Prologue

A voice echoes in the empty space:

"How?!"

A human silhouette, glowing with one arm missing, asks in surprise.

In this dark space, with nothing but two human silhouettes illuminated, the second one, holding what appears to be a spear, responds with a feminine voice:

"Did you imagine no one would notice? After we tried to capture you on many occasions and failed, even with seemingly perfect plans, we found that we were experiencing a certain discomfort at our core."

"That doesn’t tell me anything. How did you discover my artifact?" asks the silhouette without an arm.

"Indeed, we lacked more detailed information. For this reason, we conducted an investigation and discovered that, during the last great revelation, your absence became evident. Furthermore, we observed that you were carrying a peculiar artifact, namely, a pocket watch. From that, it became clear that it was an object beyond divine knowledge, allowing us to deduce that you forged a Genesis-level temporal artifact."

"A great investigation... who else participated and invested so much time and effort to kill me?"

"Haha! It’s no use trying to delay the inevitable! This spear was granted to me by the God of Chaos, even if only for a brief moment in time, and now we find ourselves within the divine black hole. When I removed your arm along with the artifact, both were thrown to unpredictable corners of creation. Resign yourself to defeat, for you shall never reign over us!"

"Ahhh, I thought it was strange that you were answering my questions... but don’t think I’ll be an easy target." At that moment, the silhouette without an arm materialized a sword. "This will be your tomb!"

"You shall see," responded the other silhouette as she materialized a shield in her other hand. "I have prepared myself accordingly to extinguish you once and for all!"

The two figures charge at each other, and a muffled explosion occurs when they meet, followed by silence...

Chapter 01

In this universe, called Mythrorias by the gods, the worlds are divided into levels: The Upper Kingdom, named Aeternum but commonly called the Divine Kingdom, is the realm where gods and demigods live. Its main world is Aelision, a massive world where suns orbit the planet (some gods say that Aelision itself is a sun, but they are called heretics and the idea is not accepted); the Middle Earth, called the middle kingdoms, home to immortals and the powerful, named Middle Earth because most of its worlds are a medium size between the worlds of the lower kingdoms and the upper kingdom, and also positioned between the two realms; the Lower Realms, also called the lower kingdoms, are the various worlds below the other two kingdoms, the world of mortals, with countless planets and worlds inhabited by many sentient races.

To travel from a lower world to a higher world, one must undergo the Ascension Tribulation, a judgment made by the Heavens (Paradise) through lightning. Only those strong enough, both in power and spirit, can pass the trial and ascend to a higher world.

Mythrorias is by no means a peaceful world; there are many dangers lurking in every corner, monsters and vicious beasts roam every part of the worlds, and countries only defend their lands minimally—people are left to fend for themselves. The powerful form their own Sects, which protect and teach their people, but they are organizations for the few.

In this chaotic world, warriors who use physical strength and ki were born, followed by mages who use mana for their magic, then priests who use divine power with their faith for miracles, and finally cultivators, who practice immortal cultivation, drawing on the natural energy of the world. The various races use different types of powers and techniques to survive and thrive in this world, and so life goes on.

While animals fight and die for food, people fight and die for wealth. This saying couldn’t be more true for a man fleeing alone, holding a silver pocket watch tightly in his hand.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!” the man curses as he flees, covered in blood.

The man looks to be in his early thirties, with light brown eyes, messy brown hair, neck-length, a slender build, about 1.70m tall, and now wearing bloodstained gray clothes.

“Haha, run, you rat, run! Hahaha! Keep us entertained! Soon there will be no place left to escape!” laughs a muscular, bald man with a thick beard, flying above the first man on a sword.

“He’s mine!” “No, he’s mine!” “I’ll get him!”

shout the many others chasing the man. There are around fifty people pursuing him, led by the man on the sword.

“I won’t give up! Damn it!!!” the man on the ground shouts as he runs through the mountain path he’s escaping on, the so-called mountains of perdition.

“A mere Golden Core cultivator thinks he can escape? Besides me, a Soul-Nascent cultivator chasing you, we have many warriors and mages. Give up and hand over the watch to our Blue Moon Sect, and I guarantee you a painless death, and we won’t destroy your soul!”

