Eternal Light Continent, Blue Flame City
“Tian Zun! I will give you one last chance! Leave your life behind and I won’t touch your people, or you all die here today!” Declared the cultivator in front of Tian Zun.
“Do you think I don’t understand your way of thinking?! I know for a fact that even if I take my own life here today, you will still kill my people! Am I not right, Hong Chun?!” Tian Zun said angrily.
“Hahahaha! It’s good that you know! Our enmity is irreconcilable! Your son crippled the cultivation of my daughter, yet you haven’t even punished him! What a great Eternal Light Monarch you are! Today, I will kill you and your family, and tomorrow there will be no more Eternal Light Continent remaining!” The aura coming from his body, made people shiver in fright. Every time he ground his teeth; the sounds made the spectators feel as if they were in Purgatory.
“Good! Then I won’t hold back either!” Immediately after Tian Zun said that his body began glowing as if he was a sun radiating immense heat and light. The towering aura he was radiating gave the spectators so much pressure they smashed onto the ground and came back from Purgatory, only to enter the deepest parts of hell.
One of the spectators said in a weak voice, “That’s a Monarch level Light Element! I heard rumours that the Monarch Level Light Element would change colour because the Light would become too hot!”
The spectators gasped as they witnessed Tian Zun's Monarch level Light Element changing colours. One of them murmured, "It's so hot that the space it's coming from is being burned and molten. I can't even look at it as my eyes would burn!"
But even if they didn’t look, it wouldn’t take long before they would die because the heat radiating from the light. Tian Zun didn’t want anything like that to happen to his own people, so he considerately made his element move so that they wouldn’t get burned.
With a flick of his wrist, Tian Zun condensed the light into a ball and sent it hurtling toward Hong Chun in a blinding flash.
Hong Chun quickly dodged to the side.
“Impressive! I didn’t expect any less than that from another Monarch realm existence like you! However, you seem to have only broken through recently! You are no match for me!” Tian Zun said as he began condensing a huge lotus made of pure light that formed above his head.
“Eternal Lotusblade!”
The huge lotus unfurled, its petals spreading wide like a brilliant explosion of light. Then, one per one, the petals began falling off. They transformed into nine blades that could cut into anything they touched!
Hong Chun made his move as well and the darkness element he was proficient in using appeared in front of everyone! His shadow enlarged and jumped in front of him as it formed a barrier of darkness.
The first petal struck the barrier!
The barrier didn’t even budge!
Tian Zun thought for a moment and sent the second and third petals together!
When the petals struck the barrier this time, the barrier shook a little but remained firm like a mountain in the end!
“Hahahahah! Did you really think just because I’m a newly promoted Monarch, you could trample upon me like you did on other Monarchs?! You can’t even break my barrier yet alone touch me! Truly pathetic!”
Hong Chun opened a slit in the barrier and shot his darkness element through it desiring to kill Tian Zun!
Tian Zun countered with the fifth and sixth petal and fended off the attack!
But then, his eyes flashed with brilliance as he used the seventh, eighth and the ninth petal to attack the barrier before Hong Chun could close the slit he just opened!
When Hong Chun noticed this, he desperately tried to close the slit, but even if he managed to close it, the place where the slit used to be was still weak because it was just closed!
Tian Zun attacked with all his might! Seventh petal, its shaking! Eighth petal, its cracking! Ninth petal, it shattered!
Hong Chun was breaking out in cold sweat, but he knew there was no other petal remaining! He laughed to himself as he knew victory was close. But when he saw a flash go in from his barrier faster than every other petal there was, his eyes opened widely!
The- The lotus bud!
Right! He forgot those petals came from the lotus, and the lotus still had a bud!
The lotus bud went through his chest in a flash and a huge amount of blood began dripping down.
“My heart…! No! I can’t die like this…!” Hong Chun was still desperately trying to suppress the blood spurting from his chest. He didn’t want to die!
“Don’t worry Hong Chun! I will keep your corpse intact so that your daughter can see with her own eyes that you are dead!” Tian Zun said. He was a person that was kind to his friends and family. But towards people that wanted to harm him or his family, he would harm them a hundredfold, a thousandfold!
Just as Tian Zun was about to make the finishing attack, his pupils constricted as fear appeared in his eyes. “That- That’s an Emperor level offensive inscription!” Tian Zun wanted to dodge back and defend himself against the Emperor level inscription, but it was already too late for that.
Hong Chun activated the inscription with a wicked smile, and it shot off towards Tian Zun at a speed that wasn’t visible to the eye.
“Am I going to die here?” Tian Zun thought to himself as his memories emerged before his eyes.
He was originally the son of a mortal landlord. When he was around the age of 4, his mother was kidnapped and had committed suicide because of the embarrassing things they did to her. His father committed his life into finding who did that to his wife. In the end, he gave his own life, but also managed to take the lives of the same people that caused his wife to die and joined her in the afterlife.
