Chapter 3 – The Drunken Youth

A handsome young man of about 1.95 meters, with well-defined muscles and long blond hair, was lying in an alley behind some boxes and empty barrels. At first glance, you might think something bad had happened to him. However, if you got close enough, you would hear his faint breathing. Soon, the faint morning sunlight reached the young man's face, and as the ray of light hit him, he frowned and slowly opened his green eyes. With one hand, he shielded his face from the sunlight and suddenly frowned with an expression of mild pain. Then, he lifted his torso, supporting himself with his hands behind him, and sat up.

The young man, who was Feicui Long, spoke to himself: "What the hell is this place? Where am I? Who am I? And why does my head hurt?" Feicui Long, who paused for a moment due to the headache, suddenly seemed to realize something, opening his eyes wide and saying in surprise, "I am Feicui Long. This is my seventh life. I was reborn into the Feicui clan, the guardian clan of the sanctuary of all races. I was expelled at the age of 15 because I couldn't advance beyond the 1st grade of the elemental realm and because I couldn't summon my contracted creature despite having established a contract. I tried to start a life as a mercenary in the fortress city of Vienna, but I was expelled from my mercenary guild and thus from the union for not having a group, even though I worked for 6 months without rest. I was expelled from the hunter guild union for not being able to complete all my assignments—I lasted only a year before being expelled. I was in an adventurer group in the adventurer guild union for a year and a half, but the team members kicked me out for not being able to advance in my cultivation. I worked for another 7 years in the union before they finally expelled me for not being able to advance in rank during the required 7 years."

Feicui Long, who removed one of his arms to rub his head due to the headache, continued speaking to himself, "And I went to drink at a bar after the innkeeper linked to the union asked me to leave the room. Ugh..." Letting out a sigh, he turned his gaze to the sky and said, "Ironically, I, the proud supreme dragon sovereign, was reborn in the world—the Sanctuary of Beasts, the home and birth world of my younger brother, the god of beasts. My self before awakening my memories suffered to the point of living on the streets as a beggar. Who would have thought I'd end up like this?" "Well, there's no point in lamenting now. First, let's check my status window."

The status window, or status, is a technique created by the three great clans in the original universe, also called the absolute universe. The clans came together in a meeting and, in a treaty, established several things that were engraved in the law of the absolute heaven. One of these things was the status window, the absolute language, currency, and some abilities that each clan individually created, among other things. This technique was initially created to avoid having to evaluate oneself with external mechanisms like evolution stones just to analyze oneself, although these are still used for evaluations, as it's not reliable for a person to use it on themselves and report their own data, or because they don't want to be evaluated by other people's techniques for privacy reasons. In any case, it's a technique used in all omniverses, multiverses, and universes.

But from the time Feicui Long turned seven years old, his mother's mental health began to slowly deteriorate in a very suspicious manner. This was strange in itself, as cultivators do not suffer from the same ailments as mortals. What made it even stranger was that no matter how many medicines were given to restore her spirit or mind, she did not improve and continued to decline. When Feicui Long turned fifteen, although his mother was physically healthy, her mind was no longer the same. Her gaze was empty, and the words she spoke made no sense.

Feicui Long had lived far too long to know that it wasn't poison, nor had there been any severe injuries. The most probable explanation was that those daggers had one or more curses. The target of those curses was likely his mother, but since Feicui Long had the misfortune of being inside his mother at the time, several of those curses must have passed onto him while his physical body was still forming.

"Great, just what I needed. Not only do I have a curse created with divine authority, but there are four more causing me trouble. If I want to get rid of the curse from the Supreme God of Curses, I will need to obtain a drop of my own blood to awaken my three authorities and my dragon soul. The problem is, where will I find that blood?"

"I don't think it's impossible. A drop of my blood was given to my most loyal vassals, and most of them kept it in the main temples of the Dragon God. I just need to find the main temple of the Emerald Dragon God of Space and Time in this world and see if the drop is there."

Finally, Feicui Long let out a sigh and said, "If I don't find it, I'll just focus on living a peaceful life. Though now that I think about it, I have no way of making a living. My skills are good, but without money, it's difficult to use them with my cultivation..."

