6. Yi Xian
A young man slowly opened his eyes. His gaze locked onto the sky above, the last rays of sunlight retreating behind distant mountains. As the golden light faded, a sharp pain surged through his head, and a flood of memories rushed back. He shot upright, instinctively clutching his chest, where a bloodstain in the shape of a cross marked his skin. Though the pain was brief, his chest was otherwise unscathed—the wound a mere remnant of something long past.
"I'm... reincarnated? Is this why my chest wound is healed?" Ye Xian muttered to himself, struggling to grasp the situation.
Before he could fully comprehend the implications, a mocking voice pierced the air.
"Looks like you didn't finish the job, Brother Mu. Ye Xian is still alive."
A sinister laugh followed. The man wielding twin blades sneered, his voice filled with arrogance.
"Heh… I was sure of it. I tore him apart with my twin blades. No matter. I'll finish it now. This time, I'll take his head clean off. Hahaha!"
Ye Xian's eyes narrowed as he listened. His body moved instinctively, as if reacting to a long-forgotten instinct. He rose to his feet, his steps firm and resolute, ready to face the threat head-on.
The man with the twin blades—Brother Mu—drew his swords with one fluid motion. His right hand led, and the blades cut through the air toward Ye Xian's throat with lethal intent.
Ye Xian's body reacted in an instant. With barely a hair's breadth to spare, he dodged the attack, feeling the wind rush past him. His hand shot to his waist, drawing his sword with a single swift motion. His posture was flawless, his gaze unwavering.
"Oh? You dodged my strike, Young master Ye. Do you really think you can defeat me? I'm in the Mid Stage of the Ki Refining Realm, and you're just an initiate. What can you do? Drop your sword, and I'll give you a quick death. Otherwise—"
"Enough barking," Ye Xian interrupted, his voice colder than the steel of his blade. "Do you only know how to spout nonsense?" His sword rose, gleaming beneath the fading light. "Hurry up. I have more important things to do than deal with an unfaithful mutt who dares bite its master."
"You—!" Brother Mu's rage exploded. "I'll rip you apart, you arrogant brat!"
With that, Brother Mu lunged forward, twin blades flashing in a deadly arc. But Ye Xian was already moving.
Channeling profound ki into his left leg, Ye Xian felt the energy surge through his meridians, flowing with intricate patterns into his ki entrance. The ki compressed and burst forth, empowering his movement.
The earth beneath him cracked and splintered as he shot forward like a slingshot. In the blink of an eye, he directed the ki to his right arm, his sword sliced through the air in a seamless arc. The steel cleaved through Brother Mu's throat, severing his head cleanly from his body.
But Ye Xian did not stop.
Sensing the faint killing intent behind him, he once again funneled profound ki into his ki entrance. The gathered energy pulsed before surging into his legs, refining his agility. His body became weightless, and in a single explosive motion, he twisted mid-air, leaping backward with breathtaking speed. The moment his feet touched the ground.
The blade lashed out in a blur of silver, piercing the throat of the second man—the one lurking behind with his crescent moon-shaped blade, ready to strike. The steel sank into flesh with sickening smoothness. His enemy's eyes widened in shock, hands instinctively clutching his neck, but life was already slipping away.
The entire sequence unfolded like a well-rehearsed dance. The crack of the earth beneath his feet, the flash of the sword, and the final, fatal thrust. Ye Xian's movements were precise, deliberate—each action flowing seamlessly into the next. In mere moments, both men lay dead at his feet, their lifeless bodies crumpled on the ground.
Despite the vast difference in their cultivation, Ye Xian had overcome them. How? Two key reasons: First, his enemies had underestimated him. Their arrogance dulled their senses, giving Ye Xian the opening he needed to strike with perfect timing. Second, he employed unique technique—Limit Release. By concentrating profound ki into a specific part of his body and unleashing it in a single, explosive burst, he briefly surpassed his own cultivation level. The sudden surge of power caught his enemies off guard, overwhelming them before they could react.
