REINCARNATION CYCLE'S UNFORTUNATE BUG

PROLOGUE: REBIRTH AD INFINITUM

SHIRO THE HERO

Copyright © 2024 by Florian Reichhard

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Written by Florian Reichhard

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Contents

Chapter 1 • The Present, Part One
Chapter 2 • Cian Palgrave
Chapter 3 • A Second Life
Chapter 4 • If At Third You Don’t Succeed
Chapter 5 • Shattering
Chapter 6 • Fu Huan
Chapter 7 • Personal Maid
Chapter 8 • Until We Meet Again
Chapter 9 • Eternal Ancestor
Chapter 10 • Collapse
Chapter 11 • Zimu
Chapter 12 • Immortal Mortal
Chapter 13 • Erosion
Chapter 14 • The Present, Part Two

Chapter 1

The Present, Part One

Rimehold was a medium-sized city nestled in the northern plains of the Vodal Kingdom with a population in the lower tens of thousands. Despite its considerable number of inhabitants, there were rarely ever any incidents that disturbed the daily lives of the citizens. It was a cosy and peaceful place, tinged with the hustle and bustle of mundane life.

The sun had only just barely crept over the horizon, its first rays illuminating the sparsely occupied streets, injecting the city with the vitality it would need throughout the day. In the midst of this urban area that was slowly waking up, on the third floor of an inn located right next to the marketplace, where the vendors had already begun the familiar process of opening their stalls, a young man appearing around twenty years of age sat at a table right next to one of the windows. He was casually sipping a cup of piping hot tea that he had ordered from a drowsy waitress a few minutes earlier.

Contrary to the vast majority of people, which were still busy yawning and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, not even the slightest hint of tiredness could be seen on the youngster’s face. Clearly, he had already been awake for a considerable while.

He had relatively short, light blonde hair that was barely long enough to cover about half of his ears, and rarely seen purple eyes that every so often made people take a second look at him out of curiosity. His clothing wasn’t anything special, reminiscent of a wandering martial artist: A black, short-sleeved, open cloak that almost reached his knees, under which he wore a long-sleeved top of the same colour with another white shirt underneath. These three upper garments were fastened with a white-grey belt, holding them securely in place. The rest of his outfit consisted of comfortable black trousers and shoes.

In Rimehold, people with clothing like his were a dime a dozen, but one thing that stuck out was the longsword that was hanging at his waist. Although its pommel, grip and hilt couldn’t be any more simplistic in design, its sheath was gilded with golden patterns that invoked a sense of mystery in observers, as well as the occasional urge to rob its wielder. After all, such a relatively ornate sheath was surely worth a pretty penny, right?

Thankfully, there were very few that were out of their minds enough to try such a thing. Attempting to attack someone wielding a weapon was only something that the most desperate or foolish would dare to do. Everyone else generally preferred to keep their intestines away from harm for a little while longer.

As a result, usually, nobody bothered the youngster. Merely the occasional maiden that was smitten with his decently handsome looks would come up to him, just to be met with a practically expressionless, cold face. Therefore, even though he had been staying here for a week already, his only “lengthy” interactions had been with the inn’s staff.

The morning hours passed by slowly but surely, and eventually, a very loud commotion could be heard from the city’s outskirts, attracting quite a number of curious folk to flock in its direction. Only a few minutes later, the cause for all of this had arrived at the marketplace, entering the eyes of the young man in the inn. His brows furrowed ever so slightly, and he got ready to get up at a moment’s notice. Clearly, he was expecting something to happen.

Less than a minute passed, and an enraged shout shocked the scene into silence, causing the youngster to jump up from his seat and step on the windowsill.

“I guess it’s that time of life again...”

Mumbling to himself, he leaned forward and dropped towards the ground, ignoring the terrified expression of the waitress that had been about to bring him another fresh cup of tea. With perfect precision, as if he was more of a flesh and blood machine rather than a human being, he rolled out the impact of the fall and ran into the depths of the marketplace at a practically superhuman speed, dodging every person in his way with practised ease.

↞•↠

Ten minutes earlier, at Rimehold’s southern outskirts.

The idyllic morning was interrupted by an airborne colossus that suddenly appeared on the horizon and made its way towards the city with an overbearing momentum. Within seconds, a distance of multiple kilometres had been shortened to merely a few hundred meters!

Accompanied by sonic booms, a more than 100 meters long flying ship came into view and slowly lowered itself to the ground, ignoring the people below that only just barely managed to get out of the way. Its hull was a deep shade of red and had nine golden suns engraved on its left and right side. Compared to the almost medieval-esque appearance of the city of Rimehold, the airborne vessel seemed a touch more futuristic, almost out of this world. It didn’t have sails like ocean-faring ships, but rather had various thrusters situated along its hull, emitting a terrifying energy that enabled precise manipulation of the vessel.

The flying ship’s deck was very similar to that of a regular ship, except for the lack of masts. A barrier made out of the same kind of energy that fuelled the vessel’s thrusters protected the people aboard, who were glancing at their surroundings with a mixture of interest, disdain and unconcealed contempt.

After a short discussion, only five of them disembarked–four young men and a young woman. Completely ignoring the fact that the ship’s deck was about 15 meters off the ground, they jumped down and landed gracefully, as if their bodies practically ignored the impact.

“Grandpa, those are Immortals, right? Just like in those stories you told me?”

A young boy was pulling an elderly man’s sleeves in the crowd, his eyes sparkling with fervent admiration. He didn’t notice the grave expression that had stolen itself on his grandfather’s face the very moment that he saw the flying ship approach.

“Yes. But please be careful and keep far away from them. The Immortals usually don’t like to interact with us. I don’t know why they came here, but they’ve got to have a specific purpose. We shouldn’t make trouble for them.”

Trying his best to sound as neutral as possible, so as to not shatter his grandson’s fantasies, the elderly man grabbed the young boy’s shoulder, preventing him from running towards those Immortals that he so cherished. A deep fear flickered in the man’s eyes, as well as in those of the majority of the adult populace.

While Rimehold was a part of the Vodal Kingdom, the country itself was merely one of the countless mortal factions dotting the vast landscape of this world. Although each of them had more than tens of millions of citizens respectively, to put it nicely, they were just a subordinate force of the Nine Suns Sect. But put another way, they were a “mortal farm” whose only purpose it was to provide resources as well as Immortals-to-be to their overlord. In exchange, the Vodal Kingdom, alongside the other mortal factions, were left to their own devices, allowed to live out their puny, unimportant, short lives. Whenever catastrophes that they couldn’t deal with occurred, the Nine Suns Sect would intervene, just so that their farm wouldn’t be ruined. But at any other time, they would not care for this kingdom that was merely an ant-like existence in their eyes.

Growing up in a world where some people were born with the potential to become an Immortal via cultivation, the youngsters still had hope that they might join this privileged class of society consisting of what should more aptly be called entirely higher lifeforms. The adults that hadn’t met the requirements, however, had already had their rose-tinted glasses shattered by the harsh reality. If they could choose, then they would like to never meet an Immortal in their lifetime.

However, every decade, the children of the nation that were over 10 years old would get tested to see if any of them had the potential to become an Immortal, so the people would encounter their overlords during those times. Then why was today special? It was simple: It had only been eight years since the last test. Therefore, the Immortals couldn’t be here for that purpose this time.

Technically speaking, it wasn’t entirely accurate to call them “Immortals”, because there had never been a person who had actually achieved immortality via cultivation. All “Immortals” were simply beings that had the potential to reach that point, but the chances to truly do so were abysmally low. However, that didn’t change the fact that they had entirely surpassed regular humans, to the extent where they could be seen as a further evolved, genuinely superior species.

Under the cautious stares of the surrounding people, the five Immortals moved towards the city centre at an astonishing speed. If some poor sods hadn’t jumped out of the way fast enough, then they might have been pushed aside violently, breaking a few bones in the process.

The four men were wearing clothing that was a little bit similar to the wandering martial artist outfit that the young man at the inn was clad in, however, theirs was clearly far more ornate and made out of exquisite, special materials that could bankrupt an entire country. Instead of black and white, their clothing’s colour scheme was red and gold, just like that of their sect’s flying ship. Nine suns that were arranged in a circle were emblazoned on the backs of their cloaks. They all had extremely extravagantly designed and expensive-looking weapons strapped to their waists and backs. If one ignored the self-satisfied expressions on their faces, then they would all be outstandingly good-looking as well.

The clear focus of the group of five, however, was the young woman who wore a delicate red-golden dress that made her appear as if she had stepped out of a painting. It was clearly not suited for anything but a fancy ballroom, but she still chose to wear it out here anyway. Her long, black hair framed a face too breathtaking for the mortal world. The proportions of her entire body made her appear otherworldly, to the extent that even the men accompanying her didn’t dare to look at her directly for more than a few seconds at a time. Nonetheless, the unconcealed adoration and love in their gazes made their feelings readily apparent to absolutely everyone. And yet, deep within the woman’s captivating reddish-black eyes, there laid complacency and conceit.

“Lady Alina, do we really have to come to place like this?”

An Immortal with a sword strapped to his waist asked with an evidently disgusted look on his face. They had been on their way back from a mission when the Nine Suns Sect’s Grand Elder’s youngest grandchild, Alina Sorley, all of a sudden decided that she wanted to visit a mortal city’s marketplace to look around.

“You could have just stayed back aboard if you didn’t want to come.”

Clearly annoyed at his companion, a spear-wielding Immortal shot him a disgruntled glance.

“No fighting, alright? I just remembered that my elder brother told me about a Vodal Kingdom specialty a while ago, so I wanted to give it a try. If even he liked it, it can’t be too bad, even if it’s mortal food.”

The young woman’s words made the two hotheads, who had already been on the verge of a fight, suppress their animosity. Now that the goddess of their hearts had spoken, they couldn’t go against her words without causing her displeasure. And that was the last thing that they wanted to achieve.

Little did they know that Alina held nothing but disdain even for them. Despite the fact that they had joined the Nine Suns Sect and far surpassed mortals, in her eyes, they were still the lowest of the low amongst Immortals, barely qualified to be her minions and bootlickers.

Shortly after, amidst some banter, the group of five arrived that the economic centre of the city and–for the first time–proceeded at the pace of a regular person. The people around them still made way wherever they could, but at the very least they didn’t have to literally jump out of the way of the Immortals any longer.

While the group was casually browsing through the surrounding stalls with their eyes, searching for the goal of this trip, all of a sudden, cheerful laughter interrupted the relatively sombre atmosphere. A little girl, maybe five or six years old, dashed out from between the stalls. She was clearly not paying any attention to her surroundings, running away from a slightly older young boy who was chasing behind her, trying to catch her with an amused smile on his lips.

“Elly, stop! STOP!! Watch where you’re go–”

The boy immediately noticed that something was wrong and shouted a warning, but it was already too late. The little girl had just collided with the otherworldly-looking woman strolling through the street with her entourage. With a loud thud, the girl’s buttocks met the ground and a pained cry escaped her lips. Of course, the lady didn’t budge even a single millimetre, as immovable as a mountain. However, a displeased and disgusted expression blossomed on her features.

“Respected Immortals, we apologize! My sister didn’t look around properly and accidentally bumped into you. Please forgive us!”

Rushing to his sister’s side and helping her up, the young boy bowed to the group of five, appearing as mature and respectful as possible. In contrast to most other children, he had listened more closely to the adults’ stories and had realized the horror of these beings. Now, having slighted them, he tried everything in his power to stabilize the situation. Pitifully enough, it was in vain.

“HOW DARE YOU! Lowly mortal, how dare your filthy self touch Lady Alina?!”

Completely ignoring the young boy’s pleas, the sword-wielding Immortal stepped forward, extremely enraged. A being he viewed as lesser than an insect had dared to come into physical contact with the woman of his dreams, when even he had never so much as come within half a meter distance of her! Of course, he wouldn’t listen to such lowly beings’ explanations. To him, nothing they said deserved to be heard. Additionally, this was a rare opportunity to show off in front of his goddess–he would make the best of it.

“Stick out your necks and stay still, I’ll give you a painless death.”

Ignoring the panicked cries of not only the pair of young children, but even the surrounding onlookers, the Immortal drew his sword and raised it, intending to vent his fury on the two kids. Alina at his side didn’t bother to stop him, even though the children were clearly crying in terror, desperately stumbling to their feet, attempting to run away. Nothing but loathing was displayed on her otherworldly visage.

It took less than a second for the raised sword to fall–the kids never had a chance. Many of the adults around had already closed their eyes, their fists clenched, but even more were simply paralyzed and staring at the scene wide-eyed, utterly horrified.

Suddenly, someone dashed out of the crowd with their sword drawn and deflected the Immortal’s attack with incredible ease. The sound of metal clashing against metal woke up the onlookers, and they gasped in disbelief and joy. Never had they imagined that someone would dare to step up, or that anyone could defend against an Immortal’s strike.

“Oh? You managed to counter my casual attack? Quite impressive, for a mortal.”

Glancing at the newcomer with a mixture of disdain and appreciation, the sword-wielder was momentarily distracted from the children that he had just attempted to slaughter. Instead, he scrutinized the young man in front of him–it was the youngster who had jumped out of the inn’s window moments prior. Contrary to what he had expected, even though the young man’s body didn’t contain the slightest ounce of Spiritual Energy, he didn’t show any fear on his face. Instead, when the Immortal looked into those cold, purple eyes, an incomprehensibly deep terror shrouded his heart for just a moment.

“You two, run. Immediately! As far away and as fast as you can.”

Ignoring the stunned scoundrel in front of him, the youngster addressed the children behind him, unfazed by the danger that he had found himself in.

“T-Thank you!”

Squeezing out those two words, the young boy dragged away the little girl, not daring to waste any time by looking back. Moments later, they had disappeared in the crowd.

“What are you doing? Why did you let them get away!?”

Flabbergasted and furious at his companion, the spear-wielding Immortal shook the swordsman’s shoulder, awakening him from his stupor.

“H-How dare you ignore me just like that!? DIE!!”

In an attempt to convince himself and the others that he hadn’t inexplicably been afraid just now, the Immortal charged at the young man and channelled some of his spiritual energy into his weapon, enveloping it in a layer of terrifyingly hot blue fire.

Yet again, things didn’t go as he had expected. The youngster dodged forward and to the side, deflecting his strike towards the ground by hitting his weapon’s cross guard at just the right angle with incredible speed.

“Wha–?”

Stunned, he could only follow up with a sideways sweep, which the young man also evaded easily. Noticing that his companions and–worst of all–Lady Alina were glaring at him as if he was putting on a circus show, the sword-wielder decided that he had to eliminate this youngster at any cost!

For minutes, he rained down ineffective blows on his opponent, but he could never seem to hit him! Every third attack was also expertly deflected. It was as if he was fighting against a master of the sword who could completely ignore the Spiritual Energy that had strengthened both his body and weapon far beyond mortal limits!

Before they knew it, the group of Immortals had followed the young man outside of the city. All of them had been moving at a speed that should have been unimaginable for a regular person to achieve, but by the time that they realized this, they had already left Rimehold.

“Rowan, stop for a moment! Something is not right with this mortal.”

Frowning, Alina put an end to this farce. Now that she thought about it a bit, nearly everything that had just occurred should have been impossible, except for that initial deflection. How could this youngster keep up with the speed and strength of Immortals like them when he had clearly not even entered any of the Body Refinement realms?

“What are you?”

Intrigued but cautious, Alina moved behind her bootlickers, intending to use them as diversions should anything go awry. Despite her haughtiness, she had a decent danger perception.

Not bothering to respond, the young man raised his blade and dashed at the sword-wielder, Rowan.

“How dare you ignore La–”

Before Rowan could give proper rise to his anger, the youngster’s speed suddenly more than doubled, making it obvious that the capabilities that he had shown previously were merely the tip of the iceberg. With a quick slash, a head flew into the air.

Two large steps and a fraction of a second later, he arrived next to an axe-wielding Immortal who had only just jumped backwards and grasped the handle of his weapon. With a fluid, incredibly quick swing, the target’s body was bisected beneath the ribcage, as if the blade hadn’t encountered any resistance at all. There was still no change in the young man’s expression.

His next target was the spear-wielder, who had already sent a blue fire-wrapped spear tip his way. Evading by moving to the side and forwards with a momentum that was far superior to even that of the opponent’s weapon, the youngster stabbed his sword into the Immortal’s head. The skull didn’t manage to delay the inevitable end even a little.

Tilting his head ever so slightly, a blue fire-imbued arrow shot past the young man’s cheek, ripping the air apart violently. His mindbogglingly rapid reaction caused the bow-wielder’s eyes to widen in disbelief. He ran as quickly as he could and had only just pulled out another arrow from his quiver when the youngster appeared at his side, causing him to change his plan and stab at the enemy with his arrow. Needless to say, both the arrow and the Immortal were sliced in half.

“Stay back! I’m the granddaughter of the Nine Suns Sect’s Grand Elder, you can’t kill me! The sect will never let you g–”

Alina had already run hundreds of meters away, abject horror warping her gorgeous facial features into a mask of misery. The moment that Rowan’s head left his shoulders, she had started to bolt at her quickest speed. But even using her bootlickers as meat shields plus occasionally throwing blue fire constructs of various shapes and sizes at the young man was useless. He just dodged them all! The only thing that she was left with was to try to use her background to momentarily halt her opponent. The seniors on the flying ship might realize something was wrong and make it here during that time!

Unfortunately for her, she lost the bet. The youngster didn’t bother with her at all, merely slaying one more opponent with a single strike. No joy or emotion was apparent in his eyes even though he had just cleaned up a part of the vermin infesting this world.

‘The next ones should be here soon.’

Looking towards the south, he stood in place, not bothering to hide his traces at all. He knew that he couldn’t.

“Lady Alina!?”

Moments later, two elderly men wearing the same clothes as the other Immortals appeared at the scene, utterly shell-shocked by what they saw. But just as they began to direct their fury and despair at the young man, he had already arrived in front of one of them, slashing his sword at the enemy’s neck.

Not taking this attack all too seriously, because it was still within the realm of strength and speed that he was certain he could withstand, the elderly Immortal raised his right hand, intending to block the sword with his bare palm. Even though he didn’t understand how a mortal could have become this powerful, he was still confident that he would definitely not be hurt.

Until he was.

The sword that he had thought ordinary was incredibly sharp, to the extent that it easily sliced through his hand and neck before he even realized it. His companion couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hurriedly condensed enormous balls of blue flame which he then hurled at the youngster. But dreadfully enough, while they were about evenly matched in speed, this young man clearly exceeded him in battle experience and skill. It wasn’t a close fight at all–he was entirely outclassed.

Before the elderly Immortal could figure out how his opponent had even made it to right next to him, the youngster’s blade had already sliced his head in half.

Credit where credit is due: At least he had managed to avoid a complete decapitation by trying to move out of the way. But somehow, his end was yet more miserable as a result.

‘Five more minutes until the big one should be showing up.’

Completely disregarding the fact that he had just slaughtered this far stronger group of immortals, the young man expertly buried all of the bodies except for the corpse of Alina and grabbed it, before speeding off in the direction of the flying ship.

Two minutes. That was all the time it took him to get there, eliminate the last remaining resistance aboard and start the vessel. Devoid of any feelings, he steered it in the direction of the desolate wasteland beyond the northern plains and had the flying ship rush away at its speed limit. If any Immortal had been present to see this, then they would have not dared to believe their eyes–how could a mortal possibly know how to steer a flying ship!?

Another two minutes later, far away from any part of civilization that was known to him, the youngster initiated the self-destruct sequence of the airborne vessel and jumped out of it with the young woman’s corpse in tow. Somehow, despite descending dozens of meters, he managed to perfectly roll out the impact of the fall yet again, emerging unscathed.

An earth-shattering explosion occurred a few seconds later, a few kilometres away. Thankfully, he had timed everything well enough to only be rocked a little by the resulting shock wave.

He knew that an important person like this Lady Alina that he had just killed had a high chance of having her vital state plus location tracked by her sect. Therefore, once he killed her outside of Rimehold, her elders would definitely make their way there very quickly after her death was discovered. That would implicate the residents, which he wanted to avoid at all costs. So, accounting for the fact that it would take them some time to determine her location after they took note of her demise, he eliminated everyone else and rushed to this spot. The self-destruction of the flying ship could temporarily make the other party think that all other Immortals’ corpses got wiped out in the explosion, while they would discover him next to the remains of the slain miss.

The plan wasn’t foolproof in the slightest. Should the buried bodies be discovered in Rimehold, then there was a chance that the city would be held accountable. However, he had deliberately chosen a very destitute area outside of the city that nearly nobody ever frequented. It was a somewhat risky plan, but it was the best one that he had been able to come up with on the spot.

Around twenty seconds longer, he waited patiently. Then, out of nowhere, a bearded elder wearing a far more graceful and noble version of the other Immortals’ outfits appeared in the sky, deep hatred in his eyes–there was no doubt about it, it was the Nine Suns Sect’s Grand Elder.

‘What do they call it in this world again? Initial Transcendence realm? Yeah, I guess that’s it. I can’t beat him. Oh well, it can’t be helped.’

While the two men were staring at each other, the younger of the two was clearly entirely unperturbed by the older one’s presence, even making casual mental observations like these.

“I don’t know how you managed to kill them all as a mere mortal. Clearly, you’re far beyond your kind, an absolute genius–nay, a monster. I could have spared you and taken you in as my slave if your victims had been anyone else. But my granddaughter?! You’re out of luck. Die!”

The Grand Elder raised his hand and suddenly, the sky in the surrounding 10 kilometres began to burn with a violet flame. Rapidly, the inferno descended towards the ground, giving the young man no chance to escape, no matter how fast he was. But he didn’t even try to.

‘Do they always have to talk so much? If he had attacked earlier, it could have saved me some time...’

The Grand Elder would have never imagined the murderer of his grandchild to inwardly complain like this just mere moments before his death.

As the flames were about to swallow his body, a very minute, helpless smile stole itself on the face that had–up until now–been entirely expressionless. Like every single damn time, his various lives played out in the youngster’s mind in an instant. It had been so unfathomably, incomprehensibly long since it all began...

Chapter 2

Cian Palgrave

In a dark room, a young man held a glowing orb in his hands, his expression one of extreme focus. Copious amounts of sweat ran down his cheeks and dripped from his eyebrows, he had even grown a little pale–yet, he was still fully concentrated on the energy within the orb, trying his best to absorb it.

Unfortunately, it never moved, until the very end of the examination. With a somewhat empty look in his purple eyes, he chuckled and set the orb down. Moments afterwards, the voice of the assessor entered his ears.

“Cian Palgrave, 16 years old. Spiritual Root: None. You’ve failed. Next!”

In somewhat of a trance, he exited the dark room, which was actually just one of the chambers inside of an incredibly extravagant, massive carriage. Looking at the few others that were still lined up outside, their eyes full of hope, he sighed and shook his head.

‘I probably looked just like them five minutes ago. Well, good luck, everyone! Make Palgrave proud in my stead!’

Currently, a nearby Cultivator sect–the Drifting Cloud Sect–was examining all children between the ages of 10 and 20, in an attempt to recruit fresh blood into their ranks. Spiritual Roots were quite rare, with only less than one out of a hundred possessing them. Additionally, they had multiple grades, but Cian wasn’t aware of all the details about that–he wasn’t qualified to know.

As the third son of Palgrave’s village chief, he knew that many people had expectations for him, especially because his eldest brother had already been accepted by the Drifting Cloud Sect last time. Apparently, it was a little bit more likely for children of the same family to have Spiritual Roots, but neither Cian nor his second eldest brother were so lucky.

‘But I expected this. I just hope that Layla won’t end up like me... she desperately wants to cultivate...’

Thinking of his childhood sweetheart, a gentle smile played across Cian’s face. Eight years ago, a small number of refugees from a neighbouring nation had arrived in the village of Palgrave, and Layla was one of them. She had been a year younger than him back then, and all alone, so his father decided that they would be taking care of her. One thing led to another, and eventually, the two kids fell in love.

Reminiscing about this, a slight blush crept on Cian’s face, but he hastily shook his head, clearing it of these distracting thoughts.

The reason as to why Layla was so determined to become a Cultivator was that her family had been killed by a sect–just for the record, it wasn’t the Drifting Cloud Sect. No matter what, she wanted to get her revenge. But how could she possibly contend with a Cultivator as a mere mortal? Therefore, it was a necessity for her to have been born with a Spiritual Root!

To be completely honest, Cian was internally conflicted. A part of himself wanted Layla to stay with him forever, but he was also aware that her biggest wish was to avenge her slain parents. Even if she embarked on that path and went to the Drifting Cloud Sect, they could still be together, although they would have to be separated for a while. But if that could make her happy, then he would support her!

Encouraging himself like that to suppress the vexation in his heart, Cian patiently waited in front of the room that Layla had entered some time ago while he had been undergoing his own examination. Thankfully, a friend nearby had informed him of the exact location when he had asked about it.

Then, eventually...

“Layla Arleas, 15 years old. Spiritual Root: Supreme Grade!? Amazing! I can’t believe we found someone like you here! Please, allow me to discuss the disciple enrolment procedures!”

For a considerable while, Cian was stupefied, but then, a bright smile spread across his lips. Layla was awesome, alright! The only other Spiritual Root grades that he knew of were Inferior, Weak, Minor and Medium–in that ascending order. Just from the sound of it, it was clear that Supreme Grade was certainly at least a few grades higher!

Immediately after the joy came the realization–there would be a painful separation. Clutching his chest, he breathed slowly and deeply whilst waiting for the discussion to end. The room had been soundproofed right after the result had been announced–apparently, the details of the disciple enrolment were classified. Therefore, he could do nothing but wait outside patiently.

Thankfully, by the time the door opened, he had already regained his composure. He had mentally prepared himself for so long, so how could he not? Of course, he felt miserable, but he didn’t let it control him.

Layla was about one head shorter than him, standing at 160 centimetres tall. Just like him, she wore linen clothing, although hers was strongly reminiscent of a green summer dress–in stark contrast, his own was a casual, generic outfit. If there was one thing that they had in common, it was that they both wore a silvery white engagement ring. She had slightly curly, black hair that reached halfway down her back, as well as icy blue eyes that usually sparkled with overflowing intellect. She was quite pretty and had a cute smile that always made him think that she was the most gorgeous girl in the whole world–and while that may have been an overstatement in the eyes of others, it was undeniable that she was a beauty.

At this moment, however, contrary to her usual self, Layla’s gaze was clouded with worry and her smile appeared a tad lonely.

‘I see. So we’re both conflicted about this... It’s obvious. I should have known.’

A look of understanding flashed past Cian’s eyes, then he stepped forward and gently held her hand with a supportive smile on his lips.

“Congratulations! A Supreme Grade Spiritual Root, huh? That should help you a lot! Let’s go home and celebrate, alright?”

It was clear that his enthusiasm was also a bit exaggerated, but it did what it was supposed to–the loneliness in her smile decreased by a noticeable amount.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Grasping his hand tightly, Layla nodded at the assessor who had accompanied her outside, before leaving the building-sized carriage together with Cian. Both of them got encouraging smiles from the Cultivators around that were responsible for keeping order–clearly, they were all happy that such a great newbie had been discovered here. In general, Cultivators’ families could be resettled to the sect after they had made sufficient contributions, so everyone was already prepared to welcome this young man from the countryside into their fold in a couple of years. To be honest, the entire Palgrave family could have already followed their eldest son to the Drifting Cloud Sect, but due to their village chief status, they had stayed behind out of responsibility. Cian, however, could easily follow Layla alone in the future–there was still his second eldest brother to continue in his father’s footsteps, after all.

Following the winding roads of Palgrave, a few minutes later, the two returned to the centremost house–a three-story tall stone building with a clay tile roof. This was the Palgrave family’s residence that had marked this spot ever since the village’s inception.

Waiting at the front door was an almost middle-aged man with a very similar appearance to Cian. All things considered, his age and the fact that he was about 190 centimetres tall aside, only his face was a bit more blocky and less handsome. This was Oisin Palgrave, Cian’s father.

Right next to him stood a gentle-looking woman of about the same age. She was almost 20 centimetres shorter than Oisin and had dark-brown hair instead of the light blonde of her husband. Her eyes were also a warm auburn in colour. Back in her prime, she had been the most beautiful woman in the village and age hadn’t done her dirty in the least. Her name was Maeve Palgrave, and she was Cian’s mother.

Lastly, there was a young man who looked maybe five years older than Cian and had dark-brown hair as well as purple eyes, but shared the same handsomeness. Clearly, both of them had benefited from their mother’s looks. His name was Aidan, and he was Cian’s second eldest brother. He appeared a bit exhausted, as if he had just run quite a distance–which he had. Right after finding out about both Cian’s and Layla’s results, he had sprinted all the way home at full speed, informing their parents.

“Congratulations, Layla! Looks like one of us can finally check up on Finn, that rascal. He’s only been back a handful of times in the past decade!”

Jokingly cursing under his breath a little, Oisin patted Layla’s shoulder encouragingly, eliciting a chuckle from the girl.

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to let him know to come back more often.”

Before she could continue to speak, both Layla and Cian found themselves wrapped into a tight hug by Maeve.

“Don’t be sad, you two. You’ll be together again soon enough! Also, don’t forget that the carriage will only set off tomorrow morning–treasure this time as much as you can, alright?”

Amidst comforting words like these, she held them for close to a minute, to the point where both they themselves as well as the two men next to them felt a little bit awkward.

“Ahem. Mom! I think they get it. Why don’t we go inside and enjoy the meal you prepared?”

Chiming in from the side, Aidan gently pried his mother away from the two lovebirds and ushered the family into the house. Maeve couldn’t help but let out an amused chuckle at this–she loved to shower others with affection, so she was already used to her family stopping her when it started to be a little bit too overwhelming.

Enjoying the festive atmosphere, the family of five ate their meal and did their very best to cheer up. Nobody wanted to see Layla go, but at the end of the day, it couldn’t be helped, so they could only make the most of the time they had.

Slowly but surely, the hours slipped through their fingers, and it had become evening. Cian and Layla had excused themselves from home, making their way towards their own little house at the settlement’s outskirts. Both of them had always loved to explore the forests and mountains beyond the village’s boundaries ever since they were little, so when they grew older and had to at least plan to move out together in case both of them won’t have a Spiritual Root, most of the villagers had assembled to build them their own house all the way out here. It hadn’t been long since it was completed, maybe half a year or so, but it already felt like a second home to them.

Sitting on the porch outside and watching the setting sun, a sombre feeling spread in their chests. All they could do was lean against each other and hold hands while the orange colour on the horizon slowly transformed into a bloody red.

“... I’ll really miss you, Layla.”

Cian knew that he shouldn’t have said these words, because this would only lead to opening a can of worms that neither of them wanted to look at. But at this very moment, he was simply too overwhelmed by his feelings. Even his voice was quiver slightly, and he couldn’t help but hold Layla’s hand a little bit tighter.

“I know... me too. I wanted to be with you forever and ever, but no matter how much I want to deny it, it’s just not possible.”

Feeling Layla’s hand’s grip on his own strengthen in response, he turned his head to look into the reddened eyes of the girl that he loved. Both of them were very close to tears, and no matter how much they wanted to suppress it, they couldn’t. It was uncharacteristic of them to speak about their feelings so directly, because they usually didn’t need to. However, tonight was different.

“I love you, Cian. More than anyone or anything else. The time I spent with you here... it’ll always be etched deep into my memory, no matter what happens.”

Tears were already dripping down Layla’s cheeks as she moved her head closer to his. Even though a part of Cian felt like her words may have been a tiny bit over the top considering that they “only” wouldn’t see each other for a few years, he was nonetheless very touched and got infected by the atmosphere.

“It’s the same for me, Layla! I love you more than words can describe. I never want to let go of you, even just temporari–”

Before he could finish his sentence, Layla’s lips met his own and they both shared a long, intimate kiss. It was as if they were lost to time, not caring about its inevitable passage. Only their loved one mattered, as well as the warmth and affection that they shared.

But, like all good things, the kiss eventually came to an end. Their lips separated, and they stared into each other’s red, teary eyes, their noses only five or so centimetres apart.

“I’m sorry. Please... forgive me...!”

Suddenly, Layla’s voice began to tremble and the look in her eyes changed from one full of love to one overflowing with agony, but also unshakable resolve. Before Cian could even reassure her that he won’t take her pursuing her dream personally, he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his chest. Having grown up in this village, hunting in the wilderness to pass the time quite often, he had encountered his fair share of suffering–but this? It was like nothing he had ever experienced!

Looking down at his torso, he saw the hilt of a dagger sticking out of it. A somewhat sweet but also metallic taste welled up in his mouth. It didn’t take long until he couldn’t help but choke a little and began to cough up blood.

“W-What... happ... ened? ... how? ... w... hy?”

Slowly but surely, he found it increasingly harder to talk and breathe due to the blood continuously rushing up his throat. He simply couldn’t believe what had just happened. The one holding the dagger that had stabbed him... was Layla?! How was this even possible!?

“You remember that my family was killed by a Cultivator sect, right? It was the Roaring Depths Sect. To call it the most dangerous and influential sect in the entire region would be an understatement! It’s one of the three most powerful sects in the entire world! The Drifting Clouds Sect that I’m going to join can’t even compare to a tiny fraction of it. As a result, it won’t be able to protect you.”

Stroking Cian’s cheek with her bloodstained hand, Layla began to explain herself. The guilt and torment that she felt inside was on the same level as his, so she was speaking about these things for both of them. Maybe, just maybe... it would be easier for them this way.

“Once I start to eradicate the Roaring Depths Sect, I’ll eventually get found out. My identity won’t be a mystery, and neither will yours. Originally, if you had been able to follow me on this path, it would have been a little bit easier for you to stay safe. But... without a Spiritual Root, it just can’t be done.”

A deep anger and shame directed at himself flooded Cian’s mind when he heard these words, even overwhelming the agony of betrayal and–literal–heartache that were starting to drown him. Deep inside, he knew that she wasn’t lying, that she had truly hoped that they would be able to walk this path together. But in the end, she had to choose. And she chose revenge over love.

“If they catch you, not only will they be able to control my actions to an extent, endangering me... but even worse, when they realize how much you matter to me, they’ll definitely torture you. You can’t even imagine the depths of depravity that Cultivator sects’ torture can reach! I never, ever want you to experience anything like it! So, for both of us... it’s better if you die here, in my arms. It’ll be less painful for you, I hope.”

Amidst his suffering and his quickly fading perception, a sudden thought came to Cian’s mind: But what about Layla? Surely, having killed him will hurt her–probably more than he could ever imagine. And she’ll just have to live with that?! Noticing the inquiring stare of worry in his rapidly blurring eyes, Layla gave a bright smile that looked more like she was howling in despair.

“It’s fine. I told you, right? Our time together will forever be etched into my memory. I’ll never forget you. I know what sin I’ll carry, but I’ll do it. Forever. Whatever is necessary to keep my memories of you with me for all of time, I’ll do it.”

As these words left her lips, the resolve in her eyes deepened by multiple orders of magnitude, surpassing even madness. By now, her face was everything that Cian could still see, if ever so slightly. But he was sure–just like how Layla would carry memories of him for eternity, he would never be able to forget her, as well as the face that she made at this very moment. Unfortunately, he was seconds away from the cold embrace of death.

‘I love you, Layla.’

Partially because he wanted to ease her path a little, but also because it was all that mattered to him, he mouthed these words that he could no longer speak due to the blood clogging up his entire throat.

“I love you too, Cian. Forever and eve–”

These were the last words Cian Palgrave ever heard in his life. Before Layla could even finish, everything had turned dark and silent–all of his senses had left him. The warmth of the girl that he loved was gone forever.

↞•↠

Cian didn’t know how long he had stayed in this state, but eventually, he felt a pull in a direction that he couldn’t remotely begin to describe. It got stronger over time and ultimately, it reached the point where, even if he had tried to resist, it would have been pointless–he got dragged somewhere with ever-increasing speed. From time to time, the direction of the pull changed, but one thing didn’t: It grew stronger.

It wasn’t his body that was being carried off to an unknown destination, but his soul. This much, he had realized some time after the pull had made itself known. At that point, something akin to his senses–but not quite like them–had returned, allowing him to move his “body”: A glowing, somewhat transparent version of his physical self from just before his death, minus the stab wound in his chest.

To be honest, while this experience was intriguing and maybe even a bit exciting, he wasn’t the slightest bit in the mood to enjoy it or feel strongly about it any which way. Rather, all that his mind felt was agony. Betrayal, echoes of his physical suffering, the pain of eternal separation and deep regret for the burden Layla would have to carry intermingled, almost completely shutting down his mind.

An interminable amount of time later, he eventually came to. He didn’t know how, and he certainly couldn’t cope with his emotional situation yet, but at the very least, he was conscious enough again to recognize what was happening to him.

By now, he found himself in one of uncountably many seemingly endless lines of souls just like him–they were glowing and slightly transparent, as well as of all shapes and sizes. There were men, women, humanoid creatures whose sex he couldn’t determine, beings akin to monstrosities, as well as demihumans of a sheer variety that boggled his mind. All ages were represented too, whether that be toddlers–or beings a bit younger than that, which had probably not been born yet–children, teenagers, adults and the elderly. Some even looked as if they had already been buried for hundreds of years. Considering his own situation, he speculated that these people–somehow–had to have managed to survive until they reached such a point. What utter madness!

When he tried to communicate with those around him as they were quickly getting dragged forward, he realized that he couldn’t do anything at all. Except for moving his eyeballs to look around, his soul was entirely immobile, as if it had been bound tightly with an invisible rope. As long as he didn’t try to stir, he wouldn’t feel a thing, but once he did, an overwhelming pressure kept him compliant.

‘Alright, if I can’t even chat with my fellow deceased here, then I guess this will be a relatively boring ride.’

Mentally joking with himself to ease the monotony and distract himself from the suppressed emotions that tried to drown him every second, he focused on observing everything that he could. Even if he just saw a new kind of demihuman–for example, one with fox ears instead of dog ears–he still felt at least a little bit of excitement. Admittedly, he overexaggerated it–but hey, at the end of the day, it worked!

He continued like this for far, far too long. Then, eventually, he seemed to spy the end of his journey in the distance. From all directions, countless more lines of souls gathered together at one point: A building hovering in the void whose size he couldn’t even remotely understand or determine–it was just too massive! There were countless entrances at regular intervals, reminding him of a honeycomb. One line of souls corresponded to exactly one of those openings.

Most surprising of all was the presence of “people”–or rather, humanoid beings that didn’t look all too different from some of the various species and races that he had seen getting carried along the lines of souls which he was a part of.

What made these beings stand out was that they were not glowing or transparent at all–they appeared... alive. There was exactly one of them next to each entrance to the void megastructure, and they were seated at a table with a strange green tablet made out of a marble-like material placed atop it. All of them, without exception, were solemnly staring at the souls floating past them and noting down something on their stone tablets all the while. They held carbon copies of the same exact black fountain pens engraved with a glowing green pattern whose meaning Cian couldn’t even remotely decipher at all–for all he knew, it could have been a natural result of the material the barrels and caps were made out of.

As he got increasingly closer to the gargantuan building, what lay behind those entrances also came into view. There were extremely thin barriers of the same colour as the fountain pens’ patterns. Whenever one of the souls passed through one of them, it would light up for less than a fraction of a second, and by the time the soul arrived at the other side, it had turned into nothing but a glowing, transparent orb of uniform size. All individuality that had been present beforehand was completely gone.

