Longevity: Starting with an infant's innate growth potential

Chapter 1 Growth Talent
In a daze, Zhou Ling was awakened by a piercing howl.

He struggled to open his eyes and saw two black wolf carcasses lying on a gravelly beach not far away, their blood flowing everywhere.

He stared blankly at the scene before him, terrified by the bloody sight, and quickly closed his eyes.

I thought it was a nightmare.

But then a soft hand landed on his bottom, and he opened his mouth wide and burst into tears.

"Fortunately you're still alive!"

Hearing the crying, Li Ru felt relieved, a relieved smile appearing on her pale face. It's good that she's alive.

In a daze, Zhou Ling vaguely heard a loud clang in his mind.

Activate the talent [The more setbacks you face, the stronger you become].

Achieve the "Congenital Malnutrition" attribute: +1 to Comprehension and +2 to Constitution.

Immediately, Zhou Ling stopped crying and opened her tightly closed eyes again.

Curiously observing the world, the scene before me became clear once again.

Yes, there were indeed two black wolf carcasses not far away.

"Husband, it's a boy! What do you think we should name him?"

Li Ru asked a pale-faced, burly, handsome young man not far away.

"Let's name him Zhou Ling. I hope that when this child grows up, he will have lofty ambitions and won't end up like my husband and me, having to risk our lives to go into the mountains to collect herbs!"

The man looked at the baby in Li Ru's arms and said softly.

His coat was worn out and had several bloodstains, most likely from the black wolf, but possibly his own.

At this moment, Zhou Ling suddenly realized that he had transmigrated and become a newborn baby, while the woman and man in front of him were his parents.

The scene before him made him feel that something was wrong, but for the moment, his mind was blank and confused.

But a blue light flashed, and then a panel appeared.

Name: Zhou Ling
[Spiritual Root]: Low-grade of the Five Elements 2/100
[Physical Attributes]: Comprehension (average 1/100), Constitution (on the verge of death 2/100)

[Unique Talent]: Resilient and courageous in the face of setbacks
[Growth Talent]: Born with malnutrition
[Technique]: None

[Skills]: None

Zhou Ling felt that he had developed a certain ability to think and observe his surroundings. He opened his eyes and looked at his mother and father, and seemed to be able to sense their anxiety.

They were all pale and covered in blood.

Then he looked at the two black wolf corpses not far away.

Zhou Ling felt a chill run down his spine and only wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.

She instinctively burst into tears.

"The child is probably hungry. Ru'er, quickly feed him to prevent attracting other monsters. With our injuries, we can't deal with them."

The man said hurriedly.

"Oh, poor Ling'er, Mother will feed you now."

Li Ru said softly.

The next moment, Zhou Ling felt something soft being put into his mouth, and he instinctively began to suck on it.

I tried sucking for a long time, but nothing came out.

He burst into tears.

Um?
[Growth Talent, No Breast Milk: Growth value doubles when consuming other foods containing spiritual energy and essence. Requirement: Accumulate twenty breast milk feedings.]

"this."

Zhou Ling was inwardly groaning. This was a hellish start. Not only was he facing danger, but he couldn't even get a hot meal!
"Is this the system's main function? To acquire growth talents. As long as I complete the tasks that are given, I can acquire the corresponding growth talents?"

Even though she wasn't getting any fresh milk, Zhou Ling continued to suckle.

I have to inhale it!
We need to help him develop this talent for growing without breast milk as soon as possible, otherwise he might starve to death!

"My lord, I have just been injured and have no breast milk for our son!"

Although she felt a bit of pain from the child's bite, Li Ru said with a guilty expression.

Zhou Shan stood up, his eyes scanning the surroundings with an anxious expression.

Then, looking at the black wolf's corpse, he walked over.

Then he took out a ceramic bowl from his storage bag.

He skillfully sliced ​​the black wolf's body with the knife in his hand.

Soon, a bowl of still-steaming wolf blood was placed in front of Zhou Ling.

"My son was just born, is it okay to feed him this?"

Looking at the small bowl of wolf blood, Li Ru's pale face froze for a moment; she didn't want her child to eat wolf blood.

"We can't worry about that now. If we attract other black wolves, we'll be in trouble!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Shan's expression turned quite solemn. He said helplessly, and then began to feed Zhou Ling wolf blood.

You breastfed twenty times!

[Result: A total of twenty breastfeeding sessions]

[Achieved the talent for breastfeeding without breastfeeding!]