As he spoke, Feicui Long turned his gaze to the weapons he carried. Three of them were secured with a rope and covered with cloth, while another was in its sheath at his waist. He also looked at his necklace and decided to place everything in front of him.

"Alright, I have a halberd, a bow, an energy rifle, a dagger, and a spatial storage necklace. They are all growth-type equipment, gifted to me by my mother so that their power would increase as I grew stronger. The problem is that I haven't maintained them, and I've obviously neglected them. Most of them are covered in rust. Although it's not a real issue since they are growth-type, it's still unsightly. But I have no way to maintain them...

Now that I think about it, why didn't I just store them away instead of carrying them around? Don't tell me I still haven't had them recognize me as their owner..."

Ending his monologue, Feicui Long carefully pricked his finger and let a drop of blood fall on all the objects except for the necklace.

There was a small glow, and the blood disappeared, confirming his assumption. A brief silence followed before he spoke to himself again.

"Are you telling me that for the past ten years, I didn't know they were this kind? Well, whatever, there's no point in criticizing myself."

With a flicker of light from his hands, the four weapons disappeared into his hands, turning into tattoos on his pale skin.

He didn't check the necklace—not because it was different from the others, but because he had already claimed it as his own when he was fifteen and marked it with his blood.

This necklace was perhaps the most precious keepsake of this seventh life of his. In addition to being a spatial storage device, it held two engraved images thanks to a recording formation—one of himself with his mother and another of his mother alone.

His memories from the past ten years showed that each night, he would sit and look at the photograph of his beloved mother.

After briefly glancing at it, he placed it around his neck.

"I had thought about selling one of the weapons, but since they are all growth-type, it doesn't make much sense to do so, especially in their current state."

Feeling frustrated, he suddenly remembered something.

"Right, I can be an alchemist and a doctor. To become an alchemist or practice artifact refinement and blacksmithing, you need to be a master of inscriptions, which I already am. Additionally, I have basic knowledge of alchemy, refinement, and artifact blacksmithing. Although I never had much talent in alchemy or artifact refinement and blacksmithing, I did excel in inscriptions, and with the support of one or two formations, I could somewhat suppress the effects of my low cultivation."

The reason he didn't consider artifact refinement and blacksmithing was that the materials required either venturing into a very dangerous mine or buying them, neither of which he could afford. He also didn't consider using his mastery of inscriptions alone, because formations easily attracted a lot of attention, and standing out with high-level formations would only lead him to a quick death due to his lack of strength.

Making up his mind, Feicui Long gathered his remaining money, which amounted to 25 copper coins, dusted himself off, and left.

...

While eating a breakfast worth 5 copper coins in the same bar where he drank last night, Feicui Long analyzed in his mind this world, "Sanctuary of the Beasts."

This world had the 14 races of the mortal clan working together as they normally do. The 14 mortal races are humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, greater beastmen, lesser beastmen, kijin, onis, kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, and lesser giants. In 90% of cases, these 14 races work together, and this applies to any omniverse, multiverse, or existing universe. The reason is very simple: the mortal races are the weakest of all. Even when the 14 races work together, it is known that 90% of the time they barely manage to maintain 50% to 30% of a world, star system, or galaxy, and that is with great difficulties. Even working together, there is a 7.5% chance that they are on the verge of extinction in that world or whatever it may be, and only 2.5% are able to dominate something when working together. It is therefore understood that if they are alone, they fare much worse. Feicui Long himself has seen such cases, and they almost always end in tragedies since the mortal races are targets for extermination or slavery due to their weakness and their past. To explain this hatred and the desire to enslave them, one must go back to the Absolute Universe.

In the Absolute Universe, a racial clan was born, named the Original Clan. However, despite its name, it should not be confused with Adolf's Origin Clan, as they are different. This so-called Original Clan was divided into three races. At first, these three races were very divided, but soon they were unified by a great clan belonging to each of these three races. These three clans were called the Clan Above the Heavens, the Clan Beneath the Hells, and the Clan of the Balance of Heaven and Hell. These three clans, with their great power, achieved wonders, including treaties and more.