The best guess that Cian could make was that these barriers somehow absorbed those parts of the souls. Maybe, they “cleansed” them of the baggage that was their past life, turning them into a blank slate that would go onwards to join the Reincarnation Cycle. But unfortunately, he didn’t have too much time to ponder these things, as he rapidly got closer to what would spell the end of his existence.

Internally, he gave a powerless smile and took a deep breath, thinking only about that very last scene that he had seen, the one that he never wanted to forget–Layla and the look on her face as she made him that eternal promise.

‘Goodbye, Layla. I’m sure you’ll do well. You’ve always been incredibly strong–far stronger than me!’

As he was saying his farewell to the one he loved the most and cheered her on, he touched the barrier. At that very moment, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the one that he had come into contact with was flickering ever so imperceptibly–nothing like this had happened during his observations! But before his mind could do anything more than to take note of this fact, he had already passed through the barrier.

‘... huh? My mind... is still here!?’

Not only did his existence not come to an end, but to his astonishment, his soul was still in the exact same shape as it had been before. What was going on here?! The soul that followed him through the barrier also got turned into a uniform orb...

That aside, even the pressure that had been keeping him constrained was gone as if it had never existed in the first place–but he still felt something pulling him deeper into the structure, if only ever so tenderly. So without much of an idea of what else to do, he followed this calling.

Unbeknownst to Cian–as he was already inside of the building–at the very moment that he had come into contact with the barrier, or rather, when it flickered, every single one of the beings that had been busy keeping track of something outside of the structure vanished as if they had been snapped out of existence all at once. All that remained were the identical fountain pens that were floating in mid-air above the green tablets on the tables. As time passed, they eventually drifted off into the void, towards their own endless journeys.

But none of that entered Cian’s eyes. What greeted him inside of the building was a long pathway that ultimately led to a “river”. Well, at least that was the best description of it that he could come up with on the spot. Something that he couldn’t perceive was rushing in a particular direction. When he cautiously came into contact with it, it gave him the same feeling as the pulling sensation that he had been experiencing. By now, he could sense some warmth and gentleness from it. It felt... motherly, and like the place he should be.

In the river, aside from the soul orbs, swam what he could only describe as “fishes”. They were of many different sizes and looked to be made up out of the same kind of “material” as the soul orbs. Just like them, they also didn’t have any discernible features, except for their vaguely fish-esque, long shapes. Contrary to the orbs, however, they exhibited an apparent sentience of some kind. Whenever they passed an orb, they stopped for a while, and seemingly at random, they either continued onwards or fused with the orb. The latter situation of the two only occurred extremely rarely.

Not sure what else he could do, Cian finally followed the calling and dove into the river, letting it drag him along to wherever it would eventually lead. Countless soul orbs and fishes flitted past him on the way. Something odd that he realized a long time later was that none of the fishes ever stopped next to him at all, whereas they always did so right next to every single soul orb that hadn’t been combined with one of them yet. This didn’t change the fact that only very rarely did any of them ever actually fuse with a soul orb, but the stopping behaviour was consistent.

‘Is it because... I’m not one of those orbs? So they won’t “examine” me? Or whatever it is that they’re doing.’

With nothing else to do, all he could spend his time with was speculating like this while suppressing the excruciating emotions that constantly bubbled beneath the surface.

Just like that, time passed. The river went on and on, and Cian floated along. One other observation he had made was that the soul orbs would ultimately leave this river, as if dragged into another direction for some reason. Most likely... it was their reincarnation destination, to put it in family friendly terms.

What had to come would eventually arrive. One day, it was time for Cian to leave the river. As he got further and further away from it, he accelerated to a speed that he couldn’t even remotely comprehend. There was only void around him, and nothing to perceive, no matter how hard her tried. Then...

All of a sudden, his senses changed completely. From a soul’s ones, they turned into physical ones. Although all he could feel was that it was warm around him and that he couldn’t open his eyes–if he even had any at this point. He floated in a small “ocean” and could perceive his own heartbeat... as well as a far more powerful one from somewhere above his body, but clearly a fair distance away.

‘... it’s comfortable, for sure. But damn, is it awkward!’

Thinking about how he was currently residing within a human body, a self-deprecating smile couldn’t help but play across his lips. The starting point of his reincarnation was a lot less eventful than he had imagined it to be.

Chapter 3

A Second Life

For the following roughly eight months, Cian’s life was mostly uneventful. Due to his body still being in its gestation period, he didn’t have much energy to spend, so he slept almost constantly. The short few snippets of time that he was awake, he also couldn’t really do anything, except for taking in his surroundings with his slowly developing senses.

As for training his martial prowess in the womb, or other fantastical ideas? He genuinely wasn’t in any position to do so. Not only was his body extremely fragile and weak, but he also didn’t even know what he should do to become stronger in the first place, except for basic movements. Sometimes when he did stretch his limbs ever so slightly, he could hear indistinct, muffled noises–perhaps voices–from the outside world.

Very early on into his stay, Cian had already decided that he would live this new life to its fullest. Last time, he didn’t have the opportunity to rise beyond a mortal, but now, there once again was a non-zero chance to do so! He couldn’t bet on retaining his memories the next time he reincarnated as well, so he had to make the most of this opportunity. Whether or not he could actually tread on the path to immortality was not all too important–if he could, then it would be great, but if he couldn’t, all it would result in would be a helpless sigh.

One thing that he was certain of was that he most likely wouldn’t be able to develop affection for anyone in this lifetime. Not only did he still love Layla–who was most likely still alive–but even if she had already passed away, he simply couldn’t forget her. While the pain had slowly begun to fade, that didn’t change the fact that everything had happened far too recently. Wounds needed time to heal, especially deep ones like this one.

The closer the present approached the day of his inevitable birth, the more active Cian became, causing the frequency of voices from the outside to increase as well.

As for that fated day... to be honest, he did his best to keep his eyes closed and shut off his imagination, whilst cooperating with the person who he thought to be a midwife to the greatest extent possible. Having grown up in a medium-sized village, he had seen births before, and they weren’t pretty to observe. He definitely didn’t want to spectate one in first-person perspective!

Thanks to him playing along very nicely, the process of birth was incredibly smooth, but the agony that his mother experienced–unsurprisingly–couldn’t be fully mitigated after all.

Warm air currents that felt comparatively cold in contrast to his residence of the past months tickled his skin, making him realize that the coast was clear. Once his face and body had been swept clean by what he guessed to be some kind of towel, he opened his eyes with a bit of difficulty, squinting strongly to combat the blinding brightness.

Holding him was a middle-aged woman with brown hair and a gentle expression on her face. Distracted as he was, he didn’t notice that a knife had silently approached the placenta that was still connecting him to his mother. With practised ease, it was cut through very close to the spot where his belly button would come to be, but astonishingly, he barely felt anything at all. Still, he couldn’t help but yelp in surprise, eliciting a chuckle from the woman who he suspected to be a midwife, as well as from the young couple in the room that he hadn’t managed to pay attention to so far.

His mother was lying on a fur-covered bed and wrapped in a blanket that was still stained with blood down below, so he couldn’t make out most of her body. She appeared to be less than twenty years old, had long, brown hair and sparkling emerald eyes. Despite her dishevelled state, she still looked quite beautiful. That doting smile on her lips made him instinctively feel close to her, even though he couldn’t deny that his own situation was considerably... odd.

Standing a little bit closer to the midwife than the bed and eagerly waiting for newborn Cian to be handed to him was a young man of about the same age as his mother. He was really well-built and likely a little bit taller than his last life’s father, Oisin. His black hair was barely one or two centimetres long, and his beard was about the same. A hint of confusion was mixed into the excitement that his blue eyes practically glowed with. As for his clothing, he wore what could only be described as a barbarian-style, primitive outfit made from fur and hide.

Looking a bit closer at his surroundings, Cian noticed that he was inside of some sort of tent made out of wood, bones, fur and hide. Clearly, this was a far less developed society than where he had come from–even though his rural village life most likely was only a couple of steps ahead.

Realizing that everyone was starting to look at him with a bit of concern, he decided to make some random noises so that they wouldn’t worry too much. As he recalled, most babies announced their arrival into the world by practically terrorizing everyone with their screams, so if he stayed utterly silent, that certainly wouldn’t be seen as a good thing.

Thankfully, this impromptu acting gig dissolved the worry on the faces of the other three, but gradually, as he was being held by his parents, more hints of doubt showed on their faces once the initial excitement and joy wore off. Whilst they were discussing something that he couldn’t understand, Cian grew a bit worried. Was there anything wrong with him?

Upon further exploring the inside of the tent with his eyes, he noticed a small mirror made out of a reflective material that he wasn’t familiar with at the bedside. That moment was also when he froze completely–he saw his own appearance.

Contrary to what might have been expected, he didn’t look anything like his family. He still sported the same light blonde hair and purple eyes that he had had in his last life! But shouldn’t a child’s looks always be derived from their parents?!

‘No wonder they’re weirded out... I’d be too, if I were them.’

Luckily, this unpleasant situation didn’t continue for long–both parents didn’t know what happened, so they chose to deal with it later, if at all. The midwife chipped in from the side, reminding Cian’s new mother to feed him, so he got to experience the embarrassing situation of having to drink her milk straight from the source.

Clearly not used to so much physical activity, he soon drifted off into a deep sleep, nestled in his mother’s embrace.

Over the following days, he spent every waking minute paying as much attention as possible to the words that he was hearing. Having come into contact with a new language that he had never encountered before–his second one, for the record–he felt confused and desperate at first. Shockingly, however, over time, he slowly managed to divide the sounds that he heard into words or names, and began to associate a few of them with what he saw.

Firstly, there were the names of his family, as well as that of the midwife that stopped by frequently. Cian was called Ivo, his father’s name was Regin, his mother was Hildr and Gerhild was the midwife. He hadn’t really picked up on any family name yet.

Whenever his parents called him, he tried his best to pay attention to them and repeat the words that they were saying, even though he often had no idea what they were supposed to mean. Pronouncing them was simple enough, but understanding them? That took a significant while.

In such a fashion, half a decade passed by. All this time, he had been desperately trying his best to pick up the new language all around him, as well as to become more physically capable. His rate of improvement often caused his parents or visiting relatives to exclaim in surprise, lauding him as some sort of genius–which he most certainly wasn’t. Any reborn person would achieve the same results, or even better ones.

There were two things that Cian was incredibly happy about. On one hand, he had long since stopped drinking his mother’s milk, eliminating that source of discomfort. And on the other hand, the peculiar gazes that his parents shot him due to his unusual appearance had completely disappeared after a shaman-looking weirdo had visited the couple. From the broken bits of conversation that he had managed to pick up at the time, he was considered to be some sort of Nature’s Chosen One...

It was clearly bogus, but at the very least, even the last hints of suspicion in the glances that his father had previously occasionally sent in his mother’s direction had disappeared completely. What further helped with that was the fact that there seemed to be nobody in the tribe that they were living in who shared any of Cian’s physical features. Evidently, he couldn’t be another man’s child.

Maybe because he was still so young, his parents and the tribespeople didn’t bother to hide such matters from him, as nobody expected him to truly understand what they were talking about in the first place.

At the age of six, having picked up on his desire to grow stronger, his father Regin started to help him train a little every day. It began with harmless running or other exercises, but by the time he turned eight years old, he even got taught how to wield a small wooden spear, as well as a miniature bow and arrow set.

He did have a little bit of experience with both from his previous life, so he showed a lot of promise, causing his father to have high expectations for him. Even if he didn’t end up having a Warrior’s Blessing, allowing him to embark on the path of superhuman power, he would certainly become a strong person!

Speaking of the Warrior’s Blessing, it sounded extremely similar to the Spiritual Roots from Cian’s last life. Children over the age of 10 got examined, and there were various levels of strength that the blessings could have. Better ones could allow one to proceed faster and further on the path of power.

In his household, his mother was the one constantly keeping his expectations grounded and realistic–it was extremely unlikely for anyone to possess a Warrior’s Blessing, so her little Ivo shouldn’t get hung up over it. It was great to have one, but it wouldn’t really matter if he didn’t. His father was a lot more excited about the whole thing, because the shaman had called Cian a Nature’s Chosen One when he was younger. Still, he acknowledged that the chances of him ending up disappointed were high–he wouldn’t hold it against little Ivo and put too much of a burden on those small shoulders.

If Cian had been a regular child, all of this would have only served to make him more nervous and determined to succeed. Even as a reborn person, he still found it difficult to calm his mind at all times, keeping his hopes for the future in check.

Another two years had come and gone very quickly. During that time, Cian had slowly but surely integrated into the Lahhi Tribe that his family was a part of. There were only a few hundred people inhabiting the short wooden stake-wall enclosed tent village. Many of them were focused on gathering medicinal herbs to created medicines for both their own tribe and the surrounding ones. Of course, they nonetheless needed their own hunters and guards, so those were still the most strongly represented occupations. There were only a dozen or so children around Cian’s age, most of which he got along with decently well, but he would be lying if he said that there weren’t a few despicable bullies that picked on him due to his unusual looks.

In a somewhat harmonious atmosphere that was only occasionally disrupted by an injured hunter or two, Cian’s 10th birthday arrived, and so did the Warrior’s Blessing examination that he had to undergo.

“Just hold this pearl, Ivo, and try to absorb the energy contained within. If it doesn’t work at first, don’t give up! It’s not easy to figure out how to succeed. But don’t beat yourself up if you can’t do it, alright?”

The shaman that had proclaimed him a Nature’s Chosen One handed Cian a familiar-looking object. Wasn’t this almost exactly the same as what he had seen in his last life?! At this point, the young boy was truly convinced that he either might have been born in the same world, or both worlds shared an identical path to immortality.

Like last time, he did his absolute best. Nobody was more desperate for this to work than him! After all, the true reason for the disastrous end of his first life was his inability to grow beyond the limits of a mortal. If he could do so in this one, then how great would that be? Perhaps, he might even be able to reunite with Layla...

His efforts and hopes were fated to result in disappointment. Only after he had left the shaman’s tent did the despair slowly start to subside. A wry smile played across his lips–he shouldn’t have been that optimistic. He knew how unlikely it was for him to be one of the lucky ones. And yet... he had given in to hope.

“It’s alright, Ivo! Cheer up! You’re still Mommy’s hero, no matter what!”

Feeling the loving embrace of his mother, Hildr, and listening to the comforting words that she whispered into his ears, Cian slowly calmed down and threw the matter of the path to immortality out of his mind. A normal life wasn’t too bad. He had a loving family that he had grown to cherish over this decade, and this area had been quite peaceful all this time. What more could he possibly want?

Over the coming years, under the tutelage of his father as well as other warriors and hunters of the tribe, Cian steadily grew stronger and more capable. When he finally was allowed to participate in hunts, it was as if a fish had returned to the sea. Everything felt natural and smooth! Amidst the cheers and support of his fellow tribespeople, he slowly but surely became a very accomplished core of the hunting squad by the time he turned 16.

There had been other changes over these years, though. A girl of the same age, Unnr, had developed a strong interest in him. He had clearly never reciprocated her affection, merely treating her like he did everyone else in the tribe, but his outstanding looks and capabilities were more attractive than he realized.

In a small community like this, once a person got fancied by someone, then everybody would know. In most cases, the not-yet-existent relationship would gain the overwhelming support of the people, urging the potential lovers in question to tie the knot as soon as possible. The same was happening here. Even Cian’s parents were doing their best to matchmake.

When it escalated to the point where they were secretly trying to set up private meetings with Unnr, he finally had no choice but to confront them about it.

“Mom, Dad. I know that you just want the best for me, but I’m not going to marry anyone in this life. I just... can’t. Please understand!”

He couldn’t outright state that he was a reborn person, but he also didn’t want to lie to them, so all of his explanations basically boiled down to words like these. Needless to say, they were very much lacking, and didn’t satisfy his parents at all. They simply couldn’t make sense of why their son was like this. What was wrong with him?

Eventually, they at least began to understand that he had no feelings for Unnr whatsoever and didn’t press him on the issue any further. He cleanly rejected the girl on multiple occasions, and then finally, everyone began to stop bothering him about it. Regrettably, he was treated like some sort of social outcast as a result, because Unnr took the rejection very badly, weeping almost non-stop for a few weeks. He also felt sorry for her, but he wouldn’t enter a relationship with someone who he didn’t have any feelings for–especially when the last person that he loved had killed him, and might very well still be alive. It just wasn’t the right time at all!

As Cian slowly grew older, a couple of other women showed their interest in him, most of which were from neighbouring tribes–but he rejected them all. Thankfully, he got more experienced with the process, so the heartache got dialled down to the minimum. But by the time he turned 25, his parents’ worries in regards to his love life intensified, and they had another debate that ended with them not really comprehending why he didn’t pursue a family of his own.

Fortunately, after more than a decade and a half of trying–their luck had truly been abysmal–Hildr finally gave birth to another child: A young girl that they named Yngvildr. And just like that, Cian had a little sister for the first time.

In his last life, he had been the youngest sibling and didn’t even have a sister, so this was a new experience for him. Like his parents, he couldn’t help but dote on the adorable little kid. Her presence also made his mother and father throw the issue of their Ivo’s partner to the back of their minds, which caused the peaceful family times to return in full force.

After all these years, Cian had also managed to become the leader of the hunting squad. In part due to him ignoring any sort of romantic endeavours, he had far more time to spend on training himself than others. Coupled with his last life’s experience, he had already far surpassed everybody else in the tribe by the age of twenty–well, everyone who didn’t have a Warrior’s Blessing, that is. Thankfully enough, none of the Blessed Ones, as they were called, ever made any trouble for him, so he could practically treat the entire territory of the tribe as his own backyard. Even the bullies of the past had long stopped annoying him, maybe because they were too afraid of being roughed up.

In the blink of an eye, another 10 years flew by. Before Cian knew it, Yngvildr had already found a boy she liked and their parents were in talks with the youngster’s family to arrange the wedding. And yet, aside from further refining his own abilities, Cian hadn’t done much. He had got injured a few times by particularly ferocious wild beasts, but it never was anything serious.

‘They grow up so quickly...’

Shaking his head and mentally quoting a classic line that he had heard many a time in his two lives, Cian led yet another expedition into the wild. This time, they were trying to expand the tribe’s territory a little bit further towards the east, because there was an unclaimed stretch of land that none of the neighbouring tribes had ventured into so far. He had done similar things quite regularly over the years, so aside from the usual danger of the wilds, he didn’t expect to encounter anything special.

‘How could I have been so naïve?!’

Cursing his own complacency, Cian dodged behind a boulder several times more massive than his own body, catching his breath. Only a day had passed since he had set out with the hunting squad, but they had run into an entirely unprecedented problem.

Seconds after he found shelter, a massive impact rocked the boulder and split it partially with a loud cracking noise. Imagining himself having been the one who got struck like this, Cian grew pale and darted to the back of a nearby tree, then jumped and rolled behind yet another boulder.

If he had been even a tiny bit slower, then the arrow that flitted past him and crashed into the ground with the force of a cannonball would have ended him. A cloud of dust and dirt shrouded the area, allowing him to sneakily make his way to yet another hiding place.

Yes, this time, the enemies were humans. But if that was all, then it wouldn’t have been anything special. Confrontations between the local tribes happened on occasion, but they were nothing like this. What Cian’s squad had encountered weren’t fellow hunters, but powerful enemies that surpassed them in every way possible–Blessed Ones!

Even having a handful of them in a tribe was a rarity, so they would seldom venture out as a group. And exactly such a thing had happened. Cian recognized one of them–he was from the Wulf Tribe that they had traded with last year. They had only just arrived at this part of the wilderness and had been trying to build friendly relations back then. But now, it was obvious that all of that had simply been a cover that allowed them to scout the area for potential threats.

‘They attacked us without a warning. Willric, Theotman and Eadwine died immediately. I don’t know if anyone else has made it through all those volleys of attacks...’

A strong worry for the safety of his family began to grip Cian’s heart. He didn’t have to think for long to come up with the reason for the Wulf Tribe’s actions: They were countless times bigger and stronger than the settlements here and needed to expand to gather more resources. To do so, they would wipe out smaller tribes as efficiently as possible. Absorbing them wouldn’t do them any good–it would only increase the population, and those newly assimilated tribes wouldn’t be their own, original people anyway. They might harbour ill will and cause problems in the future, so it was best to get rid of them cleanly.

‘... most other tribes in such an overwhelmingly stronger position would act the same way. The Lahhi Tribe and everyone else around here can only behave somewhat cordially because they are still small and don’t have to worry about running out of food or materials too much.’

But even though he could understand the actions of his enemies, he would never lie down and let them slaughter his family! A strong urge to fight back burned in his heart, but he suppressed it. He knew that he didn’t stand a chance in a martial confrontation, so the best thing that he could do was to make his way back home and warn everyone else! Perhaps, there was still a chance to escape.

With a newfound determination and goal, Cian used his familiarity with the environment to his advantage and continuously avoided the attacks of his pursuers. Despite their vastly superior physical capabilities, he actually managed to slip away relatively quickly!

But he had no time to pat himself on the back for a job well done. He was a day away from home, so he still had a long way to go. Only stopping very rarely to drink handfuls of water and devour some of the rations that he had brought with him, he ran and ran, vastly exceeding the limitations of his body.

No matter how strong the pain got or how blurry and distorted his view became, he gritted his teeth, slapped himself awake and continued onwards. For he knew: His pursuers could overtake him at any moment. He desperately hoped that they wouldn’t really care about his tribe, but simply about their territory. If they gave it up without a fight, they could just let them go, right? Maybe, all of that was merely wishful thinking, and they wanted to nip a potential future revenge in the bud...

Very soon, Cian didn’t even have the excess strength to ponder about these things any more and could only single-mindedly rush ahead until the sun kissed the horizon.

“Ivo, what’s wrong? Where’s everyone else!?”

The guard at the entrance came up to him and supported his shaking body that was far beyond the point of collapse. Forcing himself to stay conscious for just a little bit longer, Cian relayed all the information that he could amidst short, rapid breaths.

“Encountered dozens of Blessed Ones. Everyone else is dead. They’re coming. We stand no chance. Everyone has to escape!”

And just like that, the last remnant of energy in his body left him–he fell unconscious.

After a long time, Cian eventually came to again. The first thing that greeted him was the ceiling of an unfamiliar tent. He had not enough strength to sit up and everything hurt–he couldn’t even feel his limbs. A pained groan escaped his lips as he tried to move.

“Whoa, hold up! Stay down, Ivo! You’re in terrible shape. Here, take a sip of this and recover some more. Don’t worry, we’ve already run away and set up a new village. You’ve been out cold for two weeks now, your family was really worried about you.”

Seeing the familiar face of the elderly shaman, Cian followed his instructions and soon drifted off into a deep sleep once more.

The next time he awoke, he found his little sister holding his hand and crying. His mother was kneeling at the other side of his bed, sobbing as well. Even his father, who he had rarely ever seen shed a tear, had reddened eyes and was patting his mother’s back while watching him with a loving but forced smile on his face. He knew that they were talking because he saw their lips move, but he couldn’t hear any sounds at all. Aside from moving his eyes, he couldn’t do anything else either.

It was a bit similar to the restrained state that his soul body had been in before he passed that barrier, but also different–after all, he couldn’t feel his body whatsoever. There wasn’t even numbness.

‘... looks like I really overdid it. I don’t think I’ll be coming back from this. But hey, this isn’t too bad. If the old man wasn’t lying to me, then they’re at least all safe. That’s good enough.’

Despite his somewhat clouded mind, he quickly realized what was going on. He tried his best to put a smile on his lips, but he didn’t know if he succeeded, because he was lacking all bodily sensations. Judging from the changing expressions of his family, though, he probably did it.

‘I really don’t want to go, but this is so much better than last time. Goodbye, Mom, Dad and Yngvildr. I hope the rest of your lives will be peaceful and happy.’

This time, he actively chose to close his eyes and welcome the end. Even though he had to wait for a while, it didn’t take too long. It was a cold but familiar embrace, so no panic settled in. Instead, he stayed patient. Very soon, he felt a certain pull and could inspect his soul body once more.

Compared to the time after his last death, it had grown a year or two older, making him appear to be around 18 years old. He had also taken along his more muscular build from this life, causing a smirk to play across his lips. Upon some further contemplation, he speculated that his soul body might just be a reflection of how he viewed himself internally.

‘I wonder... will it actually be over this time, or will I keep my memories again?’

When this thought came to mind, to be honest, Cian couldn’t help but hope for the latter. Aside from Layla, who he never wanted to forget, his two lives’ families were also very important to him. He now had double the reason to wish for a continuation of last time’s miracle.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the honeycomb-like building in the void arrived in front of his eyes earlier than last time. Maybe the length and path of his journey here was influenced by where exactly in the physical world he died? It was very likely.

Some time ago, he had already joined a nigh-endless number of souls drifting towards their final destination. This time, however, he didn’t feel any restriction and could comfortably look around, or even move from line to line! Everyone else seemed to be in the same immobile state that he had been in previously, though.

For a while, he debated whether or not he should try to communicate with the other souls, but he decided against it. He knew very well that he wouldn’t be getting any answers. So instead, he used his mobility to accelerate towards the void megastructure, trying to shorten the boring journey a little.

When he arrived, he noticed that something was off. All the beings that had been taking notes were simply... gone. Realizing that they had left their tables and tablets behind, he walked towards them and tried to decipher what they had written down, but he couldn’t recognize the language. But the worst part was that he couldn’t touch the tablets, the tables or the chairs. Or anything else for that matter. He hadn’t become aware of it last time, but even when he stepped into the building, he didn’t actually manage to touch the floor. Rather, he floated slightly above it.

‘Huh. I don’t know what this means, but it’s certainly interesting.’

Deciding that he didn’t want to pass through the barrier yet, Cian roamed around and explored as much of his surroundings as he could, only to return to one of the many entrances hours or maybe days later, quite disappointed. He had checked and could confidently say that the building had no other openings at all. There was absolutely nothing of note! Heck, even those fountain pens that he had seen last time seemed to have disappeared alongside their owners.

‘I can wait here forever... or I can risk it.’

Aware of the choice that he had to make, Cian hesitated for a considerable while and observed his fellow deceased turning into uniform soul orbs, like always. Then, he took a deep breath and stepped forward, through the barrier. He had never been a man of indecision, especially when he was certain that he would go insane one day if he simply stayed in place for eternity.

It turned out that he shouldn’t have been so afraid after all. Just like last time, he passed through the barrier intact. The only difference was that on this occasion, it didn’t flicker. Emboldened by this favourable result, Cian moved back and forth through the barrier a few times in succession, but nothing happened at all. He was completely ignored.

‘Looks like the cause of the flickering back then wasn’t me. It’s probably still related to my unusual situation, though.’

This was all that he could figure out for now. He had some theories in mind, but none of them really held any water or were supported by evidence, so they were nothing more than figments of his imagination. In other words, they could be disregarded.

Without anything else better to do, Cian walked deeper into the building once more until he stood right in front of the river. He honestly wasn’t sure how to feel about getting to live another life, but he soon cheered up: It would be one more chance for him to rise above the limits of a regular person! Surely, he would get lucky someday, right? If not this time, then the next, or the one after. There was only one thing that he was certain of–these reincarnations were very likely to continue!

‘What do they say again? The third time’s the charm!’

Hyping himself up, Cian dove into the river and let it carry him away. Unsurprisingly, none of the fishes paid any attention to him, but he didn’t let that bother him. Who knows what fusing with them did to the soul orbs to begin with? Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing that they left him all alone.

... admittedly, the last two sentences were merely how Cian coped with these odd circumstances.

Nothing of particular note happened during his travels along the currents, but at the very least, he felt safe and warm throughout. Weeks or perhaps months later–it may have even been years–he finally left the river, getting dragged off to yet another new place to call his home.

All at once, his physical senses returned, and again, his frail little body found itself in a warm “ocean”.

‘The second time around isn’t so bad. At least I can rest as much as I want!’

Keeping a positive outlook on the situation, he slowly drifted off to sleep while listening to his mother’s heartbeat.

Nothing special occurred for at least a few months.

Then, out of nowhere, the peace was disturbed in a way that he had never experienced before.

Loud shouts and screams erupted outside, to the extent that even Cian was woken up by them. It sounded like some sort of argument, but he couldn’t be certain. Just as he prepared to ignore the noise and force himself back into a deep slumber, the ocean suddenly got stirred up, and he softly collided with its walls–his mother had been violently shoved and fallen as a result.

‘What is going on out there?!’

Flabbergasted, Cian chose to pay more attention to everything, only to regret doing so moments later. Even louder screams erupted from outside, and the ocean that he had been in suddenly ebbed away, exposing him to the cold.

‘... damn. Don’t tell me...!’

Exactly as he had feared, the sharp object that had brutally exposed him to the elements found its mark on his body less than a few seconds later. Thankfully, his nerves weren’t fully developed yet, but the pain that he felt was nonetheless overwhelming.

At the very least, he could thank his fragile self for the ability to die almost instantly. The agony hadn’t even fully set in yet when he found himself welcoming a cold and dark embrace once again.

‘...’

Both speechless and angry at whoever had attacked him and his mother, he once more drifted towards the honeycomb-like megastructure.

Chapter 4

If At Third You Don’t Succeed

No matter how enraged he felt, he soon recognized that there was absolutely nothing that he could do. He had no idea where and to whom he would have been born, so there was no way to find out anything more about the situation, or to take revenge. Most likely, by the time his next life began, whoever it was that had harmed his mother would already be dead.

Having reasoned himself out of his fury, Cian could do nothing but become dejected for a while. Fortunately, by the time that the familiar void building came into view, he had managed to snap out of that state as well.

‘There is no point to being sad. I’ll just move on and try again.’

Encouraging himself, he didn’t hesitate at all and stepped through the barrier and soon dove into the river, floating along peacefully. Whenever he was here, it seemed as if the anguish that he felt turned a little bit less prominent–maybe it had some kind of mental healing effect?

Eventually, he departed towards a new life once more. This time, during his entire lengthy stay as a fetus, nothing out of the ordinary happened. He tried his best to pick up a few words from the outside, but he simply wasn’t able to. So all he could do was to repeat his second life’s actions and prepare himself as best as he could.

After he was born, however, everything changed.

Although he was still being held by a midwife this time, the room he was in was evidently far more luxurious than anything he had ever seen before. It was clearly a private room housing a massive bed, with an exquisite crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. An enormous window enabled him to look at the world beyond, which was a carefully maintained, gorgeous garden. Everything appeared perfect.

Except for his father. The moment when the slightly snobbish looking redhead with a stout build saw him, sheer disbelief clouded his eyes. Seconds later, extreme rage twisted his previously gentle face into a mask of fury, and he charged towards the bed, giving the gorgeous young woman lying on top of it with an exhausted but blissful smile a violent slap, almost sending her flying.

He pointed at newborn Cian and shouted something that the reincarnator couldn’t understand, before raising his hand and clenching it into a fist, ready to strike the woman once again. But ultimately, amidst the pained sobs and evident confusion of Cian’s mother, he stopped himself and turned around, making his way outside. When he left, the redhead had a self-deprecating smile on his lips as well as a lifeless look in his eyes. From one moment to the next, he seemed to have aged more than a decade.

‘...’

Knowing that it was his fault that all of this had occurred, Cian felt nothing but overwhelming guilt–his birth clearly had just destroyed this otherwise happy couple’s future. He had feared that something like this would happen one day, but maybe because he had been lucky in his second life, he hadn’t expected it to occur so soon. For a while, he didn’t know what to do.

Only when he was handed to the black-haired young woman with a swollen cheek did he try his best to grin and act like a regular newborn, intending to cheer his mother up. But even though she shot him a loving smile, he could clearly see the pain hidden underneath.

‘I’m sorry, Mom.’

In the months to come, Cian did his best to be well-behaved and learn the language plus knowledge of this new life as quickly as possible. Perhaps it was because he had done so once before, but it was a tiny bit easier to do so this time! His fast learning speed eventually caused his father, a young noble by the name of Trevor Conway, to take notice of him.

When he looked at the barely two-year-old child that could already speak fluently and read books, Trevor felt very appreciative of the boy, but also extremely pained. Ever since his birth, he had never talked to him or his mother, Lillian Conway. It would be a lie to say that he didn’t feel strong resentment in his heart, but he couldn’t blame this child, right? The boy hadn’t done anything wrong, after all!

By now, due to his family’s strict rules, Trevor had married another woman to produce an heir. He had been generous enough to not kick out his first wife after this scandal, and even raised her child. Now that the boy seemed to be extremely gifted, he could at least use this as a reason in front of his family. Maybe, if he did outstandingly well, he could adopt him in name to give him a higher quality of life.

From that day onward, Cian–who had been called James by his mother–got a lot of support in his studies and pretty much every book that he could ever ask for. He didn’t skip his physical training either, even though there didn’t seem to be any outstanding path to follow in this lifetime. Still, no matter what, it wouldn’t hurt to have a more refined body.

By the age of five, he met his younger brother, Lucas, as well as the second wife of his father, Johanna, for the first time. His mother Lillian and he had been pretty much confined to a remote part of the mansion they were living in all these years, but thankfully, they were still fed and cared for.

“I can’t believe he hasn’t chased you away yet, you filthy slut.”

The first words out of Johanna’s mouth dripped with hatred and jealousy, as well as unconcealed disgust. Cian knew that from her perspective, Lillian was nothing but a cheating wife who was still being kept around by the husband they shared due to old affections–anyone would feel angry if they experienced such a scenario. But that didn’t mean that he would merely stand by and do nothing, even though he was still a child. She had just insulted his mother, after all!

“Take those words back.”

Looking up from the book that he was reading, Cian glanced at the ostentatiously dressed woman with a calmness and maturity in his young-sounding voice that seemed quite out of place.

“Huh? What are you chiming in for, brat?”

Surprised at the fact that before the mother could respond, the son had already interjected, Johanna completely ignored what Cian had actually said and turned to him with interest. Her husband had told her that the boy was a genius, which was why he kept him around, but she hadn’t believed it. Now that the little fellow had confronted her, she wanted to find out if it was really true.

“I’m sorry, Lady Conway! James hasn’t interacted much with other people before. I hope he didn’t offend you!”

Knowing her own position in this family, Lillian hurried to Cian’s side and hugged him, shielding him from Johanna’s piercing gaze, before bowing slightly towards the other woman with an apologetic smile on her face. She knew that she had never done anything wrong, but arguing was useless. For some reason, her son looked different–and nobody ever believed her when she told them the truth. The best that she could do was to keep conflicts to a minimum and allow her little James to grow up well and healthy. She didn’t mind lowering her own status if that helped to achieve this.

‘... fine. I’ll let it go this time.’

Knowing his mother’s intentions, Cian slowly looked away from Johanna and ignored her, no matter how viciously she peppered him or his mother with questions. This did make her more angry than before, but at the very least, the situation didn’t escalate right then and there.

When the two visitors left, Lillian pulled him aside, knelt down, grasped his shoulders and looked at him sternly, directly into his eyes.

“James, it is dangerous to be rude to these people. Please, keep silent if they insult me! I can take it, alright? I know it hurts to hear such words–they hurt me too!–but we can only stay here and let you grow up this well if we can bear with it. Alright? Promise me you won’t be so confrontational again, okay?”

Amidst the pleas of his mother, Cian eventually relented. Internally, he couldn’t help but think that such a luxurious lifestyle wasn’t necessary at all, and that they might already be able to survive completely on their own, but he didn’t say so. His mother would never accept it, after all, especially because these words would be coming from her own extremely young child. And most assertions that kids made were based upon nothing but mere reckless bravado.

Another five years flew by very quickly. During that period of time, Cian’s father had hired various teachers for him–and all of them had been astonished by his learning progress. To be honest, Cian was as well. He could have sworn that digesting all of this knowledge and truly understanding it had been more difficult in his past lives. He couldn’t figure out what caused this change, so he simply accepted it.

Two years ago, due to his outstanding results, his father had adopted him, enabling Lillian and him to lead more unrestricted lives in the mansion. They had even strolled through the surrounding town quite a few times, allowing him to get familiar with the area.

The town’s name was Westfell, and it was a part of the Conway family’s duchy. As for the Conway family, they were a noble house of the Agonard Kingdom, which was the undisputed ruler of these lands. One year ago, a teacher from the Royal Academy had been dispatched to Trevor Conway’s estate and thoroughly tested Cian’s qualifications to join the school early, which was what his father had requested. To everyone’s surprise, he passed with flying colours!

Because this was an unprecedented event, it had been more than a year since the influential personnel of the academy had started to discuss his unique case, but they had yet to iron out every detail of their decision. A month ago, he had been informed that he should be prepared to set off at any time, so everything was likely going pretty well.

Ever since his dazzling performance, Lucas had treated him with far more envy and enmity than before, often berating him in public, but Cian held himself back, as he had promised his mother not to make a fuss. Perhaps, Lillian had already known that her son might have a shot at joining the Royal Academy in the future, which would enable him to earn an exalted status for himself if he did well. Then, he wouldn’t need to keep a low profile any longer.

While he was strolling through the market with his mother, holding a basket full of groceries that she had bought, he suddenly felt a prickling feeling at the back of his neck. Furrowing his brows, he cautiously looked around, trying to arouse as little attention as possible.

‘What’s going on? I’ve only felt like this while facing wild beasts and when I escaped from those Blessed Ones!’

Aware of the severity of the situation, but not sure what he should expect to happen, he subtly led his mother back to the mansion, choosing to blend into the groups of people that they encountered on the way. Eventually, the feeling faded, causing him to heave a sigh of relief.

‘We’d better be careful from now on...’

When they were back home, he told his mother to be alert when she went out in the future, because he felt an extreme danger earlier. He repeatedly emphasized that death was just around the corner until she took him seriously.

Maybe her son had noticed something that she hadn’t. Was someone aiming for the Conway family, perchance? This was what she ultimately came to think.

That night, a muffled groan awakened Cian, who had been way too perturbed to fall asleep deeply. The moment he opened his eyes and turned to look at his mother’s bed, which was right next to his, he saw something that would continue to haunt him for a very long time.

The moonlight shone down upon a black-clad person standing at Lillian’s bedside, a dagger clasped in their right hand. Blood dripped from the blade to the floor tiles below. Even though the lighting was anything but ideal, he could clearly see that his mother’s chest was bleeding profusely, and she was pressing heavily on her wound to stem the blood flow, tears rolling down her cheeks all the while. She had evidently only just woken up and barely made sense of the situation.

Not wasting any more time with thinking or assessing his surroundings, Cian jumped from the bed with a speed and force completely unlike that of a regular 10-year-old child, catching the assassin by surprise. Still, as an expert, the unfamiliar figure quickly dodged aside and slashed their dagger towards the boy, intending to end him in one strike.

Little did they expect that Cian would have anticipated this a long time ago. He adjusted the angle of his approach the moment that he noticed the attack, dodging it by a hair’s breadth, grabbing the enemy’s wrist as he was passing by. With a twist containing far more force than the assassin ever would have expected, he pried the dagger from their hand, rotated aside and kicked them in the back of their knee, causing them to topple. Then, with a quick slash, he cut across the figure’s neck before jumping backwards.

“How is this... possible!?”

A tense few seconds later, amidst gurgling sounds, the apparently male figure held his throat and stared at the boy, his voice dripping with disbelief. Never would he have imagined that anyone but this mansion’s guards could pose any danger to him on tonight’s mission. He quickly felt his strength leaving him and could only crawl backwards before lying down powerlessly, awaiting his inevitable demise.