Zhou Ling was so hungry that his vision blurred, and he didn't care what was in the bowl. He eagerly began to suck on it.

A hot, thick taste of blood rushed into my throat.

[Constitution +1, Constitution +1...]

[On the verge of collapse, 8/100.]

After finishing a small bowl of wolf blood, Zhou Ling was still licking his lips, seemingly wanting more.

He could feel his physical strength and power had increased, unlike before when he was weak and on the verge of death.

However, a slight improvement is not enough to make him much stronger. He is still essentially an infant with insufficient qi and blood and needs a long time to grow.

"Good lad, just like me, tough as nails!"

Zhou Shan's voice was a little hoarse from exhaustion, but he still laughed heartily when he saw the baby's mouth covered in blood.

"Husband, let's collect the monster's corpse and hurry back to camp!"

Looking at the child, Li Ru's eyes were filled with unbearable pain and self-blame. She reached out and gently wiped the blood from the corner of the child's mouth, speaking weakly.

Zhou Shan nodded.

······.

Ten days later, they left the wilderness camp and returned to a celestial city called Lingxia City.

For the past ten days, Li Ru has been unable to produce breast milk due to her serious injuries.

Therefore, Zhou Ling consumed the essence and blood of demonic beasts for ten days.

It has completely escaped its near-death state.

The condition also changed to insufficient blood and qi (6/1000).
Meanwhile, because they were in a wilderness camp, they could hear the howls of monsters every night.

Zhou Ling has also unlocked a new growth talent: [Crisis Response], which allows him to sense the presence of danger in the shortest possible time.

Each use consumes a large amount of mental energy.

Perhaps because he was a transmigrator, Zhou Ling was relatively stronger in terms of mental strength.

Currently, I can barely use this crisis response talent, but it's only limited to a very small range.

In this perilous world, this innate skill is undoubtedly quite useful.

In those short ten days, Zhou Ling also experienced several dangers.

For example, once Zhou Shan obtained fresh demon blood from other demon hunters in the camp, but this blood was contaminated with evil poison. Once he drank it, he would probably be in grave danger.

On another occasion, a poisonous scorpion crawled into the camp in the middle of the night.

Because of their exhaustion and the fact that their injuries had not yet healed, the parents slept very soundly.

Zhou Ling could only rely on instinct, wailing loudly to wake the two of them, and then killed the scorpion.

After upgrading one's physique, consuming more monster blood essence will not improve one's physique as quickly as before.

However, because the mother's killing of the black wolf triggered the premature birth, the baby still suffered from significant malnutrition.

If it weren't for activating his growth talent and consuming the essence of demonic beasts to gain double the growth value, he would probably have died long ago.

Over the past few days, he has gained a general understanding of his journey through this world and from conversations with his parents and other medicine seekers.

This is a world of cultivation.

The one who now unifies this vast and boundless cultivation world is the so-called Dao Alliance.

The Dao Alliance governs countless human immortal cities.

However, these things have little to do with lower-level cultivators.

Life remains difficult for those who cultivate at the bottom of society, struggling desperately to pursue their spiritual path.

Take Zhou Shan for example. He is a body cultivator with a mid-stage first-order cultivation level.

His wife, Li Ru, was at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

The couple had no special skills, so they had no choice but to choose the dangerous profession of pharmacist.

Every month, they would team up with other independent cultivators to venture into the desolate region in search of spiritual herbs.

They used elixirs to exchange for spirit stones, which enabled the couple to maintain their daily cultivation and survive in Lingxia Immortal City.

Searching for spiritual herbs in the desolate region is extremely dangerous, as it is teeming with monsters, and encountering one usually means certain death.

However, the high cost of living in Lingxia Immortal City left them with no other choice.

In Lingxia Immortal City, the vast majority of independent cultivators have no lineage and are busy earning spirit stones every day. In the end, most of them can only remain as cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm.

Qi Refining cultivators are merely the lowest and most insignificant beings in the Dao Alliance world.

However, no matter what, Zhou Ling felt that it was still better than the miserable 996 work schedule and the endless mortgage payments he had to make in his previous life!
······.

In the blink of an eye, more than three months have passed.

After these days of development, Zhou Ling has gradually become stronger.

I have gradually mastered the use of the cheat code.

Knowing that this is an achievement-oriented cheat, every time a task is triggered, as long as it is completed, growth talent can be condensed.

These days, he has discovered a new talent.

