“Lang’er is the most talented son in the world! There is no better son that I could ask for! To think that a great Elder from the Hidden Spirit Sect would personally invite my own son to be his personal disciple! Good! Good! Good! Lang’er, you must take this chance to soar into the heavens!”

“But father…”

“But what! What is there to hesitate? The Hiddle Spirit Sect is one of the most respected Sects on the entire continent! To be selected as a personal disciple for one of the elders of such a great Sect, such opportunities cannot be missed!”

“Father, the Hidden Spirit Sect is on the other side of the continent. I’m afraid other clans will bully us if I am gone…”

“Hahaha! Is that your concern? What a good son that I have raised! To think he would hesitate to become a dragon because his family is common vermin! Son, let me teach you a lesson here: never turn down such a big opportunity! These types of opportunities can only be chanced upon once in a lifetime. In the future, do not hesitate to take advantage of the situation and do what you want in order to obtain your goals! Do not worry about us. I have always known that your talent has been too big for this tiny clan. It is time for you to spread your wings and fly to the heavens! You have already supported us for many years with your overwhelming talent. Now, it is time for you to be selfish. Besides, if you become someone great, even if we are on opposite sides of the continent, no one will dare to bully our clan!”

“Father, I will definitely become someone that can do so, just wait for me to become a master so powerful, not even the Heavenly Emperor will dare to look down on the Lang Clan anymore!”

“Good! Son, if you ever do become someone so great, just remember to give some crumbs to our lowly Lang Clan.”

“Yes, father.”

…

“Do not be caught in meaningless conflict. In cultivation, the most important thing is to separate yourself from the mortal world. You must eliminate your desires, eliminate your attachment to others. Only then will you be able to truly advance through the world of cultivation. Come now, child, let us enter the Hidden Spirit Sect.”

Those words were the essence of my master’s teachings and I followed them to the teeth. When others dived headfirst into war to obtain glory, I continued to cultivate. When others dived into secret domains to find treasures, I continued to cultivate. When others chased beautiful women or handsome men, I continued to cultivate. Before long, I was hailed as the number one genius of the Tanglin Continent. I had achieved the Xiatian level before I was 40 and was on track to reach the Saint-level by the time I was 80.

The other powers of the continent did not sit still, but I ignored it. I ignored it all and focused on my cultivation. I ignored it… I ignored their taunts, I ignored their jeers, I ignored their threats. When they made fun of me, I ignored it. When they tempted me with treasures, I ignored it. When they kidnapped my past friend and attempted to lure me into a trap, I ignored it. When they finally kill him, I felt nothing. When they kidnapped my family, they ignored it. When they started to kill them one by one… I twitched but did not move. I had to separate myself from the mortal world, eliminate my desires, eliminate my attachment for others. When they killed my mother, anger burned in me for the first time in 20 years but was quickly squelched by my determination. By the time they got to my father, I firmly locked my emotions and did not feel anything. I told myself that my relationships did not mean anything, not even my familial relationships.

Before long, I had become a Demigod, however, I did not act. I was already at the top of the world, and my Sect did not mean anything to me. In my short 300 years as a mortal, I never participated in any large scale expeditions or wars and solely focused on cultivating myself. I’m sure the Hidden Spirit Sect felt an immense loss. I had taken 300 years to become a Demigod, but they were never able to directly take advantage of my power. By the time I had reached the top of the world, they no longer had any power over me. I only continued to cultivate.

Since the Hidden Spirit Sect could not take anything out on me, they took it all out on my master. To send so many resources to cultivate a heaven-defying genius, only to have that genius not give a shit about anything was truly a horrible thing for the Sect. They framed him for nonexistent crimes and sentenced him to death. Everyone in the Sect knew they were just taking their anger out on my master. They knew I would do nothing anyway. It would be the same as with my friend, or with my family.

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“Lang Jintao! You bastard! How dare you disregard our Master like this! You took the master’s kindness and returned what? Nothing! Not a single thing! In fact, you even got him killed! Do you not have a single shred of respect for master? Jintao! Come out here and fight me!” The voice of my junior sister Li Yunjao angrily screamed in front of my cultivation spot. The Sect had moved my cultivation area to be with the outer court disciples, but it didn’t really matter because I could find a way better place to cultivate with my own power. Today was one of the rare days that I returned to the Sect for no apparent reason.