At that moment, Cian cautiously but rapidly approached and stabbed the man once more, directly into the heart. Only after he was sure that the enemy had fully departed did he finally manage to hurry to his mother’s side.

But it was already too late. He couldn’t feel any pulse, and the assassin had evidently targeted her heart. While he was confronting the robed figure... Lillian had breathed her last.

Tears welled up in Cian’s eyes uncontrollably, and he fell to his knees, dropped the dagger on the ground and held his mother’s hand. Sobs continuously escaped his lips and his vision had become extremely blurry due to the tears. The smell of blood all around clouded his senses.

For the first time, he experienced the loss of a loved one. Even though he had reincarnated with his memories intact, and it was therefore a bit more difficult to form familial attachments, he had felt the overwhelming love and care of his mother. He had long since accepted her as his new family, plus his identity as James Conway. But now... the only one to ever truly care for him in this life–except for some of the servants that occasionally interacted with the mother-son-duo–was gone. Gone forever.

He didn’t know how long he had been crying for, but by the time he snapped out of his overwhelming despair, the entire bed and floor were drenched in blood. After some more contemplation, he buried his feelings deep inside and chose to inspect the assassin and his belongings–maybe he would find a clue about who was responsible for this. Of course, he already had a chief suspect. His mother didn’t have many enemies, after all.

It didn’t take him long to find a blood-stained mission briefing on the assailant’s corpse. Clearly, he had never expected that something could go wrong tonight, so he didn’t bother to hide anything that could potentially be used as evidence. Or perhaps, he didn’t care what happened to his clients if he failed in his attempt. Heck, there was even the possibility that this hitman deliberately wanted to drag his patron down with him if they got him killed.

“... it’s just as I thought. But honestly, who is so stupid as to use their real name when personally contracting an assassin!?”

Despite his grief and fury, Cian couldn’t help but be flabbergasted when he saw the signature at the bottom of the briefing–Johanna Conway. He had been certain that this woman was the most likely culprit, but seriously: How dumb did one have to be to leave a direct paper trail? He had seen Johanna’s signature before, and it was an almost identical match. Considering that a person would always write a little differently every time that they picked up a pen, that was completely normal.

‘... what do I do now? Do I tell Father and hope he deals with this, or do I take out that woman immediately?’

Both options weren’t great, but the latter could at least guarantee that the one responsible for his mother’s murder was brought to justice. Still, eventually, he chose to try somewhat of a middle ground between the two options.

In the dark of the night, he snuck towards his father’s bedroom and entered it without any issue. Nobody guarded the inside of the mansion, only the outside was quite decently fortified. Knowing that Trevor and Johanna didn’t share the same bedroom, because it was an entirely loveless arranged marriage born out of necessity, he wasn’t afraid that he would meet both his father and his target at the same time.

“Wake up, Father!”

“Huh? What’s going o–”

As soon as Trevor opened his eyes and mumbled this question in a barely-awake state, Cian shut his mouth with his hand, then tried to calm the panicking man down as quickly as possible.

“Please, stay quiet! I need your help. Mom just got murdered.”

These ridiculous words entered Trevor’s ears, causing him to freeze as if his mind had short-circuited. Only then did the faint stench of blood tickle his nose and the ghastly state of his adopted son get caught in his vision. His eyes widened in horror, and he wanted to shout to notify the guards, but Cian’s surprisingly firm grip kept him silent, barely allowing him to make a muffled noise.

“I’ve killed the assassin. But he had this document on him. The one who issued the mission left their signature.”

Not giving the terrified man any chance to catch up with the situation, or figure out how this child could have done away with a professional killer, Cian brought the candle that he had lit earlier closer and let Trevor read the entire mission briefing. He had already studied it before and knew that it also requested his–James Conway’s–death.

Noticing the shock and disbelief in his father’s eyes, Cian gave him a minute or two to think, then he looked directly at the man with pure hatred overflowing from within.

“I can’t believe anyone would be so stupid either, but it’s clearly the truth. Now that you’ve seen it, what will you do? Nod your head if you’ll take her out. Shake your head if you won’t.”

Shivering at the biting killing intent in young James’ voice, Trevor wanted to pry his arm away and get up once more, but he couldn’t–this child was terrifyingly strong! Finally accepting that he would have to make a choice, he thought through everything again. Then, he suddenly realized something, causing the vitality in his gaze to decrease drastically. Despair was written all over his face, and it felt like he was rapidly approaching his deathbed, despite merely being a middle-aged man.

Trevor didn’t see any way out. His elders had forced this marriage on him, and Johanna was from an influential noble family as well. Lillian, on the other hand, was only a commoner that he had fallen in love with in his youth. It was already a miracle that they had managed to get married, despite all of the barriers. But then, she had broken his heart. He had never loved Johanna–not even their child, Lucas. And yet, his situation didn’t allow him to avenge Lillian, despite wanting to do so deep within. She was the love of his life, after all.

Eventually, Trevor shook his head, tears rolling down his cheeks. Hatred for himself and his status enveloped his heart for the very first time.

“... I understand. Then goodbye, Father. And I’m sorry.”

Knocking Trevor unconscious with a quick blow, Cian took a deep breath and stealthily snuck towards Johanna’s bedroom where he unceremoniously slit her throat. He didn’t bother to converse with the woman at all–she wasn’t worth his time. Thankfully, in his life as Ivo, he had taken the lives of some enemies already, so he didn’t have to endure that admittedly horrifying guilt again now, or earlier with the assassin.

Right afterwards, he pinned the mission briefing to the wall using the assailant’s dagger. Thinking for a bit, a decided to leave it at that. Initially, he had wanted to write some sort of message to explain his actions, but that was pointless. The evidence itself was enough–but Johanna’s family and the rest of the Conway family wouldn’t care about that. Rather, they would be angry at him for not dying obediently!

The entire reason that anyone had been sent after him and his mother was that he would have a chance to contest the position of Trevor’s heir once he successfully graduated from the Royal Academy. If his father hadn’t adopted him due to the remaining love for his mother, that never would have happened. But, alas...

The Royal Academy might accept a murderer, but the noble families held quite a bit of influence over it–therefore, he could forget seeking shelter there. He had also contemplated killing Lucas, but the boy wasn’t the one who had sent a killer after them, so he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He knew that it would be the smartest choice to eliminate the roots of a problem–but his brother was merely a minor pawn whose removal wouldn’t change a single thing.

Returning to the room that he and his mother had lived in for one last time, Cian held her hand in silence, before eventually departing. Of course, he had washed up with some cold water that they had had on hand, as well as packed a backpack full of clothing and other necessities that he could find around the room. It was unrealistic to get out of here with his mother’s body, so he would leave the funeral to his father–it was the least that the man could do to let Lillian rest in peace.

Because the mansion’s guards were hired to prevent external threats, it was quite easy to get away, especially considering that he knew the garden like the back of his hand. There were a few spots in the surrounding hedges that someone of his small stature could easily slip through. Climbing over the fence was even simpler, despite the heavy load weighing on his back.

Needless to say, the next morning, all hell broke loose in the Conway mansion, but Cian would never hear about any of it. He had long made his way out of town. Due to his past lives’ experiences, it was easy for him to survive in the wilderness.

And that was exactly what he did for the following years. Thankfully, there were deep forests all around, with plenty of animals and fresh water to be found. For anyone else, this might have been dangerous, but Cian felt extremely comfortable. He knew that he would be finished the moment he stepped back into society, so he chose to live as a hermit, honing his skills in the meantime. He needed something to distract himself from the depressing whispers at the back of his mind, after all.

Somewhat anticlimactically, none of the people searching for James Conway ever found him. He could have easily re-entered society as well, because anyone would have thought him to have died somewhere out there a long time ago. But by that point, he had already grown used to the wilderness and had found his daily routine.

Nonetheless, nature could be a treacherous place. At the age of 47, he got a really bad fever during winter and passed away uneventfully in his sleep.

‘... so, I’m here again. It’s been a while.’

Chuckling to himself as his soul body arrived in front of that familiar barrier again, he stepped through without hesitation. He had been wracked with guilt his entire previous life, which was one of the main reasons as to why he didn’t want to make even more trouble for his father by re-emerging. After all, all things considered, the man wasn’t too bad of a person. Knowing that he would most definitely have more lives to live, he spent all of his time as a hermit exercising and acquiring skills instead. It was all so that he could have a better start during his future rebirths.

Regrettably, all his hard work wouldn’t have a chance to come into play any time soon. After an uneventful birth... what greeted him again was the hatred and disgust on the face of this fifth life’s father–but on this occasion, the man took his anger out on the child–him–first!

‘What kind of madman throws a newborn against a wall!?’

As his soul body was sent on its way towards reincarnation once more, Cian still couldn’t believe what had happened. It took him multiple hours to get the extreme pain that his body had been in before he passed away out of his mind, but any time that he thought about it again, he would uncontrollably shiver. That had–by far–been the worst physical torment that he had ever endured!

‘Surely, next time will be better. That lunatic has to have been an outlier!’

Steeling himself, Cian soon began his months-long rest in a warm ocean again. After his birth, however, it somehow got worse. This time, not only his father, but even his mother was looking at him with blatant loathing, as well as a bit of fear and guilt.

‘... oh no. Don’t tell me that I’m actually not this guy’s son this time...?’

Right when he realized this due to picking up on the strange atmosphere permeating the room, his mother suddenly grabbed a pillow and smothered him with it, making him experience suffocating to death for the first time. It was nightmare-inducingly painful.

Refusing to give up just like that, Cian rushed to get reincarnated again and again. But it seemed as if he was stuck in a loop of misfortune. Not once over the next half a dozen lives did he live past the age of one, or have anyone who loved him. The cause of his death was always a family member. Sometimes, he got eliminated immediately after his birth, other times, he got left in the wild a couple of months afterwards.

As he was drifting through the void, he grew to appreciate his second life’s family and his fourth life’s mother countless times more than before. To have accepted him, who looked completely different from them, as their own child... was truly outstanding.

He had grown numb to the excitement of rebirth and had tempered his expectations significantly. Only when he got lucky again to be born in a good family would he dare to let hope blossom in his heart once more.

Completely silent, he let the river of reincarnation soothe his agony, closed his eyes and waited for the beginning of his 13th life. Surely, at some point, the bad luck would come to an end...

Chapter 5

Shattering

When he opened his eyes for the first time and cautiously scrutinized both his environment and the expressions of his parents, Cian soon smiled in relief. There was a bit of surprise on their faces, for sure, but they didn’t seem to be appalled at his mere presence–that was already a huge step forward.

Being a little bit of a veteran at reincarnating at this point, he spent the next year or so playing the role of a normal newborn, eagerly absorbing all of the new knowledge that came his way. Like he had noticed quite a few lives earlier, it became considerably easier to learn new languages and to understand the things around him the more lives that he had lived. Not sure why exactly that was the case, Cian chalked it up to experience and brushed it off with a smile–no matter what, it was a good thing.

Only after spending another year with his parents and being absolutely sure that they truly cherished him as their child, he carefully lowered his guard and properly integrated into his new family. Not just outwardly, like before, but internally as well. He was Niklis Norrell, son of Holm and Agnis Norrell. Even in his second life, it had been very simple to recognize a new name as his own, and it had continued to get easier over time. Still, his first name, Cian Palgrave, would always be his root.

The Norrell family lived in a rural village not unlike the one that he had grown up in during his first life. In fact, the technological development here was almost identical. If the language and climate hadn’t been different, then he might have felt a stronger sense of déjà vu. Speaking of the weather, a bone-chilling cold assaulted the people for most of the year, causing them to wrap themselves in many layers of clothing all the time. Their houses were expertly insulated, in an attempt to keep as much of the heat inside of their homes as possible.

It was Cian’s first time growing up under such conditions, so he felt a little excited about what he might encounter. Just like in earlier, good lives, he soon didn’t hide his own desire to learn and grow stronger from his family anymore, receiving their enthusiastic support.

His old hunting skills would have the opportunity to shine once more, because the hunters were the main food procurers of these lands. There were a lot of wild beasts around, which could be considered to be both a blessing and a curse–they “donated” a lot of meat when slain, but also frequently posed dangers to the hunters or entire settlements as a whole. It wasn’t unheard of for towns, or even cities, to be wiped out one day due to some incredibly strong ferocious beasts wreaking havoc.

On the bright side, there were beings in this world that were known as Immortals. Every person that had a Qi Root could become one of them and tread on the path to immortality. Yes, after quite a few lives, Cian finally encountered another place just like where he had come from. As always, he would have to wait until turning 10 years old to get examined, but finally, there was hope again!

By this point, he was convinced that what the people of different lives called by various names was likely all describing the exact same thing. That also meant that everyone was treading on one single path, towards a singular destination. At its end, they would eventually meet.

‘In other words, if I’m lucky someday, I’ll have another chance to see Layla again.’

Even though he couldn’t help but grow enthusiastic about this, he soon ruthlessly shattered his ballooning hopes, forcing himself to stay rational. The chances of him being one of the lucky ones were less than one percent, so he truly shouldn’t expect anything in the short term. Merely a few lives would unlikely be enough, statistically speaking. Nonetheless, at least there was a chance–it was better than nothing.

His 10th birthday soon arrived, so his parents brought him to the nearest examination hall that an Immortal Sect had set up in a big city. The trip alone was already worth it, so when Cian inevitably got the news that he didn’t have a Qi Root, he didn’t feel all too strongly about it. At least he had got a nice sightseeing tour.

Considering how devoted he had always been to improving himself, both physically and mentally, his parents were astonished when he brushed off the bad news in an instant. They had originally planned to spend a bit on a delicious meal to cheer him up, but it looked like that wouldn’t be necessary. Of course, they still bought him a few great snacks from some stalls around the city centre.

Unsurprisingly, another six years later, Cian joined the local hunters. At first, many were suspicious of him due to his young age, but his overwhelming proficiency and skill quickly shut up even the most headstrong critics. None of this was surprising in the least, because he had dozens of times the experience compared to most of them. He would have had to be extraordinarily incompetent if he hadn’t got good at hunting by now.

Because he wanted to find some sort of goal for himself in this life, he decided to ensure the safety of his home town by eliminating all of the most dangerous beasts in an extremely wide area. Well, all of the ones that he could handle–some of them were so strong that only Immortals could kill them safely.

In such a manner, a dozen years passed by before he knew it. There were a couple of close calls, but he had already made considerable progress on his danger removal plan. Whenever he ran across Demonic Beasts–that was what the locals call those especially fierce creatures that necessitated the involvement of the Immortals–he made his way to the place where he had been examined almost two decades ago: An office of the Blizzard’s Descent Sect.

Honestly, by now, he had become a regular there, to the point where even the Immortals on duty treated him warmly whenever he arrived. After all, by now, they had all learned that he would only seek them out if he had opportunities to share with them. The entire bodies of Demonic Beasts could be considered treasures, so anybody that took one down would have a massive windfall in terms of resources.

The Immortals and Cian both got exactly what they needed, so a strange bond formed between the two parties.

“Yo, Niklis! You’re already back? It’s only been two weeks, right? What did you discover this time?”

Treating him like one of his closest buddies, the Immortal currently on duty, Torbern Blomstrom, gave Cian a bright grin. He casually poured him a cup of what the people here called fire water–a mixture of hot tea and extra strong herbs that really got the blood pumping. When outside in the cold during winter, this drink was said to be able to even revive the dead. Of course, that was an exaggeration, but not a significant one.

“This time, it’s something big. I think you might have to report back to the sect. Even if everyone stationed here goes together, it’ll be too tough to handle.”

Taking a swig and sitting down next to Torbern without a care in the world, Cian shook his head with a conflicted smile on his lips. He knew this friend of his very well–the last thing that he wanted to do was to share the spoils. But there really was no other option.

“You serious? Are you underestimating us? Nah, that can’t be it. You’ve seen how we hunt, so you wouldn’t joke around like that. Tell me, what did you find?”

At first sceptical, but soon willing to hear this gold mine of a friend out, Torbern’s expression turned solemn as he inquired further.

“It’s like this. There is a herd of at least a hundred, four meter tall deer with unusual ears. They shimmer in pretty much every colour of the rainbow, depending on at which angle the sunlight hits them. Yeah, they have reflective ears. It’s quite odd. Anyway, that’s not the bad part. I managed to observe a fight between them and other Demonic Beasts. A single deer obliterated an entire nest of Armoured Anteaters when the herd stumbled across them. Even all of you combined would have had a rough time against those. That’s why I said that you’ll need reinforcements. A lot of them, or someone extremely strong.”

The more that Cian explained, the more powerful the excitement in Torbern’s eyes grew. Generally, the rule of thumb was that the harder to deal with a Demonic Beast was, the more valuable its body would be. And with such a numerous herd, even if he could only pick up some scraps, it would already be enough for him to live comfortably for many years.

“This time, you’ve really done me a huge favour! I won’t forget this, my friend. Let me know if you ever need my help, and I’ll be there. I promise!”

Despite his eagerness to report this matter to the sect immediately, Torbern didn’t forget the young man who had presented him this great opportunity on a silver platter. He wasn’t some kind of scum–he would surely repay him for the help!

Smiling at his friend’s hasty retreat, Cian shook his head and enjoyed a few more swigs of fire water. It wouldn’t take too long for Torbern to activate the communication device next door and come back. Most likely, he would have to stay here for a bit and wait for the sect’s experts to arrive, so that he could point out the way for them.

Just as he had expected, Torbern returned in a matter of minutes, but the expression on his face was a very unusual one. Sure, there was excitement, but there was also a mixture of disbelief and fear. Cian couldn’t help but get a bad feeling about all of this. A part of him began to yell at him to run away immediately, no matter what. But unfortunately, it was already far too late.

“It seems like those Demonic Beasts that you discovered somehow alerted the Ancestor. They might be the Rainbow-Eared Deer that he has been looking for these past 700 years! I wasn’t even qualified to know about such matters before, but the Inner Sect Senior that I reported to instantly knew what was up. We’d better get ready to welcome the Ancestor in a grand fashion! Be on your best behaviour, Niklis! Nobody can afford to offend the... Ancestor...”

By the end of his explanation, Torbern had grown entirely pale and stared at a spot right behind Cian, the reverence and terror on his face having intensified several times over. Only an idiot would have to ask what was going on in this situation.

Immediately, both Cian and Torbern knelt respectfully towards the figure that had just silently appeared there without any warning, as if suddenly coming into existence. Somehow, Cian knew that this being had already restrained their aura to the strongest extent possible, else the two of them and even the surrounding city would have disintegrated due to their mere presence. As for why he was aware of this? His subconscious was practically screaming it at him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Cian dared to glance at the elderly figure for a split second, before quickly looking away again. Even that short moment almost caused his soul to leave his body, making him feel a completely instinctual fear that he had never encountered before.

The figure was that of an old man of average height. He was quite dashing, especially for his advanced age. Only a slightly decrepit atmosphere permeating from his very being hinted at the fact that he likely didn’t have all too long left to live. He was wearing a snow-white, long-sleeved robe that carried a regal air with it. His white hair was tied into a lengthy ponytail at the top of his head, while his beard was exquisitely braided. A deep blue were his eyes that contained a powerful gaze which seemed capable of erasing anything from existence that the man found displeasing.

This was Kol Rendahl, the greatest legend amongst the Immortals that Cian had come into contact with. He had the most outstanding Qi Root of all time–Perfect Grade–and was supremely talented in every aspect. Never during his life had he ever suffered defeat in any discipline. It was rumoured that he had surpassed any other Immortals of this world tens of thousands of years ago already. What heights he might have reached today was completely unknown. One thing was for sure, though: The gulf separating him from the second greatest person alive was vaster than that between an Immortal and an unborn child.

‘Thankfully, Torbern and the others told me a lot about the Blizzard’s Descent Sect and the world of Immortals, otherwise, I may have underestimated this man.’

Feeling grateful, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief, obediently waiting for the elder in front of them to speak.

“... Interesting. I originally came here to pick up an important medicinal ingredient, but I didn’t expect to run across such an oddity along the way. But that’s a matter for later. Youngster, tell me where you found those Rainbow-Eared Deer.”

Sensing something off about his words, Cian had to suppress the terror that was constantly attempting to engulf him from the inside. It was as if his subconscious had decided to rebel and make a ruckus, no matter the consequences. Still, somehow, he managed to keep it together. Barely.

“The last time I saw them, they were about 87 kilometres to the northeast from here. They should still be in approximately that area.”

It had taken him three days to return to the city, but considering how slowly the herd had wandered around during his earlier observations, they definitely couldn’t have gone far from where he had last seen them. And even if they had, it would be a cakewalk to catch them by following their tracks.

“Good! Finally, I’ve found them!”

Kol’s voice shivered ever so imperceptibly due to profound joy. Before Cian knew it, the two of them had already appeared in the middle of the wilderness, just tens of meters from where he had carefully spied on the deer herd a few days prior. He hadn’t even blinked–the surroundings had simply changed in an instant!

This overwhelming display of power not only left him speechless, but his subconscious suddenly quietened down as well, as if it was horrified at the prospect of being noticed by the elderly man next to him. It was now that he realized that Torbern wasn’t with them, causing the bad feeling in his gut to intensify to the point that he could only just suppress the urge to throw up.

“These Treasures of Heaven and Earth are invisible to any kind of Divine Sense, so I have never been able to find them. But now, in my twilight years, they’re finally here! It seems like my path hasn’t reached its end yet after all!”

Completely ignoring the young man that he had brought along, Kol couldn’t help but mumble to himself, overcome with strong emotions. The bodies of Rainbow-Eared Deer happened to contain the last ingredient in a body rejuvenation concoction that he had stumbled across in his youth, but had never managed to produce. It was said that it would provide anyone who drank it with the opportunity to have their body return to the state of their youth, while retaining their strength all the same. In other words, it would practically double one’s lifespan, at no cost aside from some resources! Even he couldn’t help but be profoundly moved by this prospect.

With a single wave of his hand, the 108 deer around a kilometre or two away disappeared into nothingness. Most likely, he had moved them to an appropriate location. Now that his primary goal had been accomplished, Kol finally had the time to address the one that he had brought with him.

“How is it possible for a mortal like you to have such a powerful soul? While it’s nothing special compared to that of someone who has stepped on the Immortal Path, for a mortal, it should be impossible to achieve this. What exactly are you? Let me take a look.”

Unable to resist, Cian found himself–or rather, his soul–leaving his body, floating towards the elderly man in front of him, eventually shrinking and landing in his palm. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t react. The only thing that he could do was to think! Unfortunately, that alone was useless.

“Hmm... I can’t see anything special. It’s a pity that I don’t know all too much about the soul, else I could examine you much better. For now, I’ll keep you around. Perhaps once I’ve taken a few more steps forward, I’ll be able to unlock whatever secret you’re hiding.”

After scrutinizing his soul for a while, Kol eventually shrugged and stuffed it inside some sort of bird cage-shaped contraption. Although Cian had regained control over his movements, he found to his horror that his soul could actually come into contact with this cage. In other words... he couldn’t leave!

‘Why didn’t you just ask me anything?! I could have told you about what’s going on! Did that never occur to you, you senile jerk!?’

Already aware that at least his thoughts were still his own, Cian couldn’t help but curse, completely livid. How in damnation could he get out of this mess?! And, again, why didn’t this oh-so-mighty Ancestor simply ask pitiful little him? He wasn’t a danger at all, and would have gladly cooperated. Perhaps he could have even figured out something about his own unusual circumstances! Helping each other was the way to achieve greater things, Ancestor! Did your parents never teach you that?

Amidst his continued curses, Cian’s soul was taken away by Kol Rendahl, his body left behind to rot. Today marked the death of Niklis Norrell, and the beginning of Cian’s personal hell.

Despite how wonderful and outright magical the abode of Kol looked, as his prisoner, Cian wasn’t in the mood to appreciate his surroundings. What he saw was nothing more than eye candy, after all. Instead, he kept silent and obedient in his cage, all the while waiting for this Ancestor to leave the room.

Regrettably, other than taking a seat on the pillow in the middle of the beautiful chamber that they were in, all Kol did was to close his eyes and sit there in silence, leaving Cian baffled.

‘What is he doing? Is he resting? Did what he did earlier take a lot out of him? But he doesn’t look exhausted...’

With no other option but to cautiously wait, that is exactly what he did.

For 29 years, seven months and two days. Yes, Cian had literally nothing else to do and needed to find a way to keep sane, so he began to count the time. He didn’t allow himself a single moment to relax, constantly on guard towards his kidnapper. Never before had he felt such mental exhaustion. And yet, he didn’t dare to let his attention deviate–even if there was nothing that he could do, he at least wanted to try his absolute best until the very end!

On that day, all of a sudden, Kol opened his eyes and glanced at Cian’s soul, an intrigued smirk on his lips.

“You’re truly remarkable. Any other mortal soul would have grown complacent decades ago, but not you. I’m glad I kept observing you during this entire period of seclusion. For now, though, you’ll have time to rest. I have somewhere to be. I’ll be back someday, so don’t run away.”

As if having thought of something hilarious, the elderly man suddenly slapped his knee and a cackling laughter escaped his lips.

“Hahaha, what am I even saying? That’s impossible!”

Giggling to himself for a while longer, ignoring the displeased scowl on the face of Cian’s soul body, Kol ultimately stood up and left the room, just like he had said.

‘What an obnoxious piece of shit. Does he really think I’ll believe him?’

Silently cursing the Ancestor–he couldn’t make a sound even if he wanted to– Cian didn’t lower his guard in the slightest. He didn’t dare to move either, exactly like in the decades prior. To be honest, he had also been astonished by his mental fortitude. Shouldn’t any human being have fallen unconscious by now? Despite being in a soul state, he should have long entered some sort of weak period during which he would need to recover, right?

No matter how much he pondered about this, he couldn’t come up with an explanation, so all that he could continue to do was to wait. He had already apologized to his parents countless times for disappearing without a word, but there was nothing that he could do. He knew that they would pass away never knowing the truth regarding what had happened to him. Well, there was the chance that Torbern might seek them out and tell them about his encounter, but even then, they would likely end up thinking that an Immortal had taken him under his wing and provided him with a new life. Which could technically be considered true, but it was also the exact opposite.

Years continued to pass by excruciatingly slowly. The only reason that Cian managed to retain some semblance of sanity was that he faithfully counted every second that passed, keeping track of the time. Eventually, it had been a century since Kol had left.

‘... I’ll risk it!’

Gritting his teeth, Cian slowly approached the bars of his cage and attentively explored them for anything of note. By now, he didn’t even care about if his captor returned–heck, it might be better if he did and put him out of his misery.

‘... there’s... nothing. I can’t fit through the bars, and I can’t move them at all. There is no secret switch, no construction fault. That scumbag wasn’t lying–there is no escape.’

Soon, the result of his investigation was evident. Only then did he realize that the true reason for his refusal to move had been that his subconscious had protected him. Now that he knew that there really, truly, absolutely was no hope... he couldn’t hold on any longer. Suddenly, he completely blanked out, floating in place with an empty, lifeless look on his face.

Another century passed until something happened again. His eyes twitched, and slowly, focus returned to them, as well a confusion.

‘What’s going on? What... is this place?’

At first, Cian was utterly flabbergasted by the situation that he found himself in, but very soon, memories flooded his mind, completely overwhelming him. It wasn’t just what had happened in these past centuries. No, every single memory that he had ever made during all of his lives came flooding back... all at once, and crystal clear.

His soul was stuck in a state where he would be laughing one second, then crying the next. Afterwards, he would be silently screaming his heart out, then shivering in fear. Many more emotions and sensations overlapped, until eventually, they all blended together and an audible but otherworldly crack resounded in the room. If anyone had been there, they would have surely taken note of it–but nobody did, for better or for worse.

Cian’s soul had shattered into multiple pieces, all floating on the spot and intermingling with each other. Sometimes, they would combine together, and at other times, they would crack and separate again after having only just formed a complete whole.

What Cian experienced went beyond the mere concept of agony and pain. There was no torment greater than that of the soul, and this continuous shattering and reassembling surpassed even the worst purgatory imaginable.

This was not a targetted attack, or a punishment. Nobody did this to him. If there was a culprit, then it was his soul itself, and his memories.

For all of these years, ever since his first life, his soul had grown stronger continuously. Of course, the speed at which it did so was incredibly slow, and while living a single mortal life, nobody would ever notice even the slightest difference. During reincarnation, any energy beyond the absolute minimum would be wiped away, and a new life would all begin at the same starting point. That was why only those treading the Immortal Path, those surpassing the common folk, could ever come into contact with the realm of the soul or have their souls strengthened beyond the mortal limit. This was also a sort of protection for regular people, because they lacked the conditions to support a soul that grew beyond a certain point.

Of course, a superior soul had many benefits. Not only would a person’s mental capacity be improved, but they would even develop stronger plus additional senses. Many more things were possible as well, but only beings further along the path compared to Kol may understand them properly.

Cian had already experienced the benefits brought by a stronger soul–his vastly improved capability of learning new languages, and the ability to sense danger to a superhuman degree. Now, it was time to pay the price for these blessings. Because no mortal soul had ever reached this point, it was impossible to know what the outcome of such an event would be. Would his soul self-destruct? Or would it recombine into a completely different person?

But that was only one part of the problem. The other, like mentioned before, were the memories. Every being capable of storing recollections of the past in their minds also had the ability to forget them. This was a self-protection mechanism designed to keep the being in question sane. After all, if someone could clearly recall every single moment of their existence at every single point in time, they would be incapable of continued survival. Negative events, no matter how small–whether they be a random mean word by a largely irrelevant person, or the aftermath of a sad dream–would accumulate.

While individually, they could be brushed off and dealt with, in their combined form, they were quite something to be reckoned with. A single lifetime’s worth would already be enough to shatter someone’s mind. But what about in Cian’s case? Before his centuries of imprisonment, he had led a dozen other lives filled with overwhelming amounts of suffering! To recall them all at once was unfathomably torturous.

Right at this very moment, both of these events occurred at the same time. After a century of standby mode, Cian’s continuously strengthening soul had caused his memory to improve significantly, so everything came back to him all at once. Simultaneously, his soul had crossed the threshold.

It was the worst possible outcome.

For more than a millennium, his soul continued to be stuck in the same state–shattering at one moment, then recombining in the next. All the way throughout, his visage was warped by a hodgepodge of emotions.

If anyone had been carefully studying him from the outside, then they would have noticed that the time intervals between his soul shattering and reassembling kept growing longer. Due to his continued existence, his soul got stronger and stronger, if only a minuscule bit at a time. Eventually, once some sort of critical “mass” had been reached, it rapidly recondensed into the exact same form it had been in a thousand years ago. The expression on Cian’s face was still utterly indescribable, and he had yet to reawaken from whatever he was experiencing.

Unbeknownst to him, the room that he had been in–nay, the entire building–had already turned into a ruin. Kol Rendahl had never returned. Even the cage that was imprisoning him showed signs of wear and tear, having been battered by the elements for hundreds of years without any sort of maintenance.

One day, it cracked ever so imperceptibly, then it crumbled to dust in the blink of an eye. That very moment marked the instant that Cian’s soul disappeared and welcomed the cold embrace of death once again. But he didn’t notice any of this.

Only when his soul arrived right in front of one of the barriers behind the entrances of the void megastructure did it–as if instinctively–move aside and refuse to float through, hovering in place.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Because there were no observers, nobody knew when Cian’s face had returned to normal, or when a hint of liveliness could yet again be made out in his gaze. For all anybody knew, eons could have come and gone.

‘... I never want to experience that ever again.’

Shuddering at his recollection of this incident that would forever mar his memory like an indelible set of ugly scars, Cian glanced at the river of reincarnation that he had already arrived in front of. He knew that it was risky to continue, especially after what had “just” happened–but an eternity without change wasn’t any better either.

Desperately, he dove into the currents. There was only one single wish in his heart: Please let this life be better!

Chapter 6

Fu Huan

Amidst the silent sea of stars, far removed from any other celestial bodies, drifted a structure of mind-boggling proportions which was protected by an invisible barrier, allowing it to sustain life within. Its second line of defence were numerous ancient but simultaneously advanced-looking city walls that rotated around the core of the structure, appearing just like the rings of an armillary sphere.

Sheltered within these was a landmass dotted with trillions of buildings. All of them shared the same architectural style as the city walls around them–an odd mix of archaic and futuristic. At the very centre of it all was a magnificent palace that overshadowed everything else, whether it be due to its astonishing grandeur or its size. It easily took up at least 10 percent of the entire space enveloped by the ring-like city walls. The sheer amount of people that could fit within had to be counted in the hundreds of trillions.

As the seat of power of the Fu Dynasty, the Heavenly Throne, it lived up to its name. Not only was it the cornerstone that controlled the barrier shrouding the entire spherical megastructure, but it was also connected to every single planet under the Dynasty’s rule via teleportation channels. There was a constant flow of people and resources transforming the palace’s outer segments into a bustling scene. Although the peaceful lives of the inhabitants around the Heavenly Throne might suggest otherwise, the entire sphere’s second most important purpose was to function as a wartime fortress.

In a secluded bedchamber on the highest floor of the centremost segment of the palace, a woman with an appearance that far surpassed that of a goddess sat on the side of an extremely comfortable bed fashioned out of a material akin to the clouds themselves. She wore naught but a white silken nightgown that left nothing to the imagination–but considering that she was currently in her private quarters, there obviously was no reason for her to hide her body in the first place. Her long black hair was twisted into the form of a gorgeous chignon with a few ornamental, golden hairpins decorating it. A slight frown of confusion graced her features as she stared at her minutely swollen belly with her obsidian eyes that appeared to have stars glittering within them.

“Darling, can you please take a look? I don’t want to accidentally hurt our baby.”

Earlier today, she had felt that the unborn child within her had developed a soul, which had initially made her extremely delighted. Only a few hours later did she realize that something was off with her child–its soul was far too powerful. Over the eons, she had had the opportunity to observe a plethora of her friends and relatives that were with child, and none of their offspring had ever differed in the development of the soul. As a result, this anomaly worried her, so she asked her husband for help. He had walked quite a bit further than her on the Immortal Path, so he should be able to investigate the situation more expertly and safely.

Kneeling in front of her and curiously gazing at her belly while holding her hand to reassure her, was the man in question. Just like his wife, his mere image was too profoundly handsome for a mortal being to imagine. His hair was of the same black colour and equally as long, but it was easy to miss this detail because it was fixed into a topknot at the crown of his head. A golden-yellow ribbon was tied around it. His eyes were a deep amber with tiny golden vein-like streaks radiating outward from his pupils, giving them a regal, mysterious air. Because he had hurried here immediately upon getting notified, he was still wearing his gold-embroidered black emperor’s robe, which looked a little too formal and extravagant for this private setting.

The godlike man’s name was Fu Haoyu–he was the Heavenly Emperor, the sole sovereign of the Fu Dynasty. Usually, he would exude an imposing, unapproachable aura, but in front of his beloved wife, Chen Yue, all of that completely melted away.

“No worries, just leave it to me!”

After shooting her a loving smile, Fu Haoyu focused on the task at hand, sending out a strand of his own soul to come into contact with the unborn child’s. Tenderly, he cradled it and scanned it for any abnormalities.

To his surprise, not only was it impossibly powerful, but it appeared like a chaotic patchwork product that someone had irresponsibly put together. At this discovery, he feared that he might have encountered the remnant soul of a terrifying person who had used some sort of revolting method to barely escape the Reincarnation Cycle’s grasp. But even if that were the case, it was still in far too horrible of a state.

Very worried about the probable possibility that some unknown being had become his child, he saw no other opportunity but to peek at the memories of this person. Admittedly, it was a last-ditch effort, as it was likely that he would see some of the worst atrocities ever committed by a human being, but he still held on to the slight hope of being wrong about it all.

To read a soul’s memories was an extremely difficult and dangerous endeavour that could easily damage or even destroy both of the souls involved, so he had to take this absolutely seriously.

Minutes passed by under the worried gaze of his wife. Then, all of a sudden, he jumped backwards and away from Chen Yue before cutting off his right arm that had begun to disintegrate. No blood escaped the wound and within a fraction of a second, it had fully regrown. With a missing sleeve, he stared at the severed limb on the floor until it had completely disappeared. Fortunately, nothing else happened afterwards, so he heaved a sigh of relief, his face still a little bit pale due to how close of a brush with death that he had just experienced.

“Darling!!!”

Judging that it should be safe again now, Chen Yue rushed to his side and gently grasped his hand, tears shimmering in her eyes. Never had she thought that her request would put her husband in danger!

“It’s alright, I’m fine.”

Interlocking his fingers with hers, Fu Haoyu gently stroked her cheek with his other hand, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

“Fortunately, the Reincarnation Cycle’s backlash wasn’t anything serious. It’s the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. But where do I even begin to explain...? I should really just let you see everything for yourself, except for the bits that got me in trouble. Open your mind, honey.”

After placing his forehead against his wife’s, the two of them closed their eyes. Very carefully, he sifted through all of the memories that he had just seen and sent Chen Yue anything that didn’t directly touch upon the secrets of reincarnation.

Quickly, he could sense his beloved’s mood shift rapidly. At one moment, she was astonished, then she felt pity. Heartbreak, fury and despair also flitted past her features on occasion. Fu Haoyu knew exactly what she was going through, because he had been in the same shoes mere moments prior. When the memories came to an end, his wife gently stroked her belly, hugging him with her other arm and sobbing uncontrollably. Infected by the atmosphere, he also turned a little bit teary-eyed as he softly reciprocated the embrace.

Only minutes later did Chen Yue return to a state of calm.

“Such a poor child. He’s suffered far too much! Nobody deserves a fate like that! We’ve got to help him!”

Her gaze filled with strong resolution, she stared into her husband’s eyes, causing the latter to shoot her a doting, supportive smile.

“I agree! Regardless of how it happened, he is now our child. And we’ll support our son however we can!”

Fu Haoyu hadn’t wanted to make the decision to acknowledge the boy as their family on his own, so he had kept quiet previously. But judging from his wife’s actions, he knew exactly what choice she had made. As expected of the woman he loved! Even after millions of years, they could still read the other as if they were an open book.

“I’ve already thought of a name. How about Fu Huan?”

With an excited beam on her lips, Chen Yue asked for his opinion while snuggling up to him in a sheepish manner.

“A name that wishes him nothing but happiness... I like it!”

Tickling his wife in response to her playful actions, Fu Haoyu gave her a bright grin. Even after the two of them had named their son and moved on to enjoy a beautiful time together, neither spoke about what they had discovered–the fact that their child would inevitably forever be a mortal.

↞•↠

Cian experienced a wholly uneventful gestation period–evidently, he hadn’t noticed Fu Haoyu’s investigation at all. However, he was quite surprised by how smoothly and quickly his birth proceeded, almost as if there was no difficulty or pain involved whatsoever. Having played along obediently, he steeled his nerves for what he might encounter and carefully opened his eyes.

What greeted him was a pair of faces that were so beautiful that his mind froze for a long time. But even though he simply stared at them wordlessly, they didn’t give him any weird looks at all. Instead, nothing but love, kindness, warmth and heartache could be seen in their expressions.

When Cian finally came to once again, this caused him to heave a sigh of relief. Then, there was something else that flabbergasted him. His placenta had already disappeared, with a fresh belly button in its place. But hadn’t he only just been born?! That aside, he was certain that the woman who was holding him was his mother, so why didn’t she look as if she had given birth at all? The bedsheet was stained, but other than that, there was no sign of a delivery whatsoever. For a moment, he doubted whether this person was truly his mother, but she gave off the same exact aura as the one that he had been enveloped in for many months–he would definitely not be mistaken about this.