But one of the things they did was create the racial clans. The Clan Above the Heavens created the Dragon Clan, the Origin Clan, the Creation Clan, the Space Clan, the Life Clan, the Order Clan, and the Beast Clan to serve them and as slaves. The first was the Dragon Clan, which they divided into Western Dragons and Eastern Dragons according to their function. Additionally, they created the Phoenix race and also divided them into Western and Eastern types. They created the Dog race, the Wolf race, the Fox race, the Horse race, and the Eagle race. They also created seven plant races and seven mushroom races.

The Clan Beneath the Hells created the Supreme Clan, the End Clan, the Destruction Clan, the Time Clan, the Death Clan, the Chaos Clan, and the Mushroom Clan. They created the Hydra race, the Griffin race, the Tiger race, the Lion race, the Jaguar race, the Snake race, and the Hawk race. They also created seven plant races and seven mushroom races.

The Clan of the Balance of Heaven and Hell created the Infinite Clan, the Destiny and Reincarnation Clan, the Void Clan, the Celestial Clan, the Infernal Clan, the Limbo Clan, the Yin and Yang Clan, and the Plant Clan. They created the Behemoth race, the Leviathan race, the Qilin race, the Bear race, the Turtle race, the Elephant race, and the Condor race. They also created seven plant races and seven mushroom races.

This might seem pointless to mention, but at the time, it was a great achievement that, despite each clan creating a unique racial clan, they allowed the other two clans to create races belonging to that racial clan. It was mainly a gesture of goodwill between them. At a certain point, these three clans created the so-called Celestial, Infernal, and Balance of Heaven and Hell universes, with 28 of each type. There, they decided to free the clans they had created from their slavery and servitude.

Among these clans, the first three to be created—the Dragon Clan, the Infinite Clan, and the Supreme Clan—chose to follow the path of their former masters, creating racial clans to serve them as slaves or servants. The Dragon Clan created the Magic Clan and the Elemental Clan. The Supreme Clan created the Monster Clan and the Demonic Clan. The Infinite Clan created the Undead Clan, the Divine Clan, the Spiritual Clan, and the Psychic Clan.

Once the Dragon Clan, the Supreme Clan, and the Infinite Clan were well established, they decided to free these newly created clans from their slavery or servitude in their own newly formed universes. This led to the creation of certain races by these newly liberated clans. These races would be called mortal races. However, unlike their predecessors, these clans never intended to free their slaves or servants, which resulted in nearly all the mortal races liberating themselves through war. This war embedded a deep-seated hatred in these proud clans, and that is why mortal races are generally found in 90% of cases in such a state.

One of the most well-known cases is perhaps that of Earth, where one of the 28 Celestial Pillars once fell. As a result, the planet had to be divided into 35 separate pieces, each forming smaller versions of the same size, effectively separating the 14 mortal races. After the Absolute Sovereign took the Celestial Pillar, the 14 mortal races faced near extinction because the planet was restored to its original size. It was then that they began to work together, and thanks to the support of their newly awakened deities—who kept the other clans in check—they managed to reclaim 50% of their world, which had grown 35 times larger. Interestingly, Feicui Long witnessed this firsthand, as one of his past lives reincarnated there.

However, in more extreme cases—like that of this world, "Sanctuary of the Beasts," which is 2.5 times larger than the unsealed Earth—the mortal races are on the brink of extinction, occupying only 20% of what this world has to offer and barely maintaining that status quo.

Ironically, there is one mortal race that should not suffer this fate: the kobolds. They were created by the dragons, but since they were born shortly before the liberation of the Magic and Elemental Clans, they were not immediately freed. The dragons feared they would be exterminated as such a young race, so they simply waited for them to become an established race before "liberating" them. However, it would be more accurate to say the dragons cast them out rather than set them free. The dragons wanted them to be independent, but the kobolds did not want to leave their side. As a result, the dragons do not hunt kobolds, and they should not be persecuted. Yet, for some clans, kobolds are nothing more than pests taking up space and must be exterminated. Thus, despite having no reason to be hunted, they continue to be persecuted like the rest of the 14 mortal races.

Of course, all of this seems meaningless to Feicui Long—especially since he was and still is the Supreme Dragon Sovereign. But history does not lie, and neither does the present. He now found himself in a hostile world in his current form, reflecting on his recent decision to make a living as an alchemist in such a harsh environment.