Nie Li's Reborn

{ This portion is copy/paste with some small fiddling to introduce the character to everyone as well as give anyone who reads this an understanding of the story. After this I will begin to work on writing my own version instead of copy/paste/edit.

For those who don't know what, Tales Of Demons And Gods, is then I highly recommend you read that novel first before reading this as this is a fanfic of the novel.}

On the colossal St. Ancestral Mountain range, sunlight shined through the gap between the mountains into the deep canyons. On the hillside beside the valley, some snow remained.

Even though it's already the early summer, the snow has yet to melt. The cold here is exceptionally long. The roars of beasts can occasionally be heard.

On the surface of the valley stood a magnificent city.

The world outside of the St. Ancestral Mountains has been occupied by the beasts. The people living in the mountain range have not contacted the outside world for hundreds of years.

The people who live in the city are unsure of the situation of the outside world. It's been recorded that at the most glorious period of mankind, having thousands of Legend rank Fighters and Demon Spiritualists, the humans established many empires in the vast continent, but those empires have been wiped out.

The city, due to being stealthily located geographically, was well preserved from the Age of Darkness. They would occasionally encounter attacks from powerful Snow Wind Beasts within the St. Ancestral Mountains, however, after going through numerous devastating conflicts, the city was be rebuilt again and again.

These motley walls were an indomitable monument.

This city is called Glory City, and it is a symbol of hope for humanity.

----Holy Orchid Institute, Fighter Apprentice class----

Over thirty students are sitting down and are awaiting to listen to the female teacher as she imparts her knowledge. The students are a bunch of Fighter Apprentices. They are Glory City's Holy Orchid Institute's students.

"I heard that the new teacher, Shen Xiu, is one of the Sacred Family's 3-star Silver rank Demon Spiritualists!"

A few students were discussing softly among themselves.

The attention of the students was focused on the teacher. She had a tall figure, was wearing a lavender dress that wrapped tightly against her body, giving an emphasis of her perky chest. She had a pair of slender, white legs, and wore exquisite make-up that made her look beautiful and elegant. Her eyes were full of pride and arrogance. The Sacred Family is one of the three Major families of Glory City. Because she is of noble birth, and a 3-star Silver rank Demon Spiritualist, she naturally has the capital to be prideful.

As a 3-star Silver rank Demon Spiritualist, she wouldn't normally come here to teach. She only agreed to because her nephew is in this class.

"Demon Spiritualists and Fighters have five different ranks, which are: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black Gold and Legend rank. Each rank is then divided into five levels, from 1-star to 5-star.

"A Demon Spiritualist is above a Fighter. We are a truly noble existence. A Demon Spiritualist can form a soul realm within their dantian. They have the ability to integrate a captured demon into their soul realm and then merge with the demon in combat. This allows them to possess matchless strength, which is far above the strength Fighters could compete with." Shen Xiu raised her chin and spoke arrogantly, "Just like me, my demon is a Scarlet Flame Fox."

Suddenly, Shen Xiu's face and hands underwent drastic changes. Her facial shape became sharper, her teeth and nails also became sharper. Finally, a scarlet tail emerged from her back.

"After merging with a demon, I can control its strength as well as gain fire-type abilities. Among the demons, the Scarlet Flame Fox is a Gold rank beast. This means that the highest level I can reach is Gold rank Demon Spiritualist. Of course, after becoming a Gold rank Demon Spiritualist, I can replace it with a more powerful demon."

When it came to her cultivation, the pride on Shen Xiu's face became thicker.

Shen Xiu's words caused a group of students to be amazed. Gold rank Demon Spiritualists are existences beyond the reach for most of them.

As Shen Xiu continued lecturing on the stage, Nie Li was sitting in the back row. His mind was in a trance as his soul floated around.

After a while, Nie Li slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't help being confused by the scene in front of him.

"Where am I?" Nie Li quietly asked himself.