Before he could fully acclimate to the situation, his mother gently snuggled her face against him, snapping him out of his contemplations. But then, something else occurred that utterly stunned him on the spot once more. His father spoke, and he could actually understand his words! It was as if they directly appeared in his mind.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, my dearest son! Don’t be afraid, we won’t ever hurt you. You’re safe here.”

Although the man’s words contained nothing but pure goodwill, they nonetheless confused Cian. Why did it feel as if this guy knew that he could fully comprehend what he was saying? As he was wondering about this, his mother chimed in as well–just like before, he could somehow understand everything.

“I hope you won’t mind that we gave you a name even though you technically already have one. But as a part of our family, you should have a fitting name as well, right? We chose Fu Huan, because we want you to live a delightful life!”

The information that her words revealed was so unexpected that Cian almost fainted right then and there.

‘How do they know?!?’

“We can go into the details of that later. For now, all that’s important is that you’re our child, and we would like to genuinely treat you as such. That is, if you’re fine with it. I’m Fu Haoyu, by the way–I’m your father. And this beauty is your mother, Chen Yue!”

Making it blatantly evident that even Cian’s thoughts couldn’t escape him, Fu Haoyu properly introduced the couple, eliciting an amused chuckle from his wife.

“There is no need to smooth talk me like this when we’re already married, you dummy!”

Utterly speechless at his parents openly flirting in front of him, Cian carefully analysed his situation to the best of his ability.

He had been born to unfathomably powerful beings that had long since detected his existence, and even seemingly knew everything about him. They could have easily harmed him should they have wanted to–which they did not. Their actions fully supported their words, so he had no reason to doubt that they were being genuine. While it would surely take him some time to grow to truly trust them, there was no reason for him to refuse their kindness. With that in mind, he tried to formulate a proper reply.

‘Thank you, really. By the way, which form of address do you like better? “Mom and Dad” or “Mother and Father”?’

This cheeky question caused the lovebirds to pause for a second, then adoring beams shone on their faces. Before Fu Haoyu could open his mouth to say something, Chen Yue had already delivered a rapid-fire response.

“Mom and Dad! Definitely Mom and Dad!!”

And just like that, in an extremely odd way, the life of Fu Huan officially began.

↞•↠

The initial few months weren’t all too unusual, except for the fact that he could effectively communicate with one or both of his parents whenever they were present. His mother almost never left his side, except for when entering the bathroom, but his father often had his duties to take care of. They didn’t tell him too much about their identities early on, maybe because they simply didn’t think it was important for him to know about these things when he was still so young. But he was certain that he had been born to the most powerful and influential people that he had ever encountered.

Of course, he was never left completely alone–there was an entire army of maidservants at his mother’s beck and call. Their uniforms were more elegant and exquisite than that of the maids that he had seen in the Conway estate, and they bore appearances outstanding enough to ruin entire nations. Such an extravagant lifestyle was truly an eye-opening experience for him.

At first, he had thought that it was only his imagination, but the sustenance that his mother provided certainly caused him to grow up a bit more quickly than he was used to. This truly astonished him. What was this? Mother’s milk, or a divine elixir!?

Three months after his birth, the breastfeeding stopped, but by that point, he already looked close to half a year old. Then, no other unusual growth spurts occurred, and everything returned to normal in regards to his physical development.

In this life, Cian had no need to hide his actions, so he didn’t have to pretend to crawl around like a toddler. Once his body was capable of it, he basically walked and ran as much as he could. For some reason, properly learning the language and writing system of this world had become a total breeze, so this didn’t prove to be any burden for him either.

At this age, his parents finally divulged their true identities to him and let him understand the world they lived in, as well as his position within.

His father, Fu Haoyu, was the current generation of Heavenly Emperor of the Fu Dynasty, a force inhabiting what they called the “universe” that ruled over millions of “solar systems”. These unfamiliar terms confused him for a while, but after a thorough explanation, he finally understood just what kind of concept this Heavenly Emperor position represented. Everything else that he had ever encountered was pretty much a joke in comparison–nothing but a tiny speck of dust! His father was already 3.5 million years old, but he still looked exactly like a man in his mid-twenties.

Chen Yue, his mother, was from a–comparatively–unremarkable force, the Chen Family. The disappointing lack of originality when it came to their faction’s name aside, they still had ruled over dozens of solar systems until they merged with the Fu Dynasty after his mother had married his father. Chen Yue was the most gifted person her family had ever seen, so she had had the opportunity to travel outside and eventually ran into Fu Haoyu, who had also been exploring the universe.

From there, the love story between the two began. They overcame dangers, developed feelings and ultimately became inseparable. Fortunately, Chen Yue kept her tales short, else Cian would have had to spend years just listening to his parents’ adventures considering how often she talked about them. As for her age, his mother told him that she was a few hundred thousand years younger than his father, but wouldn’t go into detail when he asked about it. All that he got was a grumpy stare that made him shut up obediently. In any case, she looked to be in her early twenties.

Cian–or rather, Fu Huan–was Fu Haoyu’s and Chen Yue’s first child. Apparently, the further a person advanced upon the Immortal Path, the more difficult it would become to have children. At the heights that they had reached, having offspring in the first place was already considered a miracle.

When he was one year old, his parents took him into the air right above the palace so that he could take a look around. All on his own, he hadn’t even managed to explore their private quarters, simply due to the massive size of their abode. Looking at the endlessly sprawling landscape full of buildings and heavenly sceneries incomprehensibly far beneath him, as well as the astonishing behemoth of a palace... his mind ground to a halt.

It was one thing to understand how massive something was supposed to be from tales alone, but seeing it in person and actually comprehending such a fathomless scale was utterly different.

His parents didn’t interrupt him while he was in a shell-shocked state, instead allowing him to take it all in. This would come to be an invaluable experience for him and build a foundation for his future, after all.

“Just... wow. I don’t know what else to say. I’m... blown away.”

For the first time in a very long time, he really couldn’t find any other words to say. Pure amazement, astonishment and the feeling that he was infinitesimally small in the great scheme of things were overwhelming his mind. This sensation was both fantastic, but also despair-inducing. He wasn’t yet sure how exactly he should feel about it.

“Did all of my other lives take place on those planets that you mentioned, then?”

This was a reasonable assumption to make, considering the presence of a sun and moon in all of the places that he had lived in. According to his parents’ explanations, those were celestial bodies, indicating that he should have been on a planet every time.

“Not necessarily. There could have also been planar worlds amongst them.”

Noticing his inquiring look, Fu Haoyu continued and started to explain.

“Before a solar system enters the universe, the space it will be at is surrounded by something that most call “Creation Energy”. Nobody can make use of it or offer up any resistance towards it, so it cannot be explored. Within that cloud of Creation Energy are planar worlds, which can be considered prototype solar systems. They have a completely different form. They are just a singular plane that hovers in the void. Their physical laws feel the same as those from here, and yet they are nothing alike. After a few tens of thousands of years of growing in size, these planar worlds then transform into a functioning solar system and enter the universe–at that point, the Creation Energy disappears.”

After waiting for his son to digest this information, he kept going.

“These changes apparently happen in the blink of an eye. The inhabitants will suddenly find their home having transformed into various planets, separating them into initially completely disconnected groups. Of course, we only know about all of this due to the records left behind by those that came from such planar worlds, as well as rigorous observation and research.”

Suddenly, Fu Haoyu’s expression darkened, as if he had just thought about something remarkably unpleasant.

“But where there is a beginning, there is also an end. Some time after a solar system has formed–at the minimum 50 million years later–the Creation Energy shrouds it once more, devouring it in its entirety before disappearing. That’s the reason why every noteworthy force in the universe positions their bases far away from any and all solar systems. While they rule them, they only stretch out their feelers of influence towards them. Nobody can fight against Creation Energy, not even we. This continuous birth and death of solar systems is also the reason why any force’s territory is in constant flux.”

Admittedly, everything that his father had just explained was yet again something that Cian would have to see for himself to truly comprehend, but he at least understood the general gist of things. As a result, his astonishment rose to yet another level. If even solar systems were not eternal, then what would it take to truly become immortal?!

Sensing his son’s question, Fu Haoyu only showed a bitter smile in response, before shrugging helplessly.

“Nobody knows. While there are beings that have lived for trillions of years, it is unknown if there is anyone even older than that. Eventually, everyone manages to get themselves killed somehow, whether it be due to extremely bad luck or a fight. None of those that had reached such heights ever died of old age, as far as we know. So perhaps, they truly had achieved immortality, but it’s impossible to say for sure. I’m already at the point where I can’t even sense an end to my lifespan, but I certainly can continue to grow more powerful. That’s all I can be sure of.”

A deep sigh escaped the godlike man’s lips as he shook his head. Maybe there was no end to the path leading towards absolute eternity.

“Stop it already with the heavy topics! Let’s go and have a meal, alright?”

Mildly annoyed at the depressing conversation, Chen Yue distracted the two men with something that they could all look forward to instead. There was plenty of time for their son to learn about these things when he grew older. They should enjoy their precious moments together, rather than wallow in the gloom and doom of matters that they did not yet have the power to change or to properly explore.

Over the coming years, steadily, the meals that Cian got presented with grew increasingly luxurious, diverse in taste and delectable. His days were filled with exercise, learning and plenty of joy. There was nobody that he didn’t get along with and even the various servants that he had run into were all extremely friendly to him. They didn’t put on a mask to mislead him, but rather were being truly genuine–at least that was what Cian was relatively sure of thanks to his plentiful life experience.

There were only two things that were quite odd. On the one hand, everything that he had ever eaten had medicinal effects, some even accelerated the healing of injuries, and on the other hand, nobody had ever brought up the issue of him stepping on the Immortal Path. Wasn’t it weird for the son of such impressive parents to not once be confronted with the topic of following in their footsteps!?

But although his parents could definitely read his mind, they never addressed either of these issues. Clearly, there was something wrong. They did not deliberately avoid anything else, but only those two concerns of his. This caused him to bury his questions in his heart for a few years, intending to wait for them to talk to him about it when the time was right.

When he turned 12 years old, his parents then finally pulled him aside with heavy expressions setting the mood for this conversation. After they sat down together, none of the three reached for the delicious snacks on the table–instead, they were unusually solemn. Ultimately, it was Fu Haoyu who broke the silence.

“Thank you for waiting until we were ready to broach these matters. I know it wasn’t easy to suppress your curiosity, but as you’ve already guessed, there were good reasons as to why we avoided your questions for so long.”

Putting on his most supportive smile, he placed a hand on his son’s shoulder.

“I won’t sugarcoat my words, so prepare yourself. When we met you, we discovered two things about you. Firstly, your soul had shattered very recently. As a result, even though it fused back together again, there are still some scars left behind that have yet to heal. This has a dangerous influence on your body. It’s constantly trying to mirror your soul’s state. If we didn’t feed you medicines all the time, then you would have already long since died. But fret not–this is only a temporary issue. In a few hundred years, your soul will have fully recovered, because the simple act of continuing to exist is constantly strengthening it.”

Pausing for a moment and looking deep into his son’s eyes, Fu Haoyu waited for Cian to come to terms with what he had just revealed, then he waved his hand, causing two intricate wooden boxes of differing sizes to appear on the table.

“The problem doesn’t end here, though. The reason for your soul’s shattering is that same continuous strengthening. In other words, it will ultimately reach its limit again. Considering what happened last time, it is likely that your soul would eventually make it through the endless torment, but you would have to suffer such torture every time it surpasses its limit. That’s far too grim of a fate, so we’ve been using the Fu Dynasty’s influence to search for something extremely rare. It’s called “Soul Metal” and is the only material substance that can interact with the soul. Nobody fully understands it, but we know enough about it to be certain that it can help you. Come, take a look!”

The mere mention of the purgatory-esque state that he had endured caused Cian’s heartbeat to speed up unnaturally, but when his mother gently grabbed his hand, a soothing feeling overcame him, allowing him to calm down. With intrigue in his eyes, he opened the larger of the two boxes, revealing a very simplistic longsword.

It was 130 centimetres long and its blade, cross-guard, grip and pommel were entirely unadorned. The grip was wrapped in a blackish-blue leather that looked completely ordinary, but once he grabbed it, it naturally adjusted to his hand and automatically supported him in the execution of his practice swings. The pommel, cross-guard and blade were all an unassuming silver that looked indistinguishable from regular steel. As for the sheath, it was wrapped in the same kind of leather as the sword’s grip, but contrary to the rest of the weapon, it was actually gilded in graceful golden patterns. It was evident that an outstanding artist had worked on this–and yet, when the sword was sheathed, it somehow looked just like a slightly extravagant mortal weapon of no particular importance. It was fascinating!

The way their son’s eyes sparkled with joy as he scrutinized their present made Fu Haoyu and Chen Yue very happy, so they stayed silent until he faced them again. This time, it was Cian’s mother who cleared up his doubts.

“This blade was forged from Soul Metal, just like you’ve guessed. The leather is from a rare Void Beast that your father hunted down a long time ago. We’ve always stored it in the treasury, because we never found anything that was worthy of its use, until now. But don’t worry, crafting your weapon only consumed a tiny portion of the leather!”

Lost in an old memory, Fu Haoyu sighed and added on to his wife’s words.

“Even I could not damage its leather back when I fought against that Void Beast. The only way for me to kill it was to destroy its internal organs–but when my attacks reached the leather, their impact was practically nullified. That really was a frustrating battle...”

Shaking his head as if dissipating this recollection, he continued.

“What you need to know is that both the leather and the Soul Metal are practically indestructible by anyone who hasn’t reached my realm. So under almost all circumstances, you can even use your weapon as a shield. That aside, the most important feature of your blade is that you can inject the power of your soul into it, keeping it from growing further. This should allow you to permanently avoid the fate of shattering your own soul. Soul Metal also binds to the soul of the person who marks it, and can only be claimed by someone else if the soul of the original owner disappears or they erase the mark themselves. Items made from this metal can be stored within the soul and will instantly arrive at their owner’s side no matter how far away they are. Relax and let me guide you, alright? I’ll help you figure out how it’s all done.”

In the following minutes, Fu Haoyu taught his son how to let the power of his soul flow into the peculiar metal, and how to leave an indelible mark within. Some experimentation later, Cian could easily hide the weapon inside of his soul without an issue, and recall it after it had been brought far away by his parents. The step-by-step guidance of a true expert was invaluable. What would have taken him months to figure out was shortened into a few instants.

Eventually, their fun playtime came to an end, and they focused on the second box on the table. Within, there were two palm-sized silver emblems of the Fu Dynasty made out of Soul Metal.

“They might look simple, but don’t underestimate them. The owners of the two emblems will always be able to sense the exact position of the other emblem, as well as its owner. Creating these was the truly difficult challenge that took us more than a decade to overcome–but with this, we’ll always be able to find each other, no matter what happens! Here, the right one is yours.”

Taking the metal ornament, a warm feeling spread in Cian’s heart and a bright smile stole itself on his lips. He now knew that even in other lives, his parents would always have his back, and would come to find him. He wasn’t alone anymore! The relief that this brought him was nigh impossible to describe with words.

Without hesitation, he marked the emblem, and his mother the other one. Because his father was busy with official duties too often and their strength didn’t differ all that much, it was more convenient for Chen Yue to hold on to it–she would be able to rush to his side far quicker, and more consistently. It was also possible to send short messages to the owner of the other emblem, but doing this required quite a bit of soul power, therefore Cian would only rarely be able to do it.

A little while later, his father finally addressed the second matter that had been bothering him.

“The other thing that we discovered about you back then, was that your soul doesn’t have a Mana Spring. That is the most universally recognized term for those Spiritual Roots, Qi Roots and Warrior’s Blessings that you’ve heard about. It’s not a bodily organ, but rather something that could be considered a soul organ instead. The reason as to why some souls have it and others don’t is not publically known. I also cannot talk about it without receiving a terrifying backlash, so please forgive me. I honestly cannot say any more than this! I believe you’ll figure it out yourself in the future.”

Giving his son a deep look, Fu Haoyu thought back upon what he had seen in Cian’s memories and felt a tinge of helplessness. Now that he had come to realize the truth, he knew how hopeless his son’s situation really was.

“Just know that, according to my understanding, no matter how many lives you live, you won’t be able to step on the Immortal Path. Of course, I’m not omniscient, so there might be a method to help you somewhere out there. With enough time, you may stumble across it one day! Therefore, don’t give up all hope, alright?”

Before Cian could even start to feel saddened by his own situation, his parents had already wrapped him into a tight but loving hug, melting away the deep disappointment that had started to well up inside of his heart a little.

“... I understand. Thank you for letting me know, Dad.”

Some time later, the trio put an end to their embrace and finally got around to munching on the snacks that had been ignored up until this point. Although they knew that they would eventually have to part temporarily, that time was still far away, so there was no need to dwell on it now and ruin the present.

Under loving care, Cian spent another two years at the Heavenly Throne and the surrounding city, touring his extremely large home town with either his family or some of the servants protecting him. Then, he decided that he wanted to travel to other territories of the Fu Dynasty to widen his horizons. He couldn’t waste this rare chance of visiting so many planets.

Because both his mother and his father were busy at the moment, which only rarely happened, he set off together with the most capable of the maids that had taken care of him alongside his mother ever since he was born, Mei Li. Of course, his parents had given him permission to do so. Chen Yue also promised that she would meet up with them as soon as she could.

Despite having seen the teleportation channels before, this was the first time that Cian was actually here to step through them to reach the other side. Contrary to the expectations that he had held when he had first heard about them, these channels didn’t look mysterious or terrifying at all. Rather, they were simply massive archways made out of various rocks, metals and other materials that stood quietly in the middle of a large courtyard, entirely unsupported. They differed in size, but even the smallest ones were multiple kilometres high and just as wide. If one looked into them, one could directly see the other end of the teleportation channel. No matter how far away the destination was, it felt as if it was truly located right behind those archways–but if one went around and to their back, one would still see the exact same scene when gazing through the archway.

Sizing up the bustling view on the other side, Cian took a deep breath and glanced at Mei Li. She was following two steps behind him, on his left. Initially, he had felt awkward about how servile everyone behaved towards him, but considering that this was literally their job, he eventually accepted it.

“Alright, let’s go.”

With these words, he stepped through the archway, embarking on a new journey.

Chapter 7

Personal Maid

The planet that he arrived at was named Xīngmíng. It had been assigned to be under the control of the Zhang family, which had served as officials and soldiers of the dynasty for countless generations. The one currently overseeing Xīngmíng was Zhang Fu, a renowned general.

Cian openly travelled here, so of course, Zhang Fu was soon told of the matter. Most important retainers of the Heavenly Emperor had already been sent information about Prince Fu Huan, so that situations where anyone slighted him wouldn’t occur. Intending to give his son a chance to impress the most cherished child of the dynasty, Zhang Fu had him hurry to welcome Cian immediately.

All of this took place within a matter of minutes, so the prince in question had not yet even had time to leave the square that he had appeared on, before a lot of hurried footsteps made their way over. Followed by an orderly group of soldiers and servants numbering in the dozens, was a young, handsome fellow who looked to be only around 16 or 17 years old. His clothing was extravagant and luxurious to the point that it made him appear a little vain, but at least the apologetic smile on his face was a genuine one. Quickly, the group arrived in front of Cian and Mei Li, then everyone bowed deeply, except for the youngster in the lead who instead knelt respectfully.

“This Zhang Kai greets you, your Imperial Highness! Forgive me for being a little late, we hadn’t anticipated your arrival.”

When people had started to treat him as such initially, Cian had felt extremely uncomfortable, but he had grown numb to it by now. Imitating Fu Haoyu’s regal aura to the best of his ability, he gave a nod and signalled for everyone to rise. He intended to portray a friendly image, so there was no need to overdo it with the theatrics or appear especially haughty.

“Rise, everyone. I didn’t inform you beforehand, so it is natural that you only just found out. Don’t worry, I’m not an irrational person–I won’t hold something like that against you.”

Relieved at the prince being so approachable, the young man heaved a sigh of relief and quickly rose to his feet, smiling brightly. He had been terrified of what might happen when his father suddenly sent him to receive a member of the imperial family, but it seemed like he wouldn’t have to worry too much.

“Your Imperial Highness, may I ask why you have graced us with your presence? Is there something in particular that you’re looking for, or any way for me to be of service?”

Thinking for a moment, Cian decided that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let a local show him around for some time. Of course, he still intended to go his own way later on, without such a massive entourage. How else could he randomly stumble across interesting sights?

“There is indeed. I decided to travel the dynasty in an effort to broaden my horizons and see what intriguing sights it has to offer. Xīngmíng merely happened to be the first step on my journey. If you could give me a little tour before I stroll around on my own, that would be very much appreciated.”

Positively surprised at the lack of difficulty of the request, Zhang Kai nodded happily and bowed slightly. This was his home, so obviously, he knew exactly where to go to have fun, and which locales were the most breathtaking.

“Leave it to me, your Imperial Highness! I’ll put together the best possible itinerary!”

Over the coming days, Zhang Kai brought Cian and Mei Li around to some of the most famous and outstanding establishments on the planet. Because it had long been united under the Zhang family’s rule, there were no dangers whatsoever. Gorgeous parks and rivers dotted the landscape, with plenty of ferry services that could let them drift along and enjoy nature’s beauty.

The entertainment industry was also quite prominent on Xīngmíng. Pavilions where talented artists played mesmerizing songs and performed elegant dances were pretty much everywhere. As someone who had never really partaken in the appreciation of the finer arts, Cian truly had his eyes opened here. The most fascinating part was that the musicians, dancers and painters combined their skills with the abilities they had obtained by walking the Immortal Path, infusing their work with a completely otherworldly feeling that would make a regular mortal drunk on this sensation alone.

Cian’s impression of Zhang Kai was a surprisingly good one. While it was clear that he was more on the prodigal side, he didn’t find the slightest bit of ill will towards him in the youngster’s gaze. Originally, he had expected the younger generation of important families to look down on him for being a mortal, but considering that 99 percent of all descendants of all families were in the same boat... he had really thought about it too much.

After they had grown more accustomed to each other and Zhang Kai had become less tense around him, the young man wanted to bring him to some more adult entertainment sites, intending to fulfil the role of a good host. But the moment that Mei Li realized where it was that they were about to step into, she shot Zhang Kai a frigidly cold gaze full of unconcealed threat. This stopped him in his tracks and made it abundantly clear that he should avoid such establishments in the future. On second thought, he had really taken it a step too far. His Imperial Highness was still only a 14-year-old teen, it was definitely not appropriate for him to visit those places. He had momentarily forgotten that fact due to the mature and confident air that the prince exuded.

“My apologies, your Imperial Highness! It slipped my mind that a place like this should not yet be graced by your presence. To bring you here might invite the wrath of his Imperial Majesty, costing me my head... I hope you understand!”

Not bothering to hide anything, Zhang Kai laid all of the cards on the table, hoping that Cian wouldn’t be annoyed at him for not having thought of this earlier. Fortunately, the prince in question had already got a pretty good idea of where they were going and would have stepped up and asked his host to lead him somewhere else if Mei Li hadn’t interjected from the side.

He had no intention of partaking in adult entertainment in any way, because not only would it make him feel as if he was cheating on Layla, but it would also fill him with heartache at the memory of that night. It was better to thoroughly keep away from these things. Pain, especially that of the heart, should be avoided whenever possible.

“It’s fine, I wasn’t interested in the first place. Where are we going next?”

Hearing the prince’s question, Zhang Kai thought for a bit before a pensive look flashed past his eyes.

“There is one more place that I know. It’s considered a secret and very hard to gain access to. If your Imperial Highness wandered around on your own, you likely wouldn’t find it. No worries, it’s not a place of the sensual variety. It just... can’t really see the light of day. All I can say is that battles take place there, and it’s exciting to watch them.”

Hearing this, the first thing that came to mind was some sort of illegal fighting ring that had been set up off the record so that unrestricted bets could be made, and taxes could be avoided. Cian was quite surprised by the fact that Zhang Kai divulged its existence to him–he was the one and only Imperial Prince! Still, he couldn’t deny that he was interested in fighting, so it could be worth a trip. There was no need to be a stickler for the rules.

“... lead the way.”

The entrance to the place was actually located in a random residential building’s basement. Only Zhang Kai, Cian and Mei Li came here, everyone else stayed behind, so as not to attract too much attention.

After entering a carriage that had been at the ready, they followed an underground tunnel that slowly merged with other paths coming from presumably more entrances to this hidden side of the planet. Due to the high speed that they were moving at, it only took them a couple of minutes until loud cheers and roars entered Cian’s ears, causing him to look up and outside of the window.

They stopped right in front of a gateway that was hundreds of meters tall and led into what could only be described as a massive cavern whose exact size couldn’t be made out. Various fighting rings and coliseums were everywhere, with paths snaking between them. Gambling halls and casinos were plentiful as well, intermingling with restaurants that provided great food and drinks. At first glance, everything looked exactly how Cian had expected it to.

“Let’s go to the biggest stage, they should have the best battles.”

Zhang Kai’s words caused Cian to raise an eyebrow in surprise and look at the youngster in a different light.

“Should? Have you not been here before?”

Scratching his cheek in embarrassment, the young man nodded.

“I have only heard people talk about this place before, but because I’m more interested in... forms of entertainment other than martial conflicts, whenever I had the time, I would frequent those places instead.”

Although Zhang Kai had just openly admitted to being a lecher, Cian nonetheless appreciated his honesty. At the very least, his indulgence in debauchery was not an all-encompassing one. As for himself, Cian had no interest in gambling, he was merely intrigued by the possibility of seeing masterful combat play out before his eyes.

“It’s good that you’re not addicted to gambling, that would only ever end very badly for you. The house always wins, after all. In any case, let’s do as you’ve said.”

Minutes later, they found themselves on the VIP seats of the biggest coliseum around. The last clash on stage had only just ended shortly before they had arrived, so they would have to wait a few more minutes until the next one commenced. But that wasn’t much of a problem, they were all patient and merely partook in some small talk in the meantime. There were surprisingly many people here, their numbers in the tens of thousands. Even the VIP seats were almost filled to the brim. Underground entertainment, as expected, was extremely popular amongst the wealthy–and on Xīngmíng, those were aplenty!

“Ladies and gentlemen, our next show will be the highlight of the day! We’ve recently got a new shipment of goods, so we shall pit 10 of them against an equal amount of Demonic Beasts! Who amongst them will survive the longest? Place your bets now!”

As an announcer took to the stage, 11 massive cages were brought in front of the audience, then the contents within were revealed for all to see. Ten of them contained various powerful beasts, some of which actually looked a bit similar to those that Cian had encountered before. It could be judged at first glance that they were all too strong for a regular human being to handle, even if the person in question were armed to the teeth. Worse was the fact that these animals had evidently been starved for a long time, which was why they were looking at the 11th cage, as well as their fellow beasts, yearning to devour anything that they could get their claws on.

That last cage’s contents caused the expressions of Zhang Kai, Cian and Mei Li to change completely. Held within were young children, clearly less than 10 years old. They wore nothing but rags, appearing like the most destitute, malnourished beggars one might find on a mortal kingdom’s streets. They were huddled together and sobbing in silence, too terrified to even make any loud noises. All that they could do was to stare at the monsters on the stage, both of the animal and human variety, and lament their fate.

“How despicable! How could they do such a thing!?”

Utterly taken aback by this situation, Zhang Kai looked as if he had just been force-fed his own excrement, his face twisted in disbelief, humiliation and rage. Those people who had clued him in on the secret had never mentioned that such atrocities took place here–the worst that he was aware of was that some criminals occasionally battled against beasts to earn their freedom! Now, he had let His Imperial Highness witness such an act of pure wickedness... the consequences of this were impossible to estimate! Would the prince misunderstand and hold him responsible?!

“Mei Li, bring me to the stage. Then kill the beasts and organizers. Contact the nearest troops and let them handle this situation.”

It had been an extremely long time since Cian had been this enraged, but the more powerfully the flames of wrath burned, the colder the killing intent in his voice and gaze. The dutiful maid at his side had been waiting for his command, a murderous aura overwhelming the entire scene the instant that his last words left his lips.

Crushing a talisman in her right hand, Mei Li sent the necessary instructions, then she held Cian’s hand and appeared in mid-air before the barrier encapsulating the stage. While she raised her arm, she took a massive axe out of her storage necklace. Ignoring the shocked expressions all around, she grasped it and brought it down in one fluid motion. The resilient barrier that could keep even the most infamous criminals securely confined popped like a bubble, unable to offer up any resistance whatsoever.

The next moment, she and Cian stood on the stage, right in front of the cage that the captured children were in. The ones who had brought it here hadn’t left yet, but they had been stunned into terrified silence once Mei Li had made her fury known.

For a moment, it looked as if there was only Cian on the stage, because the maid’s movements were too quick for anyone to see her. There were no sonic booms accompanying her steps, due to the technique that she made use of. Around a second later, Mei Li was once more at Cian’s side, but all people and beasts on the stage had already been eliminated. The cages and bodies fell apart, leaving the audience petrified in fear.

Finally, Zhang Kai managed to catch up to the two and also made it here, arriving next to them. He had always known that those who were qualified to serve the imperial family were usually the most outstanding talents of the entire dynasty, but he now understood that he had still been underestimating the gulf between regular geniuses and them.

“The Zhang family will fully cooperate with the investigation, your Imperial Highness.”

He was aware that there had to be a few amongst his relatives who knew the truth about this place, but none of them would be able to escape. As for Zhang Kai? He had nothing to hide, but trying to explain himself right now would only make him seem suspicious instead.

“Good, thank you. Inform your father of this matter immediately. He should be able to keep your family under control. Let nobody escape.”

As the Imperial Prince, it was no exaggeration to say that every single one of Cian’s words represented an order that nobody but his parents could go against or overrule. He had never really made use of this privilege, but now was as good of a time as any. Having travelled alongside Zhang Kai for a while, he was reasonably certain that the young man shouldn’t be involved in this mess–and his father, Zhang Fu, had been thoroughly vetted by his own father, Fu Haoyu, otherwise he wouldn’t be one of the dynasty’s generals. Before anyone else could twist the narrative or delay the news, using the son to contact the father directly was the smartest move.

Once this matter was handled, Cian instructed his blade to unsheathe and appear in his hand, then he slashed it down on the lock that prevented the cage door from being opened. He didn’t feel like wasting time and sifting through dead bodies until he found the key.

With a loud clang, the lock fell to the ground, making the children in the cage shiver in fear and huddle together even more closely. Although all of the monsters were dead, they had been mistreated for long enough to not easily trust a stranger.

After stowing away his blade, Cian opened the cage and slowly approached the children, with a doting smile on his lips. Admittedly, such an expression appeared a bit odd on the face of a teenager, but it felt strangely natural. Even though the kids were clearly highly on guard against him, he didn’t let that bother him and squatted down when he was a meter or two away from them, speaking to them on eye level.

“The bad guys are gone now. I’ll see to it that nobody will ever hurt you again. Let’s get you out of this place, alright?”

Standing up again and leaning forward slightly, reaching out his hand, Cian patiently waited for one of them to take the first step. But if none of them did, then he wouldn’t be surprised either.

The seconds trickled by ever so slowly. Somewhere far away, screams of panic could be heard, and explosions resounded. But none of that affected the Imperial Prince in the slightest–he still stood there, with his hand held out invitingly. Some of the kids grew fidgety, not sure what to do.

Eventually, one of them, a little girl, got up and grabbed his hand, overcoming her fear. Then, as if a dam had broken, the other children followed, holding on to him from all sides, causing a helpless smile to spread on his lips. Barely able to walk properly, he stepped out of the cage, his hilarious appearance bringing an amused smirk to the normally stern Mei Li’s face.

The situation from here on out was handled without any issue. The power and influence in Cian’s hands overshadowed that of the organizers by many orders of magnitude, so their deeds and connections came to light very quickly. One of Zhang Fu’s uncles had been the one supporting it all from behind the scenes, and a few more members of the Zhang family were also involved. As for those who had only heard about it, they got off with a stern warning–the others were directly executed on the spot after they had told the investigators everything that they knew.

It was discovered that the illegal fighting zone had taken part in the slave trade that had been outlawed ever since the inception of the Fu Dynasty. Unfortunately, it was like a winter cold–it would always, and regularly, come back. Some of the trading channels got exposed and quickly taken care of, but because they had been designed for the sole purpose of being easy to discard, the leads quickly led nowhere. No true mastermind behind the scenes was caught in the end, only some pawns.

In total, more than ten thousand slaves had been saved that day. For many of them, it was possible to trace their origins, and some even still had families to go back to. But many of them did not, so Cian arranged for them to be provided with housing, sustenance and the opportunity to find jobs. Should that not work out for whatever reason, then they would be supported for the rest of their days. They had suffered more than enough, after all.

There was only one problem left. Amongst the children that had clung to him, all but one still had family to return to, but that last one was completely alone. It was the girl who had reached out to him first, possibly because she knew that she had nothing to lose, and chose to take a risk. She was an orphan and a street urchin, so she didn’t have any relevant skills that would earn her a living either.

It would be easy to simply find some family to adopt her–nobody would dare to refuse the Imperial Prince’s request, after all. Quite a few would even jump at the opportunity to show off in front of him and treat this girl like a princess for the rest of her days to cosy up to him. But that just didn’t sit right with him.

“Your Imperial Highness, how about letting her learn from the maids at home? It won’t be difficult for us to employ her.”

Seeing him stuck between a rock and a hard place, Mei Li chimed in from the side. After giving her suggestion some thought, Cian quickly smiled and nodded, then knelt down to speak with the girl who was still clutching his hand.

“What do you think? Would you like to work at my place? There are lots of elder sisters just like Mei Li over there, and they’ll take good care of you. Don’t worry, they’re all extremely nice, even if they pretend otherwise.”

Ignoring the maid who was rolling her eyes at him in the background with the corner of her lips ever so slightly raised, Cian focused on the kid in front of him, who held on to him as if her life depended on it. Which, to be fair, it technically did.

“... o-okay, I’ll do it! Thanks, Mr. Prince!”

She thought about it for a while, but eventually, she nodded, her expression a resolute one. The way she addressed him made Cian grin amusedly–having encountered only the most rehearsed and respectful etiquette from everyone but his parents in this life, it felt refreshing.

“Alright! Then I’ll bring you back home with me as soon as I go back. Oh, by the way. I forgot to ask: What’s your name, little one?”

He didn’t have the habit to inquire about everyone’s personal details, but now that this kid would start working for him, he thought it relevant to at least know that much about her. After all, he was familiar to some extent with nearly every single member of that maid army that his parents employed.

‘Hold on a moment. I’ve always jokingly called them a “maid army”, but considering their individual power and practised teamwork... are they actually a real army!?’

What snapped him out of his distracting thoughts was the girl’s reply, and her shy smile.

“... it’s Feng Nuo.”

Patting the child’s head, ignoring that she was extremely dirty, Cian showed a reassuring grin.

“I’ll remember it.”

↞•↠

A bit more than a day later, Cian chose to cut his visit to Xīngmíng short and returned home. Mei Li had helped little Feng Nuo wash up and brought her some fitting clothes, so now the reason that the kid got anyone’s attention wasn’t because she stunk to the high heavens, but rather due to how adorable she was.

Cian parted from Zhang Kai on good terms, he even invited him over to the Heavenly Throne, should the young man ever feel like it. He knew that it was difficult to make friends due to his high social standing, but this guy wasn’t a bad egg, so he would at least try to reach out.

Whether it be before or after stepping through the teleportation channel, Feng Nuo stared at the sights around her with big wide eyes all the way. Everything was completely new and magical to her, so it was no wonder that she was this out of it. If Mei Li hadn’t dragged her along, she might have accidentally been left behind somewhere a long time ago.

Barely a minute after Cian arrived on the other side of the archway, before he even had a chance to leave the square, a goddess-like figure appeared in front of him and gave him a tight hug, happily spinning around with him in her grasp.

“Huan’er, you’re finally back! Mommy missed you, you know?”

Chen Yue’s cheerful voice entered his ears, and he felt both happy as well as extremely embarrassed. Not so much for himself–he was a child, after all–but for her.

‘Mom, we’re in public! Watch your image!’

Of course, his mother didn’t care about any of his concerns in the slightest. Nearly every single servant or retainer that had been employed by her for a long time knew about how carefree and jovial she was, but the regular populace rarely got an opportunity to witness it. As a result, quite a few soldiers and transport personnel almost had their chins hit the floor.

“Oh? Is this cutie the new maid that’s joining us?”

Once she had got the welcome out of the way, Chen Yue’s attention was attracted to the little girl that was staring at her with stars in her eyes, blown away by the beauty of this goddess in front of her.

Having always adored kids, she picked the girl up and poked her nose, playing with her until she finally came back to her senses. Immediately, Feng Nuo’s cheeks were coloured a deep crimson and embarrassment overwhelmed her.

“M-Miss Goddess! Please! Let me down!!”

Her pleas sounded incredibly sweet to Chen Yue’s ears–after all, an innocent child’s praise was the most honest of all–so she played with her for a while longer. Only once they arrived back at the private quarters of the Heavenly Throne which Cian and his parents called home did she let her back down.

Cian had honestly been a little relieved that the kid had garnered the majority of his mother’s attention, because she was behaving significantly more clingy than usual. The cause of this was likely that they had never been apart for longer than a day ever since his birth, and this time, he had been gone for more than a week.

“Listen closely, Feng Nuo. This is Empress Chen Yue, the wife of the Heavenly Emperor of the Fu Dynasty. In public, you may only address her as Her Imperial Majesty. In private, forms of address such as Lady Chen Yue or Empress Chen Yue are also acceptable.”

Having been put into the position of an instructor for the newly hired maid, Mei Li began her lessons the instant that they stepped through the door.

“The one who rescued you is the Imperial Prince, Fu Huan, the son of Empress Chen Yue and the Heavenly Emperor. When you’re in public, you may only address him as His Imperial Highness. Otherwise, Prince Fu Huan, or even Prince Huan, are fine.”

While listening, Cian couldn’t help but internally remark that he didn’t really mind being called directly by his name either, but he knew how big of a no go this was considered to be for the servants here, so he stayed silent.

Having thought of something, Chen Yue, who had only just allowed Feng Nuo to regain her freedom, knelt down in front of the little girl and held her shoulders, looking at her with an adoring smile. This made Feng Nuo feel both awkwardness and warmth within her heart.

“Nuo’er, do you want to become my Huan’er’s personal maid?”

Utterly flabbergasted, the prince in question froze and stared at his mother with confusion clouding his eyes.

‘What’s a personal maid? Since when do we have those? And why are you asking this random kid I practically picked up on the street!?’

Even though she knew what he thought, Chen Yue ignored him and instead focused on Feng Nuo, who was just as taken aback. Eventually, the little one glanced at her saviour, then back at the goddess, and nodded.

“Fantastic! Please take care of my Huan’er from now on, alright? I’ll have Li’er here teach you all about what it means to be a personal maid. She’s mine, so she knows well.”

Yet again, his mother’s words caused Cian to feel stupefied.

‘How is this kid supposed to take care of me? I saved her and gave her a job, so isn’t it the other way around? Am I not the one looking after her here? Did I miss something? Also, Mei Li is Mom’s personal maid? How come I never knew about this?’