After that, Tian Zun found out about his extreme talent in cultivation when a mysterious beggar he met at the street gave him a cultivation technique. Even though he couldn’t get his parents to resurrect, he wanted to protect the people he loved and cared for. That’s why he took extreme pains walking down the path of cultivation. In the end, he became the Monarch of the Eternal Light Continent, one of the biggest continents in the Bright Light Planet.
Despite Tian Zun's efforts to teach his son to be cautious, he turned out to be a reckless and arrogant young master who became the bane of common folks' existence. He had offended the Monarch of a foreign land, Hong Chun, disregarding his father's warnings. Now, Tian Zun was forced to witness the consequences of his son's rash actions, as he faced imminent death.
At his last moments, he looked up to the sky and said, “Right here may be where it ends. I was prepared to die one day… But! At my last moments, I will become a grim reaper for you to suffer under my scythe as well! You should be proud you can die at the hands of me, the great Monarch!” Before the inscription could kill him, he took out an ancient looking scroll out of his spatial ring and infused his powers into it!
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The scroll began shining and exploded with a bang that shook the entire continent because of its power! All the people including his loved ones within a radius of a kilometre of the impact vanished without getting to feel any pain.
……..
“Where am I….” Tian Zun awakened with a headache. “What is this place?” he said. He was in a small bedroom with only a bed, a table and a single chair. Then, he remembered all the things he did a moment ago and decided that this must be some sort of afterlife where he had to drink the elixir of Grandma Ma before he can reincarnate.
But just at this moment, his head gave a nerve-racking pain that made him almost lose consciousness. The pain lasted for a couple of minutes before easing away slowly.
“These… Are the memories of another person?!” he exclaimed loudly before he focused and decided to go over them.
When he finished reading the memories, he broke out in cold sweat.
“I died…?” he said in a hoarse voice.
The first thing he did was open his eyes and look at his own body. “I’m in the body of the person these memories belong to…?”
He immediately jumped out of the bed and went to look at the mirror that was placed next to the wardrobe.
His body was tall and lean, with sharp features and high cheekbones that gave him a chiselled look.
His hair was jet black and fell in soft waves around his face, framing his sharp jawline.
His eyes were a striking shade of blue that seemed to shimmer in the light, and they held a sharp intelligence that hinted at his past life as a powerful cultivator.
While looking at his face in astonishment, he tried to recall what happened.
I used the ancient scroll and found myself here… The ancient scroll was given to me by that mysterious stranger I met on the streets that gave me my cultivation technique. At that time, he asked me to use this if I ever find myself in a situation that is impossible for me to survive in. Never did I expect it to have such a use!
“That expert… He gave me a Monarch realm cultivation technique casually… I couldn’t find him after that encounter no matter where I searched for him. However, I’m sure he was someone that had an immense power and bearing!”
When he remembered all the things that just happened, his eyes emitted a chill that was like a cold flame that could erupt and burn everything in the world in just a moment. He gritted his teeth and swore to himself, “One day I will go back and get vengeance! I won’t spare a single soul that is related to you by any means! Until then, be sure to enjoy every moment you have left before you die, Hong Chun!”
His whole body emitted such a strong killing intent, that the temperature of the room fell by a couple degrees in an instant.
He knew that Hong Chun must have survived the explosion that came with the usage of the mysterious scroll with the emperor level inscription.
His heart was filled with gratitude towards the enigmatic expert who had given him a second lease on life. However, he was also seething with frustration and anger because he realized that he was stranded in a world where mortals abound, and there was no trace of cultivation. He desperately needed strength, immense power, to be able to return to his own world and exact revenge. But how could he achieve that when there was so little qi to be absorbed in this barren realm?
Currently, his soul inhabited the body of a 20-year-old who had no parents and struggled to survive in a simple yet well-maintained home.
“His name was also Tian Zun! What a coincidence, or maybe I should say fate!”
“His parents died in something called a car crash, and all his relatives vanished when he was the only one left since they didn’t want to take care of him. They thought that he was a burden.”
Tian Zun contemplated deeply, his mind racing with thoughts. "This world, called Earth, is unlike any other world I've been to. Mortal, yet technologically advanced. They possess weapons of unimaginable destruction like nuclear bombs, guns, and tanks. But it seems they've reached a fragile peace, relying on coalitions and deterrence to prevent war. I must attain the level of soul formation realm to harness soul power as a defensive barrier against most ammunition. Yet, to withstand a nuclear weapon, I must regain my cultivation at the Monarch realm. It won't be easy, but I must try. For revenge, for my family, and for my survival."
In the Eternal Light Continent, the cultivation realms were divided into seven stages. The first stage was called meridian tempering realm. Soul formation realm was the fourth stage of the seven stages. As the realm Tian Zu was on his previous life, it was the sixth stage Monarch realm. The inscription that almost killed him, was an Emperor level inscription which is in the seventh realm that reigns upon all. Every realm consists of 9 stages, after the ninth stage comes the next realm!
