Devastation and Loss
Li Zian's mother, Luo Mei, soared across the sky and crashed into the villa grounds, kicking up debris and dirtying her clothes.
She panted and attempted to sit up but couldn't muster up any strength.
"Mother!" Li Zian leapt down from the wall, not minding the tingling in his knees, and ran over to her where he then fell to his knees and observed her wounds.
His eyes were wide, and his jaw hung low. It was a miracle she had survived this long.
Each cut was giant, clearly caused by waves of qi, and blood was constantly pouring out from her wounds.
Her eyes flickered open and closed constantly, and she slurred her words.
"Zian'er…" She said, forcing her eyes open and focusing on his face.
"Yes, mother?" He asked.
She reached out her right hand and placed it into his hands.
She opened her clenched fist, and a small red bead dropped out, the size of a fingernail.
"What… What is this?" He asked her hastily.
"This… It's our…" She coughed several times and some blood dribbled from her mouth. "This is our foundation. Keep it safe… Use it wisely," she told him.
She used all her strength to sit up and hug Li Zian one more time.
Li Zian felt her body stop moving.
"Mother?" He asked, shaking her slightly, but she didn't move. "Please, get up," he said, shaking her some more. Her body dropped backwards, her eyes closed, and her clothes dyed a dark crimson.
He was at a loss for words, staring at her corpse. He grabbed his head, pulling his hair.
"What…" His breathing picked up, and his eyes wandered around, trying not to focus on the corpse in front of him.
Beads of sweat trickled down his face, and his entire body became unbearably hot, as if he was on fire.
His breathing became rapid, and he stared at his mother's corpse.
He'd been in this world for eight years, and thirty years in his past life.
He would have thought he held more attachment to those in his past life, but when he thought about it, he wouldn't have cared if his mother died in his previous life.
He wouldn't even blink, but this was different. This was a mother that had cared for him, who he had vivid memories of, and who had been with him constantly during his new life.
Even if she had been busy, she still always made sure she was home to answer his questions and be with her son.
Tears welled in Li Zian's eyes, and his breathing became even more erratic.
He was crying- it was an odd feeling.
His past life was miserable, growing up in a terrible environment, struggling all the time and crawling out of the dirt.
When his siblings or relatives died, he didn't care, because he held no attachment. When he got into a car crash and felt the worst pain in his life, he didn't cry. When the one he loved most died… He didn't cry.
Back then all he felt was anger. And he still does. But this time, he felt sadness and sorrow.
He moved his hands away from his head and looked up at the sky that was red from the setting sun.
Li Zian looked down at his hands dripping with his mother's blood and came to a resolve.
He controlled and changed his emotions, distorting his own mind. His pain became anger, and his sadness became hate.
He stood up and slipped the red bead into his robe's pocket, and advanced towards the eastern wall.
He leapt up it and watched the sight of the Li family compound being destroyed.
"Young master…" One guard spoke but stopped when he noticed the tears in Li Zian's eyes.
"Who is it?" He asked.
"Huh?" The guard questioned, unsure of what he meant.
"Who is it that's attacking our Li family?"
The guards were silent for a moment before one spoke up. "It's the Feng family."
Feng family… Li Zian watched as a giant centipede appeared and rampaged across the Li family city, hundreds of metres long, black and red in colour.
Lightning crackled down from the sky, and his grandfather continued to fight.
"Feng family… Feng family…" He memorised that name.
The image of his mother's corpse appeared in his mind, and he clenched his fists.
A wheel hovered behind his grandfather's back, supplying him with qi. 'That must be the Deity Wheel.'
His grandfather blinked in and out of existence as he slashed through his enemies.
Li Zian couldn't see his father and watching the rage-filled state his grandfather was in he could tell what had happened.
He felt even more loss, and then it became worse.
A being appeared high in the sky, coated in flames. This being was… unique. He let off an aura that felt almost godly.
The fiery being waved his hand, and twisting flames emerged from his palm.
These flames grew larger and larger, sweeping over the Li family's cultivators, and transformed into a giant mammoth.
His grandfather used a strange technique that sent crackling green lightning at the flaming mammoth, but it dealt no harm.
The mammoth enveloped his grandfather, incinerating him just like that.
Li Zian looked down at the ground, unable to continue watching.
'Everyone is dead… So suddenly?'
It had been a completely normal day for him… He was just standing by the koi fishpond… And then everything had changed.
"Feng family…"
"Young master, we need to go," a guard told him.
Another guard spoke, "you're the last hope of the Li family. You must survive."
Li Zian looked around at the guards, who were filled with the determination to protect him.
"Let's go," he nodded his head.
He quickly made his way to his bedroom, taking his sword, and then leapt over the western wall of the villa. He didn't know where he was going, he just wanted to be far away from that place.
In less than thirty minutes, his entire life had changed. He was no longer hiding behind the walls around the villa, protected by powerful family who loved him dearly.
He was now out in the wild with a few guards, fleeing from carnage and destruction.
Every single person he knew in this new world was dead now. He felt a pain that would never leave him. He felt guilty.
Then a single person appeared in his mind: Li Shen.
"Where do you plan on going, young master?" One of the guards asked from the shadows.
"To the Skyward sect. To meet my brother."
That's right… The Skyward sect had good relations with the Li family. He can seek refuge there and train to become even stronger.
Strong enough to trample the Feng family and avenge the Li family.