Chapter 1:Rebirth

Chen Wutian was just a normal social worker, slaving everyday for a meager salary. He hated studying and was often lazy, lacking ambition. One day Chen Wutian was on his way home from his regular office job. Chen Wutian was lamenting his job as suddenly a truck hit him from the side.

Chen Wutian was hurled 5 meters across the road, his mind was dull, unable to process what had just happened. He only had one thought.

'How annoying…'

Darkness. A world of darkness, many eons seemed to have passed in this black void. 

"Where am I?"

Chen Wutian was confused, he seemed to have remembered getting hit with immense force before coming here all of a sudden.

Before he could register another thought, a blinding light flashed before him! The light rendered his vision useless, suddenly he felt the tingling sensation of cold air. 

"Wah! Wah!"

The cries of a baby shook his mind. 

'Wait, that's coming from me!'

Chen Wutian was reborn into a baby!

"Congratulations father Chen! It's a beautiful baby boy."

The nurse held the baby in her arms before giving it to Father Chen.

"Haha! After so long of working I finally have a descendant!" Father Chen was excited, he held the boy lovingly and looked at his wife with gratitude and love.

"Oh you! Give me the boy!"

Mother Chen was still lying on the hospital bed, she took the baby from father Chen and smiled lovingly at her son.

"Welcome to the world my son…"

Mother Chen drifted into sleep.

'What the hell!'

Was the only thought in Chen Wutian's mind.

16 years later… 

"Brother Chen! Do you want to join us for the combat remedial classes?"

"No, I'll pass this time."

16 years after this rebirth, Chen Wutian was now  at his final year in high school. Having the memories of his past life, it was easy to understand the basic concepts of this world's educational subjects. It was even easier than the earth's education system in his previous life.

However, there was a very big difference… this world was a cultivation world! The humans here not only had to learn the basic subjects, they also had to focus on learning the basics of cultivation! 

Here, cultivation was everything, it determined your future standing in this world. Whether you were successful or not.

The humans were constantly at war with the Insectoids. Powerful insects that dominated the world. Humans had less than 20% of the world's area as their territory, and the Insectoids were constantly invading.

The battlefield on the frontlines was intense and to even be qualified as a soldier, it required many years of hard work and a decent level of strength. 

Every human on this continent was born to fight, they trained since they were young and the exceptional ones would be sent to the battlefields to reclaim human territory, to fight for greatness!

Chen Wutian was no exception, he started martial arts training since he was five years old. Learning martial arts that his father had learned during his time in the Raging Fire legion.

The martial arts that Chen Wutian learned were less practical, instead it was to temper the body and to lay a solid foundation for future cultivation.

A normal 16 year old would be able to reach 150kgs of strength even if they didn't train at all, those who did even with the most basic martial tempering technique, the "12 forms of tempering" that was given to every school under the Empire, would be able to reach 250kgs of strength by the time they reached 16 years old if they trained hard every other day.

Chen Wutian, who had the guidance of his father, a once proud soldier of the Raging Fire legion. Paired with the "Flame tempering manual" was able to reach 320kgs of strength, surpassing many of his peers and classmates.

It was 30th of September in the year 20150. In 2 more weeks would be the final examinations for the high school students. The most important exam of their lives. It determined if one could go to a good martial school or not.

The exam was very simple, a simple test of strength. Your strength determined your potential.

"I wonder how many geniuses were buried because of this inefficient way of testing…" Chen Wutian murmured.

"Yo Chen! Going home to train?"

Chen Wutian's best friend since childhood, Hou Tian, asked.

"Yeah, my old man will kill me if he finds out I'm still playing around when the final examinations are nearing us."

"Haha, good luck brother Chen."

"How is your strength? Can you really afford to play around?" Chen Wutian was skeptical, this brother of his seemed to have a playful nature. He often ran around to avoid his father's training. Speaking of which, this fellow really had a good father, a right hand of a general in the Stormbringer legion. His background was even greater than Chen Wutian's old man.

"Not bad, around 400kgs."

"This! This is the lament of the weak!" Chen Wutian gasped exaggerating, with a sarcastic expression.

"Haha! Have fun training brother Chen!" 

"Don't worry brother Chen, I believe in you!"

The class president, Li Qianqian, encouraged. She was a youthful girl with bright eyes and a cute ponytail. 

Chen Wutian met her in his first year of highscool and they were in the same class every year after that. Li Qianqian had a good background and was close to 500kgs in strength. Chen Wutian would often help her with theoretical knowledge but sometimes even he would be surprised at the wit this girl showed.

"Thank you Qianqian."

"It's nothing brother Chen, how are you preparing?"

"Don't even mention it, 320 kgs of strength, I'm afraid even you will mock me right?"

