"Xuan Ji, can I not count on you, my close friend? Why would you want to kill me?"
In a gloomy room, a boy with a pale complexion suddenly woke up, drenched in sweat.
His eyes were blood red, full of pain and anger.
His name was Su Chen, the strongest martial artist on Xuan Tian Continent!
With the power of Nine Dragons, unmatched battle prowess, and with the title of Nine Dragons Martial Emperor, he ranked first among the ten titled Martial Emperors!
The third-ranked Martial Emperor Xuan Ji was his closest friend.
But when he found a divine artifact, the Qian Kun Ding, in the ancient ruins, it drew the covetous eyes of his friend, Xuan Ji, the Martial Emperor.
Martial Emperor Xuan Ji had spread the news that he had found the Qian Kun Ding, attracting countless strong people to pursue him. He was seriously injured. In the end, Martial Emperor Xuan Ji resorted to a covert attack, trying to snatch the Qian Kun Ding.
Despite Su Chen's extraordinary power, the continuous battles and the stealth attack by Xuan Ji had left him almost drained. How could he be a match for Xuan Ji?
In the final moments, he detonated the divine artifact Qian Kun Ding, hoping to perish together with Xuan Ji, the Martial Emperor.
But what he didn't expect was that he didn't die?
"I'm still alive! No, wait... am I back to 500 years ago?"
Su Chen was taken aback, lifting his head sharply, he saw in the mirror, a handsome and refined young boy, about fifteen or sixteen years old.
A wave of memories surged over him.
His eyes were full of incredulity.
He actually got reincarnated five hundred years back?
"Could it be... because of that treasured divine artifact, the Qiankun Cauldron?" Su Chen pondered secretly.
Creak!
Just then, the door was pushed open.
A girl dressed in a light-yellow gown with skin as white as snow, and breathtakingly beautiful features rushed in. A look of anxiety flavored with surprise painted her face.
"Brother, you're awake? That's great, you've been unconscious for three straight days!" The girl exclaimed delightfully.
"Are you... Ling'er?!"
Su Chen saw the girl in front of him, his body suddenly trembled, and his eyes immediately turned red.
The painful memory buried deepest in Su Chen's heart surged like a flood.
The girl in front of him gradually fused with the figure in his memory, causing Su Chen to feel disoriented.
He is Su Chen.
The Young Master of the Su family in Yunjiang City.
Since childhood, he has possessed extraordinary martial arts talent, surpassing his peers. He is hailed as the most astonishing genius in the Su family. At just fifteen years of age, he had already opened up his energy seas, progressing to the Qi Refining Stage.
But everything changed in his sixteenth year.
His cousin Su Yao, also a martial arts prodigy, had been his childhood companion. Each time she would sweetly call him "Brother Chen" and play with him.
Su Yao's cultivation had reached the ninth level of the Physical Realm, and she was about to open her dantian qi sea.
She asked Su Chen to go with her to the Ancient Moon Mountains to find a special treasure that would assist her in opening her dantian qi sea and progressing to the Qi Refining Realm.
Within the Ancient Moon Mountains, they located the valuable item, but they accidentally fell into a beast horde. Su Chen, in order to protect Su Yao, was critically wounded. Although he escaped from death's grasps, his dantian qi sea shattered.
His cultivation completely fell back to the ninth level of the Physical Realm.
There are nine realms in martial arts cultivation: Physical Realm, Qi Refining Realm, Yuan Pill Realm, Martial Master, Martial Sovereign, Martial King, Martial Emperor, Martial Saint, and Martial God.
For martial artists, the dantian qi sea is fundamental. Once the dantian qi sea shatters, it signifies the end of any possible progress in one's lifetime.
In an instant, he went from being an admired martial arts prodigy to a waste.
Afterwards, he was deposed as the young master of the Su family, and the position was inherited by Su Yao.
After Su Chen became a 'waste,' Su Yao turned incredibly cold, and not only was she not grateful for his life-saving efforts, she added insult to injury.
When Su Chen's mother tried to acquire spiritual medicine for him, she was coldly and mercilessly rejected by the Su family. She suffered humiliation and even the Divine Martial Token left by his father was snatched away by Su Yao.
“Stop being deluded and foolish. Do you really believe I revered and admired you just because I called you Brother Chen? If it weren't for your talents, would a piece of trash like you even worth my glance?”
“We are not from the same world. From now on, I will fly high and conquer the peak of martial arts! But you will stay mundane and mediocre, a waste for your entire life!”
He will always remember Su Yao, the girl with unparalleled beauty who used to follow him around and call him Brother Chen, looking down at him with a mix of scorn and superiority.
He and his mother and sister were driven out of the Su family, receiving scorn and ridicule from every corner. He had since been disheartened and given up on himself.
Until later, his mother and sister suffered tragic deaths because of him. He wandered away from Yunjiang City, where he met the only light in his life.
His master pulled him out of the sea of suffering, healed the wounds in his dantian qi sea, and led him onto the vast Xuan Tian Continent.
However, the death of his mother and sister had become a permanent regret in his heart.
And now, seeing his sister, Su Ling'er, standing in front of him again, he felt as if he was in a different world. Yet he was overtaken by relief and joy.
"I, Su Chen, have had the chance to live another life. In this life, I will make up for all the regrets, I won’t let mother and sister be harmed again."
"The heart of a vicious woman, Su Yao, you're right! We are not from the same world, no matter in the last life or this one, whatever you took away from me, you will have to return it a thousand-fold, a hundred-fold!”
With a sharp gaze, Su Chen vows in his heart.
Walking forward, he tightly embraced the girl in front of him, as if afraid that once he loosened his grip, this beautiful dream would shatter.
"Brother, what's wrong? Of course, I'm Ling'er! Don't worry, mother has gone to seek the Senior Elder. As long as we retrieve the divine martial order that father left for you, your dantian qi sea will definitely be healed once you arrive at the Divine Martial Academy."
Su Ling'er found Su Chen's reaction a bit strange.
But she could feel Su Chen's fear and excitement, mistakenly thinking that Su Chen was afraid that the injury to his dantian qi sea could not be cured, and so she comforted softly.
"Ling'er, I'm fine! I’m just too happy to see you."
Su Chen knew that he had lost his composure in the moment. Letting go of Su Ling'er, he stroked her little head, speaking tenderly.
"Where did you say mother has gone?"
However, an idea suddenly struck Su Chen, causing his expression to alter abruptly.
"I've been wondering, my dear mother has gone to seek the Grand Elder for the Divine Martial Order. Is there a problem with that?" Su Ling'er asked in confusion.
"This is bad!"
Su Chen's face instantly darkened significantly.
If his memory served him right, the day to hold the elder’s meeting to dethrone him from the position of the family heir and make Su Yao the successor, wasn't it today? If his mother went there now, wouldn't that be self-degrading?
His beloved mother was humiliated today when she went to plead to the Grand Elder. Not only did she not receive the Divine Martial Order, but she was also hit hard with disrespect.
"If the Su family dares to humiliate my mother, I will make sure you regret ever being born into this world!"
A sense of murderous intent emerged from the depths of Su Chen's eyes.
"Ling'er, wait here for me, I'll go find Mother!"
Su Chen left these words before he hastily made his way out of the house.
Hopefully, he's not too late!