Entirely disregarded, Cian eventually returned to his room. Soon, he shrugged and chose to forget about it. His mother wouldn’t harm him, therefore even though he felt that it was odd and came out of nowhere, that was just how life was every once in a while.

Xīngmíng was currently still shrouded in a bit of upheaval, so it wasn’t suited for him to travel there now. This was also one of the reasons as to why he had returned home early this time. Looking through the information about the Fu Dynasty’s other planets that he had on hand, he soon picked out a few that piqued his interest and wrote them down, intending to research a little bit more about them before setting off once again.

In the following weeks, he often encountered Feng Nuo, because Mei Li used his various meals and other daily activities as training sites for the little maid. Obviously, the kid made mistakes, but that was to be expected–he didn’t mind it. It brought a little bit of spice to his routine, so it was rather welcome, actually.

To his surprise, nearly a month after he had returned from his trip, he got informed that Zhang Kai had arrived at the Heavenly Throne, bringing a gladdened grin to his face. Last time, the young man had played the host, so this time around, it would be his turn! While he wouldn’t indulge in it himself, he was aware of some adult entertainment sites that Zhang Kai could pay a visit to, as well. It was the least that he could do.

Like a streamlet’s flow, years trickled by.

On Feng Nuo’s 10th birthday, it was discovered that she had an Inferior Grade Mana Spring, which made her feel quite conflicted. On the one hand, she could now step on the Immortal Path, but on the other, it would be very difficult for her to advance. Of course, with the generous support of the Fu Dynasty’s imperial family, it wouldn’t be too much of an issue for a long time to come.

Zhang Kai and Cian hung out quite often, and eventually they reached the point where they could call the other a friend. The former even became a permanent travel companion of the prince when he explored more planets.

By the time Cian was 18 years old, they were always a group of at least four when they went out: Him, Zhang Kai, Mei Li and Feng Nuo. Initially, his mother came along a few times, but she eventually stopped. Apparently, his father had talked her out of it, reasoning with her that their son would be gone for prolonged periods in the future, whilst he was reincarnating. If she could not learn to bear to part with him a little while he was still here, it would only be harder for herself later on.

It was actually quite rare for Cian’s group to run into anything unacceptable on their journeys. Cases like the one on Xīngmíng were extremely unusual. Still, they kept an eye open and Zhang Kai often deliberately mingled with some shady rich heirs to sniff out whether or not anything horrendous was afoot.

In that manner, they actually managed to take down another three similar underground fighting zones with connections to slave traders. There were also some others that were entirely clean, but “just” illegal–so they left them alone. Eventually, though, no matter where they went, they wouldn’t find out any more information. To criminal circles, the mere appearance of Cian on a planet was enough to stop any and all operations. This was a bit of a shame, but there was nothing that could be done about it. He would leave gathering clues from those that had been caught to the professionals.

Whenever Cian was at home, he would use the majority of his time to study any and all knowledge that he could find. Even many cultivation techniques from countless different planets entered his memory. He couldn’t yet make use of them himself, but that didn’t mean that he would never find an opportunity to utilize them in some situation.

Unfortunately, many of the professions that those walking the Immortal Path could embark on–like Array or Talisman Masters–required a Mana Spring, so he couldn’t become one of them. He could merely store theoretical knowledge and analyses in his mind.

Of course, there was a limit to what he could cram into his skull, but seemingly none to the data reserves of the Fu Dynasty. He wondered if he would ever be able to absorb it all, even if he ended up living an infinite amount of lifetimes. After all, the dynasty would only continue to gather more information in the future.

When Cian was 26 years old, he suddenly fell unconscious, causing Feng Nuo, who had been serving him tea, to sound the alarm in a panic. Within a few seconds, his room was overrun with maids and servants, as well as a few doctors. Shortly after, his parents also arrived and took control of the situation.

Standing next to his bed and sobbing, Feng Nuo, who had already grown up into a young woman over these past 12 years, didn’t know what she should do. She could only wait for others to help her master, making her feel useless and miserable inside.

After a diagnosis, the doctors came to the conclusion that Cian had suffered a significant internal injury that had forced his body to go into the equivalent of a standby mode to prolong his survival. Upon hearing this, everyone but Feng Nuo and Mei Li were sent outside by the imperial couple, even the doctors. Nobody made a fuss about it, though, because if the Heavenly Emperor couldn’t deal with this, then the doctors would be useless as well.

Feeding Cian a precious medicine that they had refined in advance, his parents smoothly stabilized his condition. It wasn’t a problem for them to heal a mortal body–even if he was on the verge of death, they could make him like new in a heartbeat.

Stroking her beloved child’s cheek as he was peacefully sleeping, Chen Yue turned to look at her husband, then at the two maids that didn’t know why exactly they had requested for them to stay behind. They were the only personal maids, so that differentiated them from the rest, but what exactly did the Imperial Majesties require of them in this situation?

“I think it’s time to tell them. We’ll need to prepare for the future, after all.”

Knowing his wife’s intentions, Fu Haoyu nodded and gave her the green light. His words only served to further confuse the two maids. Then, finally, Chen Yue let the cat out of the bag.

“I agree. Listen up, Li’er, Nuo’er. You can never let anyone know a single thing about what I will tell you now. Even though a lot of it will inevitably become apparent to the public, the specific details shouldn’t be spread. You’ve spent a lot of time with him and I can see that he trusts you a lot, so... I’ll tell you the truth about Huan’er.”

Chapter 8

Until We Meet Again

Obviously, not every single detail about Cian’s past lives would be revealed to the maids, only a general summary and understanding of the situation. Projecting streams of information directly into the two’s minds, Chen Yue waited for them to digest what they had just been clued into.

“This is... it’s too cruel!”

The first to come to her senses was, unsurprisingly, Mei Li. Contrary to her usual self, her face betrayed a plethora of emotions, while tears shimmered in her eyes. She had never imagined that the little prince that she had taken care of had such a terrible past haunting him. Fu Huan was practically family in her heart, despite her status as a servant. To say that she felt extremely bad for him was the understatement of the century.

Feng Nuo, on the other hand, took a few minutes longer to comprehend what she had been sent. But when she did, she immediately rushed to Cian’s bedside, collapsed on her knees and held his arm, weeping uncontrollably all the while. To know that the man who had saved her, and who she unsurprisingly had a crush on as a result, had always been in so much pain... it completely overwhelmed her.

Only a long while later did she regain her composure and critically analyse the situation. There was still a bright side: Although her prince would die in the future–many times, even–he would eventually return to this place.

“In the coming days, whenever it’s appropriate, we’ll bring Huan’er, and potentially even his new families, back here–of course, this depends on whether or not he approves of them. But on occasion, there may be times when he will choose to stay behind. Once that happens, I want the two of you to protect him at his side. Aside from the two of us, you are the people that he trusts the most, so you’re best suited for the job.”

In response to Chen Yue’s explanation, the two maids grew solemn and swore to live up to the Imperial Majesties’ expectations. Shortly after, they were dismissed, leaving only the couple and their son behind.

“You can stop pretending to be asleep now.”

With an amused smirk, Fu Haoyu poked Cian’s waist, causing the sleeping young man to jump out of bed with a playfully resentful expression. A bit after Mei Li had remarked on his past, he had woken up, but he didn’t want to interrupt his parents’ plans and distract the maids. Therefore, he chose to let it all play out without intervening.

“Are you fine with us telling them about your matters?”

Feeling a bit guilty for not having consulted him about this beforehand, his mother eventually asked him. Not bothered in the slightest, he calmly nodded his head.

“Yeah. I would have told them and Zhang Kai some things in a few years anyway, that way, they won’t mourn much when I die. No matter what, everyone will come to know about my ability to reincarnate one day. But with you having my back, it’s a lot less scary than it otherwise would be. So thanks, Mom and Dad!”

Giving them both short but genuine hugs, Cian flashed a joyful smile. Ultimately, there was no doubt in his mind that someone powerful would want to capture him for research again, whether that be due to his unusual soul, or due to the reincarnations that caught their eye. All alone, he would have been a sitting duck, but his parents’ support could minimize the dangers. They would have to endure heavy pressure from many sides, but even though they knew this, they never mentioned it.

“If you want to thank us, then live happy lives! That’s all we want from you.”

Fu Haoyu’s words made Cian a little teary-eyed. He was truly blessed to have such great parents.

Over the following years, he would increasingly frequently fall unconscious due to internal injuries, but every time, the medicine to help him had already been prepared. On the surface, everything seemed to be going well, but everyone could see that their prince’s body was steadily growing weaker. It was a gradual decline that was almost unnoticeable at first, but eventually, all of the servants were aware of it.

Until he was 40, Cian still occasionally travelled to other planets, but he stopped doing so as his health became too much of an issue. Instead, he would spend almost all of his time at home, flipping through books and exercising a little, just enough to not actually hurt his body. This at least prevented the lack of physical activity from making him waste away faster.

Nonetheless, by now, he appeared to constantly be exhausted, and as if he was always in a sleep-deprived state. Although his withering had only barely begun, the adorable maiden serving at his side already felt her heart ripping apart, tearing up frequently when she was alone. Feng Nuo had never imagined that it would hurt so much.

“Why don’t you take a vacation, Nuo’er? It’ll help you clear your mind a little.”

Noticing her pitiful state, Cian tried to better her mood somehow. If staying around him too much would hurt her, then it wasn’t a bad idea for her to step away a little, right?

“Absolutely not! Prince Huan, being apart from you is way more painful. I want to stay at your side forever! Don’t worry about me, I’ll manage.”

Putting up a strong front, his maid puffed out her chest confidently and reassured him. For close to a decade now, she hadn’t bothered to hide her feelings at all, speaking words that would have left her blushing in embarrassment when she was younger without blinking an eye.

Even the most dense idiot would have picked up on the fact that she was in love with him at this point, so obviously, Cian knew. But unfortunately for the maid, hers was fated to be a one-sided affection. While he was moved by her loyalty and adoration, and even though he did treasure her dearly... there was one thing that he couldn’t change: He just didn’t love her back in a romantic way. Ignoring every other factor that would make a relationship between the two impossible, this fundamental issue couldn’t be resolved.

“... alright. Don’t feel too bad. Next life, my soul should have fully recovered, so I’ll be able to stay with you for longer.”

With a helpless smile, Cian reached out and patted her shoulder, then focused on the books in front of him once more. He had already told her, in excruciating detail, why he couldn’t return her love, but she still stayed with him, entirely undeterred. At this point, there was nothing else that he could do but feel sorry for her and accept that her devotion to him was unconditional in nature. If she was alright with the status quo, then he would be as well.

Another 12 years went by, and the date of his departure eventually arrived.

Lying in bed, his body a thin, feeble shell of his former self, Cian glanced at those around him, trying very hard to make out their faces with his weakened vision. It wasn’t difficult for his parents to realize that he would soon pass away, so they had got everyone together. Aside from them, there were Mei Li, Feng Nuo and a couple of other servants, as well as Zhang Kai, who had been his only real friend throughout this life.

“I’m sorry... for having you see me... like this.”

The apologetic smile on his lips only made his loved ones tear up, achieving the exact opposite effect of what he had aimed for. This left him helpless as he once more slowly turned his head and carefully engraved each of their likenesses into his mind.

His plentiful expertise in regards to meeting his end soon let him know that the time had come. No matter how strongly he tried to resist and keep conscious, death beckoned him to accept its embrace.

“... it’s time. I’ll... see you... later.”

Cracking a playful smirk, his eyes lost their lustre, and he breathed his last. He only hoped that his attempt at brightening the mood a little had worked, but he simply had no idea. His soul never stuck around after his death, so he couldn’t take a peek at what happened afterwards.

Because he had long since mentally prepared himself for what was to come, he didn’t feel much in particular as he followed a certain pull and rushed towards every soul’s destination. He had seen and felt it all before, so he didn’t bother to pay much attention to anything and simply went through the motions.

Shortly after his next birth, he once more realized that he had found himself in a very unfortunate situation–his father was none to pleased with his odd appearance. He was about to grow violent and attack his mother.

‘Fortunately, my parents should have discovered my exact position months ago. Then, as discussed earlier...’

After sending a quick SOS via the emblem in his soul, Cian only had to wait a second or so until everything around him froze in place and a gorgeously beautiful woman appeared out of thin air–obviously, it was Chen Yue.

Glaring at the incensed mortal next to her, she waved her sleeve, causing him to dissolve into dust. How dare he feel enmity against her child!? She then scrutinized the woman holding newborn Cian for a while, before nodding with a happy beam on her lips.

“It looks like she truly cares about you, Huan’er! What do you say? Should we take her with us?”

In response to his mother’s question, baby Cian rolled his eyes.

‘Please explain to her what is going on first, then ask her. She should at least have the agency to decide for herself.’

Agreeing with him, Chen Yue allowed his new mother’s senses to return, then she quickly transmitted some information directly into her mind. While the woman digested it all, Chen Yue gently stroked her reborn son’s head, extreme joy lighting up her features.

When his new mother finally faced him, there was a complicated look in her eyes. Her child had suddenly turned out to be the reincarnation of some immortal dynasty’s prince!? It all felt utterly surreal, and she didn’t know how to feel. This new life had been nurtured by her, and she truly loved him. But still... this was a lot to take in.

Coming to terms with her own situation–her husband was dead, after all–the woman decided that it would be best for her to follow along with this goddess. At the very least, she would be safe from any vengeful relatives... and being the new mother of a prince should allow her to live a carefree life, right? Her heart was still wracked by waves of torment due to her husband’s attempt to harm her, his death, as well as her son’s oddity. But she knew that she couldn’t allow herself to miss this opportunity.

“Alright! Swallow this, it’ll help you heal. Do you want to take something with you? If so, then please tell Li’er here, she’ll get it for you. We’ll set off afterwards.”

Giving his new mother an extremely valuable medicine that instantly made her recover, Chen Yue let Mei Li handle the rest, then grabbed Cian from the woman’s arms–of course, only after she had got permission.

Seeing the joy on his mother’s face as she was reliving his last childhood, Cian stayed silent and merely eyed the two maids that had finally arrived. With a single glance, he noticed that Feng Nuo had grown a little more mature–she looked to be around 20 years old now. Due to having walked quite far on the Immortal Path, she had barely appeared like an 18-year-old maiden by the time of his death. Chen Yue and Mei Li hadn’t changed at all since back then.

‘How long has it been?’

Sensing his inquiry, his mother shot him a lonely smile.

“107 years, 3 months, 1 week and 2 days. At least we were lucky that you were born relatively close to our territory this time. We had some months to spare, so we made all necessary preparations to accept this solar system into our fold while we’re here.”

Falling silent at this news, Cian eventually sighed. He had known that it would probably take a while for him to return, but he had hoped it would be a little bit quicker than that. The worst thing was that a single century might still be on the lower end, too. At least, that was his gut’s instinctual, entirely unfounded opinion on the matter.

“Nuo’er, come and hold Huan’er for a bit. I’ll tell them to start. Mei Li should be finished in a few minutes.”

Because her personal maid had accompanied Cian’s new mother outside to help her pack, there were now only the three of them in the room. Thinking up a good excuse, Chen Yue handed him over to the girl at the side, before disappearing into thin air.

‘... you did this on purpose, Mom, didn’t you!?’

Unable to talk, all Cian could do was to allow his loyal maid to cradle him, tears dripping down her cheeks. Eventually, she couldn’t hold back and started to poke his face, deep love, adoration and amusement in her gaze. Enduring this most awkward of situations, he heaved a heavy sigh.

‘I’ll have to tell her to not do this again next time.’

When he got back to the Heavenly Throne, his life soon became very similar to how his last one had been. Surrounded by a loving family, he grew up under their protection. His parents had chosen to officially announce his rebirth, because they knew that it couldn’t be hidden. Therefore, they chose to release the news on their own terms, telling the whole wide world that their little boy had originally been born with an unfathomable curse. He would forever reincarnate as a mortal, but he would always be their child.

As expected, many factions asked to take a look at their prince, intending to decipher his secrets. A few of them put a lot of pressure on the imperial couple and the dynasty as a whole, but they had long since made arrangements for this and stayed unyielding. Extremely powerful experts and large armies tried to secretly infiltrate or openly attack them, but the Fu Dynasty had far more hidden strength than anyone had anticipated. Everyone who reached out their greedy hands paid a terrible price, quickly stopping further probing attempts.

However, it didn’t end here. Changing their strategy, many factions decided to play the long game and supported those around the Fu Dynasty to start wars against them. As a result, every day, enormous amounts of manpower were consumed at the borders, but the dynasty also gained many resources from this. Fu Haoyu had raised an outstanding military and eliminated the vast majority of corruption under his rule, allowing him to never be on the losing side.

Additionally, the external pressure was an opportunity to further unify the dynasty and solidify his control over it. All in all, while there were dangers that he had to carefully navigate, the situation could be used to his advantage.

All of this would of course be reported to Cian eventually, causing him to feel a twinge of guilt. So many people had been implicated because of him... Still, he knew that it could have been much worse. At the very least, the Fu Dynasty was prepared and capable of handling the pressure. If he was anywhere else, those around him wouldn’t be able to resist.

Living this life just like the last one–but without any health issue this time around–Cian, Feng Nuo, Mei Li and Zhang Kai often went to explore more of the dynasty’s planets. Perhaps because it had been a century since the criminal underworld had last faced significant losses, they found more illegal operations related to the slave trade, which they put a stop to.

Lady Luck was smiling upon them as well, because the investigators somehow managed to dig up vital information. Due to the severity of what they had discovered, they could only contact the Heavenly Emperor directly. As it turned out, one of the main sponsors behind the criminal enterprise was one of Fu Haoyu’s distant cousins, a fellow member of the imperial family!

This came as a huge shock to the entire dynasty, and a brutal cleansing followed in its wake. Fu Haoyu’s cousin was obviously unable to keep any secrets in front of him, so for the first time in eons, the entire slave trade network was uprooted and eradicated. It all happened in a single night, too! As a result, the Fu Dynasty’s cohesiveness increased once more, making it practically impenetrable from the outside.

As the one who had initially kicked off this change, this elevated Cian’s position in the eyes of the citizens. When they constantly praised his virtue and foresight, he couldn’t help but feel awkward, but there wasn’t really anything that he could do about it. It didn’t help that he had often travelled to planets which housed refugees that were displaced due to the border wars, where he supported them in settling down successfully and eased the tensions between them and the original inhabitants. He had only done so to feel a little bit less guilty, but in the eyes of the people, it made him some sort of saint.

This time, he managed to live for close to 200 years due to the various treasures of the dynasty that his parents unhesitatingly spent on extending his lifespan. To be fair, he was merely a mortal, so it didn’t take much to achieve this. The expenses couldn’t even compare to one week’s worth of medicinal meals from his last life, just to put things into perspective.

Cian was truly fortunate that everybody he really cared about was walking the Immortal Path, so they still had countless years ahead of them, and he would continue to be able to spend his time alongside them during his lives as Fu Huan. His new mother had quickly grown awkward around him and had eventually left the Heavenly Throne. She had settled down in the dynasty, remarried and never contacted him again. He couldn’t blame her for this, because his situation was really weird to begin with. All that he could do was to allow her to live her life to the fullest.

The second time that the reaper’s scythe approached, the mood wasn’t as horrible. Although everyone didn’t want to part, they had already gone through this once before, so they said goodbye with a smile and plenty of hugs.

In a similar manner, hundreds upon hundreds of lives passed by.

Occasionally, Cian had been born in planar worlds, making it impossible to reunite with the Fu Dynasty, but such occurrences were rather rare. Overall, he encountered more than a dozen families that accepted him, and he only died 14 times as a young child. There had been lives when the Fu Dynasty had to infiltrate other forces to smuggle him out, or when he had to wait until he had grown a few years old for them to find him. The universe was inconceivably large, so even though his mother was a true powerhouse akin to a god, she was not omnipotent.

During a few lives, he felt very attached to his new families, but they didn’t want to or couldn’t leave for one reason or another. As a result, he chose to stay with them until his next rebirth, Mei Li and Feng Nuo accompanying him at his side.

He had often encountered injustices in his new lives, so he used the Fu Dynasty’s power to overthrow entire solar systems when it was necessary. The root cause for what he saw was usually a small force controlling a few hundred planets suppressing their people to unreasonable extents–obviously, having the means to help, he had to do it, even if it was merely to have a clear conscience.

There was one life during which he was actually born in one of the factions that had tried to infiltrate the Fu Dynasty and abduct him to conduct experiments. Luckily, he was born to an insignificant mortal family under their control, so he wasn’t discovered during the pregnancy. When Chen Yue tried to smuggle him out this time, the enemy actually noticed her and an extremely dangerous chase ensued, which only ended when his father attacked personally. But because of the direct involvement of the Heavenly Emperor, a horrendously devastating war began.

Eventually, Fu Haoyu had to take to the battlefield, as the situation was about to grow out of control. The Fu Dynasty had been facing far too many enemies for all of these eons, so they couldn’t afford to get bogged down in this additional conflict for long.

Shocking all of the forces that had been eyeing the dynasty or his son covetously, the Heavenly Emperor alone annihilated the entirety of the enemy. A war that–according to popular war analysts–should never have ended with one of the sides at a total loss, actually concluded as such. For the first time ever, Fu Haoyu’s true power was revealed on the universal stage. All of a sudden, the wars ceased, and many of the dynasty’s opponents surrendered.

While it might have appeared like a glorious victory on the surface, only Cian’s father knew that he had just played his most important trump card and was now in a disadvantageous position. He hadn’t told anyone but Chen Yue and his son, but even he had recently reached a bottleneck that kept him from advancing further. He simply had no idea how he could possibly continue onwards. Therefore, now that his full strength was revealed, their enemies could adjust their plans accordingly.

But he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t see a way forward–Feng Nuo had also reached her limit. Due to the dynasty’s unwavering support, she had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, but now, her realm simply couldn’t advance any further, no matter what they fed her. She had reached the end of her path. Although she only looked to be about 30 years old, and was in the prime of her life, she was terrified. She wanted to stay at her prince’s side forever! But her lacking talent simply didn’t allow her to do so. What was she to do? The inevitable separation was getting closer and closer...

One day, Chen Yue pulled the loyal maid aside and talked to her for a very long time. It was unknown what they discussed, but when Feng Nuo returned to Cian’s side, she was completely lost in thought. She didn’t even notice him when he waved his hand in front of her face.

It was in the following night that he found out more about what had happened. A familiar knock at his door caused him to pause his studies.

“Come on in, Nuo’er.”

When he looked up, surprise and concern flashed past his features. Clearly, his maid had been crying. Her eyes were still very red, and she hadn’t even bothered to tidy up the tear stains on her cheeks.

“What’s wrong? Did something bad happen?”

Grabbing a tissue, he approached her and wiped her face clean. Having lived with her for hundreds of lifetimes, such insignificant bits of intimacy had long since ceased to mean anything to him. At the same time, she had grown to be an irreplaceable person in his heart–not really in a romantic way, but other than his parents, he cared about her the most, by far.

“Master, would you allow me to be a little bit selfish, just this once?”

More tears welling up at the corners of her eyes, Feng Nuo’s voice was practically a whisper. For some reason, a bad feeling suddenly gripped Cian’s heart. She had never called him “Master” before, and her words sounded suspiciously like a farewell.

Not giving him any chance to respond, Feng Nuo suddenly wrapped him into a tight embrace and longingly kissed him. He was too taken aback by this development, so he didn’t react at first, but even once he did, he couldn’t move or escape–she was far too powerful, and he was a mere mortal. Only minutes later, when his legs had already grown weak, and he felt as if he was suffocating, did their lips finally part.

Feng Nuo supported him as she led him back to his chair, where he eagerly took a plethora of deep breaths. All this time, she never let go of his hand.

“I’ve reached my limit, Master. Even with the Imperial Majesties’ support, I cannot continue on any further. I’ve discussed it with Lady Chen Yue, and I only have two options. I can either spend the rest of my life here and accompany you on a small part of your journey, or I can travel the world to try my luck.”

Gazing directly into his eyes, her own filled with nothing but love, as well as reluctance, Feng Nuo explained her circumstances. The bad feeling in Cian’s heart grew significantly stronger.

“I want to be with you forever and ever. Even if I can only follow you at your side, and never receive your love, that’s fine with me. But to do so, I can’t be stuck here. So I’m going. I know that my chances are abysmal, I really do. But I promise you–I will succeed.”

Just like back when she had decided to become his maid, her eyes were overflowing with resolution. As someone with an Inferior Grade Mana Spring, it wouldn’t simply take a mere miracle for her to make her words come true. A miracle amongst miracles, one of the same order of magnitude that had allowed him to forever reincarnate–only if she encountered something like this would her wish come true.

“Nuo’er...”

Cian knew this. He also understood that this was likely the last time that he would ever see her, so he desperately wanted to reach out and keep her by his side. But he didn’t. It was her choice, and her hope–shattering it would be too cruel and selfish of him. Long since had he known that everyone he knew would eventually leave. Perhaps, in this universe, only his messed up existence was truly eternal.

“... alright. I’ll be waiting for your good news. Your promise... I’ll remember it.”

His voice trembled a little as he spoke, but he did his best to control his emotions. No matter what, he didn’t want to ruin this moment. To his surprise, a dazzling, extremely gorgeous smile suddenly bloomed on Feng Nuo’s lips.

“There you go, saying those words again. Just like back when I told you my name. Fine, I’ll hold you to it–don’t you dare forget!”

Following an unusually cheeky response, the maid gave her prince a quick but gentle hug, then she let go of him and walked to the door with unfaltering steps. Before she left the room, she turned around and shot him a smile full of longing, as well as hope.

“Until we meet again.”

For the first time since his rebirth as Fu Huan all of those years ago, Cian’s tears fell uncontrollably. Just like he had promised her, he had engraved what she had said, as well as everything about her, permanently in his memory.

“... until we meet again.”

Chapter 9

Eternal Ancestor

Cian tried his best to move forward despite the painful farewell, but it was evident to all who knew him well that he was merely forcing himself to put on a strong front. Only after multiple lives had passed did he finally manage to properly store the sadness away, not allowing it to hold him back any longer.

The loss of a companion of so many years had been far more impactful than he had ever thought it would be. On occasion, he would still feel the hurt, no matter how much time had passed–but he knew that Feng Nuo wouldn’t want to see him like this. Also, it wasn’t totally impossible to meet again... technically.

His family and friends’ support had been vital for him to overcome this hurdle, so he made sure to cherish them properly and spend as much time with them as he could. As a result, he significantly dialled down the hours that he spent on learning every day, but rather travelled and hung out with those that he cared for. Their time together was limited, and he didn’t want to have too many regrets.

Eventually, as the lives came and went, some of the eldest servants and maids that had been with his family ever since Fu Huan’s birth slowly disappeared, one by one. Whenever he reincarnated, he found less and less of them back at home. Although there were new hires, and he treasured those as well, time ultimately only marched forwards.

At last, when he had just returned to the Heavenly Throne for the 1,024th time after a rebirth, he was hit with the news that his oldest friend, Zhang Kai, had passed away whilst he had still been stuck in the Reincarnation Cycle. It wasn’t too much of a surprise, because the old fellow had already grown a head of grey hairs when he had last seen him. But as it had taken him more than 10,000 years to return this time around...

“I want to visit his grave.”

Chen Yue had only found him when he was already in his teens, so it wasn’t a problem for him to be out and about. Under the lead of Mei Li, who he couldn’t help but notice had also considerably aged, looking around 45 years old, he eventually returned to the planet of Xīngmíng. They came to a certain mountain that Zhang Kai had introduced to him back when they had first met. Close to its peak, next to the sole tree around, stood an extravagant marble gravestone.

“Zhang Kai, 7R 20,793 - 9R 117,209. So you lived for one million, 96 thousand and 416 years, my friend. Damn, now I’m feeling old.”

Cracking a joke to lessen the pain, a slight chuckle escaped Cian’s lips. Zhang Kai had not been particularly talented when it came to walking the Immortal Path–he had only had a Minor Grade Mana Spring, one grade better than Feng Nuo. He had also never wished to desperately continue onward, so once he had reached a bottleneck that he couldn’t cross even with his family’s support, he had chosen to live the rest of his life as he pleased.

Ever the lecher, Zhang Kai had married plenty of times and had sired an entire branch of the Zhang family on his own. It was honestly really impressive. As his best friend, Cian was even the godfather of a few of his children. But because they all had been mortals, they passed away very quickly. By now, the only ones who he would be able to reminisce about the good old times with were a few of Zhang Kai’s wives. Everyone else was just his friend’s descendant, not someone that he had ever had much contact with.

“Prince Huan, he left you a message before he passed away. Would you like to read it?”

Only after having given him a few minutes of silence to mourn Zhang Kai’s passing did Mei Li walk to his side. Positively surprised, Cian nodded and soon took an old-fashioned letter from the maid’s hands. Fortunately, the Fu Dynasty had developed a kind of paper and ink that would take millions of years to degrade into dust. Coupled with certain arrays and other methods of the Immortals, unless someone destroyed them, written records didn’t usually expire.

‘Fu Huan, my old pal! I don’t think I’ll make it until you’re back again. I guess it’s time for me to embark on that all too familiar journey of yours myself. It’s not a big deal, though–I’ve had a blast! I’ll never forget all the adventures that we went on. Don’t let my death get you down, alright? Also, you really should make more friends. I know it’s difficult for you, considering your special circumstances, but at least try, okay? For my sake. Heck, maybe your future pal might even be me, just reborn! Sure, every friend will eventually leave, but there will always be more. Be happy that we met, not that we parted. Yeah, I got that inspirational quote from one of the brochures that my 3rd wife had lying around, but so what? It gets the point across.’

A giggle escaped Cian’s lips, and he shook his head in amusement. In private, the two of them had long since thrown etiquette out of the window. They didn’t need to pretend in front of the other. This was one of the things that he would be missing the most now.

‘Didn’t you say that your old man–forgive the disrespect, your Imperial Majesty, but I’m about to croak anyway–told you that there might be a way for you to acquire a Mana Spring somewhere out there? You’ve never actually tried to search for it, haven’t you? Promise me this: After everyone here is gone, and you won’t feel particularly attached, go on a journey far, far away. Heck, if Feng Nuo can do it, you can try as well! You’ll have infinite chances anyway, so what’s the worst that could happen? Speaking of your little maid. I know it’s unlikely, but if she really succeeds... don’t let her go again, alright?’

He couldn’t help but pause at this point, because Zhang Kai had hit multiple bitter nails on the head, even from beyond the grave. It was true that he had never wanted to let go of the warmth of family that he had acquired here, which was why he didn’t go out of his way to find an answer to his most pressing problem. He was afraid that if he left, by the time that he turned around to look back, everything would have been washed away by the unrelenting tides of history.

As for Feng Nuo... Zhang Kai’s words here were pretty much his own thoughts. One time, after she had embarked on her desperate voyage, he had told his friend in detail about his regrets regarding the matter. Now, this had come back to bite and remind him.

‘I don’t really have any other important things to say, so this is it. I wish you nothing but the best. Take care.’

With a deep sigh, Cian put the letter back into its envelope and tucked it away. He remained in front of the grave until the sun began to set, then he looked at the red horizon, and back at Zhang Kai’s final resting place.

“Thanks. And goodbye.”

↞•↠

It took another thousand lives for Mei Li to take her permanent leave as well. This time, he at least had the opportunity to bid his farewell in person, which made the experience different, but no less bitter.

Whenever he travelled outside, he had other maids and servants accompany him, but he wasn’t as close with them as he had been with his old friends. It just didn’t feel the same.

Unbelievably enough, Cian eventually reached the point where he had been to every single planet under the dynasty’s rule at least once. Due to his powerful soul, even if he didn’t want to keep exact track of it, he still knew that it was his 5,437th life. Following this, he chose to revisit a few planets that he had only been to for a short time, not really exploring them until he was satisfied, which allowed him to keep busy for a while longer.

But eventually, even that came to a close. In his 8,301st life, he returned to the Heavenly Throne and only rarely travelled outside. Legends about him, his meritorious deeds and his adventures had become an indelible part of the Fu Dynasty’s history. Mothers would tell stories about the Imperial Prince to their children, who then aspired to set out to help others, just like him.

Cian might argue that he had never particularly tried to be a good person, but simply because he had always extended a helping hand to the ones in need that had crossed his path, those instances had eventually accumulated. The results of the good that he had done covered the entire dynasty.

Over time, a title spread amongst the masses, and quickly got accepted by anyone who heard it. Those residing in the Heavenly Throne also began to use it: Eternal Ancestor.

It might sound ironic to call a mortal by this title, but everyone felt that it fit perfectly. Who but the Imperial Prince would ever be qualified to don such a moniker?

Many lives later, Cian’s parents had another serious topic that they wanted to discuss with him. It was just like so long ago, when they had talked about the two problems that they had discovered regarding his soul. But this time around, he wasn’t the one with the issue.

“Huan’er, I plan to abdicate. Your mother and I are getting on in years, and neither of us has been making any progress on the Immortal Path in too many eons. We’ve chosen to try our luck in the great unknown, and search for an opportunity.”

A strange feeling of déjà vu overcame Cian as he listened to Fu Haoyu’s words. Still, he couldn’t help but be very confused. His parents were the picture of healthy young adults, seemingly not having aged a single day since he had first met them. They had billions, if not trillions of years, left to live!

“Dad, what’s really going on? This doesn’t add up.”

Scrutinized by his gaze, Fu Haoyu showed an embarrassed smile and nodded.

“That was indeed not the entire reason. There are many other factors to consider. Fu Longwei, your cousin, has reached the same realm as me, and I want to avoid any confrontation if I can. He also shows more talent and promise than me, so I think it’s a good idea to let him have a shot at being Heavenly Emperor. That aside, your mom and I feel like we’ve chained you down to this place for far too long. If we’re not here anymore, it will be easier for you to leave. Let this be your haven when you are weary or need help, but try to tread your own path!”

Cian couldn’t argue with this, but that didn’t change that the thought of not seeing them again for a potentially extremely long period of time was too agonizing.

“You’re not the only one who is sad, Huan’er, Mommy is too! But don’t fret. Your father seems to have come up with something interesting recently. That’s actually the main reason why we thought it was time to leave.”

Stroking her son’s cheek with a doting smile, Chen Yue kicked the ball back into her husband’s court. She had revealed the tip of the iceberg, and now it was up to him to explain the rest–she didn’t really understand his conjecture anyway.

“Yet again, I can’t tell you much, because if I did, I would be on the receiving end of a terrible backlash. All I can say is that I might have spied upon an extremely remote possibility to obtain true eternity long ago, and after thinking about it for a very long time, I’ve come up with a number of hypotheses. I hope to explore more about the topic, and potentially even verify some of my ideas on our journey.”

Letting these words settle in for a while, Cian couldn’t help but voice what he was worried about the most.

“How confident are you?”

Patting his son’s shoulder, Fu Haoyu flashed him a proud smile.

“Not much at all. But it should be possible. I’d rather try and fail, instead of never making an attempt at all. If it works, you’ll never have to fear being alone again. If it doesn’t... well, nothing will change. Your mom and I would have eventually set off into the unknown anyway, it would have just happened later. This is also an opportunity for you to step outside of the shelter that we’ve provided you with.”

It felt as if Cian’s heart was ripping apart. He had seen this scenario play out before, and he had known it would come around again. But it was too early! He wasn’t prepared to lose them just yet.

“You’ll never be ready, and there’ll never be a good time. That’s always how it is when it comes to goodbyes. But we’re in the same boat, too. However, I’m afraid that now is the best time that we’ll ever get. I might lose this spark of inspiration if I wait a few more million years.”

Seeing the unwavering look in his father’s eyes, Cian gave a reluctant nod, very close to crying.

“After we leave, it will be difficult for us to come and help you. Therefore, we’ve decided to leave the emblem to the dynasty’s Heavenly Emperors from now on. Considering that you’re family, they should be willing to lend you a hand. But don’t rely on it too much. It’s time for you to spread your wings. Don’t let the Fu Dynasty be your shackle.”

Enveloping her son in a desperate hug, Chen Yue had tears streaming down her cheeks as she let him know yet another piece of devastating–but expected–news. Soon enough, the family of three was huddled together, not wanting to let go of each other.

Then, eventually...

“Stay strong, Huan’er. If fate wills it, we will see each other again someday.”

With a pained, but gentle smile, Fu Haoyu hugged his son one last time, before separating.

“When you’re lonely, don’t forget that we’re somewhere out there, Huan’er–and we love you so, so much!”

Sobbing uncontrollably, Chen Yue bade her farewell as well. She really didn’t want to let go, but after a very long time, she did.

“I love you too.”

After these words had left Cian’s lips, his parents, that had taken care of him for millions of years, were gone in the blink of an eye. Even though this was not the first time that he had had to let someone go, it hadn’t got easier to endure at all.

Many days later, he lay in bed and stared at his ceiling. He had barely moved from this spot all the while, and if it wasn’t for the servants that had continued to bring him food and water, he might have already died of thirst. Crying as much as he had would have only hastened his demise.

“... Zhang Kai, Mom and Dad... they’re all right. I can’t aimlessly stay here forever. Even if I’ll merely be wandering around blindly, it’s still better than doing nothing.”

He had previously told himself the exact same thing many times, but somehow, it actually worked this time around. Getting out of bed, he emptied the glass of water on his bed stand in a couple of gulps. A maid helped him change and get washed up, then he sought an audience with the new Heavenly Emperor, Fu Longwei.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, he had already analysed which dangers he might encounter if he left the Fu Dynasty, as well as how to deal with them. There often weren’t any good solutions, but dying was an option, right?

“Cousin, what brings you here?”

Quite curious as to why this odd relative of his had suddenly come, the Heavenly Emperor shot Cian an intrigued glance. They had met many times over the eons, but it couldn’t be said that they were particularly close.

“Your Imperial Majesty, I wanted to inform you that I plan to depart from here. In my lives to come, I will likely only very rarely, if ever, return, unless I happen to be born here. I will try my best to avoid making any trouble for the dynasty!”

Kneeling respectfully, Cian paid attention to proper etiquette. There was nothing to hide, because Fu Longwei could read his thoughts anyway.

“I will allow you to take a few of your servants with you, they will accompany you until the end of this life. If you’re ever in a situation where there is no other way out, let me know. Best of luck to you!”

Nodding and showing a supportive smile, Fu Longwei made his cousin a promise, before letting him go his own way. As Fu Haoyu’s successor, he had sworn to keep the emblem that connected him with Fu Huan safe, as well as to help him, should it ever be necessary. He respected his uncle, and mourned his cousin’s circumstances, so this was the least that he could do. Of course, he wouldn’t try to do anything beyond his means.

The rest of Cian’s current life was pretty uneventful. Although he had left the dynasty’s borders, considering the unfathomable size of the universe, he never really got anywhere. There weren’t too many proper teleportation channels set up between the surrounding solar systems, so his servants had to manually transport him over extremely long distances. As a result, he had barely stepped on the 17th planet when he met his end.

This marked the end of the happiest period of his life, as well as his stay in the Fu Dynasty. Having grown dependent on them quite a lot, it took him many years to adapt to being alone again, but he eventually did. He always kept the minute hope of reuniting with his loved ones someday in his heart, but he knew that it was extremely unlikely to come true.

Over his time as Fu Huan, he had grown used to being able to help those in need, so now that he no longer had the means to right the wrongs that he encountered, this yet again forced him into a period of adjustment.

Initially, during the lives in which he managed to grow up safely, he threw away his own life fighting against injustice, because his subconscious was still too used to wielding a power that nobody could resist. After this had happened a few times, he finally fully regained his bearings.