“Elder Li, please stop, you’re disturbing the Great Ancestor’s cultivation-”

“How can such a person be the Great Ancestor? He’s done nothing! Nothing! Not for his fellow disciples, not for his family, not for his friends, not for anyone! He did nothing when his friend was killed, did nothing when his family was slaughtered, and now, he’s not going to do anything when his own master is going to be killed! I don’t accept him as anyone but a criminal! A demon! A devil!”

…

Memories of Lang Jintao's life slowly flashed by one by one as he floated aimlessly through the void of nothingness. The only thing he could do now was to constantly cultivate his soul to prevent it from dissipating, and reminisce past memories. After what seemed like a few hundred years, he was forced to lock the remainder of his thoughts away, fearing he would lose focus while he reminisced his past memories. He could already feel the memories affect his willpower. Just what had caused him to fail his ascension? He had to focus all his thoughts to prevent himself from dissipating. He allowed no more thoughts to wander back into his memories, only focusing on the present problem.

Finally, after an eternity of aimless wander through the void of nothingness, he entered something. A pure white space of emptiness. This was not nothingness, but emptiness. This pure white space did not try to dissipate his soul into nothingness like the void of nothingness, but instead, seemed to nourish it instead. This was the moment he had been wait for. His soul, not needing to constantly cultivate it anymore, relaxed, and returned his thoughts.

Then, a goddess appeared. A beautiful, divine person with majesty greater than any other thing he knew of, with divinity that he yearned for all his life.

"Who are you?" Lang Jintao asked as calmly as he could, careful not to let my envy cloud his thoughts.

Silence. The goddess did not respond. Instead, she just stood there, staring at Lang Jintao's naked soul. Fear and unease started to cloud Lang Jintao's mind. Who was this person and why they here? Why was this person just staring at his soul?

"Little Lang, do you know why you failed your ascension?" The goddess finally, asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Rising tension began creeping up into Lang Jintao's soul as he realized exactly what this person had been doing. During this silence, this person had been reading his mind, reading his memories. Lang Jintao felt violated and exposed, however, at the same time very impressed and awed by the skill, something that not even he, as a demigod, was confident in doing, undetected.

"It's not that hard to read a lower being's mind." The goddesses responded to his thoughts. This confirmed one of his already rising suspicions: that this person was a true goddess, one who had ascended into a higher realm.

"Goddess, this little one does not know why they failed their ascension. Would this goddess be generous enough to guide this one?" Lang Jintao asked. It had been an eternity, but to a soul like his, the memories were as clear as yesterday. On the date of his ascension, he had prepared everything. He read the countless other texts of different masters who had ascended before him and created the best possible plan to ascension. He spent I had prepared better and more thoroughly than them, but still failed.

"A strong body and soul are not the only requirements for godhood. Tell me, child, what is the definition of a god?" The goddess asked. He could feel her tone shift darker.

"A god is just a heavenly being, someone who has attained enough power to ascend to the higher realm, am I wrong?" Lang Jintao asked cautiously.

"No! No! That is not what a god is! A God is supposed to be someone who is worshipped and loved! A god is supposed to be someone who others idolize and possess extreme reverence and adoration to! Gods are those whom others worship!" The goddess angrily spat, not hiding her anger at all. "You do not have any followers, nor do you have any believers. Just what kind of God did you expect to become?"

The goddess continued to lecture Lang Jintao, telling him all the wrongs that he committed, and all the things that he could have done better. Listening to the goddess say these things, Lang Jintao felt my heart sink as he started to question his own existence. Hearing her point out his mistakes, Lang Jintao wanted to tell her she was wrong, that his path was supposed to be the way to achieve ascension, that he had researched the topic more than any of his predecessor, but to say that in front of someone who had obviously already ascended, while he had failed, would be idiotic.

"... and so, be grateful and thankful, for this goddess has granted you another chance at life."

Lang Jintao had been so lost in his own thoughts and regrets that he almost missed her last sentence. Before he knew it, everything turned black and he had lost consciousness, a feeling he had long since forgotten.