He was utterly shocked as he realised that his hands became smaller and his skin became a lot more tender.

Shen Xiu was on the stage, talking nonstop. Nie Li clearly remembered that this was the year he joined the institute. The teacher lecturing was a 3-star Silver rank Demon Spiritualist and was extremely arrogant. Because of her, Nie Li was unwilling to learn for quite sometime.

"I was actually reborn?" Nie Li was deeply shocked. He remembered being surrounded and attacked by the Sage Emperor and six Deity rank beasts and died in the battle. It seems his soul was reborn to the time when he was thirteen years old.

Nie Li looked towards the side, and saw familiar faces: Lu Piao and Du Ze. These brothers that had shared life and death with him are alive, except their appearances were very immature.

And her, Nie Li looked towards the left. A few meters away from him, a beautiful flawless face came into his field of vision. Her name is Ye Ziyun. Although her appearance is only thirteen-fourteen years old, she already looked slender and elegant with purple coloured hair pouring down to her waist. She had arched eyebrows, and an intelligent radiance was seen within her eyes. Whenever she smiled, she would have deep dimples.

Although she looked a little childish, Nie Li knows that, when she grows up a bit more, she will be extremely beautiful and enchanting. She wore a silk white dress that gave her a kind of unspeakable elegance. In his previous life, Nie Li had a deep affection for her ever since he was a teen.

'She's not dead!'

Nie Li was extremely excited to the point that he almost choked.

"I actually went back in time, is this real? Not a dream?" Nie Li asked himself as he severely pinched himself. The clear pain told him that this wasn't a dream. Suddenly he thought of something.

"The Temporal Demon Spirit Book. It must've been the Temporal Demon Spirit Book!"

Nie Li lowered his head and immediately searched for it, but could not find the Temporal Demon Spirit Book.

Nie Li could not believe that his rebirth, this mysterious phenomenon that happened to him, was not related to the mysterious Temporal Demon Spirit Book!

That Temporal Demon Spirit Book's creator was not known. It's a highly mysterious book that Nie Li always kept with him. He clearly remembered, when he was fighting the Sage Emperor and the six Deity rank beasts, that his blood had thoroughly covered the book. It must have been the Temporal Demon Spirit Book that brought him back to when he was only thirteen.

After seeing all these familiar faces, Nie Li drifted into his distant memory.

He remembered when Glory City was under the assault of the Snow Wind beasts. Glory City's guardian, Lord Ye Mo, who was a Legend rank Demon Spiritualist, died in the battle with the beasts among hundreds of thousands of people. Only a few thousand survived and fled to the desert, east of the St. Ancestral Mountain range. During the escape, one survivor after another died in the desert. One day, they were surrounded by the beasts in the desert. Later that night, Nie Li and Ye Ziyun sought the comfort of each other's soul.

That night, Nie Li had finally embraced the goddess in his heart with his arms.

Under the night sky, the silver moonlight became a hazy veil. Ye Ziyun's exquisite physique, with her crystal clear skin that looked as though she was molded from a jade sculpture. They embraced each other with a mad passion.

If it wasn't for the destruction of Glory City, and for the dreadful escape, he could never have gotten the favor of Ye Ziyun. He had ridiculously low talent and was from a declining family.

After that night, they encountered another group of beasts and in order to protect him, Ye Ziyun died by the hands of one of the beasts. Nie Li could never forget that moment.

After he experienced the life threatening attacks, Nie Li survived and walked out of the Endless Desert.

Although his talent was low, his survival instincts allowed Nie Li to travel throughout the Divine Continent. He came across many people who were fighting the beasts. He also came across many mysterious things, and of course that Temporal Demon Spirit Book. If it wasn't for the book, Nie Li wouldn't have been able to come back.

That mysterious Temporal Demon Spirit Book, actually brought him back through time!

He was brought back to before Glory City's destruction. Before his parents, family and brothers death in the battle. Before Ye Ziyun's death in the escape.