But this had left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. To see bad things happen to others, or even to the families that he was born to, and being unable to save them, was a very unpleasant experience. Over many lives, however, he grew numb to most of this sensation when it concerned total strangers. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but that he couldn’t allow himself to care if he wanted to retain at least some vestiges of his sanity.

Surprisingly, it took him thousands of lives until he unfortunately ran across a person strong enough to notice how unusual his soul was. But that was also where his good luck ended. Just like that time with Kol Rendahl, his soul was captured and imprisoned for a long time, making him curse internally at how unreasonable so many of these powerful people were. They simply didn’t treat mortals as lifeforms whose lives and deaths they should be concerned about.

Before anything too horrendous could happen, he relented and sent Fu Longwei a message, asking his cousin to set him free so that he could continue to reincarnate. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait for long for his request to be fulfilled. Shooting a grateful smile at the Heavenly Emperor, the embrace of death finally found him.

As he was stuck waiting in the river of reincarnation alongside the countless orbs and fishes, he made a decision–from now on, if he met anyone who could detect his abnormality, he would do his best to kill himself instantly. He had promised to not make too much trouble for the Fu Dynasty, after all.

Fu Haoyu had told him that somebody could only imprison his soul by extracting it from his living body. If he died, it would instantly be pulled away by the Reincarnation Cycle, making it impossible for someone to intervene.

There was just one problem with his plan: Finding a way for him to obtain a Mana Spring would most likely require the knowledge, resources or help of a being even stronger than his father. If he actively avoided such encounters, then he would be massively reducing his chances of finding a solution to his problem. But this really couldn’t be helped.

From this point onward, Cian never asked for support from the Fu Dynasty ever again. The lives flew by one after another. He kept trying to live them to their fullest, and to learn as much as possible. Of course, he couldn’t let anyone know about how skilful he had become at almost every conceivable thing that he could encounter during his lives. He lived ordinary, around 100 year long lives whenever he wasn’t eliminated in the cradle. The only thing that made him stick out from the rest–aside from his appearance, which sometimes didn’t fit in with the local people at all–was the fact that he never allowed any romantic relationships at all.

There were times when women that fancied him tried to subdue him by force, or by drugging him. There were also occasions when his families married him off to someone. He had even been born a slave many a time. But whenever he was about to be forced into a situation that he simply couldn’t stand, he swiftly ended himself without any hesitation, if there was no other option. Eventually, self-elimination became yet another one of the skills that he had mastered to a level far beyond mortal comprehension.

The times that he was actually born into the territories of those forces that had been openly hostile towards the Fu Dynasty could be counted on one hand, even when the number of total lives that he had lived exceeded 100,000. But during those instances, he was never actually discovered. In truth, now that nobody from the dynasty was trying to bring him home, it would be impossible for anyone to find him, unless they constantly surveilled every single mortal on every single one of their planets. Which could be done, but not forever.

Having disappeared from the spotlight for over 100 million years at this point, many a force thought that the curse that had made him continue to reincarnate might have stopped working. After all, wasn’t it too unreasonable to expect it to never exhaust its energy? As a result, over time, Cian slowly got forgotten. Only the Fu Dynasty’s Heavenly Emperors would always know that he was still out there, because of the emblem that they would inherit when they ascended the throne.

As Cian had been reborn in his old home’s territory a few times, he had occasionally picked up some important news about it. From what he knew, it had developed into a true behemoth on the universal scale. They were actually close to having conquered their entire galaxy! Just like Fu Haoyu had said, Fu Longwei had turned out to be more talented than him, which allowed the new emperor to continuously surpass the dynasty’s enemies’ expectations and overwhelm their opponents.

His plentiful warfare eventually got him killed, but the Heavenly Emperor that had succeeded him wasn’t any worse than him either. While he couldn’t expand further, he could at least keep the status quo intact.

It was very difficult for most forces to easily cross the vast distances between galaxies, so slowly but surely, the threats that the Fu Dynasty faced were defeated one by one, leaving them with almost free rein over their entire galaxy. However, this was only truly achieved sometime after Cian’s 300,000th reincarnation, during the reign of Heavenly Emperor Fu Xiu. By this point, it had been more than 350 million years since Cian had last set foot in the Heavenly Throne.

With the Fu Dynasty’s long-standing goal of unifying their galaxy completed, Fu Xiu thought about what to do next, and soon came to a disappointing conclusion. Attacking another galaxy simply wasn’t feasible. He could travel there on his own, and some of the mightiest warriors of the dynasty could follow him as well, but teleportation channels couldn’t be established. Their technology and array mastery was too lacking to cross over! Therefore, even if they conquered new lands, they would be unable to properly support them.

Of course, all of this didn’t mean that he wouldn’t pursue such a path. Fu Xiu was nothing if not ambitious, so he chose to send some of his trusted generals to galaxies that hadn’t been fully united yet. That way, they could build bridgeheads of influence over there. Perhaps one day in the future, the transportation and supply line issues could be solved.

With further expansion not being a feasible path for the moment, the Heavenly Emperor focused on increasing his realm, often immersing himself in secluded cultivation sessions that lasted millions of years. But eventually, even that path came to an end, and their teleportation channels had yet to be sufficiently improved either.

One fine afternoon, with nothing else to do, Fu Xiu suddenly looked at the silver emblem which had been fastened to every Heavenly Emperor’s robe ever since Fu Haoyu embarked on his voyage.

“That’s right! Isn’t there still Fu Huan, that Eternal Ancestor?”

All at once, he realized that another path forward had been right by his side for all of these years. Many emperors before him had never considered this option–either because of their familial ties, or due to the pressing issues weighing down the dynasty during their reigns. But wouldn’t he have the possibility to spy on some of the secrets of true immortality if he managed to study Fu Huan’s curse!?

‘... still, my predecessors swore an oath, didn’t they? They would support the Eternal Ancestor, should he need their help, and always keep a door open for him.’

When this came to mind, Fu Xiu’s lips curled into a disdainful sneer. Due to the untimely death of the Heavenly Emperor preceding him, his own coronation had been rushed. He had eventually been clued into the secrets of the silver emblem when he flipped through his predecessors’ notes, but he had never taken the same oath as them.

‘Then let me take a look at where you’re at!’

Having marked the emblem long ago, Fu Xiu only needed a simple thought for Cian’s exact location to enter his mind. Soon, a displeased frown twisted his features.

“It would take me hundreds of millennia to even get there! It would be better for me to wait until he gets reborn somewhere closer.”

Considering that he still had at least billions of years left to live, Fu Xiu chose to be patient. There would inevitably come a day when Fu Huan would be relatively close by. At that moment, he would strike and capture him.

‘We’re family, right? So you’d better behave and hand over your secrets obediently, my dear Eternal Ancestor.’

Chapter 10

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Unbeknownst to Fu Xiu, his target was about to encounter an extremely fortunate turn of events. Only once had anything like it occurred to Cian, in all of his 327,991 lives.

‘Let’s see what it’ll be like this time. I hope it’s not another instant dead end...’

Not particularly optimistic about his odds, considering the fact that at least a third of his reincarnations had met with a very unjust, early demise, Cian prepared to assist his mother in having a painless birth.

‘... huh!?’

But contrary to his expectations, the process was impossibly smooth, to the extent that it was over before he could even realize it. Worried that something might have gone wrong, he opened his eyes and scrutinized his surroundings, only to be almost blinded by what he saw.

Holding him was the most heavenly woman that he had ever seen. Chen Yue had been akin to a goddess herself, but even she would not dare to enter a beauty competition with this person. Cian found it difficult to comprehend what he was seeing. He was certain that this was his mother, but he could barely even make out her true features. It seemed like his soul, which impossibly far surpassed that of a mortal, was instinctively protecting him from trying to sense her exact looks. All that he could understand what that his mother was the embodiment of beauty herself. She had blonde hair, like himself, as well as deep green eyes that radiated with adoration and pity. Her delicate lips displayed a tender smile.

It took him a long while to overcome his stupor, then his gaze wandered to the side, scrutinizing the man besides this goddess. All things considered, he could be said to be a handsome, reliable-looking guy, but compared to the one who stood right next to him, he appeared ordinary. He was around 185 centimetres tall, had dark brown hair and ocean-coloured eyes. From the fact that he was holding on to his mother’s waist and that his gaze was full of love, Cian knew that this had to be his father.

‘This is good. They both look to be nice people. I don’t think I’ll have to worry about being mistreated here. But from the ease of birth, I guess I have been born to a mighty figure. Wait a moment. Doesn’t that mean that they know what I’m thinking?!’

Having grown a little bit too complacent because it had been too many millions of years since he had been in the presence of a true powerhouse, Cian’s expression soon morphed into a very embarrassed one. He really hoped that his father wasn’t angry with him for not being too impressed with his appearance...

“I’m not, don’t worry. I’m used to it by now. Everyone only ever has eyes for Joslyn, even I’m the same. Her falling in love with me was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”

An amused smirk on his lips, Cian’s new father heaved a sigh of resignation and planted an adoring kiss on his wife’s cheek. There were many days on which he couldn’t believe his own romantic luck–in the entire empire, even amongst the imperial family, his looks were barely considered average!

“You have a heart of gold, and that’s what really matters.”

Joslyn’s voice sounded like a heavenly tune as it entered Cian’s ears, stunning him once more. He had experienced a lot until now, but never had he ever imagined that his very soul could be affected by a single sentence! At this point, he was convinced: His mother couldn’t possibly be anyone else but the goddess of beauty herself. And if she wasn’t, then the real one should abdicate and let Joslyn take over.

“Being good-looking can be quite the curse. If your father hadn’t protected me for many eons, I would have never had the opportunity to grow to this point. I would have become some pervert’s “trophy” instead. You’ve seen such things happen all too often yourself, haven’t you? Even mortal beauties frequently have to endure a fate like that.”

Many unpleasant scenes flashed past Cian’s mind at this reminder. If he merely counted the times that he had been born to a woman who had been trapped in such a situation, then he would still reach more than a thousand. Truly, the universe was overrun with scum.

‘So, you know about my past lives? Are you alright? I’ve been told that there would be some kind of backlash.’

Because Joslyn’s words made it evident that his new parents had looked at his memories, he couldn’t help but grow concerned. Some lives after his existence as Fu Huan had begun, his mother, Chen Yue, had told him about Fu Haoyu losing an entire arm after he investigated his soul. He really hoped that he hadn’t accidentally led to the injury of his new parents.

“It’s not a big deal, I only lost a hand. But let’s put those topics aside for a moment. I’m happy to inform you that this time, you’ve become an Imperial Prince yet again. Congratulations! Well, that is... if you’d like to accept us as your parents?”

Standing up straight and puffing out his chest, Cian’s new father was actually a little bit nervous. Joslyn and he had discussed this matter at length, but considering how heartbroken their son had been at losing his old parents of tens of thousands of lives, there was no guarantee that he would like to form a connection with them. If that was the case, then they would of course still support him in every way that they could, but it would be a true pity. He would likely be the only child that they would ever have, considering how far they had walked upon the Immortal Path, so never even growing close to him would be very agonizing.

“Just so you know, I do think “Mom and Dad” sounds a lot more pleasant to the ears than “Mother and Father”, as well. Lady Chen Yue has fantastic taste.”

Her lips displaying a charming grin, Joslyn patiently waited for Cian’s response.

‘... then thanks for having me, Mom and Dad! By the way, Dad, you haven’t even told me your name yet.’

There was no need for him to hesitate. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into, but he couldn’t help but recall that cheap quote from Zhang Kai’s letter. While he wouldn’t allow himself to grow as dependent on anyone again as back in his days as Fu Huan, he wouldn’t throw away those who showed him goodwill either. And loving parents were the greatest gift that his existence had ever blessed him with.

“Oh, you’re right! Sorry about that! I’m Raymond Willford, the emperor of the Willford Empire! And Joslyn is the empress.”

Pointing at the ornate crown on his head that Cian hadn’t paid much attention to so far, Raymond shot him a smug smile.

“As for you, we’ve named you Arlo!”

Under the tender care of his new parents, Cian’s days were soon filled with comfortable bliss. Although this place was significantly different from the Fu Dynasty in some regards, such as the architecture, clothing, culture and language, the underlying gist of things was still the same. Whenever his parents were busy, maidservants would be taking care of him, helping him to quickly adjust to this new home of his.

The Willford Empire controlled an entire galaxy and was located “just” three galaxies away from the Fu Dynasty. On the scale of the universe, they could practically be considered neighbours. As for Raymond and Joslyn, the two of them were quite a bit stronger than Fu Haoyu and Chen Yue had been–but Cian couldn’t really say by how much. At the point that they were at, to attempt to comprehend someone’s strength was very difficult for anyone who hadn’t reached their realm, or at least one close to it. Add to that the fact that the realms had been named differently wherever he went, causing even more confusion and headaches. Therefore, all that Cian could understand was that he was in good hands.

He felt very positive about the empire, and about his new parents. Back in his days as Fu Huan, the Willford Empire had never been amongst those who had wanted to do him harm, or had even inquired about him. To be fair, they were so far away that they might not have heard about him at all, but still–not sharing a past enmity was a great thing.

Raymond was the more outgoing and talkative one amongst his parents. He loved to make himself the butt of the joke and didn’t think too much of his status as an emperor. Of course, during important or official occasions, he would still portray the air of a supreme ruler, but he didn’t even care about how the servants called him when he was in private. This led to a more relaxed atmosphere all around.

His mother, Joslyn, only rarely spoke, perhaps because her words had a huge influence on everyone around her whenever she did. Instead, she showed her care through her actions and hugged him close to her almost constantly. The times that he had slept for an entire night in his mother’s arms were plentiful. Fortunately, Cian eventually developed some sort of resistance towards her law of nature-approaching breathtaking looks. From this point onward, he could consume her milk without feeling like he was defiling a deity, which was a big relief.

Growing up more quickly due to the “divine elixir” that he was fed on a regular basis for his first few months, by the time that Cian turned four years old, he looked at least two years older than that. This caused him both astonishment, as well as relief. Having the time that it would take him to grow up shortened a little would mean that he could properly explore his surroundings earlier!

He had already asked his parents if they knew about some way to deal with his lack of a Mana Spring, but they also had no idea what to do. Evidently, it wouldn’t be this easy to resolve this problem. But Cian didn’t feel disappointed. If nothing else, time was on his side.

Everything looked to be developing into a positive direction. He had even started to make plans with his parents regarding his future travels. But then, he suddenly noticed something perplexing.

Every few years, he routinely checked where the holder of the silver emblem that his old parents had given him was. This wasn’t so much to spy on them, but rather to check whether or not anything had happened to the Fu Dynasty. During their changes of Heavenly Emperor, for example, he had sometimes not even been able to sense anyone on the other side at all... because the old owner had died.

“What’s going on? Why is he rushing in this direction??”

Flabbergasted by what he had discovered, he chose to spend a little bit of the soul power that he had stored in his blade to send the other party a message.

‘Your Imperial Majesty, to what do I owe the pleasure? Is there something you need of me, for you to make your way all the way over here?’

A split second later, a response arrived.

‘Greetings, respected Eternal Ancestor, Fu Huan! There is something that I would like to discuss with you in person. It will likely be a lengthy dialogue, so I didn’t want you to have to waste your soul power, which is why I chose to rush over. Please stay put, and be safe. I’ll be there in another 10 years!’

Confusion clouded Cian’s eyes as he tried to make sense of what he had just heard. What could have possibly occurred for the Heavenly Emperor himself to want to seek him out personally? If his parents had returned, then the emblem would have been transferred to them, and if it was Feng Nuo who had miraculously survived, then the emperor could have simply told him right now.

‘Something is very weird about this...’

Contemplating everything once again, Cian soon showed a worried frown. No matter how he pondered about it, he couldn’t come up with even a single plausible scenario which explained this Heavenly Emperor’s actions and didn’t make him feel terrified. Well, there was one: The emperor was a fan of his and felt bored, so he came over. But that was honestly a ridiculous notion.

When he shared this baffling discovery with his new parents, the two of them also came to the same conclusion as he did: Something was wrong here. But not knowing the exact details, they wouldn’t waylay someone who might be travelling here with the best of intentions.

Eventually, they decided to prepare a magnificent welcome for the Fu Dynasty’s Heavenly Emperor. The arriving party had no idea about Cian’s circumstances, and would find it difficult to lash out against them in their own territory. And if something actually happened, then they weren’t afraid of a fight.

Over the following decade, some of the stronger generals of the Willford Empire were tasked to secretly observe the route that their guest was taking. They weren’t allowed to make any contact, or to let the Heavenly Emperor discover them–they were only supposed to send back information to the imperial family.

Many other already retired powerhouses were made familiar with the situation and stationed in the palace. Originally, they had wanted to change locales, but that could have aroused the visitor’s suspicion, which they would ideally try to avoid.

Just like that, the day of Fu Xiu’s arrival came. Sitting between his parents at the head of an extremely luxuriously decorated table filled to the brim with delicacies that were rarely eaten even by the most exalted figures of the Willford Empire, Cian stared into the distance. The dozens of people guarding the venue were all either old veterans, or fellow imperial family members that had long since left the stage of history to the younger generation.

Very soon, a domineering figure appeared at the other end of the table, his face donning a conflicted expression. He was close to two meters tall and contrary to most other Fu imperial family members, he was extremely muscular. It was evident that he had walked a slightly different route to the top–body cultivation, a variant of the Immortal Path said to be far more dangerous and gruesome, as well as difficult.

Fu Xiu had noticed his target’s exact situation the moment that he had entered this solar system. Admittedly, this was completely out of his expectations. He could clearly feel that the two people flanking the Eternal Ancestor were only a tiny bit weaker than him. If it could be avoided, then he really didn’t want to fight them.

Because the other party had also discovered him at the same moment as he did, turning around wasn’t an option, that would just let them know that he did actually have bad intentions.

Right as he was thinking about what to do now, Fu Xiu noticed Joslyn out of the corner of his eye. Previously, he had used his Divine Sense to perceive this area, so her beauty hadn’t really stuck out. But now that he saw her in person, despite the veil that hid her face, he was stunned into astonished silence.

“My apologies, I didn’t intend to stare! Let me introduce myself. I’m Fu Xiu, the Fu Dynasty’s current Heavenly Emperor. How may I address you?”

Hastily recovering, he plastered a cordial, slightly awkward smile on his lips. Deep inside, a certain craving had begun to sprout. This woman... she was qualified to become his. Nay, nobody but him could have her! He couldn’t help but feel overjoyed at his luck–not only was the key to eternity right in front of him, but also the most outstanding bombshell that he had ever encountered!

“Hahaha, no worries, Emperor Fu Xiu! Everyone who meets my wife Joslyn for the first time reacts in the same way. I’m Raymond Willford, Emperor of the Willford Empire. If I understand correctly, you’ve come here to meet with our son, Arlo? After all, he was once Imperial Prince Fu Huan of the Fu Dynasty.”

Displaying the regal aura that he usually didn’t bother with, Raymond shot a deep, but outwardly friendly glance at Fu Xiu. Right from the get-go, he made it clear that he knew about Cian’s past, and wasn’t opposed to having an amiable talk. But if anything else happened, then he wouldn’t be afraid either.

“So it’s Emperor Raymond and Empress Joslyn! It’s an honour to meet you! Words of the Willford Empire’s splendour have reached even our remote galaxy.”

Playing along nicely, Fu Xiu turned to face Cian, the one who he had originally come here for.

“Respected Eternal Ancestor–or rather, Prince Arlo–excuse the disturbance. I can see that you’re quite suspicious of me, and I can’t blame you. Let me be open and honest with you: After unifying our galaxy and walking my path until I could not proceed any further, I was reminded of an ancient matter. If I’m not wrong, you were cursed with eternal rebirth, right? I came to inquire about this. While my demise is still very far away, the earlier that I start to prepare to go against this fate, the better. Would you allow me to inspect your curse? I may be able to gleam something from it. I’d be forever grateful, and certainly wouldn’t let you suffer any losses!”

Because he could read Cian’s exact thoughts, Fu Xiu knew that it was pointless to try to be sneaky now. If his relative could be persuaded into helping him, then not only would he learn what he had come here to do, he might even be able to take a hostage.

“... to be completely honest, Emperor Fu Xiu, calling it a curse was only an explanation that my parents at the time had come up with to mislead the public. In truth, it’s far more complicated and weird than that, but the result is similar. I’m not averse to sharing what I know with you. But please forgive me, for I intend to let my father be the intermediary between us. As we have never met, I feel compelled to be at least a little bit cautious.”

Not bothering to hide anything either, Cian heaved a helpless sigh, before glancing at Raymond, who gave him a reassuring nod.

“Of course, I won’t take it to heart! Prince Arlo, please send me what you know.”

Quite surprised at the fact that things were a bit different from what he had thought he knew, Fu Xiu soon chose to cooperate. While this situation wasn’t ideal, he could still formulate a plan of action that would allow him to achieve his goal.

“Alright. But be warned, you will receive a backlash from the Reincarnation Cycle. Father, please transfer the memories of my first three lives to Emperor Fu Xiu.”

These words of Cian’s finally caused the Heavenly Emperor to grow solemn. While he had somewhat expected this, he truly couldn’t afford to underestimate an entirely transcendent, untouchable existence like the cycle of death and rebirth.

Seconds later, Raymond sent the unfiltered information to Fu Xiu, who accepted it after a short moment of hesitation. Soon, the way that he looked at Cian changed a little, while his face paled considerably. Amongst those countless souls getting wiped to a blank state by the barriers, he had spied many with powers even surpassing his own. This was an eye-opening experience that made it clear to him that, in the great scheme of things, he was still nothing but a speck of dust.

‘... change of plans. Eternity doesn’t seem like something I can get my hands on. Heck, I’m not even remotely qualified! But... that Joslyn. I don’t believe that she’ll be able to escape my grasp!’

The expected backlash arrived, but because he was prepared, Fu Xiu quickly cut off his hand before regrowing it. Not even blinking at the pain, he gave Cian a deep look, then bowed towards him.

“Respected Eternal Ancestor, thank you for your guidance! I now know how foolish I’ve been. It would be better for me to search for another way somewhere else. If you ever need my help, just send me a message on the emblem–I’ll definitely be there.”

Positively surprised, even a bit shocked, at the emperor’s attitude, Cian showed an embarrassed smile and accepted what seemed to be a gesture of goodwill.

“Emperor Fu Xiu, please rise! I don’t deserve your bow. I’m just an unlucky mortal, nothing more. I will remember your words. If there truly ever comes a time when I’m in a pinch, I’ll reach out.”

Amidst some more pleasantries, the four of them enjoyed the delicacies that had been prepared in a relatively harmonious atmosphere. The Willford couple was relieved that no blows had been exchanged, so they started to lower their guard.

“It has been a pleasure! Well, then, I’m about to set off. See you someday, if fate allows!”

After the meal had concluded, Fu Xiu approached the three of them and reached out his arm, intending to bid farewell. To not be rude, Raymond did the same, but right before their hands touched, his expression turned into one of disbelief.

Even though he had tried to dodge, Fu Xiu’s arm had still managed to penetrate his chest, leaving him heavily injured. This attack had come out of nowhere, especially considering how smoothly their talks had proceeded!

Before everyone else could react, Fu Xiu had already arrived in front of Cian, a punch directly aiming at his head. Of course, the target in question hadn’t yet noticed that anything had happened–after all, less than a one hundred thousandth of a second had passed.

Blocking the attack against her son with the shaft of a spear that Joslyn had pulled out of her storage space, she dissipated the force behind it using her own body. If she allowed herself to take even a single step backwards, or if she let it affect the surroundings, then Cian might die in the aftermath! This sole exchange caused her organs to be injured, but she almost instantly regenerated.

The word “almost” was the key here. In their realm, battles took place so quickly that her speed of recovery simply couldn’t keep up. Another fist came Cian’s way, so she had to go out of her way to block it once more, further exacerbating her wounds.

“Surrender and become mine, then I’ll spare him.”

A few more attacks followed, and she could barely keep her body together any longer. At this instant, Fu Xiu transmitted these words to her, causing a disgusted, angry frown to warp her veil-covered visage. Still, because of how beautiful she was, this only made her appear more bewitching in the assailant’s eyes.

“You’d better worry about yourself! Die, you fucking scumbag!!”

Raymond’s sudden transmission made her face light up at first, but then a deep sorrow shrouded her heart. She had seen her husband’s current state. Although a destroyed heart wasn’t fatal at their level, what he was doing at this moment most certainly was.

He had miraculously fully recovered, but he had turned slightly transparent. It was as if he was interacting with them from an entirely different time and space. The power he exuded had increased by several orders of magnitude, and Fu Xiu, who had thought that victory should be in his grasp–especially because the Willford Emperor was a bit weaker than his wife–felt the shadow of death approaching him.

‘... Willford Family Forbidden Technique, My Future. You promised me that you would never use it. You liar!’

Internally tearing up at what she was witnessing, Joslyn silently watched her husband repeatedly slice Fu Xiu apart with his two-handed blade. Initially, the man could still recover from his injuries, but very quickly, he turned into strips of flesh and bone that lost all vitality. The Heavenly Emperor had died in a hilariously undignified manner.

At this moment, the surrounding experts finally arrived at their emperor’s side, their faces lacking any hint of joy. Trading one emperor’s life for the other’s... it was not an exchange that they would ever have wanted to make. All this while, Cian had yet to know about anything that had happened.

“Please let our son know about all of this. I know it will hurt, but he deserves to hear the truth. I’m sorry, honey. I love you.”

Transmitting his last words, a bright, but pained smile lit up Raymond’s face, then he suddenly disappeared from existence. His soul was taken away by the Reincarnation Cycle at that exact moment. Borrowing power from one’s future self had a price tag that nobody could afford to pay.

All Cian saw was a friendly handshake, but the very next instant, a gory mess had appeared in front of his feet, whilst his mother was bawling her eyes out, her body almost entirely covered in bruises. And his father... was completely gone.

“...”

From the looks of the experts around them, he could make an educated guess at what had occurred. Those slices of tissue, intermingled with blood and bone fragments, were also mixed with Fu Xiu’s clothing, so that had to be his remains. But what about his father?

Approaching his mother and gently wrapping her into a hug, he waited patiently for her to talk to him. Meanwhile, his heart had already begun to ache.

When Joslyn eventually transmitted her memory of that particular snippet of time, his suspicions were confirmed. Deep hatred for Fu Xiu made him clench his teeth, but quickly, the rage was replaced by a familiar sense of loss.

A day passed, and the Willford Empire mourned their late emperor. Joslyn changed into exclusively black clothing from that day onward. What was even worse was that her grief had significantly affected her injuries. Initially, she would have been fine after taking some of the empire’s most precious medicines. But with her mind being in the state that it was in, their effects were greatly reduced.

Nobody would have ever expected Joslyn’s love for her husband to run so deep that, despite the fact that their child was still alive, her will to live had completely disappeared. No matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn’t hold on to it.

“I’m sorry, my dear. I just... can’t go on any longer. Every single second apart from Raymond is too torturous. I need it all to end, or I’ll go insane! I love you, I really do. Please forgive me for leaving you all alone!”

Tears had continued to drip down her cheeks for three decades at this point. Giving Cian a tight, final hug, Joslyn’s eyes were filled with guilt. As one of the few who understood what he had gone through, she also knew that her passing would leave him with yet another nasty scar. That was the only reason as to why she had managed to hang on to a thread of sanity for all of these years.

“It’s okay, Mom. I understand. I hope you and Dad can reunite in your next life.”

Forcing a smile, Cian returned her embrace. They had spent a comparatively short time together, but she had still been one of the few to accept him as her child after finding out who he truly was. She had long since carved out a spot for herself within his heart.

He couldn’t blame her for choosing to end it all. He had been right beside her all along, trying to help her cope in any way possible–but nothing had ever made the agony bearable. Knowing that there was a sure-fire way out of this hell, it would be extremely weird for her if she didn’t take it.

“You’re so much stronger than me. I believe... that you will eventually succeed. Don’t give up hope, Arlo. And no matter what happens, I’ll always be proud of you.”

Having got these last few words off her chest, Joslyn closed her eyes forever. With her will to live beyond exhausted, she actively welcomed death. Left all alone once again, Cian’s shadow grew longer amidst the setting sun. After silently weeping, he eventually reported the news to the rest of the imperial family.

Unsurprisingly, after the funeral had come to a close, his relatives needed a scapegoat for their frustration and grief, so who better than the one who was undoubtedly at fault for bringing the enemy here in the first place?

Cian was not surprised at this outcome. No, he had known that this would happen decades ago. Therefore, he had silently disappeared to a remote solar system within the empire with the help of a trustworthy servant. In this place, he lived the remainder of this life’s days, before passing away.

Filled with remorse at having implicated the ones who loved him, he chose not to return to the Willford imperial family in the future. Even if one ignored the fact that they probably didn’t want to see him, he also simply couldn’t face them without desperately desiring to atone for his unintentional sins, but not knowing how to do so. Ultimately, never returning was the best choice that he could make.

For a long time, in all of his new lives, what kept him going was his desire to find a way to obtain a Mana Spring, as well as the hope to someday see his loved ones once more. After all, Fu Haoyu, Chen Yue, Feng Nuo, and even Layla... their deaths had never been confirmed.

In his many lives, he did make friends, and he occasionally came across family members that he treasured. But because everyone was merely a mortal, the amount of permanent farewells slowly thrust him further and further into an inescapable abyss of depression. Although nothing had really changed compared to before, the numbers added up. Combined with the fact that he could never forget anything, eventually, the only way for him to cope was to forcefully numb his own feelings.

Then, someday after he had just died for the 1,035,201st time, he couldn’t keep himself from acknowledging a certain fact any longer. Ever since he had been born as Fu Huan, more than 2 billion years had passed. He had not heard any news about his parents, or about Feng Nuo. Heck, even Layla’s traces had never been found. The remote hope that they might still be somewhere out there had grown so unlikely by now... that it amounted to nothing but wishful thinking.

‘I’m all alone. Everyone is long gone. There is no point in all of this.’

The moment that his mind fully acknowledged this, he just... broke. His drive was gone, and so was his motivation. His thoughts became erratic and all over the place, while simultaneously containing no important information at all. A part of himself could do nothing but replay his most treasured of memories over and over again, completely shutting itself off from reality. Continuously fracturing into increasingly more parts, the chaos in his mind spread without an end. One fragment of his might be studying array related knowledge, while another one was sobbing its heart out as it recalled the passing of a friend. There were countless of him that infinitely increased in number, and yet only one.

In a state where it was difficult to tell whether he could still be classified as conscious, Cian rejoined the river of reincarnation, whose soothing effect slowed down his self’s collapse. However, it didn’t stop it.

Soon, the river urged him to follow a certain pull and be reborn, but Cian didn’t budge–he stubbornly continued to float down the stream, ignoring the call. In truth, he couldn’t have responded to it, even if he had wanted to. It was hard to say whether “he” still existed.

Eons and entire eras passed by in the world of the living, and yet Cian’s soul floated along the currents all the while. It was impossible to tell when it had happened, but due to the river’s support, the various fragments of him had reunited into one–but he still hadn’t awoken.

A terrifying cracking noise soon rang out, then his soul shattered, before fusing together again. Because he had been out for too long, his soul had strengthened to the point where it had gone past yet another limit.

Agony that he had never wanted to experience again wracked his entire being, yet he didn’t react at all. No matter how often this process repeated, nothing happened. Eventually, many thousands of years had passed, and his soul had successfully broken through the limit. Even the scars faded with time, as it continued to strengthen.

At an unknown moment in time, a sigh escaped from Cian’s lips.

‘... judging from what happened, it’s completely impossible for this existence of mine to end. Nobody can destroy a soul, they can only detain or torture it. No matter what, my soul will continue to grow more powerful with time. Any damage to it or my mind will be patched up. There is no way out. All I can do is to try to find some sort of realistic, achievable goal for myself. Obtaining a Mana Spring may be possible, but it’s not feasible. I can’t continue to hold on to my sanity with it as my sole support pillar.’

Having thoroughly analysed his circumstances, Cian patiently waited, his face lacking much of an expression. The numbness had long since transformed into an integral part of him.

‘There it is.’

Feeling a familiar pull, an ancient relic of the past left the river of reincarnation, welcoming a new life.

Chapter 11

Zimu

“Faster, you filth! Get moving already if you don’t want to get a taste of the lash!”

Roaring with a depraved grin on his face, a chubby overseer cracked his whip, “accidentally” hitting one of the miners slaving away in front of him. He could have been considered to be really good-looking, if not for the fact that he had clearly let himself go far too much.

Without saying a word, the miners hurried their footsteps, accelerating in their tasks, doing everything that they could to avoid the eyes of this jackass on a power trip just a second faster. Even the man who had been hit simply grit his teeth and endured the pain, ignoring the blood drenching his back.

Such a scene was a common sight here in the mines, and it was also one that Cian wasn’t very surprised to espy when he encountered it a mere seven years after his rebirth. Having been born a slave many a time before, he had long since found ways to cope with the abuse.

The world that he had been born into was a planar one–he had confirmed this within the first week of his arrival by observing the sky outside. The movements, behaviour and positions of the sun and the moon in a planar world were entirely different from what one would observe in solar systems that had become a part of the universe. But there was another reason as to why it was so easy to tell: They were identical in all planar worlds, as if a singular template had been used all throughout.

Everything here was ruled by the Blessed Heavens Society, a powerful group of those treading the Immortal Path that chose to christen themselves “Immortals”. Their members and descendants made up the two levels of ruling castes that lorded over the entire world, while the unaffiliated mortals beneath them had long since been enslaved to the point where no sparks of resistance could erupt into flames.

Their whole lives had been planned out–when they were around 14 years old, the men and women would be paired up at random and were required to have four children within five years of their relationship. The men had to start doing extremely arduous work when they turned seven, and would be “employed” until their deaths. As for the women, after they had given birth to their fourth child, they would be required to raise it for the next seven years, then they would be delivered to Immortals of the Blessed Heavens Society, who would be using them as “cauldrons”. In other words, they sucked their vitality dry to raise their own strength, killing them in the process.

But because most of the Immortals’ own children would turn out to be mere mortals, they slowly grew into a second ruling caste beneath the one of the Immortals. These Blessed Heavens Society descendants would frequently be put into a position of control or rulership over the lesser folk–for example, that of an overseer tormenting some poor miners.

All things considered, Cian was still quite lucky. The mother that he had been born to had loved and adored him. She had named him Zimu and raised him alongside of his three younger siblings–two girls and one boy. They had enough to eat thanks to the efforts of their father, and had not run into any sort of abuse. Well, they had also never really left their home, so that was most certainly the main reason for this.

Now that Cian had been sent to the mines, it meant that his mother, Zena, would only be living for another four years at most. Obviously, he didn’t want this to happen, but there really wasn’t any feasible route of resistance that he could come up with. Therefore, he fell in line and obeyed for the time being, intending to wait and observe. He never knew if he would learn something new or invaluable during his lives, so he didn’t end them prematurely unless he felt it to be necessary.

A couple of months passed by in a flash, then a seemingly minor change occurred. Due to a cave-in that buried half of the mining team that he had been assigned to, some other teams’ members were transferred to his one to balance the numbers. One of them was a youth, who had just turned 11 years old, by the name of Ludari.

His ruffled, dirty blonde hair reached all the way down his shoulders, hiding his dark brown eyes that burned with the spirit of resistance. But that alone wouldn’t have been anything special–many of their fellow slaves were very unhappy with the situation, after all. What made him different from everyone else was that a terrifying intelligence could be spotted deep within his gaze. He hid it extremely well, having long since realized that sticking out was a bad idea, but every single action of his was carefully measured. Even all of his mistakes were deliberate in nature.

If Cian’s soul had not long since surpassed quite a chunk of those treading the Immortal Path, allowing him to have senses that were unfathomably superior to those of a mortal, then he wouldn’t have noticed any of this either. Quite intrigued, he chose to pay attention to the young man for a bit longer.

Eventually, he concluded that Ludari was an extremely smart kid who had been born into a horrendous environment. And he wasn’t just any ordinary genius–he was absolutely terrifying, reaching a level Cian hadn’t seen before.

‘It’s a real shame that he’s a regular mortal. Imagining what he would become if he could tread the Immortal Path makes me excited.’

The second after this thought inadvertently flashed past his mind, Cian’s eyes widened, then the corners of his mouth raised ever so slightly. An absolutely audacious plan had been formulated in his head, one that could only have a certain chance of success because they were in a planar world and the upper level of power here was limited. There was just one requirement for it all to have the potential to work out: Ludari needed to have a Mana Spring.

Waiting until the next time that the two were mining close to each other, he found a spot besides the youth, seemingly at random. Certain that Ludari would be able to hear his whispers, Cian began to make contact.

“Meet me here this evening after dinner. I promise you won’t regret it.”

He didn’t bother with a more elaborate explanation and walked away right afterwards, picking up the few ores that he had mined in the meantime. He could feel Ludari’s gaze following him, his eyes filled to the brim with suspicion and confusion. Yet, he didn’t say anything further.

When night was about to roll around, he slipped out of his dilapidated accommodations and easily snuck back into the tunnel which they had been working in during the day. It was a breeze for him to avoid everyone else, as he had mastered various professional stealth techniques throughout his lives.

Arriving at the spot that he had told Ludari to come to, he sat down and leaned against the wall, patiently waiting. A while afterwards, he sensed a presence, but he didn’t move. Only once 10 minutes had passed did he look into the direction of the other person and sighed.

“You’ve been lying behind that rock for so long now, why don’t you come out already? There is no ambush, and I don’t plan to hurt you.”

Thinking that his words might have been a bluff, Ludari, who was convinced that it was better to be safe than sorry, changed his position and “sneaked” over to a spot approximately a dozen meters away, confident that he couldn’t possibly have been noticed. Well, he was wrong.

“I can sense you, you know?”

Staring directly at the youth’s hiding place, Cian stood up and strolled right in front of it, then knocked against the rock in question. Soon after, Ludari walked out, a guarded expression still on his face.

“How did you do that?”

Not particularly bothered, Cian strolled back to where he had been at earlier and sat down, motioning for Ludari to follow him.

“It’s nothing special. If you’re lucky, you will be able to do it too–and far more as well. Have you ever thought about what it would be like if you were an Immortal?”

The topic that he brought up caused Ludari to freeze in place, his eyes betraying his astonishment and disbelief. Then, eventually, he took a seat in front of this mysterious kid that felt completely out of place.

“I have. But it’s impossible to become one. They say that only the descendants of Immortals will have a chance to do so, but that is obviously bogus. Where would the first Immortals have come from, then? Still, whatever method that they use is unavailable to us. Unless you’re saying...!?”

In response to the youth’s widening eyes, Cian nodded. He knew that it would be better to be upfront with this kid, because he was smart enough to see through any lie eventually anyway.

“Indeed. This is very far from my first life, and I had the chance to pick up many methods that can make a person an Immortal, if they fulfil the requirements. A common name to refer to them as is “cultivation techniques”. I plan to teach you about them.”

Not sure if the strange child was messing with him, Ludari raised an eyebrow and chose to inquire further. It wouldn’t be a big deal if Cian was lying, but if he told the truth, then this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“How do I check if I fulfil those requirements?”

Ludari’s question made him relieved, because he showed clear interest. And yet, he couldn’t help but become a little annoyed.

