Chapter 1: Reincarnation

If any were to see the blue sky overhead, they would not make note of it, only thinking that it was a very ordinary sky for a very ordinary day in the Douluo Continent. That's why it would be shocking to them that the once clear sky was now darkening as clouds swirled around. Threatening a torrential downpour, sounds of lightning could be heard.

The dark vortex was now beginning to release rain and thunder over the base of a waterfall that led into an incredibly long river. At the riverside laid the washed-up, dead body of a youth that was dressed rather luxuriously if not for a few large tears that could be seen marked with blood. Stray thunderbolts struck out continuously from the vortex as if they were hands, searching for something. That is, until one dense, black thunderbolt landed directly on the heart of the deceased youth. The thunderbolt was accompanied by a horrifying, otherworldly screech of a beast that shook the surrounding rocky terrain.

And then, the vortex seemed to pause before quickly dispersing back into clouds, revealing the brilliant sun once more. Everything returned to the peace and quiet of before as only the sound of the waterfall could be heard.

If there happened to be an observer, which there was not, they would have seen the fingers of the should-be corpse twitching.

The twitching seemed to spread through the corpse as if it were an electrical current, reaching the youth's face as his eyes opened, revealing two ruby red eyes that would intoxicate others. Within them was not the naivety of a youth that one would expect, but instead the solemn gait of an age-old existence, like that of a primordial beast. However, there was also a few traces of confusion inside of them.

The youth coughed twice, expounding any water remaining from his lungs as he sat up to lean on a nearby rock. After catching his breath, he looked around with observant, but curious eyes at his surroundings. Speaking lowly to itself, it said:

"Where am I? And what... happened?"

As the youth tried to retrace his memories, he could only vaguely remember various events. The only words that surfaced to his mind were 'war', 'shinobi', and 'defeat' as well as a strange sense of peace. There was even a small sting of a sour feeling in the back of his mind.

Before he could more appropriately access his feelings, he felt a sharp pain in his mind that almost caused him to hold his head. However, he subconsciously resisted that feeling, only biting his lips and causing a small bit of blood to leak out. Something was pounding throughout his body, causing him to feel a sense of... awakening?

Memories surfaced to his mind with great clarity. He was the eldest young master of the Kuang Clan which was a medium sized martial clan of the Balak Kingdom. But this title was not as glorious as it sounded, and it was even a source of shame for him. Most children were able to be awakened at the age of 6, revealing their martial spirit and corresponding talent. However, the owner of this body, named Kuang Ren, was unable to awaken for two years now despite the number of awakening ceremonies his father held for him. Many outsiders and civilians secretly laughed at him and the Kuang Clan, talking about the failure eldest young master. Already having been born from the mistress of the Kuang Head, the originally lukewarm treatment from his father became further estranged to the point that the latter treats him as if he were air.

His younger brother and sister, both children of the Head's Wife were both revealed to have good talent and have taken over as potential successors, leaving his own title as eldest as something nominal. He was belittled both by outsiders and those of his own clan.

Only his mother took care of him, but she had died a couple months ago. Even before death, the young master knew that this trip was only a ploy to kill him, his mother's death becoming the final go-ahead for the Clan. In the end, his strength was not enough as a mere mortal to resist the plots of the spiritually awakened Clan, dying aggrieved.

However, something appeared strange to this youth. From the memories he saw before these, he felt as if these new memories were not his. It was as if he was someone else before death. He had trouble accepting both identities.

So the youth had decisively chosen to take the identity of Kuang Ren who he knew more about, feeling the act of impersonation to be strangely familiar, as if it were a well trained ability.

As he looked down at his body, he noticed that his wounds had disappeared and only the blood remained. Attributing his initial fatigue to having just been reborn, he got up unsteadily and began to move. From his initial stumbling to a solid walking form, he noticed a city in the distance, over the flatland.

Unknown to him, a normal person would be unable to see so far, as a special glint of red surfaced briefly in his eyes. He only felt it was natural as breathing to him. In fact, he would even say that his vision was surprisingly poor. But he would not have been able to explain why he thought so.

His shoulders straight, he confidently strode towards the far-off city.