"Since I'm back, the heavens have given me another chance. I will not let the destruction of Glory City happen again!" Nie Lie said under his breath, gritting his teeth. He firmly made his decision.

He vaguely remembers that he should have just enrolled into the institute this year and he should be thirteen years old. Nie Li wanted to laugh happily, 'I'm back, how nice!'

'Sage Emperor, the next time we meet, I'll slaughter you, and avenge my previous life!'

If it wasn't for the destruction of Glory City, him and Ye Ziyun would be from two different worlds. It wouldn't be possible for them to be together. Ye Ziyun was the daughter of Glory City's City Lord, not to mention that her grandfather is the Legend rank Demon Spiritualist Ye Mo. Nie Li was from a family who was powerless and was declining. Both of them, in the midst of escape, built up deep feelings for each other.

When Ye Ziyun entered the school, no one in class knew her identity. Nie Li only found out about her identity later.

Within Glory City, there are three Major families. The Divine Family, the Sacred Family, and the Snow Wind Family. They represented the supreme power of Glory City, the pinnacle of the noble families. The City Lord was usually chosen from one of these three families. After the three Major families were the seven Noble families and after them were the twelve Aristocratic families.

Nie Li belonged to the Heavenly Marks Family, which stood at last place of the Aristocratic families. Although they have a little status, there is an astronomical difference in status when compared to the three Major families and the seven Noble families.

With Nie Li's background, wanting to be with Ye Ziyun was simply impossible.

But, with a firmness that flashed across Nie Li's eyes, since he was reborn, is all this of still an issue? Although his foundation is currently poor, with the vast knowledge from his previous life, improving his talent isn't impossible.

"Nie Li, what are you smiling at?" Lu Piao asked, looking puzzled at Nie Li. He was wondering if he has crazy, since he was giggling by himself for quite sometime and was even staring at Ye Ziyun with a lecherous look.

"Just being happy! I'm happy to see you, good brother!" Nie Li stated as he excitedly hugged Lu Piao. It's a habit from his previous life.

After being ridiculously hugged by Nie Li, Lu Piao muttered angrily, "Oi, Nie Li! Who's your good brother, you gaylord?! Quickly, release me!"

Lu Piao struggled. They've just started school not long ago. They were only acquainted for only a few days. They were not close enough for this level of intimacy.

Nie Li didn't loosen his hug. He looked at Lu Piao seriously and chuckled "No matter what you're thinking, in my heart, you're always my good brother!"

Naturally Nie Li couldn't tell Lu Piao the life and death adventures from his previous life.

Looking at Nie Li's gaze, Lu Piao was stunned and couldn't help saying, "Weirdo!"

However, no matter what, the words Nie Li said previously, made him feel moved.

Lu Piao looked at Nie Lie and said, "I know you're one of the nobility in Glory City, but let me warn you: Do not have any ideas for that girl. Her identity is extremely mysterious. I heard that when she joined the institute the principal personally arranged her dorm.

Nie Li slightly grinned, Lu Piao still doesn't know Ye Ziyun's identity which he already knew.

"She's my woman!" Nie Li declared, looking at the beautiful long haired girl not far away. His heart was exceptionally firm as he thought of that night's passion. Nie Li couldn't help feeling hot in his heart.

Nie Li suddenly remembered, he and Ye Ziyun are still only thirteen!

'Ziyun, when will you grow up to become that beautiful, enchanting woman? I shall protect you and we will grow up together!'

Not far away, Ye Ziyun felt something. She turned her head and looked towards Nie Li. She gently wrinkled her brows, and thought that Nie Li must be a playful noble. Since the start of class, he has been unrestrainedly looking at her. If he dares to provoke her, she'll not let him off easy.

Ye Ziyun didn't want to make use her status to make friends, but that doesn't mean that she'll submit to humiliation when being bullied.

