A young man slowly opened his eyes. His gaze locked onto the sky above, the last rays of sunlight retreating behind distant mountains.
As the golden light faded, a sharp pain surged through his head, and a flood of memories rushed back.
He shot upright, instinctively clutching his chest, where a bloodstain in the shape of a cross marked his skin.
Though the pain was brief, his chest was otherwise unscathed—the wound a mere remnant of something long past.
"I'm... Alive? Or rebirth ? Is this why my chest wound is healed?" Ye Xian muttered to himself, struggling to grasp the situation.
Before he could fully comprehend the implications, a mocking voice pierced the air.
"Looks like you didn't finish the job, Brother Mu. Ye Xian is still alive."
A sinister laugh followed. The man wielding twin blades sneered, his voice filled with arrogance.
"Heh… I was sure of it. I tore him apart with my twin blades. No matter. I'll finish it now. This time, I'll take his head clean off. Hahaha!"
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.
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My eyes narrowed as I listened, and before I even realized it, my body was already moving. Something deep inside me reacted—like an old instinct waking up. I stood up slowly, each step steady and sure. I was ready.
The man with the twin blades—Brother Mu—pulled out both his swords in one smooth motion. He came straight at me, aiming for my throat. He wasn't holding back.
I didn't think. I just moved.
His blades sliced through the air, missing me by a hair. I felt the wind on my neck as I dodged. My hand went to my waist and drew my sword in one quick motion. I raised it, calm and focused.
"Oh? You dodged it, Young Master Ye," he sneered. "Think you can beat me? I'm at the Mid Stage of the Ki Refining Realm. You're just an initiate. Drop your sword, and maybe I'll give you a quick death. If not—"
"Enough barking," I cut him off, my voice colder than my blade.
"Is running your mouth all you're good at?"
I raised my sword, letting it gleam under the dimming light.
"Come on. I've got better things to do than waste time on a disloyal dog who bites the hand that feeds it."
"You—!" Brother Mu's face twisted in rage. "I'll tear you apart, you arrogant brat!"
He charged at me, twin blades flashing.
But I was already on the move.
I focused my ki into my left leg. It surged through my body, flowing into the right paths like I'd done it a thousand times. Then I released it.
The ground cracked under my feet as I blasted forward. In a blink, I sent ki into my right arm and swung my sword.
The blade sliced clean through Brother Mu's neck. His head flew off.
But I didn't stop.
I felt a killing intent behind me. Someone else was coming.
I gathered more ki and focused it into my legs. My body felt light—almost like I was floating. I jumped back flipping Into the air. The second my feet hit the ground, I struck the man before me.
My sword flashed like lightning.
It stabbed straight into the neck of the man, who was behind me a moment ago—he had a crescent-shaped blade and was about to strike. But I was faster.
My steel slid into his throat . His eyes went wide. He tried to cover the wound with his hands, but it was too late. His life drained out of him in seconds.
It all happened so fast. The ground cracking, the swing of my sword, the final stab. It felt like a deadly dance I somehow knew.
Every move I made was precise. Controlled. Smooth.
And just like that, both men were dead, their bodies limp on the cold earth.
They should've been stronger than me. But I won. Why?
Two reasons.
First, they underestimated me. Their arrogance made them slow.
Second, I used a special technique—Limit Release that I didn't even know. By forcing ki into a single part of my body and letting it explode out, I could go beyond my normal limits, even just for a moment.
That small burst of power gave me the edge. They couldn't react in time.
It wasn't just strength—it was timing, skill, and knowing exactly when to strike.
---
I stood there for a moment, breathing hard.
Then a question crept into my mind again.
Am I really reincarnated? Or reborn? Or... is this some kind of dream? This Limit Release... it's not even mine. These memories—some of them feel like they're from someone else. Adler. I remember bits of his life. But all I really remember is the betrayal. The Hero Party. Fiona...
"Ahhhhh!" I screamed, slamming my fists into the ground.
Fiona's death flashed in my mind—cold, sharp, and cruel. The pain tore through me. I coughed up blood, my body shaking.
The whole valley echoed with my scream. Like a beast in pain.
Night had fallen. Stars filled the sky. The moon shone down on me, its silver light making everything feel even colder.
I looked up. My face was soaked with tears.
Then I clenched my teeth and swore:
"Wang Chi... I'll make you regret everything. Even if I have to crawl through rivers of blood or climb over mountains of corpses... I'll bring hell to all of you."
"Wei Zu. Lux Layman. Ash Vickman. Lu Ziyan…"
"And you, Sylvia. How could I forget your kindness?"
I wiped my face, forcing my tears to stop. I stood and walked over to Brother Mu's body. I bent down and grabbed his pouch. Then I checked the second man too.
Inside, I found a few ki stones and some low-level elixirs. I dropped them into my space pouch.
It wasn't just any pouch—it was special. It could hold stuff up to a cubic meter in size. Perfect for items, just not living things.
I pulled out a clean set of clothes and changed out of my blood-soaked ones.
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Ye Xian had short grey hair and onyx-black eyes, deep and glossy like pools of obsidian. He was about 17 years old, currently at the first step of the Ki Refining Realm.
His grey hair was a consequence of a black lash cultivating a a high grade technique—an accident that caused his cultivation to drop a full realm back to the Ki Refining Realm.
The two men he had just slain were servants of his younger half-brother, Ye Shen.
Ye Shen was the son of Ye Feng's legal wife, while Ye Xian's mother had been a maid who died from blood loss shortly after giving birth to him.
Ye Feng, Ye Xian's father, never treated him with outright cruelty after his mother's death—but neither did he offer the love a father should. Toward Ye Xian, his attitude wavered between neglect and cold indifference.
In the Ye Clan, Ye Xian was not mistreated, but he was far from favored. His talent was considered average at best.
In contrast, his half-brother Ye Shen was a genius. His cultivation speed outpaced Ye Xian's by a wide margin, drawing the clan's attention and resources entirely toward him.
Despite the clear disparity, Ye Xian never resented Ye Shen. He understood the way things were.
Even when his own resources were reduced—thanks to Ye Shen's mother—Ye Xian never complained. The one time he did speak up, his stepmother met him with frosty disdain.
"Your aptitude is low. It's a waste to spend resources on you," she had said flatly.
Ye Xian had been furious but powerless. He wanted to push her down and spank her bottom—but the difference in strength made that nothing more than a fantasy.
So he swallowed his pride. He used whatever meager allowance he received to gather cultivation resources and trained diligently, determined to grow stronger despite his limitations.
But in the end, it wasn't enough. Ye Shen's men ambushed and killed him.
The only reason Ye Xian was alive now… was because of a strange phenomenon—an event that changed everything.