Chapter 1 – The Demon Monarch, My name is...

A young beggar was leaning on a wall in an alley, he had not eaten for a long time and his will to live kept faltering. He could feel himself slipping away, bit by bit. He occasionally blanked out only to wake up startled; however, this gave him a bit of comfort. The life he lived was not worth living at all to him as he constantly starved, was bullied, suffered and was always alone from what he could remember. As he felt himself going into darkness again, this time he felt at peace, as if all his worries never existed. He gave a slight smile, yet that smile also carried a bit of unwillingness. He closed his eyes and then…all was quiet. The beggar had fallen into a slumber. A slumber he would never wake from. The poor beggar had passed away.

However, strangely enough the body did not start dying. Instead, it jolted and then the beggar opened his eyes again, as if he closed his eyes just to rest them.

The beggar looked around and then at his body.

“This…this….”

“Haha…Hahahahaha!” The beggar crazily laughed and if anybody saw him now, they would certainly think he went insane.

“I’m still alive. No….I’m no longer the same.” This was the lone king that had died before, the lone Demon Monarch. His memories were now intertwined with the beggar’s memory and even though he did not know why he was in this body, he knew he had somehow reincarnated.

“Incredible…stuff told in stories. I never believed it, but I never thought I would get a taste of it.” He was fascinated as to why and how this worked, but then his stomach gave a loud rumble. His current body had not eaten for a long time so it was incredibly weak and painful for him.

“Agh…hunger. When was the last time I felt this?” The Monarch was happy as it had been so long since he last felt hunger.

He tried to get up, but only to fall.

He looked at the cause. It was his leg…his left….it was crippled.

“…….Hah.”

“Haha..hahahahahaha!” This time his laugh was of anger and anguish.

“F***king Heavens, you still play me! You give me a bastard fate, then you let me live only to give me this kind of body! I can only take so much! Do you believe I’ll tear you the f**k down?! Have you not played me enough?!”

After screaming for a while, he started to gather his thoughts, calmed down and started to think.

[This isn’t entirely bad; I just need enough qi or I can concoct something to heal me. Worst case I can’t find the materials, I can just find a Doc-] That was when he remembered. This was no longer his old world. He searched around in the beggar’s memories and he did not find anything resembling his world. What did he expect from a beggar’s memories…? This world closely resembled his except more ancient, except it also had areas that were different. Things in this world were powered by qi; everyday uses were also used with qi. It seems using qi was the norm of this world. However, in terms of technology his old world was years ahead.

Luckily for the Monarch, qi was also part of his world; however, technology was favored over it. Indeed, there were only some that had used it. However, the current him right now had almost no qi at all and was extremely weak, perhaps even a 5 year old with a bit of qi could beat him right now.

“What have I become….From someone that stood on the peak to someone on the very bottom.” He gave a sigh, but there was a growing fire in his eyes.

[There’s still a way to fix my leg and rise to reach the top again. If I could do it before, I can do it again. This time though, I won’t be stopped, even the Heavens cannot stop me. This world will learn of my name “Demon Monarch”!]

With a goal in mind, he got up again and proceeded to walk out of the alley….while dragging his leg.

……

”Goddamn.”

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A young man was walking on the streets currently while dragging his leg. He was dirty, skinny where you could see his bones and his clothes were tattered that every time a wind blew, the young man shivered.

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The young beggar constantly felt his stomach rumble, it hurt him greatly along with his numerous body aches.

[I also forgot…hunger is also a pain the ass sometimes. This body is also weak…I really have to do something or I’ll be dead again for sure.]

[Where can I find food? I don’t think I can even steal with this kind of strength…Besides…the Monarch stealing food? That is too ridiculous!]

Although he felt as if he was dying from starvation, his pride prevented him from actually stealing food. In his memories, the beggar from before stole when he could, but now he was no longer that person, so now the body abided by his rules! Indeed, this pride could kill him!

The people around him avoided him like the plague, while some stole peeks at him out of curiosity or pity and looks of disgust were often. He was unfazed as he did not care and only looked for anything he could eat, minus the thrown out garbage he saw every so often. 

He was starting to get dizzy and started to stagger, he leaned against a wall for support.

“Damn. Isn’t there anything edible? I feel….”