Next to Ye Ziyun sat a tall and handsome boy who was, occasionally, catching a glimpse of Ye Ziyun. He noticed that Ye Ziyun was looking at Nie Li. He threw a furious look towards Nie Li. His height were slightly taller than Nie Li, and began emitting a faint yin aura.

Naturally, Nie Li recognized this person. He's Shen Yue. He belongs to the Sacred Family, which is one of the three Major families and has extraordinary talent. Shen Xiu, who's currently talking on the stage, is his aunt.

In Nie Li's past life, Shen Yue had always been Ye Ziyun's pursuer. Before Glory City was destroyed, Shen Yue and Ye Ziyun almost got married. In the eyes of their families, they had always been a perfect match. If Glory City wasn't destroyed, both of them would have definitely gotten married. Before they underwent the marriage ceremony, Glory City was under the attack of the Snow Wind beasts. before the city was broken through by the beasts, the Sacred Family betrayed Glory City by abandoning their duties and fled.

This may be the work of fate. Ye Ziyun did not become Shen Yue's wife in his previous life. Instead, she had some kinship activities with Nie Li.

Thinking back, Nie Li couldn't help laughing in his heart. However, after he saw Ye Ziyun and Shen Yue's glares, Niu Li couldn't help feeling a headache forming. The current Ye Ziyun had a few good impressions of Shen Yue. The look that Ye Ziyun give to Nie Li was full of disdain. Ye Ziyun must have thought of him as a lazy, playful person.

When he saw Ye Ziyun look in his direction, Nie Li felt a lag in his breath. When he saw that familiar face, he began to think of everything that happened in his previous life. Nie Li couldn't help feeling sour in his nose. He revealed a smile as he looked deeply at Ye Ziyun.

'Many thanks to the Temporal Demon Spirit Book. It allowed us to meet once again.' Nie Li silently thought with gratitude.

'Weirdo,' Ye Ziyun thought. She felt that Nie Li's gaze was somewhat strange. His bright eyes shined like stars, with a touch of sadness. Ye Ziyun's heart was filled with questions. Does she know Nie Li? Why does he look at her with that kind of gaze?

Ye Ziyun's a beauty with white teeth and vermilion lips. She was like a lotus blooming silently, while having an unspeakable cute temperament. This was why there are so many boys fascinated with her.

At this point, Shen Xiu's gaze swept passed Nie Li's body. The action of these thirteen-fourteen year old kids couldn't escape her eyes. She is a Silver rank Demon Spiritualist. She already reached the state of having the mind and body being one powerful sixth sense. Her eyesight was extremely keen. She could even see a fleeing rat over a hundred meters away.

Ye Ziyun has a noble identity. She has the status of being the daughter of Glory City's City Lord, as well as being the granddaughter of the Legend rank Demon Spiritualist, Ye Mo. Not only that, she has a cyan soul realm formed within her dantian. A rare talent!

Only a few people in the Holy Orchid Institute know of Ye Ziyun's identity. If Shen Yue manages to have Ye Ziyun as his wife, it could strongly strengthen the Sacred Family's position in Glory City. This is also why he's in the Fighter Apprentice class. It's also another reason why Shen Xiu is teaching this class.

Shen Xiu reverted her transformation with both of her arms hugging her chest. her eyes swept across the students and said, "For the next two years, all of you are my students. Although the principal mentioned that Holy Orchid Institute's students are equal, I have to let you know the ugly truth. In this world, equality doesn't exist!" Shen Xiu spoke in a slightly shrill voice. Her words were like daggers that heavily stabbed into the hearts of the students.

The students below the stage were quietly listening. No one spoke a word.

"After you have all grown up and left this school, you will agree with my words. Equality is merely a lie that adults fill you with. You can't be living in a fairy tale forever," Shen Xiu said, lowering her head to look at the students. "Glory City is the only city that has been preserved throughout the Age of Darkness. We are the only surviving humans. Within Glory City there are two kinds of powerful existences.The Fighters and the Demon Spiritualists. A Demon Spiritualist's existence is noble. Only one Fighter within thousands or tens of thousands could have a chance of being born a powerful Demon Spiritualist. Until now, in all of Glory City, only a few thousand Demon Spiritualists exist. We are the guardians of Glory City!"

