Time, as it turned out, was the one thing even a reincarnator couldn't cheat.
One year.
Twelve excruciatingly long months had passed since Lin Kai had opened his eyes in the Crimson Cloud Pavilion. In his previous life, reading webnovels, the protagonists usually skipped this part. They would be born, instantly bond with a spirit beast, or perhaps meditate in the womb to reach the Foundation Establishment realm before their umbilical cord was even cut.
Lin Kai? He pooped. He ate. He slept. And then he pooped again.
'This is a scam,' Lin Kai thought bitterly, staring up at the intricate jade carvings of the ceiling for the thousandth time. 'Where is my system? Where is my innate supreme strength? I tried to do a sit-up yesterday and ended up rolling over like a stranded turtle.'
He was currently lying on a mat woven from Spirit-Grass, which was supposedly excellent for nourishing the bones of infants. To him, it just felt scratchy.
He kicked his chubby legs in the air, testing his muscles. 'Weak. Pathetic. I thought being born in a high-cultivation world meant babies came out bench-pressing boulders. But no, biology is still biology. My neck muscles are barely strong enough to hold up my head.'
The frustration was real. He had an adult mind, filled with the complex memories of a college student, trapped in a body that had zero coordination. He wanted to run, to explore this floating island, to find the library and start learning about this world. Instead, his biggest daily achievement was successfully burping without throwing up milk on his mother's silk robes.
"Kai'er is full of energy today," a soft voice drifted from the side.
Lin Kai stopped his angry leg-kicking and turned his head. His mother, Yu Yue, was sitting by the window, embroidering a piece of cloth with threads that shimmered like starlight. Even after a year, her beauty still stunned him. She didn't look like a mother; she looked like a fallen immortal.
But Lin Kai noticed things. His adult mind picked up on details a normal baby would miss.
He noticed how she rarely left the Crimson Cloud Pavilion. He noticed how she would sometimes stare out the window at the distant floating islands with a gaze that was ancient and incredibly sad. And he noticed the tension—the invisible wire pulled taut whenever guests arrived.
Knock. Knock.
Speaking of guests.
"Madam," the voice of Elder Feng Xiu came from the door. "The Young Miss Yan'er has arrived for her playdate."
Yu Yue's hand paused mid-stitch. Her shoulders stiffened imperceptibly, a reaction so slight that only someone watching her as closely as Lin Kai would notice.
"Let them in," she said, her voice smooth and welcoming, masking whatever she truly felt.
The heavy wooden doors creaked open. First came a nanny, a woman dressed in the stiff, formal gray robes of the Main House. Her face was severe, her eyes scanning the room like a hawk looking for prey before settling on Yu Yue. She bowed, but it was mechanical, lacking the warmth Feng Xiu showed.
And in her arms was a toddler.
Lin Yan'er.
She was perhaps two years old, a year older than Lin Kai. She was undeniably cute, like a porcelain doll brought to life. She wore a dress of pale pink spirit-silk, and her hair was tied up in two small buns held by pearl pins. Her eyes were big, round, and innocent, sparkling with a curiosity that hadn't yet been crushed by the weight of clan politics.
"Kai-Kai!" the little girl squealed, wriggling down from the nanny's arms.
She toddled over to the mat, holding a wooden cart carved from scented sandalwood.
Lin Kai sighed internally. 'Here we go again. The daily humiliation.'
"Gaa," Lin Kai replied, which was his best attempt at saying, 'Hello, little girl.'
Yan'er flopped down next to him, shoving the wooden cart into his face. "Vroom!" she mimicked sound effects, pushing the cart over Lin Kai's stomach.
Lin Kai accepted his fate and batted at the cart with his chubby hand, playing along. 'She is cute, I'll give her that. It's hard to believe this innocent blob is going to break my heart of twenty-one years.'
But while the children played, the room's atmosphere was freezing.
Yu Yue had set aside her embroidery. She watched Yan'er with a complex expression—a mixture of affection for the child and wariness of her bloodline. After all, this was the daughter of Lin Yang, the Clan Leader who had looked at her with such suspicion on the day of Kai's birth.
"The Young Miss is growing fast," Yu Yue said politely to the nanny.
"Indeed," the nanny replied, her voice clipped. "The Clan Leader has already begun bathing her in medicinal baths. Her meridians are responding well. She is a true genius of the Main Line."
The words were a subtle jab. A reminder of status. Main Line vs. Branch Line.
Lin Kai, who was currently chewing on the wheel of the wooden cart, paused. 'Medicinal baths at two years old? Is that guy crazy? That's child abuse! Or... creates a super-soldier. Damn, I need to step up my game.'
He looked at Feng Xiu, the old healer. The old man was standing in the corner, his hands tucked into his sleeves, but his posture was coiled, ready to move in an instant. It was a level of vigilance one would expect in a war zone, not a nursery.
'Why are they so scared?' Lin Kai wondered. 'Is it just political infighting? Or is there something about me... or Mom... that they are terrified will be discovered?'
The playdate lasted an hour. When the nanny finally scooped Yan'er up to leave, the little girl waved enthusiastically. "Bye-bye Kai-Kai!"
As the door clicked shut, the tension in the room snapped like a cut rubber band. Yu Yue let out a long breath, her shoulders sagging. She walked over to the mat and picked Lin Kai up, burying her face in his neck. She smelled of lavender and something metallic, like ozone.
"Grow strong, my little dragon," she whispered, her voice fierce. "You must grow strong quickly."
Lin Kai took those words to heart.
The humiliation of being immobile had to end. He was a reincarnator! He had pride!