Normally, with Tian Zun’s natural talent he should be able to rush to become a Monarch level powerhouse in a matter of years. But in this world where the natural qi is so thin, even if he were to cultivate his whole life, he wouldn’t even be able to become a soul formation realm master.
“Even though the natural qi is thin, and I won’t be able to cultivate to the soul formation stage, I can probably still be able to cultivate to the end of the meridian tempering stage within a year.”
As Tian Zun attempted to draw in the natural qi in his surroundings, he suddenly realized something incredible. "My soul still retains the cultivation of a Soul Formation Stage master!" he exclaimed with excitement. However, his joy was short-lived as he quickly realized the harsh reality. "But what good is it?" he lamented, "My current physical body cannot withstand the strain of allowing my soul to roam free. My cultivation realm is far too low!"
The reason soul formation stage masters could roam around with their soul was because their body could sustain itself for a period without having a soul. But as Tian Zun was still a meridian tempering stage cultivator, he couldn’t use his soul like that.
Tian Zun's determination to seek revenge for his family and himself remained unwavering, but his stomach had other plans. It let out a loud growl, reminding him that he had not eaten for a while. Despite the interruption, Tian Zun knew that he had to take care of his physical needs before he could continue his cultivation.
“Sigh… I guess I will first go out to buy some food for myself. You know, cultivation with a full belly is twice as effective as with an empty stomach.”
As Tian Zun went out of the house, he recalled he was in a different world. That’s when he tried to remember where he must go get food from.
As he was going on his way, he tried to remember some useful information as well. “The previous owner of this body was also called Tian Zun, so I’m lucky in that aspect. We are in the year 2050, September 18th. This city is called the Antique Gate because of the huge gate that held off a million soldiers from entering the city years ago. It’s also a city under the government of the Kingdom of Spectral Swords…
Tian Zun arrived at the convenience store and took a moment to observe his surroundings. "So this is what they call a convenience store," he murmured to himself. He couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret as he thought about his lost spatial ring. "It's really a shame," he thought, "if only I had my spatial ring, I could take everything I want without anyone noticing." Despite his frustration, he continued into the store, determined to find a way to satisfy his hunger.
The brightly lit convenience store stood out against the dark night with its colourful neon signs and row of gleaming glass doors displaying an array of snacks, drinks, and other essentials.
“The previous owner of this body liked to eat something called cup noodles because he loved the taste and because its cheap. I wonder what it tastes like…” Tian Zun muttered to himself as he grabbed a couple of them, paid for everything and walked back to his house.
"I am poor. My parents have passed away and I have no known relatives. The government provided me with a home, but with the condition that I work and give a significant portion of my earnings to them. I struggle to provide for myself and am quite thin as a result. Today happens to be a Sunday, my only free day. This is my opportunity to cultivate!"
Tian Zun first tried the cup noodles, “These are indeed pretty good, quick to prepare and quite cheap. But they still can’t compare to the food I ate in my own palace…” he was eating top tier demon beast meat when he was in his previous world. Tian Zun also had his own chefs that specialised in making top tier food. But now, he had to resign his fate to eating cup noodles.
Despite this, he accepted his current situation and focused on his cultivation.
Eternal Light Scroll!
That was the name of the cultivation technique the mysterious expert gave Tian Zun.
What makes this technique special is how it advances faster the better the comprehension of the Light element you have. What Tian Zun did in his previous life was getting to know every type of light there is and comprehending the different characteristics of light!
Light could be bright, warm and a spectrum of colors!
The main source of natural light on Earth is the Sun. Historically, another important source of light for humans has been fire!
“I at least need to break through to the second stage of the meridian tempering realm until tomorrow morning!”
As Tian Zun went on for a couple hours of cultivating he felt like he was close to the first bottleneck! But as he delved deeper into his meditation, the pain and anguish of his past came flooding back like a tidal wave. The memories of his wife and son, cruelly taken from him by the treacherous Hong Chun, tormented him relentlessly.
When he opened his eyes, it was midnight. He could see the starry sky from his window. In the end, he decided to take a short breather outside and go on a walk. He found himself surrounded by the glittering stars of a moonlit night. But the beauty of the sky was lost on him, as his heart ached with a grief that seemed never-ending. He couldn't help but recall the happy moments he shared with his loved ones, and his eyes filled with tears. The emptiness of their absence gnawed at him, and he wished more than anything to hold them one more time.
But as he walked the silent streets, he was jolted from his reverie by a sudden sense of danger. His senses were on high alert, and he knew he had to act fast. He took a step forward, and a voice from the shadows froze him in his tracks.
"Don't move a muscle," the voice hissed. Tian Zun's heart raced as he braced himself for the worst. Would he survive the night, or would he too be lost to the cruel whims of fate?