"Fighters and Demon Spiritualists are divided into Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black Gold and Legend ranks. The higher the rank, the more powerful one is. If a family produces a Gold rank Demon Spiritualist, they can become an aristocratic family. If a family produced a Black Gold rank Demon Spiritualist, they can become a Noble family. If a family produces three Black Gold rank Demon Spiritualists or a Legend rank Demon Spiritualist, that family can become a Major family. We have thirty-six people here. Some come from commoner families, some come from noble families. Although your starting point is the same, your identities are not. I hope each and every one of you has self-awareness and a degree of manners. Commoners will always remain commoners. It's impossible for you to become an Aristocratic family, so do not dream of rising up to become a phoenix. Even within nobility, they have a strict difference of levels that can never be exceeded."

Under Shen Xiu's gaze, the students that were simply dressed in the class showed discomfort on their faces. They were embarrassed and lowered their heads. Shen Xiu, and a few nobles, proudly pushed out their chests and showed arrogant pride. Only Nie Li, Ye Ziyun, Lu Piao and a few other nobles kept calm.

Nie Li looked to the side. Du Ze was wearing slightly worn out clothing. He was clenching his fists tightly, and biting his lips. Du Ze came from a commoner family. His familys circumstance is extremely tough. But Nie Li knows that Du Ze's self-esteem is very strong.

In Nie Li's past life, Du Ze was very hard working, even though his family's circumstance wasn't good. His talent isn't too bad, either. With enormous effort, he became a Gold rank Demon Spiritualist. He had achieved this without the support of large resources, and no exceptional talent. He depended on his own hard work to reach such a level. One can only imagine how much effort he had to put in.

Before Glory City was destroyed, many noble families were thinking of how to escape. Only the commoners fought for Glory City down to their last breath.

Du Ze is Nie Li's friend, one of his most esteemed friends.

Seeing Shen Xiu's face full of contempt, Nie Li could not help feeling a surge of anger within his heart. In his past life, before Glory City was broken through, the Sacred Family was the first to flee. Therefore, Nie Li does not have any pleasant impressions for them. Whether it's Shen Yue or Shen Xiu, there weren't any redeeming qualities. In his past life Shen Xiu was very harsh, which lead to Nie Li disliking her.

"Teacher Shen Xiu, I have a question," Nie Li suddenly spoke.

All the students were listening quietly and Nie Li suddenly interrupted her speech. This made Shen Xiu unhappy. Shen Xiu recognized Nie Li since he was the one who had covet over Ye Ziyun. The words she spoke previously was directed at Nie Li. Who would have thought Nie Li would actually speak up?

She coldly snorted, "What is it?"

"Teacher Shen Xiu says that Glory City is the only one that survived the Age of Darkness, that we are the only surviving humans. What proof do you have on this statement? May I ask if teacher ever went out of the St. Ancestral Mountains and visited the Endless Desert, the Toxic Forest, the Blood Moon Marsh, the Spirit Gulf, the Heavenly Luster Mountains, the Northern Snow, and the Heavenly Fate Plateau?" Nie Li asked.

As someone who was reborn, and retained his past experiences, Nie Li can completely look down on Shen Xiu.

"What Heavenly Luster Mountain? What Northern Snow?" Shen Xiu frowned. She has heard of the Endless Desert, Toxic Forest and Blood Moon Marsh before, but those places were very far away from the St. Ancestral Mountains. She has only heard of them in legends.

Shen Xiu snorted, "I've been in Glory City since birth, and have never been to those places."

Nie Li smiled faintly and said, "Since Teacher Shen Xiu never went to those places, how can you be so sure that we are the only human beings alive?"

Shen Xiu was at a loss for words.