With a combination of wit, speed, and flawless technique, Ye Xian had proven that, even in the world of cultivation, skill and strategy could triumph over raw strength.
---
"Am I really reincarnated, or is this some kind of illusion? How did I reincarnate? This Limit Release technique is not mine... Why are there only fragments of memories from Adler's life? I can almost recall everything that happened to Ye Xian, but the only thing I truly remember is the betrayal of the Hero Party members and Fiona's death."
"Ahhhhhh!" Ye Xian howled in rage, slamming his fists into the ground as the memories of Fiona's death surged back. The icy feeling of her murder sliced through his heart like a blade. He vomited a mouthful of blood, the heart-tearing pain overwhelming him. His screams echoed through the valley like a wounded beast.
Night had already descended upon the valley, the sky covered with shimmering stars. The light of the moon bathed Ye Xian in a cold, silver glow.
Ye Xian lifted his head from the ground, tears staining his face. His eyes turned bloodshot as he spat a venomous oath through gritted teeth.
"I will make you regret this, Wang Chi—even if I have to climb over a mountain of bloody corpses or swim through rivers of blood. Everyone will face my wrath. No one will be forgiven. Wei Zu, Lux Layman, Ash Vickman, Lu Ziyan… and how could I forget You're kindness, Sylvia!"
Wiping his tears away, Ye Xian stood. He walked to the headless corpse of Brother Mu, bent down, and retrieved his pouch. He moved to the next corpse, searching its body as well. Inside the pouch, he found a dozen ki stones and several low-level elixirs, which he stored in his space pouch.
The space pouch, unlike ordinary pouches, was far more valuable. It had the capacity of one cubic meter, perfect for storing anything other than living beings. Ye Xian quickly changed out of his bloodied clothes and into the spare set he took out from his storage pouch.
---
Ye Xian had short grey hair and onyx-black eyes, deep and glossy like pools of obsidian. He was about 17 years old, currently at the first step of the Ki Refining Realm. His grey hair was a consequence of a black lash in his cultivation—an accident that caused his cultivation to drop a full realm back to the Ki Refining Realm.
The two men he had just slain were servants of his younger half-brother, Ye Shen. Ye Shen was born of Ye Feng's legal wife, while Ye Xian's mother had passed away due to blood loss shortly after his birth.
Ye Feng, Ye Xian father, had never treated his son harshly after his wife's death, but he also never showed the love a father should. Ye Xian was often the subject of complex emotions—sometimes receiving kindness, sometimes cold indifference.
In the Ye Clan, Ye Xian treatment wasn't harsh, but neither was it favorable. His talent was average at best, whereas Ye Shen, his half-brother, was a genius, his cultivation speed surpassing even that of Ye Xian. As a result, most of the clan's attention and resources were directed toward Ye Shen.
Despite the disparity in treatment, Ye Xian never held a grudge against his half-brother. He understood the situation. Even though his resources were halved—thanks to Ye Shen's mother—Ye Xian never complained to his father about it. When he did, his stepmother responded with cold indifference: "Your aptitude is low. It's a waste to spend resources on you."
Ye Xian was angry but didn't dare to act against her. He didn't want to disappoint his father, so he endured. He used whatever allowance he received to acquire cultivation resources and diligently worked to improve himself, even if his aptitude wasn't the best.
But in the end, it wasn't enough. Ye Shen's men killed Ye Xian. The only reason he was alive now was due to reincarnation.
---
Ye Xian began walking, following the familiar path out of the valley. The valley was vast and barren—perfect for committing crimes with no witnesses. After some time, he saw the imposing walls of the city in the distance.
The city walls were massive, stretching high and wide, too vast to see where they ended. As he approached the city gates, the guards quickly identified him and allowed him entry.
The city was still bustling with activity. People filled the streets, and shops remained open despite the late hour.
Ye Xian followed the path embedded in his memories and eventually arrived at the Ye Clan's estate just as the clock struck midnight.