online ventures.

During his first week, Han Chen explored the city. He saw the headquarters of Yue Lan's family company, a towering glass-and-steel structure that dominated the financial district. He saw multitudes of banking companies, some offices of international companies, construction sites and so many flyovers and further down he saw manufacturing plants. There are roads above buildings, subway rails below buildings. He saw that city never sleeps. It was difficult to find a pile of soil and grass apart from the central park. 

Back on campus, Han Chen's early arrival gave him a unique advantage. He familiarized himself with the academic offices and major places outside. Sun Liyang, eager to make friends, tried to draw Han Chen into conversations about their future studies and career aspirations.

Han Chen indulged him with vague responses. "I'm here to learn," he said simply, when pressed about his goals. Sun Liyang laughed. "You're a strange one, Han Chen. Come on, was there really a need to stay out? I wanted to brag, my roommate is NEE first rank holder. Looks like you've already figured everything out."

Han Chen didn't respond. He hadn't figured everything out—not yet. It was somewhat difficult to adjust his senses to the chaos outside the campus. His mutated spirit sense carry the spirit force, the telekinetic force wherever it passes. 

In diameter of 11 kms around him, everything was within his sphere of influence. Previously, it was only sight and tactile sense passed down, but now the sound is picked up due to his last spirit improvement. Sound is just the vibration of medium and his spirit force can now capture it or recreate it. The visible sight, tactile info, other radio waves and numerous sources of sound are both registered now overhauling his mind.

But his enhanced wisdom root, and cultivation allow it to dial down and register patterns like calls for help, his name, and others he set. This is not a place meant for cultivators; unlike before he didn't suppress his mind. It flowed freely.

Only its sensitivity is dialed down. Because, he doesn't worry any grand masters can detect his location now as it is near impossible with their weak soul power. They may feel fear if his gaze fell on them since Grand masters are more sensitive to soul power. They may have some sort of preliminary soul sense themselves.

If a pure cultivator came here and if only his spirit is strong and life level is close to nascent soul would he be in peace processing all this garbage information.

On the first day of class, Han Chen was met with an unexpected surprise.

The girl sitting next to him; her expression was composed as ever, that same quiet confidence radiating from. But something had shifted. The rigid sharpness she carried in high school had softened, her edges becoming more refined rather than strict. The discipline was still there—her uniform, though now a more formal university blazer and skirt combo, was always neat. 

She still wore no makeup. No lipstick, no foundation just her bare face, the same calm, clear features that had set her apart before, unshaken by trends and expectations. But now, it felt less like an act of discipline and more like a choice, an understanding that she didn't need it.

Her black hair was still tied back, but instead of a tight ponytail, it was looser now, strands slipping free at times, brushing against her face. Not messy, not styled—just natural, effortless.

The person who took the seat next to him was none other than Hye Won Cui. After their last meeting, they hadn't spoken in over a month.

"Surprise surprise! Hey, so you don't remember me after just a month, looking so intently?" she teased, a playful smirk on her face. Han Chen glanced at her, unfazed. "How could I forget? But I didn't know you were interested in law."

"Hmm, well, I originally planned on studying science, but I later decided that law suited me better," she replied casually.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "And at any point, did my presence here influence that decision?"

"Of course not! This was totally my own—" she hesitated mid-sentence, then quickly clamped her mouth shut.

Amused, Han Chen leaned back. "You wouldn't happen to remember what happened before I dropped you off at your home last time, would you?"

Her face turned slightly red as she glanced away. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

He chuckled. "You do realize you're blushing, right? Cui, I'll say it again—I have no interest in romance. Take your future in more seriousness"

"I know, nerd," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Just like that, the semester moved forward. The coursework was a blend of constitutional law, contract law, business law, and legal writing. But beyond academics, much had happened.

Han Chen had anticipated retaliation against his family's company, whether through legal attacks or more underhanded methods—perhaps even an assassination attempt, like in his past life. Yet, nothing came.

Han Zhong had expertly navigated the corporate battlefield, implementing Han Chen's improved contract structures. The results spoke for themselves: a 300% increase in company growth while minimizing losses to the Han Family's interference. Not that Han Chen worried—if anything happened, his protective measures ensured he could reach them in minutes.

Meanwhile, Hye Won took on a part-time job at a restaurant, becoming one of the few people Han Chen considered a friend.

As for his own income, he hardly needed to lift a finger. He had designed new web-based solutions for general public using advanced algorithms, crafting new programming languages for greater efficiency. His investments flourished, managed by AI agents of his own making—sophisticated systems beyond anything the world had ever seen, impossible to reverse-engineer with modern technology.

Occasionally, he published anonymous research papers online just to shake the industry out of its stagnation, frustrated by their reliance on old and overused concepts.

Unbeknownst to him, his so-called boredom projects sent shockwaves through multiple industries, pushing experts to scramble in their attempts to understand his work.

On some days, he spent hours in the library, absorbing tens of thousands of books through his spiritual sense while just keeping a book in-front, in pretense. Most covered cultural evolution, human psychology, and legal case studies—a vast archive of knowledge, effortlessly consumed.

He didn't knew why he learned but, it was nothing more than what his experiences taught him already. With his wealth growing exponentially and his affairs in order, he made sure of anonymity and legally binding exchanges and made sure his taxes were done flawlessly to avoid any intersection with the people in power. Soon he found himself in an odd predicament.

There was simply nothing urgent to do. Only then did he noticed, he wasn't here actually to learn. That's right, he was too engrossed that he almost forgot he was a cultivator. It had only been risen to half a step in 4th layer foundation building realm in the over 6 months.

He really need to shape his state of mind. So for a few weeks he meditated and visualized, simulating his past experiences to refresh his mind getting over this mortal attachments once again. 

But after those six months just as next semester started, Li Mei the investigator now his subordinate, had been contacting him again, but more frequent after the long months of only occasional updates about any changes to his profiles, someone involving previous guy he killed, anything in Han, Qin and Yue family case worthy etc. He didn't mind.

She has been talking aimlessly about how Qin Jianwei is still in comma, who is he involved with, psychological profiles of his change in behavior and more. After end of a repeated 3 night time, listening to her findings, and reports from the agencies, Han Chen had to ask her to stop: 

< Stop this. I see that your departments have excessively analysed and in the end found nothing other than an unknown human shadow passing by some cameras recorded right? Okay, let me shorten the story for you. It was me.

... The change in behavior wasn't due to psychological illness making one intelligent. Another soul entered his body. What I did was just took it back, he will wake up in 6 more months. probably being the older personality.">

<"hey? what that doesn't make any sense..>

< Which of my actions made sense to you anyway? You did your job well. If you have any plan on retiring, I can conveniently remove your pain and memories.>

She went out again.

Next day, instead of usual presence, he felt other party letting her heart fully open and every stray thoughts wander here...

....