Chapter 1: The Broken Engagement

“Ling Mo, let me be frank. Given your family’s current situation, we won’t allow our daughter to marry you and suffer. Considering we’re all neighbors, we’ll return the full bride price. Take the money and quickly pay for your father’s medical expenses.”

“It’s fortunate this happened in time; otherwise, our daughter would have jumped into a fire pit! Cerebral hemorrhage, high blood pressure, and myocardial infarction—aren’t those going to cost hundreds of thousands to treat? If our daughter really married into that family, I bet we’d be planning a funeral right after the wedding.”

Sharp and harsh words echoed incessantly in his ears.

Ling Mo stared blankly at the familiar yet foreign scene, unable to regain his senses for a long while.

This, this seems to be…

Hadn’t he already transmigrated? Hadn’t he reached the pinnacle of cultivation and broken through the void?

How could he have returned to this familiar place, back to the moment before his transmigration?

Long-sealed memories surged like a tide.

One thousand two hundred years ago, no, three days ago, his father had suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, was hospitalized in critical condition, and the examination results were terrible.

Originally, he was at home preparing to marry the girl he was engaged to. The banquet and relatives had all been notified. Now, because of his father’s condition, the other family had come to call off the engagement.

Exhausted from taking care of his father and distressed by the other family’s harsh words, Ling Mo became infuriated and fainted. Unexpectedly, this led him to transmigrate to another world called the Azure Continent.

In the Azure Continent, Ling Mo went through countless hardships and became the most esteemed Soul Master on the continent.

After thousands of years of cultivation, Ling Mo finally became the supreme expert of the Azure Continent, reaching the pinnacle of myth and breaking through the void.

But unexpectedly, when his soul awakened, he had returned to the moment he transmigrated on Earth.

The world before him seemed to ripple like water, becoming clear and distinct at a visible pace.

“In-laws, how can you do this? The wedding date and banquet for the two children have all been arranged, and relatives and friends have been notified. You can’t suddenly change your minds,” a kind-faced woman in her fifties argued, her face filled with worry.

Looking at the simple, kind, somewhat timid, and introverted woman, Ling Mo’s eyes instantly welled up with tears.

“Mom!”

Ling Mo called out, his voice trembling, excited, affectionate, and joyful, filled with the deep longing of over one thousand two hundred years.

“Mo’er, what’s wrong? Don’t scare Mom!” Seeing Ling Mo’s unusual expression, Yang Shulan immediately asked anxiously, tears streaming down her face.

“Such a grown man, how old are you, still crying? Fortunately, my daughter hasn’t followed you yet; if she had, she’d suffer for the rest of her life.”

“In-laws, Hongshan has just been hospitalized with a serious illness, and my Xiao Mo hasn’t had a few mouthfuls of food in the past few days. How can you be so impatient to call off the engagement at this time? It’s too, too heartless!” Yang Shulan had never uttered a curse word in her life, and after thinking for a long time, she used the words “heartless” to express the anger in her heart.

“Heartless? Can heartless be worth my daughter’s happiness for a lifetime? Alright, enough nonsense. We’ll leave the bride price here now, and whether you accept it or not, from today onwards, there’s no more relationship between your son and my daughter.”

“You…”

“Mom!” Ling Mo grabbed Yang Shulan’s arm and shook his head, saying, “Forced melons are not sweet. If they want to call it off, let them. Dad’s health is the most important thing now.”

“Hmph, college students are sensible and know their place. What a pity…” The mean voice was full of sarcasm.

Ling Mo’s gaze suddenly turned sharp as arrows toward the two people who almost became his parents-in-law, and he couldn’t help but rejoice that he wouldn’t have to become family with such clowns in this life.

Seeing his gaze, the two people who had been chattering instinctively trembled and closed their mouths.

Although the experience of transmigrating to the Azure Continent felt like a dream, the aura of a supreme being for hundreds of years couldn’t be easily dispelled.