[Growth Talent, Physical Evolution: Increases physical strength exponentially; requirement: 1000 physical movements.]

[Total number of workouts: 988/1000]

Zhou Ling glanced at the talent progress on the panel and continued crawling around on the wooden bed.

"Cough cough, son, you don't sleep properly, you're always crawling around."

“Your mother has to work, so she doesn’t have much time to take care of you.”

Li Ru, dressed in simple clothes, with a gentle and beautiful face, was sitting on the edge of the bed, squinting slightly as she selected herbs from a winnowing basket.

The room was not well lit.

Zhou Ling's home is located on a secluded street on the western edge of Lingxia Immortal City. The house is somewhat old, with two rooms and a small living room, and a small open space in front, enough for a family of three to live in.

However, the rent is not cheap either, costing six low-grade spirit stones per month.

Most of the people living nearby are like Zhou Shan, low-level rogue cultivators who make a living by searching for spiritual herbs in the wilderness or doing odd jobs.

Seeing Zhou Ling climb to the edge of the wooden bed, Li Ru's eyes were full of doting affection. She couldn't help but get up and carry Zhou Ling back to the middle of the wooden bed.

She murmured in confusion, "My son is clearly still a bit weak, so why is he so restless?"

"You were able to climb for so long in just over three months?"

"Could it be because of my husband's physical cultivation?!"

As soon as Zhou Ling sat down, he started waving his hands restlessly again.

She smiled and said softly, "Ling'er, are you feeling unwell? Mother will make you some porridge right away!"

Because her internal injuries have not fully healed, she has not been able to produce breast milk.

After returning to Lingxia City, Zhou Ling was no longer fed beast blood; instead, he was fed spirit rice paste.

"Don't move!"

After giving a few instructions, Li Ru headed towards the small kitchen outside.

Zhou Ling looked at the panel, then stretched out her little hand and continued crawling.

There is no other way; the only effective method right now is crawling.

[You are crawling. Arm strength +1, leg strength +1, constitution +1]

[Result: Total crawling times: 1001]

[Achieve growth talent and physical evolution]

[Cumulative Exercise: 1001/1]

Zhou Ling, who was crawling back and forth on the wooden bed, looked at the prompt that appeared on the panel.

A surge of excitement welled up inside me.

After this period of time, I finally unlocked my fourth growth talent.

Especially considering his current physical condition, he is still malnourished.

By doing some simple exercises every day, you can improve your physical fitness.

Of course, the only thing we can do now is wave or crawl around.

"Ling'er, why did you climb out again!"

At this moment, Li Ru walked in, holding a ceramic bowl in her hands.

A faint aroma of glutinous rice filled the air.

Li Ru's cooking skills are excellent. Although it's just a simple paste, she adds some spirit rice and spirit medicine, making it not only nutritious but also delicious.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she gently blew on the paste in the bowl to make sure it wasn't too hot before taking a spoon, scooping out a small spoonful, and starting to feed Zhou Ling.

After finishing a bowl of Lingmi medicinal paste.

[Constitution +1, Blood and Qi deficiency 506/1000.]

After finishing eating, Zhou Ling continued crawling.

"Ling'er, can't you take a rest?" Li Ru said with a face full of doting affection.

······.

Over the next month.

As Zhou Ling crawled more, the strength of his limbs also increased.

Not only is its crawling skill improving, but it is also gradually able to stand up, though it is still unable to walk.

[You are crawling. Constitution +1, Arm and Leg Strength +1, Crawling Proficiency +1]

To increase crawling efficiency, Zhou Ling was no longer satisfied with the small wooden bed.

He climbed off the wooden bed and then crawled around the small room.

Li Ru was busy collecting and drying herbs, and also had to prepare several meals for him every day, so she didn't pay much attention to him.

A month later, Zhou Ling learned to walk again.

[You are walking. Constitution +1, Body Coordination +1, Walking Proficiency +1]

Malnutrition affects 1 in 10000 people.

"After six months of hard work, my health has finally improved!"

Zhou Ling thought to himself.

Through his parents' conversations with other neighbors and friends, he also learned that the physical constitution of children in this world far surpasses that of the Earth he lived on in his previous life.

Some children are even exceptionally gifted; they can absorb spiritual energy and cultivate themselves before they are even a month old.

My physical condition is already far behind.

Therefore, we must catch up quickly.

Zhou Ling waved his arms while thinking to himself.

(End of this chapter)