“Usually, certain testing equipment would be utilized. However, we don’t have any of that at hand. Therefore, the best thing to do would be to give you the easiest and most gentle cultivation technique that I have. You’ll then attempt to follow my guidance and cultivate. If it doesn’t work after a few tries, then you’re just not one of the lucky ones. What do you say? Do you want to give it try?”

The slightly provocative smile at the corners of Cian’s lips caused Ludari to roll his eyes, then he nodded.

“Yeah. Go ahead, tell me what to do.”

Having got the youth’s permission, Cian calmly explained the Rudimentary Mana Cultivation Technique that had been the most widely spread in the Fu Dynasty. Everyone treading the Immortal Path could make use of it without a problem, the only issue was that one had to work out how to absorb the Mana all around oneself. But once that step was figured out, every other puzzle piece would fall into place automatically.

The seconds passed by excruciatingly slowly, but eventually, Ludari opened his eyes, unconcealed excitement bubbling within.

“It’s working! I can become an Immortal!!”

He had to suppress himself from shouting in joy, but his voice was nonetheless trembling. It had been a very long time since he had been so emotional. If he had known Cian any better, then he might have hugged him simply to share his elation and thank him.

“That’s fantastic! Then let me give you a better cultivation technique. Just tell me if it feels right. If it doesn’t, then I have many others for you to choose from.”

Every person was a little bit different, so obviously, they would also prefer to follow slightly different routes while advancing on the Immortal Path. Cian’s collection of cultivation techniques had long since surpassed those of galaxy-ruling forces in the universe, therefore he was certain that Ludari would be able to find one that fit him like a glove.

An hour later, the youth had already shaken his head in discomfort for the 50th time. Up until now, nothing had appeared promising. It was at this point that he suddenly got an idea.

“Mentor, how about we try to personalize a cultivation technique for me, based upon all of the ones you know? I’m certain that with so much reference material, I can figure out something that works. After all, I only have to try it to see if it fits me.”

Somewhat amused at this form of address, Cian chose to tacitly approve of it, then he pondered Ludari’s suggestion. Eventually, he nodded.

“We can try it. But stop immediately if you feel uncomfortable anywhere. Fortunately, you haven’t reached higher realms yet, so you won’t die instantly upon receiving a backlash. At worst, you’ll get injured if you’re extremely bold and don’t heed my warning.”

Agreeing to this, Ludari eagerly learned more cultivation techniques from Cian, testing them for a bit to see what kinds of Mana circulation within his body felt “right” and tossing out all of the ones that didn’t.

One single night was far from enough to get anywhere, so the two of them secretly met for more than a month. At this time, Ludari had already been taught 6,000 plus cultivation techniques.

“I’ve finally got it!”

His gaze overflowing with eagerness, Ludari quickly closed his eyes and started to use the product of his own extensive research. Because he had pieced together only the parts of the circulation pathways that had felt perfect to him, there was no hint of resistance whatsoever.

Less than an hour later, he sensed a slight pain all over his body, then a comfortable warmth followed. By the time that he came to, his entire figure had been covered in a layer of pungent filth that almost made him want to throw up. These were some of the impurities that his body had started to expunge. Fortunately, as a miner, he wasn’t expected to smell or look nice, so after wiping most of it away, he didn’t appear much different. Only he knew that his entire body–nay, his whole existence–had taken a massive step forward.

“Congratulations on breaking through! You’ve now officially embarked on the Immortal Path. But don’t get too excited. You’re merely at the early stages of the first realm. The strongest person in the Blessed Heavens Society should be 11 realms above you, as that is the limit of a planar world. You should keep your progress a secret until you’re strong enough to protect yourself.”

Pouring a bit of cold water on it all to douse his excitement, Cian gave an approving nod.

“... you’re right, I should be careful. But, Mentor, isn’t it about time you tell me what you’re planning to do?”

Until now, Ludari had kept quiet, because he had been too focused on taking his first step forward. With that achieved, it was time to learn what exactly it was that he had got himself into.

“It’s simple. Once you’re strong enough, we’ll overthrow the Blessed Heavens Society. You’ll deal with all of the Immortals, whereas their spawn will be left to regular folk like me. The people have long needed an outlet for their rage and suffering. Once all is done, we’ll stabilize the situation and choose trustworthy individuals that have the potential to become Immortals to teach them, forming a new, just force that will keep the order.”

Without a care in the world, Cian uttered words that would get him executed immediately if a single member of the ruling castes heard them. There was no uncertainty in his voice, as if he didn’t doubt for a second that they could actually pull this all off. The only question was how quickly they would do it.

“... how much time do I have?”

Not averse to this course of action, Ludari eventually spoke after he had made up his mind.

“If you can reach this world’s limit in the next 3 years and 10 months, then we can save my mother. If you can’t, then we can only settle for saving the rest of the world, I suppose.”

Considering the seriousness of the topic, and how heavy of a burden this would put on his student’s shoulders, Cian chose to lace his answer with a bit of humour.

“That’s a lot of pressure. I’ll immediately get back to cultivating, then. Mentor, you keep an eye out and warn me if anyone’s coming over.”

With furrowed brows, Ludari sat down and fully focused on absorbing more Mana, as quickly as he possibly could. Giving an approving nod, Cian left him to his own devices and kept watch.

All things considered, he had no idea how fast his student’s progress would be. Ideally, he would like to save Zena, but it was unrealistic for Ludari to rush through the realms that rapidly. Therefore, he had already begun to lay out some alternative plans. He would only give up on rescuing his mother if there truly wasn’t any other option left. If someone had treated him well enough, then he wouldn’t easily surrender their life to fate.

Two years later.

Staring at his student with pride, joy and disbelief in his eyes, Cian showed a small smile. Apparently, he had been far too pessimistic–well, realistic, to be fair–in his assessment of Ludari. 24 months was all that it took the youth to charge all the way to the peak of the 12th realm! Even back when he had been in the Fu Dynasty, geniuses who could achieve such a feat were few and far between. While these early steps on the Immortal Path weren’t considered to be anything outstanding in the great scheme of things, it was nonetheless difficult to breeze one’s way through in this manner. Evidently, Ludari’s Mana Spring was at the least of Excellent Grade.

“It’s just like you mentioned, Mentor. When I try to advance further, I sense an impossibly tough resistance. I feel that my body will shatter the moment that I take another step. It’s uncomfortable, and annoying.”

Deeply displeased, Ludari stared at the sky outside, his gaze passing straight through the mountain that they were inside of, ignoring the obstacles in the way. Ever since it had become crystal clear that he would most definitely make it to this world’s peak, Cian had taught him about the universe outside, so that he could prepare himself to join this larger stage someday in the future. With his lifespan having reached close to 200,000 years, Ludari would certainly live until the day that this planar world would join the universe. Then, his realm’s shackles would be lifted.

“Have you memorized how to set up those array formations that I taught you?”

Mentally taking note of his discomfort, Cian chose to switch topics instead of coddling his student. This world’s bounds would be bearing down on him for thousands of years to come, therefore he would just have to grow used to them.

“I have. So, does that mean we’ll begin immediately?”

Picking up on his words’ implications, the youth’s eyes burned with anticipation. There was far too much anger and hatred to vent which had built up over the course of his life–he couldn’t wait to get it all out of his system.

“Indeed. But you’d better mentally prepare yourself. The first few times of taking a life, even that of disgusting vermin, will leave a sour taste in your mouth.”

Recalling his second life’s experiences all those eras ago, Cian felt it imperative to give this advice. If Ludari got distracted at the wrong moment, he might have to pay a heavy price for having been swayed by his emotions.

“It’s fine, Mentor! I’ll warm up with the overseers in the mine. By the time we deal with the nearest city, I’ll have found a way to cope with it.”

Icy killing intent manifesting in his gaze, Ludari reassured him, then the two of them returned to the other miners. They didn’t bother to hide where they were coming from, so they were easily discovered by the one on lookout duty.

“What were the two of you doing out there!? Get back here, and stay quiet! Don’t let the overseers find out!”

Worried about the youth and the kid, the middle-aged miner hastily came up to them and tried to sneakily bring them back to their accommodations. This gesture of solidarity warmed their hearts, only further reinforcing them in their conviction that what they were about to do was ultimately the right thing.

“It’s fine. After today, you won’t have to obey the overseers ever again. If you’d like, you can follow us and watch. But if you don’t want to, then hide and wait for the good news.”

Patting the man’s shoulder, Ludari showed a confident smirk, then he ignored his well-meant warnings and strolled to the overseers’ residences that were just outside of the mines. The quaint and gorgeous mountain cottages painted a picturesque scene under the gentle moonlight.

“Who’s there?!”

Realizing that someone was intruding upon their territory, one of the overseers responsible for guarding this place tonight shouted at the trespasser, but all that greeted him was a sharp pain at his neck, followed by his rapidly shifting point of view. Before he knew it, his head had rolled a few times on the ground and was looking at his still-standing body.

“... it really doesn’t feel too good.”

Shaking off the blood from the wooden stick that he had picked up and sharpened to fashion it into a sort of impromptu blade, Ludari shook his head and gritted his teeth. A few deep breaths later, he continued onwards.

Soon, screams and shouts erupted from the various cabins, before everything fell silent. All of this was observed by Cian and the miner on lookout duty, who had grown pale with fear. Still, there was undeniable excitement showing on his face.

“It’s done. Let’s go.”

Displaying a cold, hardened expression, Ludari returned and grabbed Cian’s arm. Within a few seconds, the two had already arrived at the closest city. It was here that the two of them separated. The student left to set up the arrays, whilst the mentor stealthily entered the city and began an assassination spree against any descendants of the Blessed Heavens Society.

This city was where he had grown up, so he knew quite a bit about the local circumstances. Still, even if he hadn’t been aware of them, it was extremely easy to find out where his targets resided–after all, regular mortals were treated as lower class citizens, only being allowed to live in the sorry excuse of an outer city. It was also impossible to confuse this lower and upper caste’s people with one another, because they had simply grown up far too differently, and had access to entirely unalike resources.

Simply put, one group looked poor, the other wealthy and pampered beyond belief. There was not even a hint of a grey area, everything was truly black and white. To be fair, there might have been descendants of the Blessed Heavens Society who had treated the regular mortals better than their peers did, but Cian wouldn’t care about this. A clean sweep was needed if this world wanted to make progress.

Extremely careful to avoid any and all Immortals, Cian reaped tens of thousands of lives before he saw a barrier envelop the entire city, cutting it off from the rest of the world. Even the most powerful Immortals around wouldn’t be able to send out a distress signal, or escape.

“My brothers and sisters! Everyone, I ask you to bear witness. For today marks the beginning of the Blessed Heavens Society’s extinction!”

A loud, confident voice soon resounded in the ears of every single living being within the barrier, causing them to wake up and look around in a panic. They quickly discovered that the city was surrounded by some glowing layer of energy, and that mirror-like objects made from the same kind of power were floating above their heads everywhere, displaying a singular scene.

In it, a young man with dirty blonde hair, clad in miner’s clothing, was lifting the mayor of the city, an Immortal, into the air. This powerful being who they would not even dare to offend in their dreams was held by his neck, unable to breathe, his face slowly turning a shade of blue. Then, as if squashing a bug, the youth broke the mayor’s neck, dropped him to the ground and stomped his head into mush.

“We’ve all suffered at their hands. I won’t ask you to take up arms against the Immortals–leave them all to me! But for anyone brave amongst you, my brothers and sisters, it’s time to take revenge against their descendants. Kill them all!!!”

Shouting with conviction, Ludari shot towards the other Immortals that were rushing at him, nearly instantly obliterating them. His overwhelming martial prowess impressed the common folk, kindling the ever-suppressed wrath within their hearts. Meanwhile, all members of the privileged caste grew panicked and tried to escape the city. It was at this moment that they noticed that most of them had already died!

Until all enemies had been eliminated, nothing unsurprising happened in the city. Ludari’s opponents had been quite weak, the strongest merely reaching the ninth realm. On the other hand, Cian had wiped out so many descendants that the regular mortals who eventually rose up didn’t encounter too much resistance. Although some of them still died, by the time that the morning sun crept over the horizon, the previously oppressed mortals had made this city their own.

Obviously, many organizational headaches would follow, but Cian and Ludari wouldn’t bother with these for now. They could attempt to tackle them all at once after the entirety of the Blessed Heavens Society was gone for good. It also wasn’t too unlikely that their fellow common folk might come up with some decent arrangements on their own in the meantime. The shadow of an incredibly powerful expert helping them would also keep most potential troublemakers in line.

Over the following weeks, the mentor and student pair would rush to more and more settlements, freeing them of their oppressors. Due to the arrays that they employed, they could initially still keep their entire operation a secret. But eventually, some Immortals would travel between the cities and find out what had happened. As a result, one of the places that they had freed was massacred by their furious enemies, and a massive retaliatory force was put together by the Blessed Heavens Society. It was led by one of the Vice Leaders, a man who had reached the 11th realm.

“It’s just as expected. This time, after dealing them a heavy blow, the Leader himself might even step up. And once he falls, it’ll only be a matter of time.”

His expression an icy cold one, Ludari stared at the notice that the society had just released and spread to the city, which the two had taken over minutes ago, via a regular mortal messenger. The man had been blocked outside of the barrier, but of course his presence had been discovered. It was also he who had informed them about the Immortals wiping out an entire city.

“Let’s settle this as quickly as possible. We know where they’re coming from, so let’s meet them and wipe them out. That way, we’ll be able to reduce the collateral damage.”

Seemingly unperturbed by this news, Cian patted his student’s shoulder. They had long since discussed what might happen after they started their plan, so there was no use in getting too incensed at the despicable actions of their enemies. In a way, what they were doing was a bit similar–they were slaughtering people who couldn’t even defend themselves because they were too weak. The only difference was that they didn’t aim their blades at the innocent.

“I understand. Let’s get this all over with!”

With strengthened conviction, Ludari brought his mentor with him to face the Blessed Heavens Society. Having been underestimated far too much, even the Vice Leader and his troops posed no challenge to him.

From this point, everything snowballed really quickly. Some more Vice Leaders were sent out to face them, but they would never return. Eventually, only the Leader could potentially save the situation, so the fateful confrontation approached.

To both the teacher’s and the student’s surprise, he was merely at the peak of the 11th realm–one entire realm away from the world’s limit. Seemingly because there was no competition, and no real reason to desperately chase after strength as quickly as possible, the higher-ups of the Blessed Heavens Society had grown complacent and lazy. Even the battle experience, which they had accumulated throughout the conquest of this world, had long since been forgotten, and they had grown rusty.

As a result, the much-anticipated final battle was a complete joke. It was over in a single move. The sole issue to face now was the clean-up. Too many other Immortals of the society were still roaming around, and there were also millions of their descendants.

Eventually, they started to scatter and flee into the wilds, making it difficult to catch them. But on the bright side, nearly all of the mortals that fled died out there, because they had no ability to survive nature’s harsh trials. As for the Immortals, Ludari could detect them once he got close enough, so they had to constantly be on the move and pray to get lucky.

While his student was chasing after the last of their enemies, Cian took it upon himself to organize the mess that had been left behind. In the past years, he had already thought of the best course of action, so now he only needed to put it into practice. Utilizing the fame that he had garnered from being the one at the unfathomable expert’s side, as well as the fact that almost everyone knew about how he had slaughtered the descendants of the Immortals as if he was stepping on ants, he gathered competent people. He gave them his instructions and had them implement them, before moving on to other settlements, where he did the same.

Sometimes, there was resistance, but none of it could pose a problem to him. There were no issues that a heavy hand couldn’t solve on the surface–and fortunately, it wasn’t necessary for him to do much more than that. He simply gave the people the first push, and let them march into his preferred direction. Once Ludari returned, as the strongest being in the world, his student would be able to shut up even the last vestiges of all opposition.

In around three years, the youth in question finished his surveillance of this world. There might still be some Immortals or descendants hiding somewhere, but he judged that they wouldn’t be able to make any significant waves. After his return to Cian’s side, his mentor could finally speed up the process of implementing his ideas for the future of this world’s people.

Just like that, another half a decade flew by and Cian had turned 17 years old. Everything in the world had become stable, and he only had two tasks to deal with. Almost every day, he kept teaching his student new cultivation techniques, because Ludari wanted to further study them. On the other hand, he tried to find trustworthy people who could become Immortals and work for Ludari. Cian would prefer it if his student had a solid foundation to build his own force upon once he was gone.

His family of this life had long been settled into a comfortable home, and his younger siblings had found romantic partners. This time around, he could truly say that he didn’t have any regrets.

‘... this feeling of relief and accomplishment isn’t too bad.’

Staring at the city below him from atop a tall tower, Cian showed a small smile. In this life, he had rarely ever been expressive, due to how numb that he had become.

‘Considering that my lives are infinite, expending them to protect those of others is a beneficial trade. It won’t matter all too much whether I live or die, but if I can do something about the injustices in front of me before I pass away, I’ll at least feel a bit better.’

Ruminating about this for a while, Cian eventually made a decision. From now on, he would do his best to protect the lives of those which he deemed to deserve his help. This would give him a small goal to chase after whenever he reincarnated. Depending on the circumstances of his birth, he might want to get his parents out of a sticky situation, or he may end up saving a complete stranger. At times, even entire worlds or planets could receive his support. It all hinged on how every life played out.

‘In the past, I only became a “saviour” out of guilt or convenience. I can’t believe I’m now seriously doing it.’

Showing a slight but wry smile, Cian heaved a sigh and went back inside to continue his interviews with a few people that he had invited here to test them. He was not yet aware of how thoroughly the somewhat casual decision that he had just made would shape all of his lives to come.

Chapter 12

Immortal Mortal

Two years later, during a peaceful evening stroll, Cian was met with the incident that caused the most ridiculously unlikely development amongst all of his lives.

Having grown accustomed to the tranquillity, Ludari had long stopped to accompany him closely, because there shouldn’t be anybody who would dare to harm him. But unbeknownst to his student, one single surviving 10th realm Immortal from the Blessed Heavens Society had been waiting for just such an opportunity. While he knew that he couldn’t take revenge against the one he thought of as the main culprit, Ludari, he could at least eliminate the second in command!

So it was that Cian’s life as Zimu came to an end at a mere 19 years of age. Even with his incredible senses, he had barely been able to realize that something was wrong, before death once more silently welcomed him. He didn’t panic at this, as he had given his student all necessary instructions, but he nonetheless felt it to be a pity. There were so many matters that he had not got the chance to finish dealing with...

It was only after his next rebirth that he noticed something very off–he definitely knew the language of the people here. He had spoken it in his last life!

‘Wait a minute. Don’t tell me...?!’

The most improbable scenario had occurred–he had been reborn in the same world twice in a row. This time, he had merely been stuck in the Reincarnation Cycle for close to a decade, too. After some initial slight difficulties, he managed to contact Ludari, and his last life’s plans could be picked up from where he had been forced to drop them.

Thirty years passed, and Cian had finally managed to set up a proper support structure for Ludari. More than a hundred thousand potential Immortals had been unearthed by him, all of which had been given the Rudimentary Mana Cultivation Technique. Only the few who could earn his approval were taught other techniques which fit them better.

Every settlement in the world was controlled by students of his, who had all sworn their allegiance to Ludari. With a new group of Immortals taking over, however, it had to be made clear that discrimination against the common folk was absolutely forbidden. New Immortals could always be found from amongst them, so they should be treated with respect, or at the very least without malice. Fortunately, this new society was still a young one, and the horrors of the past were vividly ingrained in the older generations–up until now, no conceited youngsters had tried to rise up.

With one of his two tasks completed, Cian eventually found something else to do during this lifetime. Seeing how well behaved Ludari had always been, he told him about his exact situation, as well as his Mana Spring-related troubles. Although he knew that it wasn’t likely for anything to come of it, he asked whether he would like to help him discover a solution to this predicament.

Having got bored out of his mind because he hadn’t been able to advance further, Ludari had long since grown from a spirited youth to an obsessed researcher. Any new knowledge that he could obtain would strike his fancy. Of course, he didn’t cross any unacceptable lines, but he would often stay immersed in his various theories and hypotheses for weeks on end, without even eating a single bite. Fortunately, he didn’t have to do so anymore at his realm.

Very happy about the fact that he had been presented with a difficult problem to crack, Ludari immediately chose to give his mentor a helping hand. He was aware that even far more powerful beings had not been able to figure it all out, but that only made him more excited to give it a try himself.

As expected, for four decades, there was no progress at all. By this time, Cian’s hair had already begun to turn grey, and the vitality in his body was on a downward trend. He had to significantly increase his weekly exercise to keep himself in a healthy state. It was at this point that Ludari recommended to use Immortal criminals as test subjects. There had been many experiments that they simply couldn’t go through with because Cian would have been in danger. Additionally, it may be easier to discover the Mana Spring’s secrets if the lab rats had one in the first place.

Over time, some bad eggs had appeared amongst the new Immortals of this world, but they had been easily suppressed. Depending on the severity of their crimes, some of them had even been executed on the spot. Such vermin who would die anyway presented no moral dilemma whatsoever, so Cian approved of this choice.

As a result, Ludari’s experiments became more sophisticated and gave him more information, but nothing too important. His biggest issue was that he couldn’t yet properly use his own soul or feel those of others. This world’s limit was crushing any hope of advancing his research.

Eventually, after many attempts, the two of them decided to shelve this issue for later. When Ludari finally roamed the universe, he could explore further. As long as he didn’t do anything stupid or was unlucky, it was likely that the two would meet again at some point, after all.

With the entire world’s societal structure running smoothly, and nothing else to do, Cian chose to travel the world with his first student at his side, teaching him what he knew while he was at it. It wasn’t too bad to stroll around and take in the sights of nature every now and then. At the very least, it allowed him to have a relaxing few last decades.

Originally, he hadn’t expected to encounter anything of too much interest, but one day, his travels brought him to the edge of the planar world. It was slowly growing, so if he waited for a few hours, he could walk forward again for a few steps. This phenomenon was intriguing to observe, but it wasn’t what attracted his attention.

It was the void beyond. It was different from the universe’s void that this planar world would eventually join in the form of a solar system. At first glance, it looked entirely the same, but due to his unique circumstances, Cian had another kind of void to compare it to, and it was an exact match–the one that the Reincarnation Circle was in. It was nigh impossible to say how those two varied, but over his abundant exposure to both, he had recognized that they simply don’t feel the same.

If he had to try to put it differently, then he would do it like this: If an identical, perfect copy of something was made, then for all intents and purposes, every single detail about them would be the same. However, this didn’t change the underlying fact that one of them was the original, and the other the duplicate. But nobody would know which one was which, except for the one who made the copy.

While he wasn’t the one who had reproduced anything, he still felt that something about these voids was different. It was completely instinctual, and he couldn’t explain it no matter how hard he tried. He wasn’t even sure if there was an original and a duplicate in this situation at all–they might just be two sides of the same coin. Or rather, the same void.

‘There is only one known difference between the void of the universe, and the one surrounding a planar world–Creation Energy. But if what I’m sensing is its presence, then does that mean that the network of void channels that brings me to the river of reincarnation, as well as the Reincarnation Cycle itself, also contains Creation Energy?’

Upon further rumination, this didn’t shock him. The only problem was that nobody knew what Creation Energy was, or where it came from. It had obtained its name due to its involvement in the act of birthing and destroying parts of the universe, but nobody knew whether or not its moniker was accurate.

‘... all that I can say for sure is that whatever mechanisms or laws control the universe make use of Creation Energy in some way. Judging from the fact that I saw those scribe-like beings outside of the void megastructure during my first reincarnation, all I can guess is that there might be an immeasurably powerful force behind it all, one controlling the entire universe.’

For now, all of this was merely a theory. Even if he had truly hit some nails on the head, the odd disappearance of those scribes still left him confused to this day. Had something happened to the force behind the scenes? And if that was the case, then what exactly had occurred? What kind of threat could inconvenience a power which could exert control over the Reincarnation Cycle?

Until the end of this life, Cian never found a proper answer. He was simply missing far too much information. While he was confident that his infinite lives might enable him to find out everything eventually, he was also aware that he would have to be very patient.

“Stay safe out there, and don’t... do anything stupid.”

Leaving Ludari with these words and a minute smirk on his lips, Cian’s life in this world came to a close. Having found a small goal to work towards whenever he reincarnated, while he still felt numb, he at least had something to do that he thought of as meaningful.

Over the eras, the influential forces of the universe began to notice a certain unusual development. Blonde and purple-eyed men cropped up at irregular intervals, and would always devote their entire existence to saving the lives of others. It was incredibly difficult to take note of these minor events, or to connect them together. Most wouldn’t think twice about it all, especially because of how many of such tales would play out at every point in time anywhere in the universe, or even in a single galaxy.

But eventually, some mighty figures ran across the saviour in question, taking note of his impossibly powerful soul. They didn’t manage to get any information out of him, because he instantly killed himself. All things considered, they were truly unlucky–Cian had figured out a way to end his life using his soul-bound blade. The act of extracting a soul took some time, and even though he wouldn’t be able to move or resist at all, he could still command his weapon. As a result, he had discovered a truly invincible way of self-extermination–letting it appear with his body. There was no delay, and all that he needed was a single thought. The perfect escape method had been obtained!

Due to how strange he was, some powerful beings eventually chatted about him with their friends from afar, only to find out that the others had also come across the same sort of weirdo. At this point, it would have been impossibly difficult not to put two and two together. It was clear that some person was continuously being reborn and playing the saviour wherever he went.

At first, they called him the “Reincarnating Mortal”, but the name wasn’t particularly tacky. When it spread amongst those of influence all around the universe, a good deal of them soon felt it to be lacking and came up with their own variations. This topic became so huge that multiple wars were eventually fought over of it. While Cian’s moniker hadn’t been the sole underlying issue behind them, it had still been the spark that lit the fuse.

Nobody knew who started it, but one era, a particular naming variation took the universe by storm and would never be contested again: “Immortal Mortal”. It sounded absurd and amusing at first, but the more that the mighty figures thought about it, the more they realized that it was truly fitting. If this infinitely reincarnating mortal couldn’t be called a true immortal, then who could? Even their own lives may one day come to an end, but this little guy’s existence would still endure.

Another matter that was discovered were the past two prominent identities of the Immortal Mortal: Imperial Prince Fu Huan, and Imperial Prince Arlo Willford. These names had been lost to history for countless eons, but a few seniors who had been around since back then and hadn’t bitten the dust during some nonsensical wars, like all of their peers, still recalled those ancient news.

As a result, the Fu Dynasty and the Willford Empire both felt a sense of pride–any and all hard feelings had long since been buried by time. And in the case of the dynasty, they never had any of them to begin with. Only noble legends of this unusual Imperial Prince were left behind in their archives–Heavenly Emperor Fu Xiu’s demise had never been linked back to him.

Obviously, not everyone welcomed Cian’s existence, and he would frequently be chased after by forces that thrived on the mistreatment of their people. Of course, Cian couldn’t do anything to resist them, so he could only leave those lives behind prematurely. Fortunately, there wasn’t any way left to track him, so targeted campaigns against him would always lose their steam after a singular death. To his enemies, this was extremely frustrating.

A few million years after they had parted, Cian finally came across Ludari again. His student had made it a law that every blonde and purple-haired child that was born to those under his rule had to be brought to him for examination. So when one day, Cian’s new parents just happened to be the right people, mentor and student reunited.

Far too many events had occurred, so they spent dozens of years exchanging their experiences and knowledge. Cian’s identity as the Immortal Mortal was widely known, but the details of his encounters were not, so he had plenty to talk about.

As for Ludari, he led an empire that had already conquered their entire galaxy. He could have easily expanded further, because he had created teleportation tunnels that could cross galaxies, but he chose not to do so, to lie low. The only reason as to why he had ever even fought against his neighbours was because they had been targeting his people. But now, his empire had reached a certain size that wouldn’t be looked down upon, and at the same time wasn’t seen as too big of a threat. He could research in peace.

Speaking of his favourite pastime, he had made progress in three areas. He had studied cultivation techniques further after Cian had left, and by now, he had developed personalized ones for countless of his trusted subjects. The Mana Spring grade of the people in question wasn’t all too complicated to take into account, because Mana Springs of the same grade would always behave in exactly the same way. What needed to be accounted for, oddly enough, was a person’s body. Due to this, in his free time, Ludari had created a wholly optimized cultivation technique for his mentor. It was useless for now, but maybe one day, it wouldn’t be.

Something else that he had worked on was one of the few requests that Cian had left him with–to design an encrypted remote communication array that could cross any distance. Because Cian would inevitably come across various allies over the eras, it would be best if all of those on his side could be in contact with each other. That way, they wouldn’t accidentally fight. Of course, using this array required one to be extremely powerful, so only very few of those who Cian would meet would ever be able to utilize it.

With regards to the Mana Spring, he had managed to capture an image of it which made Cian grow speechless. Only at this time did he figure out why Fu Haoyu had told him that he would never be born with one.

The Mana Spring looked exactly like the fishes that he had seen in the river of reincarnation! During his initial few rebirths, he had suspected them to be one and the same, especially because the number of soul orbs that fused with them was roughly one percent of all of the ones which he came across. But it had always merely been a suspicion, and something that he didn’t want to acknowledge–for one specific reason.

The fishes completely ignored him. Even when he had tried to grab or catch them, they had always escaped his grasp. Never once had they showed any signs of fusing with his soul at all. Because he had spent a considerable number of eras within the river, he had long since tried absolutely everything, out of boredom. Although he hadn’t known what would happen if he would fuse with one of these fishes, he had felt it worth a few trillion tries.

Explaining his dilemma to his first student, Ludari thought for a while, then he came up with a new idea. If they didn’t want to fuse with Cian, then they could simply try to transplant the Mana Spring of another person into his soul. Of course, they would only be using Immortal death row inmates for this, just like any other time where human experiments were required to further a topic of research.

Unfortunately, during the rest of Cian’s current life, Ludari made no progress on the transplantation hypothesis. But at the very least, they had managed to work out a few other matters, so both of them looked forward to when they would see each other again.

During Cian’s 2,933,102nd life, he finally made another powerful ally. Initially, the woman by the name of Heba had been a random barmaid who had the displeasure of running into a disgusting fellow during her work shift. After Cian saved her from a tragic fate, she chose to follow him to repay him somehow. Initially, he hadn’t wanted to accept, but upon seeing how determined she was, he changed his mind. If she had a Mana Spring, then he would be bringing her along.

To be perfectly honest, he had planned to use this as an excuse to wave her off, but she had actually had a Mana Spring, even one of at least Excellent Grade, just like Ludari! While she had been a bit older than his first student had been back when he had started to cultivate, and she also wasn’t as much of a genius, she still had a bright path ahead of her, so he chose to teach her seriously.

A few hundred thousand years after that life of Cian’s came to an end, Heba finally reached the realm which would allow her to make use of the communication array that Cian had taught her. And so it was that a secret network of mighty figures which would eventually span the entire universe gained its second member.

When he was approaching his five millionth life, Cian yet again arrived at the point where his soul was about to reach its limit. But why did it even come to this? Couldn’t he have simply channelled all of the surplus soul power into his weapon? Well, yes. But he didn’t.

To say that he was terrified of what he would experience as a result of this decision was an understatement, but Cian had realized one thing: A stronger soul would only bring him benefits. Because there was no way for him to fail the breakthrough in his soul’s level, it was idiotic of him to reject this advancement. Hadn’t he already made it through this twice? Who says that he couldn’t do it a third, fourth, or a hundredth time? Maybe, a way out of his deadlock of a situation could be found one day if he followed this impossibly agonizing path. Admittedly, it was a long shot, but he was desperate enough to take it.

Soon, his continuously shattering and reforming soul floated along the river of reincarnation once more. When seen from the perspective of his entire existence, the thousands of years that this state persisted for was less than the blink of an eye, but to Cian, it had felt like a never-ending nightmare. Only many more thousands of years after his soul had healed completely did he finally mutter to himself, a helpless look in his eyes.

‘If I could beat up my past self who decided to do this, I would. But the worst of it all is that I know I’ll choose to do this again...’

This torture was one that he couldn’t grow numb or used to, because it got worse every single time. A stronger soul would experience more pain when it shattered. Therefore, no matter how much he internally steeled himself, it would not be enough.

‘Still, at the very least, I’ve never felt this clear-headed before.’

Eager to explore how his soul’s breakthrough had changed him, he awaited his next rebirth, where he then found out that his range of detection had increased by an order of magnitude. Due to his improved senses, he could make out nearly everything that occurred within close to a kilometre around him. As for danger and fortune, he would be vaguely made aware of them as well, to a greater degree than before. In other words, his gut feeling was more accurate.

There was only one downside to his increased soul strength, which he discovered many lives later–still, he wasn’t surprised about it. Powerful beings which tread the Immortal Path could more easily notice him sticking out of the crowd. While it hadn’t reached the extent of that of a beacon begging for their attention, it wasn’t all too far off.

The news that the Immortal Mortal’s soul had progressed further only flew under the radar for so long. Eventually, all those mighty figures standing at the very top of the power pyramid of the universe learned about it.

Most merely took it as a matter of course, figuring that it was natural for this to happen one day–any soul in existence would eventually grow stronger, after all. Surely, the Immortal Mortal wouldn’t be an exception to this. But those who wanted to harm Cian grew a little bit worried. What if his soul one day surpassed their own? Worst of it all, they couldn’t do anything about it!

Just like how Cian’s allies had formed a network of their own, many factions that wanted him gone met up in secret and entered an alliance with each other. They would share any and all information about the Immortal Mortal freely and wouldn’t strike immediately when they saw him, so as not to spook him. They would instead try to gather together and extract his soul in secret, without him being aware of it.

Terrifyingly enough, this plan of theirs almost worked a few eras later. Fortunately, due to his soul’s increase in realm, Cian noticed the sneaky attempt and ended this life of his, but a cold shiver still ran down his spine when he thought about how close it had been. No matter what, he wanted to avoid being captured by those who wished him ill. Even the prospect of getting born to a mighty figure had become terrifying.

‘If I notice someone spying on my soul while I’m still in the womb, I’ll end it. I’ve already been too lucky the last two times...’

Making a decision that would likely cause him to lose out on meeting some fantastic parents, he helplessly shook his head. If he wanted to avoid falling into the wrong hands, then there really was no other option.

The next time that he ran across Ludari, he let him know that some forces were hunting him down, asking his first student to look into the matter. If he knew who he had to watch out for, then it would be easier for him to avoid them. He also stressed that Ludari shouldn’t make a move against those forces unless he was certain that it wouldn’t harm him or his empire.

It was also at this time that he got informed of a joyful matter: The transplantation of Mana Springs had seen some limited success. Ludari had managed to separate a Mana Spring from a test subject’s soul on multiple occasions, but it had always disappeared immediately afterwards. Even if he cut off the Mana Spring while it was in direct contact with the soul which he wanted to transplant it to, this didn’t change.

The progress wasn’t much, but at the very least, a step forward had been made. It was unknown when this next hurdle would be overcome, but surely, it would just be a matter of time–like all things are.

Over the next few million lives, Cian noticed a mighty figure’s prying twice during his gestation period, so he ruthlessly obliterated his not-yet-born body. Only later did he find out that he had indeed ruined at least one precious opportunity due to this. His grieving family had informed the rest of the universe of their child’s matters, because they knew that it had been the Immortal Mortal. They wanted to avoid another couple encountering this issue, as losing the only child that they would likely ever have was too traumatic.

This actually resulted in many a powerful being making the decision to never probe their unborn child’s soul if it happened to be extremely strong. Most did so because they either aimed to have a friendly relationship with the Immortal Mortal, or they simply didn’t want to end up in the same horrible situation as the couple who had lost their child even before its birth.

It was due to this change in approach that about one billion years later, Cian got born to another mighty figure. His parents treated him very well, but because he was afraid that they were merely being polite instead of truly loving him as their child, he didn’t let them know about his secret network. He achieved this feat by never actively thinking about it at all. Of course, he did not reject their goodwill, and agreed to come live with them whenever he got born into their territory.

There were many things to discuss, and a lot of knowledge to exchange, so both he and his new parents eventually grew closer over the eras. When he finally thought that they had come to trust each other, he revealed his circumstances to them and let them know about the encrypted remote communication array. It was only at the moment when they broke down crying upon being confronted with his tragic fate that his guarded heart truly acknowledged them as his parents.

‘I’ve been too harsh. But better safe than sorry.’

Confessing how cautious he had been made him feel a little less bad, and fortunately, his parents were very understanding. They simply couldn’t bring themselves to be angry at him for something that anyone in his position would have done. Sure, it stung a little to know that he had always kept them at arm’s length, but they had long since realized this.

His new parents’ inclusion into the network was celebrated by the–at this time–25 members. All of them had been saved by him in one way or another, so they showed quite a bit of respect to this couple which had their familial bonds with him recognized by Cian.

Because he knew that some forces held significant enmity against him, during his lives with this family of his, Cian always made sure to disguise his looks when he travelled the lands. While his soul’s power couldn’t be hidden, and he could therefore still be discovered, all those who could do so in his parents’ territory were under their control and wouldn’t want to attract trouble for their own faction. So while his method was far from perfect, it still allowed him to leave his enemies none the wiser.

His network of allies only continued to grow over the eras, giving him the chance to interact with his first student, Ludari, far more frequently than before. As a result, he could be kept up to date–relatively–when it came to his research. His other allies also often exchanged information or tried to help each other, which allowed them all to improve at a considerably more impressive rate than when they had been alone, no matter what they were doing.

Eventually, there came a point when one of the people in his network was contacted by the alliance that sought to harm Cian, so the person who had been approached joined them as an undercover agent and reported back.

It was decided that they would have to wait for some time first, until many other newbies had joined their enemies. This way, when they eventually struck, it would be difficult to find the mole, if not outright impossible. Fortunately, the spy was a solitary expert and didn’t have a force behind them that they had to take care of, which would allow them to escape smoothly whenever they felt like it.

No member of the network thought of sparing their enemies for even a single second. To them, Cian was a saviour, family, or a lifelong friend. If anyone wanted to harm him, then they would have to pay the price. They were all great people who cared a lot about those who they were close to, else they wouldn’t have been informed of this secret group at all.

When he learned about everyone’s plans, Cian felt a strong warmth in his heart, and a gentle smile graced his lips. No matter how much time had passed, his loved ones could still move him with their actions. But outside of these rare instances, he had increasingly turned emotionless as he continued to exist, simply because far too many memories were constantly bearing down on him.

Although he felt touched, Cian still made sure to warn them all to be careful. It was fine if they chose to get revenge for what he had been put through, but he didn’t want any of them to die because of this. Only after they had all promised that they wouldn’t do anything risky did he finally give them the green light.

The various forces of the universe could have never expected the drastic changes that would take place in many galaxies over the eras to come. A huge number of mighty figures were assassinated one after another, and sometimes, even their entire faction was annihilated alongside them. Every single instance had been planned out to an impeccable degree–an overwhelming force had met a powerless opponent who couldn’t resist in the slightest.

But this alone wouldn’t have been too extraordinary. However, the fact that a solemn, unbelievable message was left behind at every single one of these battle locations was.

“All who aim to harm the Immortal Mortal shall die.”

This statement, coupled with the fact that all of the victims were a member of their alliance, caused those with enmity towards Cian to panic. They had always done their best to keep their own stance a secret, so that the Immortal Mortal wouldn’t be on guard against them. Never would they have thought that not only did he discover who they were, he also had the help of a faction which could harm them!