Ling Mo looked coldly at the cowering couple and said, “Leave the money and you can go. For the sake of our past relationship, I’ll give you a piece of advice: Today, you ignore me, but tomorrow, you won’t be able to reach me!”

The middle-aged couple seemed to realize at this moment that they were ashamed and enraged by their instinctive fear. The woman screeched, “Oh my, the Ling family is so amazing, just because you have a third-rate college student, and people can’t reach you? In this day and age, can a bachelor’s degree be eaten? Can it turn into money? If you have the ability, save your dad first.”

“Old Xu, let’s go.”

The two originally wanted to express some disdain, but looking at Ling Mo’s indifferent eyes, they felt instinctively flustered. In the end, they left a few sarcastic remarks and quickly exited the Ling family’s house.

“Mo’er,” Yang Shulan said beside him, looking guilty.

Ling Mo smiled and gently hugged his mother, “Mom, I’m really okay. Actually, I should thank them for exposing their true colors so quickly, at least we won’t have to suffer anymore in the future.”

Looking at the gray hair on his mother’s temples, Ling Mo felt a pang of guilt in his heart.

Ling Mo’s home was in a remote mountain village in Northwest China.

His parents had worked incredibly hard to support him through college, allowing him to leave this extremely poor and backward mountain area.

But because he was once poor, inferior, and cowardly, he was just an average college student and couldn’t find a good job. He hadn’t achieved anything in the three years since graduation.

In the end, his parents took out their only savings to find him a seemingly good marriage.

Because the girl was somewhat pretty and knew how to dress up, she had infatuated the once introverted him.

In this place where one thousand yuan was a huge sum, his parents had taken out fifty thousand as the bride price.

However, unexpectedly, his father fell ill and collapsed on the eve of his wedding.

Ling Mo only gradually understood all of this after his transmigration.

After losing his parents, he truly felt their selfless and great love for him, as well as his own childishness and ignorance.

In the Azure Continent, Ling Mo had experienced countless life-and-death situations and had become a powerful Soul Master envied by everyone.

But whether in moments of life-threatening crisis or in moments of universal praise, what he could never let go of in his heart was the longing for his parents.

So, he cultivated diligently at all costs, giving up all the glory and wealth, just wanting to break through the void and find the faint path home.

Unexpectedly, he really came back!

Therefore, at this moment, Ling Mo was filled with surprise and joy. Looking at his kind mother, he vowed that he would never let his parents suffer any hardship again.

“Sigh, they seemed quite polite before, how could they suddenly become like this?” Yang Shulan was still concerned about the Xu family’s affairs, but her face showed more concern for Ling Mo. “Mo’er, I’m relieved that you can think it through. You should rest for a while; Mom will cook for you.”

This time, Ling Mo and Yang Shulan had returned home because the city hospital had released his father’s examination report. The situation was very serious, and the surgery would cost a lot of money, about four to five hundred thousand.

His father was being taken care of by his eldest aunt, and the mother and son had returned to try to raise money.

But four to five hundred thousand was an astronomical figure for the people in the mountains.

Ling Mo looked at his home. The adobe walls were covered with large and small cracks, and the roof tiles were broken, revealing countless holes.

The entire house looked dilapidated.

Looking at the dilapidated house, Ling Mo felt even more guilty.

Over the years, his parents had spent all their money on him, never asking him for a penny. Every time they called, they said they were healthy and that everything was fine at home, asking if he was short of money, telling him to eat well and not be too frugal. Yet, they were living in such a dilapidated house!

In the kitchen, Yang Shulan was skillfully cooking dinner, but she couldn’t hide the worry on her face.

Ling Mo sat in front of the stove, adding firewood, and said, “Mom, don’t worry, Dad will be fine. I’ll take care of the money.”

“Silly child, your dad will be very happy to know you have such filial piety,” Yang Shulan forced a smile, her expression falling into thought again.

How could they raise hundreds of thousands for the surgery?