“Who’s going to choose death, idiot?! Come catch me, I want to see who’s brave enough to follow me down the Soul Gorge!” the pursued man, Yuri, responds as he reaches the cliff between the mountains.

“Hey, hey, hey, wait, Yuri, fellow cultivator, you know entering the Soul Gorge is worse than death for any practitioner! Your soul will be lost forever, with no chance of reincarnation! We’re offering you life, just hand over the watch, and we can discuss your situation! We might even accept you into the sect; handing over the watch will be a great contribution!” says the man on the sword as he slowly approaches Yuri.

Yuri steps back toward the cliff, “It’s no use trying to deceive me, speaking softly and calling me by name, Alastor the Butcher. I know your hypocritical sect well. I know what awaits me if I accept: death and my soul refined into one of your evil artifacts! Even if your offer is genuine, I know your sect only accepts those with talent—foundation establishment before 25, or Golden Core before 40. I’m far from that. I’ll turn 55 this year and only reached Golden Core a year ago with the help of an artifact. To you, I’m trash! I’ll die anyway, so I prefer to take my chances in the Soul Gorge! Will my soul be lost forever? I don’t know! But I’ll choose how to die, and I’ll take the watch with me. Let’s see who’s going to come for it! Haha! Goodbye!”

Yuri then leaps into the abyss to the sound of curses from his pursuers.

These mountains, where Yuri fled to, are known as the Mountains of Perdition, where each peak and every cliff causes supernatural misfortune in some way—whether it’s the inability to use any kind of energy (spiritual energy, mana, ki, sacred power) while within them, to death, or the destruction of the soul. The cliff where Yuri threw himself is the most infamous and sinister place of these mountains, called the Soul Gorge. Anyone mortal who enters it dies and loses their soul; the fate of the souls is unknown. Any attempt to monitor the gorge causes harm or even death to the soul of anyone trying to glimpse the cliff. No matter the power level or cultivation, the end of the gorge has remained inaccessible to this day.

Yuri did not have a surname. As far as he could remember, he was raised by friends of his parents who had died during an exploration of ancient ruins. They were official explorers specializing in antiques, known as treasure hunters. His father was a classic warrior, a two-handed sword user from the 8th cycle (equivalent to a Soulborn cultivator), and his mother was a mage from the 4th circle (equivalent to a cultivator at the beginning of Soulborn or a warrior who had just entered the 8th cycle). Both were deeply in love with each other and with their profession. They were also good and honest, always helping others when they could, and those who cared for them often said it would one day be their downfall, which is exactly what happened. One day, they simply did not return from an exploration with a team that was in need of money. The group did not return either, but some time after their disappearance, the group was seen unharmed and exploring in another city. They did not offer an explanation for their disappearance and left. But this is only what Yuri heard, as he was only 2 years old at the time of the disappearance.

His adoptive parents were very good people, but they were poor and already had four children: two older brothers (Marvin and Mark), who were 2 and 3 years older than him, and two younger siblings (Martin and Mary), who were 1 and 2 years younger. Since many people were willing to help the child of Rick and Yuna (Yuri’s birth parents), he did not face many difficulties in his childhood, but this also created a strong sense of responsibility in Yuri, especially toward his adoptive family. Because of this, and with his insistence, his family began his training to unlock his inner vision when he was only 8 years old. During this time, they discovered two things: Yuri’s lack of talent, as he completed the training three times without unlocking his inner vision, and his strong will and dedication, as he not only endured the training but completed it perfectly.

His older brothers also underwent the training at the same time, and they were able to unlock their inner vision on the first attempt, which created a sense of inferiority in Yuri. Fortunately, his family remained harmonious because their bonds were very strong. Despite this, Yuri did not want to give up. He continued training and secretly consumed Blue Moon Herb, but to no avail. At the age of 13, he began his new attempt to unlock his inner vision. He failed three times, but convinced his family to try a fourth time, which proved to be the right decision. After 100 days, he finally succeeded in unlocking his inner sense. Unlike his brothers, who chose to become warriors, Yuri wanted to become a cultivator. This desire stemmed from an incident when he was 9 years old: despondent after failing three times, he went to vent his frustrations near the Desolate Mountains. There, he was found by a hungry wolf, a monster considered level 0 danger when alone and level 2 when in a pack. The wolf, living up to its name, was hungry and pursued Yuri, who, while fleeing, fell into a ravine. He was fortunate to be cushioned by the vegetation and not die, but he was incapacitated and far from the city. He was found by a cultivator flying on his sword, who, with a gesture of his hands, killed the hungry wolf that was still hunting him.