Frantically searching for the mole, an air of distrust surrounded the whole alliance that had been built solely upon mutual benefit in the first place. None of them were good people–which was why they had clashed with Cian to begin with. Now that the fuse had been lit, it was only a matter of time until it would all fall apart.

As for the other forces in the universe, they also began to feel terrified.

“No matter what, never offend the Immortal Mortal!”

This mantra got deeply ingrained into every single one of the mighty figures’ descendants. For all time to come, Cian’s exact image and the danger which he represented would be taught to every rebellious little brat from families that held some influence on the universal stage.

Chapter 13

Erosion

Due to this drastic change, Cian’s lives became quite pleasant and unproblematic whenever he actually ran into the more powerful forces in the universe. He would be treated as a guest of honour, and even his own plans would be heavily supported. It felt similar to his days back with the Fu Dynasty, when he wielded a power which nobody could resist. As a result, many injustices could be prevented, and countless evildoers were slain. Often, wars against his enemies were started for the sole purpose of giving him a good impression of whatever faction that was currently hosting him.

In sharp contrast to these extravagant lives, whenever Cian was born in a planar world or amongst forces which controlled less than a few hundred thousand solar systems, he wouldn’t be afforded such luxuries. The fact that he looked different from his parents did still result in his gruesome death a majority of the time, and he had to tread on thin ice no matter what he wanted to do.

But this wasn’t a surprise, as it had been just like this since the very beginning. At this point, he had grown used to it. He didn’t even flinch when he had to leave the stage as a newborn, or when he was being treated like lowly trash by his family. It wasn’t that these instances didn’t hurt him, but rather that he had been hurt in this same way for far too many times. When something became a constant, it would eventually transform into background noise, no matter how agonizing it was.

After his about 15 millionth life, Cian welcomed yet another soul realm breakthrough. The torment of his soul getting torn apart was maybe the only thing that could still significantly move him–and solely in a wholly negative way.

The lives of some of the ones who had joined his network had already come to a natural end, because they couldn’t increase their realms endlessly. Eventually, their lifespans would run out. On a few occasions, their partners, offspring or disciples had taken over their spot in the network, but most hadn’t been fortunate enough to find someone who they trusted to the extent that they would share this matter with them. They had to be certain that their successors wouldn’t make any trouble for the group, after all.

Because he had spent so much time with all of them, the grief that Cian felt when his allies eventually left only got stronger. Occasionally, he would silently shed tears in their memory. Still, perhaps because he had experienced too many losses up until this point, he felt it increasingly harder to express his sadness. Rather, a silent, ever-present sorrow had begun to shroud him.

This didn’t mean that he didn’t occasionally run across new people who he added to the network, or others that he grew close to. Absurdly enough, it was the exact opposite. Maybe out of pity–or simply intrigue–regarding his peculiar, miserable state, many more individuals approached him. This meant that he had more chances to encounter folk who were delightful to be around. Worst of all, he could never forget a single word that they said, or an expression which flashed across their faces. His memories were the singular eternal record that existed within the cosmos.

With time marching onwards without a care, eventually, even some of the powerful, loving parents who he had been born to left the stage. Most of them had reached their limit and died of natural causes, but some others weren’t so fortunate. Their forces would inevitably be involved in politics, and they often had age-old enemies that they had to deal with. Being killed by others was still an extremely frequent occurrence, despite the support that the members of the network provided to each other.

But none of this was news to Cian–he had seen it all before. All that he could do was to drag himself from one corner of the universe to the next, the burden on his shoulders growing increasingly heavy. Yet, his soul still continued to accumulate strength, making him unable to truly buckle underneath the weight.

Eventually, when his total number of lives surpassed a hundred million, breakthroughs in his soul realm had turned into what felt like a regular occurrence. They had only become more torturous over time, but he could now accurately predict when they would take place. At this point, his soul had grown to an extent where a few mighty figures could discover him the moment that they stepped on the planet which he was on.

This resulted in a few escapes via suicide every now and then, but most of the time, they chose to humbly meet with him and exchange experiences. Despite his lacking cultivation realm, the Immortal Mortal had accumulated an incredibly profound amount of knowledge and seen more varied sceneries than anyone else. Meeting him was a blessing, and they should make the most of it while they had the chance. Often times, his words could allow them to gain enlightenment on an issue that had troubled them for millions of years.

Over the eras, less and less people chose to get on his bad side, because there was simply no sure-fire way to go against him, or even to restrain him. To offend the Immortal Mortal was akin to signing one’s own death warrant–or at least that of one’s descendants. History had taught this lesson to the majority, and their ancestors plus seniors had done the rest. The alliance which had been formed against him in secret many dozens of millions of years ago had already been obliterated by his allies, and still stood as a stark reminder for everyone. Unless someone had absolute confidence–or was simply too ignorant–nobody would choose to oppose him.

This had quite positive consequences on most of the galaxies in the universe that were ruled by factions which knew about him–nearly all sorts of injustices were regularly stamped out, leading to their citizens experiencing happier lives. Of course, not every single conflict amongst the people could be avoided, but they had to do at least enough to ensure that they wouldn’t draw the Immortal Mortal’s ire should he happen to reincarnate within their territory.

Even when hundreds of millions of lives had passed, Ludari was still the most outstanding researcher who Cian had ever taught. While he wasn’t the strongest and his realm hadn’t advanced the furthest, Ludari’s understanding of the universe was second solely to his. And yet, there had never been any breakthrough when it came to the topic of Mana Spring transplantation. By now, both of them had already tacitly agreed that it was impossible to succeed in this endeavour. Perhaps, there was someone who could actually pull it off, but the two of them could not. The very laws of the universe itself, as well as those of the Reincarnation Cycle, were preventing them from reaching their goal, after all.

Still, neither Ludari nor Cian gave up on finding a solution to his problem. Mana Spring transplantation might not be the answer, but something else may be. Just because they couldn’t see a way forward, it didn’t mean that one didn’t exist. They simply hadn’t found it yet.

By now, Cian had also noticed something else about himself: He had begun to value his individual lives increasingly less. While it had not become a problem yet, he occasionally threw his life away far too recklessly if it meant that he could save a random stranger on the street. The amount of times that he had been killed by relatively weak enemies who had merely just begun to embark on the Immortal Path was staggering. If there was something good which had come of it, it was that he had grown more experienced in slaying the weakest amongst them, despite the fact that they were practically superhumans.

Very frequently, Cian would find himself bored out of his mind, and on numerous occasions, he completely lost his sanity. Only a prolonged stay in the river of reincarnation, coupled with the strengthening of his soul, could soothe him back to a functional state.

When his total number of lives surpassed a billion, he felt that he had left his footsteps in the majority of solar systems of the universe. Of course, because new ones were constantly being born, and old ones ceaselessly disappeared, there was still some sense of variety, but due to having encountered pretty much every imaginable scenario countless times already, everything felt very samey. Although he could instantly learn new languages at this point, it had actually been an incredibly long time since he had encountered one. There were only so many possible variations, after all.

Numerous eras ago, he had chosen to work on another project which could help him cope with existence itself. He had mentally retraced every single path that he had ever taken towards the void megastructure which led to the river of reincarnation. Whenever he died again, he would also pay particular attention to where he was going. Eventually, he came to an absurd result that made him doubt his senses.

Although the appearance of the full picture was very different from that of a regular human’s cardiovascular system, there were certain similarities which stuck out. For example, the river of reincarnation traced a complicated path throughout the entirety of the universe, appearing akin to the major blood vessels. As for the void pathways that led to the megastructure or spread out from the river, they were the equivalent of venules, arterioles and capillaries–the tiniest of blood vessels. As for that unfathomably massive building in the void, it represented the heart.

Despite having figured out all of this, it honestly didn’t mean much. There were too many ways to interpret this information. Did the universe have a creator, and that being had just so happened to use similar underlying templates when creating it, as well as the beings inhabiting it? Was the universe itself alive? Or was he simply squinting a little too hard and all of this was merely his own imagination running haywire because he had long since turned entirely crazy?

He couldn’t tell, and there were far too many possibilities aside from the ones stated above. All which he was certain of was that yet another pastime of his had come to an end, and he would have to find something else to busy himself with.

Deep in his heart, the despair at never having got the chance to tread upon the Immortal Path ate away at him. Having met more people than anyone else in existence, he knew that those who had been blessed with Mana Springs were the truly fortunate ones. Never would they have to wonder about what to do or to focus on, as the answer was always right there in front of them.

Sure, they would often not be able to continue further, maybe due to a limit to their talent, or because they hadn’t worked hard enough. But not once had he ever met one of these people who was entirely lost, like he was. Their motivations and goals differed, and some of them even chose to give up on raising their realm due to the dangers which accompanied many breakthroughs, but they at least always had something that they could potentially devote their time and efforts to. The Immortal Path, according to everything which he had ever seen, appeared to be endless. If he could step on it as well, then he would finally have an eternal purpose. But, alas...

Cian’s soul eventually grew strong enough for true mighty figures to notice him the moment when they entered the same solar system as him, increasing the frequency of his encounters with them. While it may appear as if the entirety of the universe was ruled by these powerful factions, this wasn’t the case. Countless planar worlds would appear at any point in time, and just as many old solar systems would be wiped off the map. The vast majority of his lives, Cian didn’t meet any especially strong person at all.

Amongst his network, solely the minority was talented enough to stick around for many billions of his lives. Any one of them had the capability to overpower the forces in the surrounding thousands of galaxies on their own, but they didn’t choose to do so. Lying low was so much more useful for them, as it allowed them to stay alive for longer. Some of these incomprehensibly strong experts had banded together and researched teleportation channels until they reached a pinnacle that had never been achieved before in the universe. Distance ceased to be an issue, as well as energy–they were incredibly far ahead compared to any other faction. It became easy for them to connect everyone who was a part of the network, reducing the external conflict-induced deaths within the group to zero.

This major change might have brought a smile to Cian’s lips in the past, but nowadays, he could only acknowledge it with a nod. He had grown far too numb, his emotions constantly clouded by the all-encompassing despair and sorrow. The second that he allowed himself to feel, he would have to book a prolonged stay in the river of reincarnation again. There was simply not enough joy to make up for the bad things in existence. And when he experienced something really great or fun, it couldn’t move him, because he had seen it all before countless times.

His oldest companions of course were saddened by his increasingly emotionless self. They knew just how much pain he was in, and grew frustrated at themselves for not being able to save him from his fate. But even this universe-spanning support group was powerless. No matter which realm they reached or what they researched, they didn’t find anything that could help.

If there was one thing which stayed constant, it was that Cian never entered a romantic relationship with anyone. While his initial reasons for this hadn’t wavered, a new one had been added over the eras. He had realized that should he allow himself to have children during his lives, due to the fact that he would eternally reincarnate, he would eventually live in a universe primarily inhabited by his extended family. This might sound alright at first, but it would also mean that his own descendants would inevitably end up being his future partners one day. The mere thought of this made him utterly disgusted, causing him to be even more firmly opposed to creating any progeny of himself.

After more than 50 billion lives, his soul ultimately reached the point where he could easily kill a regular mortal if he had direct eye contact with them. Fortunately, he could control this ability, because it would result in countless horrendous tragedies otherwise. By now, in terms of soul power, he had surpassed even his father of old, Fu Haoyu. But of course, he was still far from those true mighty figures at the very top. He would eventually get there, but he didn’t know what he would have become once he did.

By now, he rarely felt any emotion whatsoever. Nothing which he saw was any different from countless other scenarios that he had seen play out before, so his body acted on complete autopilot. Rather than a human, he had become a mere machine which dutifully saved any- and everyone that he came across, should they be in trouble. Of course, due to his plentiful experience, he could easily determine if a person was worthy of such a sacrifice on his part. He wouldn’t brainlessly step in to protect a vile criminal from receiving their just deserts.

Dying, getting reborn, saving someone whilst losing his life in the process, and therefore dying again–this had become his eternal routine. Long since had he stopped thinking about the grief that those which he left behind felt due to his actions. Forging true emotional bonds with other people was something that had become an impossibility for him, due to how much baggage was constantly dragging him down.

This didn’t mean that others had stopped to feel strongly about him, he simply had become unable to sincerely reciprocate their feelings.

Hundreds of billions of lives later, eventually, a true apathy set in. He had become an empty husk of his past self, an organic saviour robot who did nothing but help others without a single doubt about his own course of action. No matter who he encountered, he didn’t waver.

His existence itself had become recognized as a law of the universe by its more knowledgeable inhabitants. The influence that he held was beyond anyone else who had ever graced the cosmos, and yet he didn’t make use of it whatsoever. The network which he had created had already grown to secretly rule a significant chunk of the universe, and multiple generations had cycled through. Of course, there were still a number of old-timers who stuck around.

Even when a civil war broke out between the descendants of some of his old friends who had been added to the network, Cian didn’t feel a thing. Of course, this was in part due to the fact that he had no strong connection to these children, but it was primarily because of his indifference for everything.

The very few people who could interrupt his automated saviour routine were Ludari, Heba and the other old timers from the network. Whenever they met, they would chat about what had happened since their last encounter, or about some of the issues which they had run into. But even towards these closest companions of his, Cian hadn’t shown the slightest hint of emotion on his face for hundreds of billions of lives. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but he couldn’t.

Perhaps, amongst all of the inhumane, incomprehensible suffering which he had endured, his only real blessing was that he had met true friends who didn’t shun him despite his difficulties, and who were always on his side.

One day, the inevitable finally occurred. Cian gave up completely on ever obtaining a Mana Spring. Even if there was some remote possibility of getting it, he didn’t think that he would ever be lucky enough to come across it. His last vestige of active motivation and drive was gone. Every cinder of the fire which had once burned within him had extinguished–there was nothing left.

Despite the fact that his soul continued to strengthen and break through, this part of him never returned. Only monotony was left, and amidst it, his lives passed by. Because it was impossible for him to ever forget anything, he was always aware of how often he had been reborn, so he had long got into the habit of counting his lives. Perhaps, this instinctual behaviour was the last vestige of him which was still steadily persisting.

The Immortal Mortal who was saving everyone who he came across was still around, but Cian did not actively reach out to his network of allies any more. Only when they ran across each other due to sheer coincidence would they still interact. Due to this, nobody new ever joined this group from his end again, so the members chose to actively invite those that they truly trusted. This led to a few more periods of upheaval and chaos, which Cian only heard about when somebody who he was close to reported it to him.

Having witnessed his entire transformation, Ludari was deeply saddened, and together with many others in the network, he swore to solve the Mana Spring issue once and for all, no matter the cost. Nobody knew if this would rejuvenate Cian somehow, but they sure as hell were going to try!

Amidst this atmosphere, nobody noticed that a being had long since begun to observe all of them, as well as Cian’s journey. But even if they had stayed cautious all the time, it would have been impossible for them to pick up on the being’s spying, as they were simply far weaker than the other party.

Because Cian’s soul had long since surpassed that of every mighty figure who he had ever encountered, he was the only one who felt this pair of eyes gaze upon him, but he was too far gone to even react to it. He didn’t wonder about who it was, merely continuing onwards, eternally.

Everything was a monotonous blur. Life and death, meetings and partings–they were inconsequential. Those who had once occupied the deepest depths of his heart had left behind persistent voids which had never got filled again. Too many such wounds had accumulated, and all that remained was... nothingness.

A man had transformed into an intrinsic law of the universe, everlasting and never-changing. For all intents and purposes, the being once known by the name of Cian Palgrave... was gone. He hadn’t miraculously disappeared into thin air, but rather, he had been eroded by existence itself.

‘827,103,001,590.’

Having been met with death once again, Cian’s soul got claimed by the Reincarnation Cycle. Like always, he eventually ended up in front of the void megastructure. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the figure of a living being sitting at the table right next to the entrance which he floated into, but he didn’t pay it any mind and went through the barrier.

With his eyes closed, he floated along the currents soon after, none the wiser to the fact that the same figure from before was following the river, always keeping him in their field of view. When he felt that familiar call and got pulled towards the next stop on his journey, the mysterious being kept pace with him as well.

In this new life, Cian was born to a relatively wealthy merchant family and was lucky enough to be allowed to grow up. Still, his father wasn’t all too pleased with him due to his strange appearance, and his mother would rather stay in the good graces of her husband, so he eventually bid them farewell. He set out on his own and wandered the lands as a martial artist, occasionally intervening in some of the conflicts which he came across.

A decade after he had left his home, he arrived in the city of Rimehold, where he chose to stay for a month or two. He never had to worry about travel expenses, because the scumbags that he often ran across were usually decently well-off.

Merely a week into his stay, completely unhinged, arrogant Immortals chose to make a scene close to his place of residence, so he dove head-first into peril without an ounce of hesitation.

During his initial few deaths, he had already experienced the feeling of “having his life flash before his eyes”, but it had not yet been much of a burden. Eventually, however, as his soul got more powerful and the number of his total lifetimes had exceeded a million, it had turned into a bit of a chore. By now, it always lasted for what felt akin to an eternity.

‘And just like that, we’ve come full circle. I wish I didn’t have to see it all again every time I’m about to die...’

Cursing internally, Cian prepared to welcome the familiar embrace of death.

Chapter 14

The Present, Part Two

But it never came. Instead, what greeted him was absolute silence.

Weirded out by this, Cian chose to pay attention to his surroundings again, only to be taken aback in the next second. Everything around him, as far as the eye could see, was frozen, as if time and space had entirely stopped. Even the heat of the purple flames had come to a standstill just short of him, with the distance still separating them having transformed into an insurmountable gulf.

‘This is impossible. I’m in a planar world, so how could a powerhouse capable of such a feat possibly interfere with this place!?’

All of his experiences up to this point told him that what he was seeing was utterly absurd. Nobody in the entirety of the universe could oppose or use the Creation Energy which shrouded these proto-solar systems! And yet, he was certain that his senses weren’t playing tricks on him.

Despite having been rescued from a fiery death, he still had to be careful. Not only was the situation that he found himself in unprecedented and therefore filled with unknown dangers, but he was also still able to move. If he happened to stumble a little, he could easily meet his end.

Just as he was about to respectfully ask for his saviour to show themselves, so that he might thank them, an extremely delightful voice entered his ears, causing him to freeze up like a mirror image of his surroundings. It was intimately familiar to him, and belonged to a person who had been at his side for a very long time. To someone who he had been missing for nearly all of his existence.

“Master! We finally meet again. I’m sorry for taking so long.”

The graceful figure of a middle-aged woman appeared in front of him and dissolved the purple flames, as well as the Nine Suns Sect’s Grand Elder, as if blowing away a speck of dust. She wasn’t the most gorgeous goddess that he had ever met, but she nonetheless had her own captivating beauty. Contrary to others, who might become obsessed with her looks, Cian felt something entirely different. A person who had been etched painfully deep into his memories overlapped with the one in front of him–aside from clearly appearing around two decades older, it was an exact match.

“N-Nuo’er...?”

For the first time in incomprehensibly many eras, the Immortal Mortal’s expression changed rapidly between surprise, delight, disbelief, joy and desperation. The automated routine which he had been following for nearly forever ground to a creaking halt, awakening the remains of the person who had once been.

Cian couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Nay, he didn’t dare to believe it. He had given up his hope of reuniting with his personal maid long ago, because nobody in her situation could possibly survive until today. If he wasn’t absolutely certain that his senses weren’t playing a trick on him, then he would have slapped himself to snap out of his delusions. This wasn’t the first time that he had gone insane, so he could be considered an old hand at dealing with such debilitating occurrences. But due to this, he was even more certain that it was all real.

“Yeah, Master. It’s me.”

With a gentle, adoring smile, Feng Nuo walked up to him and wrapped him into a hug, tenderly stroking his back in an effort to offer him some sort of relief. Deep in her gaze, there was heartbreak, pity and self-reproach. Her prince had suffered unimaginable horrors for an eternity, leaving him in a state which was too painful to properly look at. His soul had been reformed so many times that the patchwork result could hardly even still be called him, as nothing which was originally him remained unchanged. His real mind had long since taken the backseat, and at most times, it could hardly be said to be conscious. All of his actions, words and thoughts were those of a robot fulfilling its instructions. To protect himself, Cian’s subconscious had long dragged him off the stage. There had been no way to rouse him from his eternal slumber again. Until now.

“... I’ve missed you.”

Feeling a sting in the void which Feng Nuo’s disappearance had left behind at the very core of his heart, Cian shuddered and reciprocated the embrace, tears uncontrollably pouring forth. It had been inconceivably long since his emotions had last erupted, so now it felt as if a dam had burst open, completely overwhelming him and dragging him along with the flow.

“I’ve missed you too. Ever since we parted, there was not a single day when I didn’t think about you.”

Growing teary-eyed as well, Feng Nuo eventually started to bawl her heart out too, and the two of them just stood there, holding each other and letting their feelings run free. Only after the sun had already begun to set did they finally calm down again.

“So, how have you been all this time?”

A little embarrassed by his outburst, Cian scratched his cheek and asked the first thing that came to mind. For endless eras, he hadn’t felt this refreshed and relieved. Allowing himself to truly feel the moment which he was experiencing, he held his personal maid’s hand, not wanting to let go, fearing that he might lose her again if he did.

“... very lonely, most of the time. After I left the Fu Dynasty, I roamed the universe for more than a hundred thousands years...”

Recalling her past, Feng Nuo told him a little bit about what she had encountered over the ages. Apparently, when she had got close to the end of her natural lifespan, she had chosen to settle down on a random planet, wallowing in her despair. She had been certain that she would never see him again, as she had been too far away to rush back home. It was during that miserable period that she spied something out of the corner of her eye as she traipsed through the forest.

Stuck in the bark of a really old tree was a slightly glimmering object of some kind. This randomly caught her interest, so she walked closer and pulled it out, scrutinizing it. It was a black fountain pen with a green, glowing mysterious pattern engraved on it. Something about it made her feel drawn to it, as if it was a sort of treasure.

Not thinking much further than that, she chose to take it with her and returned to her abode, before beginning her daily cultivation, as usual. Although she hadn’t been able to break through to a higher realm for hundreds of thousands of years, this could still keep her realm from slowly regressing due to her advanced age. But this time, something was different. She suddenly felt as if there was no bottleneck preventing her from taking a step forward at all!

Before she knew it, she had broken through and her previously elderly body returned to her youthful appearance. For a while, she sat right there, shell-shocked by this development, then she rejoiced in happiness and wept, a bright grin on her face. She realized that the only thing which had changed was that she now possessed that unusual fountain pen. Was it perchance a treasure which could erase bottlenecks?

Although she could scarcely believe it, she chose to try to find out if it was the case. With renewed vigour, she focused on her cultivation. Her Inferior Grade Mana Spring restricted her to absorbing Mana at a very slow speed, and it also made it more difficult to advance. Still, the accumulation until such a bottleneck usually didn’t take all too long, even at her high realm.

Just like that, merely ten thousand years later, she once more arrived at the pinnacle of her current level. Then, a day afterwards, entirely unceremoniously, she broke through. It didn’t take any effort at all, as if the bottleneck which should be responsible for making all of this a difficult endeavour had simply disappeared.

Truly excited by this discovery, Feng Nuo chose to devote herself fully to cultivation, and broke through to higher realms in comparatively rapid succession. Eventually, she reached the point where she could make use of her soul to a certain extent. Wanting to learn a little bit more about the treasure that had saved her, she inspected it with her Divine Sense.

The moment that she did, she found herself in a completely different place, right in the middle of an endless void. Aside from her and the fountain pen, there was nothing else. When she attempted to leave, she discovered that she was surrounded by invisible walls on all sides. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t influence them the slightest.

When she chose to inspect the fountain pen with her Divine Sense again, a stream of information was transmitted to her. It let her know that this was a sort of training room, and that it could only be left once one reached the requisite realm. No matter what else she inquired about, she didn’t receive any kind of response. There was no way to get out at all.

With no other choice, she focused entirely on cultivating. Fortunately, at her realm, she had long since passed the stage where she needed anything but Mana to survive. As the ages flew by, she couldn’t help but grow increasingly worried about her prince, her heart aching constantly from missing him so much. But if she wanted to see him again, then there was only one single option: She had to grow stronger.

Eventually, she lost all sense of time, but her breakthroughs were unceasing. She couldn’t even clearly recall when she had passed the realm which Fu Haoyu had been in back then. All that kept her going were the memories of her prince, and her longing for him.

At first, she had been elated, thinking that she might have found a sure-fire way to reach eternity–after all, she had no bottlenecks at all! But eventually, she came to realize something: Due to her horrendously slow Mana absorption speed, it took her increasingly longer to reach the limit of the realms which she was in. Theoretically speaking, there was a possibility that she might arrive at a point where she was certain that her lifespan would run out before she could achieve her next breakthrough!

Desperately hoping that she would reach true eternity before this happened, she continued to cultivate, eventually rushing past even the mightiest beings known to the universe. And yet, she didn’t stop for a single second. Only when she finally reached her current realm did despair ultimately cloud her alluring features.

She knew fully well that there was no way for her to go any further. Death was the sole outcome, and it was inevitable. If she had been born with a higher grade Mana Spring, then she may have truly reached the end of the Immortal Path. But that was simply not what fate had in store for her.

If there was one ray of light in the darkness, then it was that she had only just barely reached the threshold which allowed her to leave this place. Grabbing the fountain pen, she was transported back to where she had previously been–but the planet and its solar system was long gone. Even a few more solar systems had experienced the cycle of birth and destruction in this exact space. Currently, it was empty.

Knowing that she was destined to welcome her end, and that there was nothing else which she could do, Feng Nuo wanted to meet her prince again, so that she may live the rest of her days at his side. At her level, it required merely a thought to observe countless galaxies and sift through the information that she obtained.

Very quickly, she found out about the Immortal Mortal, as well as parts of Cian’s secret network. What made her heart almost stop beating, however, was that she realized that her prince was in an unfathomably terrible state. Many of his friends and allies did everything in their power to find ways to help him, but failed without any hope of success. She eventually discovered Cian himself, and his circumstances caused her to suffer the most painful blow which she had ever endured. Knowing that if she were to meet him now, she would at best allow him to feel better for a limited amount of time, before leaving him with a deeper wound again, she chose to stay away.

Like all those others who wanted to save him from his fate, she also examined the situation from every conceivable angle, finding no possible solution. Then, she suddenly recalled her companion of old–the black fountain pen. Due to how desperately she had wanted to run to Cian’s side upon her return to the universe, she hadn’t interacted with it since then. But because she had overcome the training, there should be some sort of reward, right?

Using her Divine Sense to communicate with it, she found a heavily damaged compendium of knowledge inside. Apparently, it was some sort of inheritance, but so many parts of it were lost for a reason which she couldn’t figure out that she had no idea where it came from. Still, there were some sections of it which she could decipher, and amongst these, she found a way that would allow her to truly liberate her prince from his shackles.

Even though it would require her to pay a certain price, she didn’t hesitate at all and got everything which she needed ready. She learned secret techniques, used the fountain pen to travel to the megastructure housing the entrances to the river of reincarnation, and bypassed the Creation Energy incubating this planar world, following Cian. Due to what she knew she had to do, she had been hesitating all this while, but when her beloved prince was about to meet his demise yet again, she could no longer hold back. To help him out a little in the future, she had erased the Nine Suns Sect from existence while she was at it.

“... what exactly are you talking about? How do you plan to help me? And what is that price that you’ve mentioned?”

Getting an extremely bad feeling about this, Cian gripped her hand a little bit tighter, every fibre of his being screaming at him. Something bad was evidently going to happen if this continued, his freakishly powerful soul’s senses made him certain of this.

“... Master, your parents, Lord Fu Haoyu and Lady Chen Yue... they still exist. They have not been claimed by the Reincarnation Cycle.”

Looking directly into his eyes, her expression a serene one, Feng Nuo ignored his question, instead distracting him with astonishing news which he simply couldn’t pretend to haven’t heard.

“What!? Where are they? How come I’ve never seen them again?”

Although he knew that he needed to press her on that other issue, he couldn’t help but ask these questions. He was certain that Feng Nuo wouldn’t lie to him about this–she had never once deceived him, after all.

“Your father found a way to seal his own soul, as well as that of your mother, into one of the green tablets outside of that gigantic building in the Reincarnation Cycle’s void. Here, I’ve brought it with me. It’s not made out of Soul Metal, but you can bind it to you in the same way. Come, give it a try!”

Handing him this item which he had always only been able to see, but not touch, Feng Nuo observed him with a loving smile as he expertly marked it with his soul power.

Just as she had stated, the souls of his parents were sealed within. He could clearly sense them, he could even release them at a moment’s notice. Of course, he wouldn’t do this, as then they would immediately be ferried off towards the river of reincarnation. But this gave him hope that he may one day be able to reunite with them.

Stroking the green tablet gently, he eventually stored it in the depths of his soul, right next to his sword. This way, they would always be with him, no matter where he went.

“Was that your plan to help me? Because you’ve succeeded. With them at my side, I can definitely go on!”

Putting on a bright smile, Cian desperately hoped that he had only misunderstood her earlier. Maybe she had had to pay a significant price to take this item with her? To his despair, from her sweet expression tinged with reluctance, he could see that he was merely grasping at straws.

“I’m glad! But no, that was not what I was referring to earlier. Instead, I’ve found a way to give you a Mana Spring.”

Grabbing his hand and holding it tenderly, she used her other hand to stroke his cheek, wiping away the tears that had begun to accumulate at the corners of his eyes.

“What!? How is it done? And what is the price that you need to pay?”

Truly shaken once more, astonishment flashed on his face, before it was yet again replaced by a deep sense of foreboding. Interlocking his fingers with hers in an effort to hold her more securely, his heartbeat began to accelerate in fear.

“I will give you my own Mana Spring. The price... is my soul. It’ll completely disappear.”

Staring at him unblinkingly, as if she wanted to forever carve him into her very being, Feng Nuo uttered these terrifying words without much of a change in expression. Her smile was still as devoted and affectionate as it had always been.

“I won’t allow it! If someone really has to pay with their soul, then can’t somebody else use the same method and give me their Mana Spring instead?”

He knew that she would have definitely already thought of this, but he still frantically tried to find any way out. He needed to prevent her from sacrificing herself, no matter what!

“It’s impossible. Only the owner of this fountain pen can perform the secret technique necessary, and they also need to have reached my realm. Worst of all, ownership of the pen cannot be transferred to another person. Lastly, the one performing the secret technique has to be willing to pay the price. Who else but me fulfills all of these requirements?”

Patiently explaining it all to him, Feng Nuo pulled him closer and into another hug, still staring deeply into his eyes all the while. She was aware that her pen might not be the only one, and she was surely not the strongest being alive. And yet, finding another treasure like hers and coming across someone else who was qualified plus willing to offer their entire self... the chances of this ever happening were too low.

“Then I don’t want a Mana Spring! I’d be far happier if you could be with me instead!”

His voice cracking a little, Cian threw away the goal which he had been after ever since his first life. At this very moment, compared to Feng Nuo, it didn’t matter to him at all. Never had he forgotten Zhang Kai’s postmortem words. He would not let her go again, he couldn’t allow that to happen!

“My my! Dear Master, aren’t you worried that I may misunderstand and choose to take our relationship to the next level?”

Her lips curled into an amused, teasing smile, the loyal maid exuded an unusually playful aura. Even Cian couldn’t help but be slightly taken aback by it, a minute touch of red creeping onto his cheeks.

“... that’s fine. As long as you’ll stay with me, I won’t mind that.”

Getting rid of the very last of his eternally held principles in a final effort to keep her at his side, he didn’t shy away from her at all, taking her by surprise. But after a few seconds of hesitation, her gaze once again became a resolute, loving one.

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I know you’d only be doing this for me, not because your heart is really in it. If we indulged in this fantasy of mine, the both of us would just get hurt. And while I would have an easy way out, you wouldn’t. Please accept it already, I will give you my Mana Spring!”

Before he could respond again, she planted a cheeky, bittersweet kiss on his lips to shut him up. Only minutes later did she put an end to this bout of desire. Still embracing him, at this final step, she looked at him full of painful unwillingness to let go.

“You may not be able to break through again, but how about spending the rest of your lifespan with me? If you really want to give me your Mana Spring, you can do that when it’s about to be over.”

After wracking his mind for the last scraps of reasoning which he could offer, this was what Cian came up with. In his eyes, it actually wasn’t too bad of a proposition. There was nothing stopping her from accepting this compromise, right?

“... unfortunately, that won’t work. The more time that we spend together, the deeper the wound which will be left behind after I’m gone. Initially, I didn’t want to let you know about me at all, and planned to perform the secret technique in... well, in secret. But when I saw you, I couldn’t help myself at all. Take this all as some more selfishness on my part. Please forgive me for hurting you again!”

Unable to keep it together, Feng Nuo began to cry. She was aware that what she had done was incredibly cruel, but a part deep inside of her wanted to at least let her prince know everything, despite the suffering that it would cause. It was only natural, but she couldn’t help but hate herself for it.

“... Nuo’er, I’ve never been angry with you. There is nothing to forgive. Thank you for telling me. And for everything.”

Oddly enough, the more distressed his lovely maid became, the more Cian managed to keep his own emotions in check. The most tender smile in countless eras graced his lips as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, before–for the first time–kissing her. It amounted to nothing more than a gentle peck, but it nonetheless dazed her.

“My feelings for you have never been romantic ones, but what you’re not aware of is that you’ve always been number one in my heart, just in a different way.”

The bond which had formed between them back when they had been together had been a profoundly special one to him. He himself couldn’t even explain why–he simply cared more about this little maid than about anyone else. Love comes in countless different forms, only very few of them being of the romantic variety. Feng Nuo was more than just his personal maid. She was his companion, his true friend and someone who he could fully trust. While it admittedly felt a bit odd to exchange instances of physical intimacy with her, he knew that it would get her to feel better. And this was likely the very last time that they would have, so he didn’t want to make her goodbye a sorrowful one.

“... I’m glad!”

Blossoming into an incredibly lovely smile, Feng Nuo wiped away her tears before taking out a black fountain pen with glowing green patterns from her storage space. She knew that now was the right time. They would merely both start to feel worse if she prolonged the inevitable even longer.

“Close your eyes and don’t open them again until I’m gone. No matter what happens, alright?”

Her gaze an unusually stern one, the loyal maid only continued once Cian had done as she had said. Taking a deep breath, she tiptoed until her head was at the same height as that of her prince. Then, she leaned forward and placed the fountain pen between their foreheads, barely separating them.

All that Cian could feel was the pen and their noses touching, then some sort of energy seemed to be gathering right in front of him, but he didn’t dare to look. Not only was this due to what she had just said, but also because he didn’t want to witness what came next.

“I couldn’t reach true eternity, but at least, a part of me will always be with you. I hope for you to be happy, and for you to find someone who you truly love that you can be with. Nothing would make me happier! Finally... promise me... that you won’t... forget... me...”

Towards the end of her last words, Cian could feel the body in his arms as well as the pen resting against him dissipate into nothingness. Those final bits and pieces had been delivered directly to his mind, as the faithful woman in front of him was already gone.

An incredibly heavy heartache threatened to overwhelm him, when suddenly, he felt something entirely unfamiliar deep within the depths of his soul. Above the area where he had stored his blade and the tablet containing his parents’ souls, a tiny “fish” appeared out of nowhere, intricately connected with the very core of his soul, as if it had always been there. It quickly morphed and faded, until it had permeated him completely, becoming a part of him. Maybe it was just his imagination, but it felt as if Feng Nuo was still with him, as if she hadn’t truly left.

But when he finally opened his eyes, he was confronted with reality. He was all alone, everything in the surrounding 10 kilometres burned to ashes. It was a bleak scenery dripping in desolation and solitude.

“...”

And yet, when he looked up at the sky, he felt as if a ray of sunlight had finally penetrated the burdensome layers of dark clouds which had prevented him from glimpsing his future.

He didn’t speak, and he was tormented by grief, but simultaneously, his heart beat in irrepressible excitement. For the first time ever, he felt what it was like to be blessed with an infinite route to follow. The monotony that had trapped him for close to an eternity shattered, replaced by nothing but hope for the lives to come.

On this day, Cian Palgrave took his first step on the Immortal Path. The precarious, but unstoppable rise of the sole everlasting enigma of the universe began. Friendships and grudges, all would be repaid in full.

Afterword

So you’ve made it all the way here? Well done! I hope you managed to derive some enjoyment from this novel. Because it is the first one that I chose to publish, and I’ve worked on pretty much all of it myself, I’m sure that there are still a handful of mistakes here and there that I may have overlooked. I hope you didn’t mind them, should some of them have actually caught your eye.

Due to having to cover a very long period of time in this volume, I chose to summarize a lot of the events that happened, and only had little opportunity to go into abundant details. I’ve tried to find a good balance, though, so I’d be glad if you like the result. In the future books of this series to come, you can expect a lot less extensive time skips, because Cian’s current situation is the focus, not summarizing his past.

“Reincarnation Cycle’s Unfortunate Bug” originally began under the working title of “Undying Trash’s Ascension To Immortality” about three or four years ago. It was an idea which I had one random evening and that grew continuously in my mind until it reached absolutely monstrous proportions. Although I had already been busy with writing my web novel series, “Wish Fulfillment System”, Cian’s story never left my thoughts.

When I eventually had to make drastic changes in my life, I chose to take a chance and focus on starting to publish this novel series instead. To be honest, writing it has been an absolute blast! Also, there are countless events in the books to come which I cannot wait to share with you all, so look forward to those!

Self-publishing has been a mix bag, on the other hand. I learned many interesting things in regards to publishing in general, as well as about formatting novels. I had never really looked into those matters before this point, and all that I can say is that I tried my best. Hopefully, there isn’t too major of a flaw somewhere...

But that was the fun part. What wasn’t a joy were the legal and bureaucratic hurdles that I stumbled into at every corner. If you’re an aspiring author who plans to self-publish, please spend a long time inquiring about all of these matters! I would recommend consulting a lawyer, just to make sure that you haven’t overlooked anything that could net you a fine in the thousands of bucks. At least here in Germany, you will definitely step into dangerous traps otherwise, as they’re all conveniently tucked away and not really mentioned under regular circumstances. If you’re solely searching online, you’ll have to be extra thorough and spend a lot of time. Even after doing everything that I recommended, I’m still paranoid about having missed something.

Anyway, let’s stop the complaints here.

I have been an even more inaccessible hermit than usual during the months that I took me to sort all of this out, so I’m very grateful to my family and friends for bearing with me all this time. It’s most definitely going to happen again while I’m working on future novels, so why not brace yourselves in advance?

I would also like to thank the artist whose beautiful creation is now adorning this novel, Ameko Jam. I had the pleasure of commissioning them once before, for the cover of “Wish Fulfillment System”, and I could not be any happier with how it all turned out. It’s as if the image in my mind was directly manifested into being, truly marvellous!

As for you, dear reader, I’d be honoured to have you along for the ride. It’s going to be a long one, but I can promise you that I will be doing my very best to make it as pleasant of an experience as I can.

If you’re interested in keeping up with what I’m up to, or want to read some more of my writing, then you can check out the links on page 333. Yeah, you’ll have to manually type them in if you’re not reading this in its eBook form...

That shall be all for the shameless self-promotion. I hope to see you in the next part of this novel series, book one! (The prologue-volume can be considered book zero, after all.)

Shiro the Hero

Links

a.k.a. Self-Promotion

Wish Fulfillment System:
https://www.webnovel.com/book/wish-fulfillment -system_14168375705541905
Twitter / X: @Shiro_the_Hero
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sh1ro
YouTube: @Shiro-the-Hero
Email: shirothehero.official@gmail.com