"That's not true brother Chen! 320kgs is not bad, it's enough for a pretty good low grade martial school. Furthermore we still have two weeks."

"That's true! I will work even harder than before."

Chen Wutian's eyes burned with determination. Seeing him like this, Li Qianqian wholeheartedly admired him. She looked at him with a bright smile, causing him to feel embarrassed.

As Chen Wutian ended his final class, he headed home with a heavy heart. After being reborn, he naturally was more mature than his peers. Not long after this rebirth he realised a truth, he was nothing special. His father was cannon fodder and his mother was a weak woman by today's standards.

His background was crappy. There was no future. Chen Wutian was not willing to accept this. He trained hard everyday in hopes of grasping his own destiny in his hands. He had surpassed his father when he was 16 years old, but that was not enough.

All around the streets, children were playing and adults were going around their daily lives. 

Chen Wutian lived 20 minutes away from his school, he quickly reached the building he lived in. When he opened the door, he was greeted with the warm atmosphere of home. His father was watching the news and his mother was preparing dinner. 

"I'm home!"

"Welcome back son."

His mother, Gu Tianqing was just placing the food on the table. The family lived in a small apartment. A total of four rooms, a bedroom for the parents, a room for Chen Wutian, a kitchen and a living room. 

"Hurry up and eat, then let's start today's training."

His father, Chen Daluo, was already seated at the dining table. When he saw the determination of his son since he was young, Chen Daluo wanted to give up everything to make his child stronger. He could see the perseverance in his son that most children did not possess. If he, Chen Daluo could support his son to achieve his goals, then as a father he should.

The family sat at the dining table, exchanging words.

"Son, your final examinations are approaching right? Have your father buy some supplements for you."

"Wife, you don't have to say anymore, I have already spent 50 thousand dollars on a grade F gene serum. I heard from my colleagues that this serum will be able to boost ones strength by nearly 200kgs! But it all depends on how well the consumer can absorb it."

A look of shock appeared on Chen Wutian's face, he was pleasantly surprised! 50 thousand dollars was by no means cheap. It was 2 years of annual income for the frugal family. 

He knew that with 320kgs of strength, it would at most allow admission to a low grade martial school. Now with the serum, he just might be able to make it into a middle grade martial school!

"Dad! Mom!" 

"Say no more son. As your father it is my duty to give you the most I can." Chen Daluo smiled at his son. 

"The serum will arrive in a week. Train hard so you can absorb more!"

"Yes father!"

After the dinner, the father and son walked to the nearby park, when they arrived there were already many parents and teenagers training hard. 

"Father Chen! Is your son ready for the examination?"

"Haha, almost, almost."

Every student was now on a 2 week vacation, school was suspended until after the examination on the 14th of October. 

"Well, little Chen, uncle wishes you the best of luck!"

"Thank you uncle."

The training method of the "Flame tempering manual" was very simple, it teaches the practitioner to guide a form of inner heat, supplementing the muscles, organs, bones, and skin. Increasing the strength and toughness of the practitioner. At first when he started training at 5, the speed of the gain of strength was very fast, gaining a few kgs in a week was no problem. But it slowed down after a long time with the lack of supplements and due to the bad training environment.

Chen Wutian had long reached greater mastery on this technique, his strength was increasing by 1kg every few weeks.

"This is too slow…"

His family could not afford many supplements or purchase new techniques. They were considered one of the poorer families in the Lan Yun city.

After four hours of training, the father and son headed back home. 

As Chen Wutian lay on his bed, he was wondering what he could do to prepare for the serum which was arriving in a week…

Suddenly, the siren started blaring! A loud sound blasted through the entire neighborhood! A voice shouted through the speakers!

"Attention all citizens! Attention all citizens! A rift has appeared above the skies of Lan Yun city! I repeat! A rift has appeared above the skies of Lan Yun city! All citizens please seek shelter and hide from the Insectoids! I repeat! All citizens please seek shelter and hide from the Insectoids!"

Instantly awoken by the voice, Chen Wutian panicked. Never in his life had this happened! Why now!? 

His father came into his room with a huff.

"Wutian! You need to hide! You are no match for these insectoids now!"

His father had a serious expression on his face.

"Yes father."

Donned with the standard military armor, wielding the standard military short sword. Chen Daluo looked as if he had returned to his golden days. 

His mother also wore the same attire, Chen Wutian had never seen his mother so serious. At the same time, he admired the strength of the people of this world.

A few days ago, when his father was bragging and showing off the standard military gear of the army, Chen Wutian wanted to try it on. His father mocked him and told him to try. Only then did Chen Wutian find out that he was struggling to even lift the sword off the weapon rack. 