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The cultivator took Yuri to the city and, with his guidance, to his home. There, he was treated by the cultivator, who was named Hans, a peak Golden Core cultivator from the Dawn Sect, an exclusive sect for cultivators. Hans told him about immortal cultivation and shared some stories to cheer him up, which made Yuri eager to follow this path.

After unlocking his inner sense at the age of 14, Yuri began immortal cultivation and sought to join a sect, but was rejected by the Dawn Sect, the largest cultivator sect, due to his lack of talent. He was also rejected by the Blue Moon Sect, the largest mixed sect in the region, for the same reason. He ended up joining the Azure Dragon Sect as a half-worker and half-student. This was a 3rd-level cultivator sect (which meant that its masters and the strongest members were at the peak of the Golden Core).

There, while working, Yuri also studied and trained, and with much time and effort, he managed to reach the Foundation Establishment stage by the age of 30.

However, his cultivation stagnated there.

At the Azure Dragon Sect, Yuri worked as an assistant to an alchemist. And when he was not working or cultivating, he studied in the library, where he started working after his cultivation stagnated, since working in the library gave him access to restricted books.

It was there that he discovered that his cultivation, until that point, had been incomplete, which is why it had not advanced any further. He then began going on missions to gather money and ingredients for an advancement potion.

An advancement potion for a Foundation Establishment cultivator was not expensive, so in a few years, Yuri managed to cultivate up to the peak of Foundation Establishment, where he would need a different kind of advancement potion. Reaching another bottleneck, Yuri tried once more to join the Dawn Sect, this time as a worker, a librarian. This was also thanks to Hans, who had found him by accident and convinced him to join the Dawn Sect.

In the library of the largest cultivation sect in the region, Yuri managed to research further and discovered the correct cultivation methods, known to only a few. He also realized that he could only advance through potions now. So, Yuri began going on more missions and adventures, and practicing his alchemy. Thus, years passed.

Initially, Yuri wanted to become a powerful cultivator to provide a better life for his poor family. Besides his older brothers, who were common warriors (4th cycle), his younger brother and sister were ordinary people. His family, which grew when his siblings married, was united, but poor.

As time went on, Yuri became focused on cultivation, losing sight of his family. He only realized there were problems when his adoptive parents died of an illness. His siblings didn’t blame him because, despite being a cultivator, he was a weak and ordinary one. The family hadn’t told him about the illness because, besides not wanting to disrupt his cultivation, they would have needed far too much money for the treatment, more than they could all gather.

After the tragedy, desolate, Yuri went on an exploration alone. In the ancient ruin, thousands of years old, Yuri discovered a crater that was much younger than the ruin itself.

Searching the area, using his strength to vent, he ended up finding a clock embedded in a stone, but it was completely new. A clock that would change his life.

The artifact he found was a silver pocket watch, with a silver chain as well. The watch had three buttons and an adjuster for the hands. On the front, there were five grooves, three of which had a silver crystal embedded in them. Inside, it was made of silver with finely crafted second, minute, and hour hands, and had golden numbers from 1 to 12 in a circle, like a normal clock.

When Yuri pressed the first button on the left, he felt a part of his energy drain, and everything froze— the wind, the dust, the falling leaves, the clouds, everything. While everything was still, he felt his energy gradually draining. When he pressed the button again, time resumed. Yuri had discovered an extremely rare artifact: a time artifact.

What Yuri discovered while studying the artifact was simple: the first button, when pressed, consumed spiritual energy and stopped time. The amount of energy spent after the time stopped was low and stable if no action was taken, but the energy cost increased depending on the action performed. The second button worked similarly, but time passed slowly instead of stopping, and its cost was lower. The third button did nothing, or maybe it didn’t have enough energy. The adjuster for the hands was also a button, with three positions: low, medium, and high. Each position adjusted the second, minute, and hour hands respectively, and its effect was the most incredible: it allowed time to be slightly reversed. Its consumption was astronomical; going back 10 to 20 seconds cost about 1/3 of his total spiritual energy. The maximum he managed to go back was 1 minute and 11 seconds, using all the energy he had, but he couldn’t even shake the hour hand.

