In 2009, at the entrance of a villa area in Feitao County, Ludong Province, a young man in a white shirt was staring around with a bewildered look.
"Is this really Earth? Am I back? Did I, the mighty deity, come to Earth? No wait, I am no longer a deity, otherwise, just by my sheer divine pressure, the entire Earth would shatter, even the whole Milky Way and beyond..." Li Tian mused, recalling an incident where a deity once tried to descend to a lower plane, only to collapse the entire realm and heavily injure itself. Yet, here I am, perfectly fine.
Li Tian used to be a deity of the Life Realm. Once the breakthrough was successful, he would become the ruler of the realm, the only one, and a perfect one at that!
Unfortunately, he was disturbed by his inner demons at the last moment, causing his breakthrough to fail.
According to his knowledge, Li Tian should have been obliterated completely. To his surprise, he was sent back to Earth, thousands of years in the past.
"Kid, what are you doing? Get the stuff inside now. From tomorrow, I'll be your brother-in-law. Don’t make any trouble for me."
A crude voice interrupted Li Tian's thoughts. A man dressed in a floral shirt appeared in front of him. He looked like someone who had been worn out by indulging in wine and women.
Li Tian glanced at him, a hint of murderous intent flickered in his eyes.
He finally remembered who this man was - the notorious scion of the county! The same one who had oppressed his father and forced his sister.
In this time period, Li Tian was in his final year of high school. His father owned several hotels. This man set his sights on Li Tian's sister, Li Ya. When she refused his advances, he resorted to sinister means.
He colluded with some insiders at their father's company, persuaded his father to venture into real estate. Eventually, due to lack of funds and safety incidents at construction sites, not only was his father detained, but the entire company also fell into hardship.
Li Tian distinctly remembered, this man threatened his sister into marrying him, but did nothing to help their family. His father died of depression in detention, and his sister didn't live a good life either, passing away just two years later.
Li Tian endured humiliation for several years, unable to stand losing one family member after another, eventually choosing to jump from the 18th floor of a building. Surprisingly, a powerful being happened to pass by and saved Li Tian, taking him away from Earth.
After thousands of years of hard practice, Li Tian turned out to be the new deity of the Life Realm. Unexpectedly, he failed on his journey to become the ruler and returned to Earth again. Such is the joke of fate.
In front of him, the young man looked at Li Tian arrogantly. In his eyes, Li Tian was nothing more than an ant. In the past, Li Tian was powerless to retaliate against him. As a reborn deity in this life, a cold hum from Li Tian sent a chill down the man’s spine. Destiny allowed me to be reborn, let’s settle our scores properly. So many epochs have gone by, Li Tian has a truckload of ways to deal with him. No rush, let’s take it slow.
"Since you just got home, you definitely need rest. I'll take care of the moving…" He spoke hesitantly. He didn't remember owning such a menacing gaze which, under his scrutiny today, made him feel like a prey targeted by a beast, experiencing a bone-chilling cold. Additionally, he seemed to suffer from a misperception that this boy appeared far more confident than before.
"Mark my words, I shall kill this brat someday. If it weren't for your sister, I would have eliminated you long ago," he muttered under his breath, assuming Li Tian couldn't hear him. Well, Li Tian heard every word clearly. "What goes around, comes around. I'm in no rush; you can have your glory days now," he thought.
As Li Tian slowly entered the room, the surroundings felt extremely familiar, a harsh repeat of the past, a past where he faced everything without any capabilities to change the situation. Today, although his cultivation abilities were not as strong as before, he was confident in his ability to overcome the immediate predicament.
In Li Tian’s dictionary, the word 'surrender' never existed. Whether it was this arrogant scoundrel bullying his sister or the subordinate betraying his father, or anyone who offended him before, he was determined to make them all pay in this life.
"To reach enlightenment, one needs to resolve all internal disturbances," his master told him on his deathbed. Unfortunately, he was too busy cultivating to make up for his regrets, which led to his ultimate downfall. Nonetheless, this afforded him a unique opportunity to confront his inner demons.
He realized that simple revenge wouldn't help combat his inner demons. Instead, allowing his tormentors to "enjoy" the consequences of their actions would be more effective.
"Xiao Ya, come out and see, your worthless brother... your brother has returned." The young bully named Zhao Kang typically used to speak about Li Tian in a derogatory manner. But on seeing Li Tian this time, he hastily corrected his tone.
Before Li Tian could respond, a soft body collided with him. It was his sister from his past life - a woman who loved him unconditionally and sacrificed herself to save their family. It was a shame she fell into Zhao Kang's trap, which led to her untimely death. His first demon - his inability to save his older sister or alter her fate.
"Little Tian, I'm so scared. Father is detained, and we owe everyone money…" Li Ya, who always put a brave face in public, broke down crying, leaning her weak body onto her younger brother.
Li Ya was once a campus belle at Luda University. If not for the present tormentor, her life would undoubtedly have been much brighter.
Li Tian remembered crystal clear how this man didn’t cherish his sister at all. He abused her, his parents never treated her with respect, and he even tried to trade her off to another tycoon. Li Ya ended her life due to this cruelty, and her death was secretly handled to avoid disgrace. Left alone, Li Tian could only collect some of her ashes to create a makeshift grave. This was a disaster Li Tian swore to prevent in this life.
"Cheer up, Sister Ya. I got everything under control. No need to worry," he comforted her. For some reason, Li Ya felt at ease upon hearing this.
"Hey, let go of her. Stay away from her. Remember, you two are not blood-related," Zhao Kang interrupted. He couldn't handle the uncomfortable scene, even though it was this money that saved them from bankruptcy.
"Shut up and get lost. You're not welcome here," countered Li Tian, looking down on him. Even if he were a sovereign ruler or an empire emperor, none could stand before him, let alone an insignificant being like Zhao Kang.
Zhao Kang was taken aback. Was Li Tian, who always used to be an easy target, finally standing up for himself? But in the end, who cared? As long as he signed the papers, everything, including his sister, would be his property. So he smirked, trying to shake off the fear.