He slid off the wall and fell onto the ground and was motionless after that. Occasionally passersby would look at the man on the floor, shake their heads and move on. Nobody bothered to help him.

A young girl was walking back home when she saw a beggar suddenly collapse near the middle of the street. She quickly dashed over to check his condition. She saw that he wasn’t doing well and could die. How pitiful he looked she thought and felt terribly sorry, after some hesitation she hoisted him up despite his hygiene and with great effort from body and mind, she carried him to her home. The passersby, who saw this, some had their eyes open in surprise and some even admired her, however, none carried the thought of saving the beggar.

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In his hazy state, he felt some warmth and consciousness slowly returned to him. When he opened his eyes again, he was in a tub.

[What? Where am I?!] He stood up in a hurry, only to realize he was naked, and quickly sat back down.

[Did someone help me?] He was wondering who his savior was when suddenly a man entered the room. He quickly looked at the person and could see a tall man, perhaps in his early forties with a face that looked as if he was definitely handsome in the past, but it seems time or maybe stress had worn him down.

[Did he help me?] The Monarch wondered.

The man saw that the beggar was awake and looking at him with an alert gaze, but he only chuckled.

“Relax. I’m not here to harm you. My name is Mu Bo. I was just checking up on you, at the request of my daughter. My daughter brought you home and wanted us to help you, so we did. You should thank her.”

The Monarch relaxed a bit but did not put down his guard. That was when he remembered something. Something that made him sweat bullets.

“Who…who undressed me?!”

The man understood what he meant and burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, it was my wife. I carried you here and put you in, other than that my daughter didn’t do anything.”

[I…guess it’s fine…She’s married and she’s more experienced and…] The Monarch thought of many excuses to convince himself.

Seeing how he wasn’t saying anything anymore, the man laughed again in knowing understanding.

“Don’t worry about it. When you’re done, come to the dining room. Do you…need any help?”

The Monarch shook his head understanding what he meant by “help”.

Mu Bo nodded his head and he told him how to get there and with all he needed to say, he left.

“…..Isn’t this great.” He grumbled, but washed himself up and found some new, neat clothes nearby. He put them on and before leaving, he looked at the water. It was black, ink black.

While walking to the dining room, the Monarch started to think.

[In order to fix my leg, I need to practice qi. Or I can get the resources to concoct a Restoration Pill. Wait…does this world even have the ingredients I need?] The Monarch understood what he needed to do. First he needed to understand this world a bit. Perhaps, the Mu’s could help him.

Upon reaching the dining room, he saw a feast. Although it wasn’t big compared to what he had in the past, it was still big, bigger than what a family of 3 could afford at least. Perhaps the Mu’s were special, or the economy here was better.

Seeing the beggar, the Mu family greeted him with a smile and nodded. The daughter went over to help him into his chair, but the beggar politely refused and sat down on a chair by himself.

Seeing the food, his stomach grumbled even more and loudly too. The Monarch was embarrassed, but tried to distract himself. He counted about 3 servants and this made him more curious. Was this a branch family? Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to have such a feast and have servants.

The Mu family heard his grumbles and the man laughed, while the wife and daughter looked at him with pity.

[So young and he has already experienced a lot of troubles…] The wife saw that the beggar still wasn’t eating, so she smiled and motioned for him to eat.

“You don’t have to worry about us.” The daughter also pitched in and smiled.

Seeing this, he couldn’t hold back anymore and proceeded to dig in. He never felt such joy, yet embarrassment in eating food before. Ah…hunger definitely is trouble sometimes.

The Mu family watched him for a bit and they too started to eat, albeit slowly.

While eating though, Mu Bo started to talk with the beggar.

“Where are your parents?”

The Monarch stopped eating and thought back. He couldn’t find any traces of his parents in his mind at all. All he remembered were his days as a beggar. [Did his parents abandon him?]

“I don’t have any. I don’t really remember too much besides begging.” Since, he did not remember, that was all he could say.

“Oh.” The man nodded his head, while his wife and daughter seemed to feel more sorrow and pity for this boy.

“How old are you, boy? Do you have a name?”

Recalling his memories once again, he wasn’t sure of his name, but an unfamiliar, yet familiar name kept popping into his head that was not his old world’s name.

“I..think I’m 17. My name is…Li…Li Yewu.”