By doing several tests with the time reversal, he deduced (there was no way to confirm) that only his consciousness went back in time, almost like a vision of the future, but it was too detailed and vivid to be a mere vision. He could go back 1 second, but it was too costly and too close to be of any help. He realized he could use this to his advantage; going back 10 seconds (at the cost of almost 30% of his energy) was quite useful for alchemy. In the most complicated cases, he could go back multiple times in a row, with a limit of 5 times (losing a few seconds with each return, around 5 minutes and 25 seconds). This limit was due to the fact that consecutive time reversals were too exhausting for the soul.

By using his artifact, he was able to make potions that had previously been almost impossible for him due to his skills and the lack of reserve materials. He advanced to the great Golden Core realm. He also earned money making potions and elixirs, but his parents were gone, and there was no way to return to the time before their deaths. Besides, he had a limit to consecutive time reversals, and the necessary rest was more than 1 hour. He doubted he could ever return to the time before he had the watch.

One day, in a moment of sadness while drinking spiritual wine, he ended up showing the watch to a friend and commented that it had changed his life, but too late. That sealed his fate...

---

When Yuri regained consciousness, what he expected was not the emptiness or the nothingness of destruction, nor the cycle of reincarnation. He woke up in his body as a child, when he was 9 years old. He knew it was this time because he was injured, and Hans, the cultivator, was at his house.

"Ouch!" Yuri said as he pinched himself hard, seeing the red mark on his hand.

"It feels real... but I just jumped from the Soul Cliff... how?" Yuri murmured.

Then, seeing that Yuri had woken up, Hans went over to speak to him. Everything was unfolding just as Yuri remembered.

That night, alone in his room (his brothers said it was better for him to rest alone for a faster recovery), he checked his body, but found nothing different from what he remembered, and no sign of the watch.

"This must be because of the watch... but how did I have enough energy to go back so many years? Not having the watch is also a bit logical and expected, since I confirmed that only my consciousness travels back in time. So, the watch must be where I first found it... and that means I’ve been given another chance!"

"Wait!" Yuri exclaimed.

"My consciousness of 55 years came back to the past, but I’m still in a body with the mind of a 9-year-old child at the same time. I need to control my emotions," Yuri thought.

"Alright, I’ve gone back to the past, but I have my memories and experiences from the future. It may not be much; the great talents and geniuses of cultivation sects have more information and knowledge, and much more support as well. My only advantage is that the experience I have was lived by me, not information from others... and my determination! This time, I’ll thrive in cultivation, and I won’t leave my family behind! They will prosper with me! I swear!"

Knock, knock, knock. At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

"Are you awake, little Yuri?"

"Master Hans! Yes, honored cultivator, come in," Yuri replied.

"Master Hans... he always helped me... I remember that after saving me, he stayed at my house helping until I recovered. He also explained cultivation and shared many stories. He guided me through the beginning of my cultivation, teaching me about determination and perseverance. If it weren’t for him, I would have given up after failing again on the third attempt."

"I was too ashamed to look for him because of my lack of talent when I became a cultivator, but still, he found me when I was on a mission seeking advancement in the Foundation Establishment. He invited me to the Dawn Sect, and when I joined, he took care of me. He was my first master, and I need to repay him! I remember that he was injured by a Vicious Beast during an exploration, and his soul was harmed, which stopped his advancement and froze his cultivation in the great realm of Soul Nascent... this time, I will be there for you, Master Hans!"

Hans entered as Yuri was lost in thought.

"What are you thinking so much about, little Yuri? Please, just call me Mr. Hans."

"I was thinking about how wonderful it must be to be a cultivator, Mr. Hans! Could you tell me some stories?"

"Of course, of course. First, lie down. You’re tired and injured. Let me keep you company until you fall asleep."

While Hans told the stories Yuri was hearing for the second time, Yuri was already planning how to start his second life, his second chance.