To be enlisted in the army, one needed to posses at least 8,000kgs of strength. His parents were both old soldiers thus they were able to easily don the gear.

'Strength! Everything in this world is tied to strength!'

Chen Wutian gritted his teeth and thought. 

While his old parents were fighting, all he could do was hide in the house and stay quiet to avoid the Insectoid invaders. 

'Strength!'

His parents turned off everything in the house and rushed downstairs.

Lan Yun city was situated relatively far from the deep parts of the human empire. It was close to the frontlines and far from back up.

Everyone in the city could see a purple rift in the sky, it looked as if a beast had used one claw to rip apart the sky. 

Many black beetles were flying down from the rift, these beetles were around 2 meters in height. Had six legs and horns that were longer that 1.5 meters. The jaws of the beetles were disgusting and odorous. They rained from the skies with huge numbers.

Screech!!!

War cries rang in the entire city, most of the children and teenagers were terrified, they had never seen the Insectoids in the flesh before, they were simply a bunch of greenhouse plants!

Chen Wutian watched as his parents fought against a beetle with some neighbors. Each swing of the sword or claw was filled with immense power, they fought at a speed that could not be followed by Chen Wutian's eyes.

'Incredible! I would not be able to exchange a single blow with anyone of these uncles!'

Desire! Chen Wutian wanted to be stronger than this! He wanted to be able to stand at the peak of the world with strength!

Bang! A loud sound rung from the east, a few beetles charged into many buildings, damaging the infrastructure and killed many civilians. Blood splattered all over the ground, the corpses of many weak and frail children and teenagers were littered on the ground. 

Chen Wutian instantly vomitted. This gruesome sight was never before seen to a greenhouse plant like him. He was filled with fear, what if the next building the beetles charged at was this one?

The adults were furious, they brandished their swords and killed their way to those beetles, each beetle required three humans to fight. The Insectoids were a battle race born with immense strength, scientists discovered that even these cannon fodder black flame beetles were born with 3,000kgs of strength, even the newborns were able to massacre towns and villages. 

They were also born with memories of how to fight efficiently with their disgusting bodies.

Claw marks littered the ground as furious roars rung in the air.

"Ha!" Chen Daluo swung his sword down, beheading a beetle. He charged towards another beetle, avoiding the legs and claws. Surging forward with divine might, his focus sharpened and he swung his sword horizontally, slashing off two legs of the beetle!

Gu Tianqing, burst forward with a leap, falling from the air and sweeped with her sword, beheading the beetle!

"Ha, ha."

Panting could be heard from all over the neighbourhood, fighting these beetles were no easy task.

Chen Daluo himself retired at the age of 49 with 12,000 kgs of strength, Gu Tianqing herself at the age of 45 with 8,000kgs of strength. 

Suddenly, the raid sirens started again and the same voice from before sounded.

"Reinforcements are arriving soon, all citizens please fight until then! I repeat! Reinforcements are arriving soon all citizens please persevere!"

Hidden in his room, Chen Wutian breathed a sigh of relief, he prayed for his parents and himself. 

Crash! A beetle hit the building, followed by a few other beetles.

'Oh no!'

The 5 story tall building tilted to the side, threatening to fall at anytime. The house was a mess now, the furnitures were upside down, Chen Wutian was laying on a wall and everything was displaced. 

He hurriedly composed himself and ran out of the room, jumping around before getting to the door, he opened it and jumped out. 

The first thing he was was a black beetle larger than him staring him down. 

Fear! Run! That was the only emotion he felt at this point. His instincts were telling him that the beast Infront of him could kill him easily.

Cold sweat ran down his back.

Screech!!!!!

The beetle flew towards him! 

Run! 

Chen Wutian leaped towards another direction, falling 4 meters to the ground, he ran to find more shelter. The adrenaline was pumping, the smoke and heat rushed towards his face. In a life or death situation, Chen Wutian felt his body lighten and his strength increase. He bolted towards safety in another building.

The beetle was faster, Chen Wutian could feel the breath of the beetle on his back! It was getting closer! He suppressed the urge to look behind him and focused on running…

He saw some soldiers rushing over to help him…

Chen Wutian regained hope and courage and ran with all his might, when suddenly…

Slam! Chen Wutian coughed out blood, he felt his organs shatter and his spine break, his muscles tore and he was sent flying by a single claw strike from the beast. He smashed heavily into the flower shop, the glass pierced his skin.

He was bleeding all over his body now. The internal organs were heavily damaged. Survival was near impossible. His vision blurred and his eyes dimmed.

Weng…

A blue light appeared before Chen Wutian.

[Detected the Host is near death.]

[Would the host like a chance to redeem himself?]

[Yes.]

Or

[Die.]