The students in the class started to talk quietly. They have no idea what kind of places Nie Li spoke about. Ye Ziyun, who was sitting far away, began to show interest that flashed across her eyes. She curiously look at Nie Li. How did Nie Li know of those places?

Shen Yue who was sitting beside Ye Ziyun slightly frowned his brows. He looked towards Nie Li, and realized he was quite handsome. Nie Li wasn't below him in terms of looks. Unknowingly, he felt a sense of crisis within his heart.

Seeing the students below discussing away, Shen Xiu's face was extremely displeased and scoffed, "So what? How can you prove that we are not the last surviving human beings?"

"Proof?"

Nie Li faintly smiled. His experiences from his past life is the proof. Mankind's wisdom is amazing. After experiencing the Age of Darkness, a lot of humans still survived. They built many monumental cities. But he couldn't say that out loud. As he opened his mouth to reply he was cut off by an unkown voice.

"You want proof? Well here it is." After that the door to the classroom was opened and in came in a boy about the same age as everyone here, about half a head taller than Xiao Ning'er, and from head to toe he was dressed in black.

Walking in he gave a note to Shen Xiu then gave a bow to the class as he began to introduce himself, " Hello everyone my name is Ryu and I have no surname as I'm an orphan. I came from the Heavenly Fate Plateau ... well I guess you could say I came from near the Heavenly Fate Plateau as I lived near it as an orphan who grew up in the forest." Giving an enchanting smile he finished with, " Hope to get along with all of you~".

Looking around the room Shen Xiu thanked Ryu for his introduction and sat him next to Xiao Ning'er. "Well thanks to Ryu we know that the Heavenly Fate Plateau exists, but that doesn't prove that the other places exist."

Regaining his composure Nie Li calmly said, "Let me tell Teacher Shen Xiu a story. There was once a frog in the depth of the well. Since his birth, he has always been in that well. Since the start he could only see a part of the sky, so he claimed that the sky is only as big as the hole of the well. But is the sky only the size of the hole? We could only say that the frog is ignorant."

Listening to what Nie Li just said, the students in the class couldn't help laughing. They felt that what Nie Li said makes sense. And the idiom, "a frog viewing the sky from the bottom of the well", is indirectly calling Teacher Shen Xiu a frog.

"Viewing the sky from the bottom of the well, what an appropriate description," a few girls said while giggling away. They all disliked Shen Xiu, and couldn't help looking at Nie Li full of admiration, since Nie Li was the only one daring enough to openly insult a teacher in class.

"You..." Shen Xiu started as she stared at Nie Li. She was furious to the point of almost vomiting blood. Nie Li actually compared her to an ignorant frog. She has never encountered such a rampant student.

Ye Ziyun, who was sitting far away, couldn't control her laughter as well. She realised that Nie Li is quite interesting and is rather eloquent with with his words. He had actually made Teacher Shen Xiu speechless.

Ye Ziyun's a natural beauty. Her smile was fascinating. Nie Li winked towards Ye Ziyun and smiled.

Seeing Nie Li's expression, Ye Ziyun immediately turned her head back, and thought in her heart, 'Such audacity!'

Nie Li's impression in her heart was still a bad student.

Watching Nie Li not only choke Teacher Shen Xiu, but also tease Ye Ziyun, Lu Piao couldn't help raising a thumb at him, thinking this guy's awesome.

Nie Li looked at Shen Xiu, and continued "Teacher Shen Xiu, I still have another question."

Shen Xiu was about to die from the anger, but she couldn't flare up here. She could only reply in bad mood, "What question do you still have?!"

"Teacher Shen Xiu said, 'a commoner will always remain a commoner, they can never become a noble.' I have a little question. wasn't the Legend rank Demon Spiritualist, Ye Mo, a commoner when he was still young?" Nie Li asked, blinking his eyes a few times, and looking at Shen Xiu. "Is Teacher Shen Xiu are not aware of this?"

....