the silver rebirth
The storm had passed, but its echo lingered in the air.
Back in the sect's outer disciple region, Li Tian sat cross-legged in his training chamber, steam rising from his bare shoulders. His chest slowly rose and fell, calm in appearance—but inside, his blood still simmered with energy.
The Thunderclaw Panther's bloodline wasn't just power. It was a message.
A reminder: devouring enemies didn't only rebuild his core—it reshaped him.
His nerves tingled with faint pulses of lightning now. His reflexes were faster, his thoughts sharper. The system had integrated the beast's essence into his own, and something inside him had… changed.
He liked it.
He liked it too much.
[Core Reconstruction: 47% Complete]
[New Passive: Thunder Nerves – Active]
[Combat Efficiency Increased.]
But that wasn't what troubled him.
It was the other message. The one that hadn't stopped flashing since he returned.
[System Alert – Rebirth Entity Detected.]
[Subject Codename: "Silver Rebirth"]
[Location: Crimson Sky Sect – Inner Court]
[Engagement Level: Extreme.]
[System Warning: This Rebirth Entity is aware of you.]
That meant he wasn't just walking toward the throne anymore.
Someone else was walking toward it, too.
And they might be ahead.
In the secluded halls of the Inner Court, high above the cliffs where outer disciples dared not tread, the "Silver Rebirth" stood at the center of a private cultivation platform.
He was beautiful—almost unnaturally so.
Long silver hair flowed down his back like liquid metal. His golden eyes, cold and sharp, glimmered with restrained power. The sword at his back pulsed faintly, like it too had a will of its own.
He wore the white robes of an elite inner disciple—unmarked, clean, perfect.
His name in this life was Feng Lian.
But once… in another life… he had been called something else.
A name the world had forgotten.
A name even the heavens feared.
He stared down into the cloud-covered cliffs below.
"I know you're here," he whispered.
His sword flickered with a burst of light, sensing something—or someone.
"I died once, and the world laughed," he said quietly. "Now I'm back. And this time…"
He smiled faintly, the corners of his mouth never reaching his eyes.
"This time, I burn everything."
Li Tian didn't know Feng Lian's face.
Not yet.
But his instincts screamed louder than his doubts.
He stood outside the Sect Contribution Hall, waiting for his rewards to be processed. A few outer disciples whispered as he passed—some in awe, some in fear. Zhao's defeat. The forbidden manual. The Thunderclaw hunt.
Whispers grew fast in the Crimson Sky Sect.
Especially around someone who was supposed to be powerless.
"Li Tian?"
He turned.
It was a girl—no, a young woman. Probably sixteen, with short black hair tied in a high ponytail. Her eyes were large, bright, curious.
She wore the blue uniform of a logistics disciple—those who ran errands, carried messages, sorted supplies.
Unimportant.
Or so the sect believed.
"I have something for you," she said, pulling a scroll from her sleeve.
Li Tian opened it.
Inside was a simple message, written in calligraphy too refined for a mere logistics worker:
"Meet me at the First Sky Bamboo Grove. Midnight. Come alone. – Y.M."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Yun Mei?" he guessed.
The girl nodded. "She said it was urgent."
The First Sky Bamboo Grove was one of the quietest places in the outer sect—a sloping hill filled with sky-blue bamboo trees that swayed without wind. It was rumored that a Spirit Beast once lived here, but had long since passed into legend.
Li Tian arrived before midnight.
He didn't like being summoned.
But Yun Mei was different.
She wasn't just powerful. She was aware—awake, in ways others weren't.
When she arrived, she wore a cloak over her robes, and her hair was damp from mist.
"You came," she said.
"I always do."
She gave him a faint look of amusement.
Then, her voice dropped.
"You're not the only one."
Li Tian's gaze sharpened. "You know about the other Rebirth?"
"I know someone has appeared in the Inner Court with sudden power. He didn't exist on the rankings before last week, but now he's among the top five."
"Feng Lian," Li Tian said quietly.
Yun Mei nodded.
"I've seen him. His power doesn't match his realm. And his sword—there's something wrong with it. Like it's alive."
Li Tian didn't respond for a moment.
Then: "I'll need to meet him. Face to face."
Yun Mei's brows furrowed.
"That's suicide. He's protected. The elders have taken notice of him. Some believe he's the heir of the Sky Sword Pavilion."
Li Tian smirked faintly.
"Let them think that. I only need a moment. One look into his eyes will tell me what I need to know."
[New Quest Unlocked: First Contact – Rebirth Convergence]
[Objective: Infiltrate the Inner Court and confront Feng Lian.]
[Warning: If the entity detects hostile intent, it may trigger a premature clash.]
[Reward: Memory Fragment | Core Boost | First Blood Bonus (If Successful)]
He left the grove with the night wind at his back, his thoughts sharper than ever.
Every step he took now had to be calculated.
The sect was no longer a ladder.
It was a chessboard.
And the pieces were moving faster than ever.
Two days later, Li Tian stood before the Inner Gate.
Ordinary disciples were forbidden entry.
But he had planned ahead.
Contribution tokens, given as rewards for completing high-risk missions, could be traded for short-term access to the Inner Court—usually for tasks, rarely for training.
Li Tian handed his token to the guard.
The man hesitated. "Outer disciples usually don't go up the mountain."
"I'm not most disciples," Li Tian replied coldly.
The guard let him through.
And so, for the first time since his rebirth, Li Tian walked among the peaks of power.
The Inner Court was a different world.
Manicured gardens.
Floating pavilions.
Spirit beasts roaming freely under the watch of elite cultivators.
Power radiated from every stone, every disciple. They walked with arrogance, dressed in fine silks, armed with artifacts that pulsed with hidden danger.
Li Tian passed them without a word.
He could feel them watching. Judging.
But they didn't matter.
Only one person did.
Feng Lian stood at the edge of the Moonlight Platform, staring across a lake of liquid Qi. His robe fluttered softly in the breeze. His sword hung at his hip like a sleeping dragon.
He turned the moment Li Tian stepped onto the platform.
As if he had known he was coming.
The two stood in silence for a long moment.
Then Feng Lian spoke.
"Interesting," he said, eyes narrowing. "You're the first one."
Li Tian didn't flinch. "So you know."
"I remember everything," Feng Lian said. "I remember the betrayal. The fall. The laughter of the gods when I died."
His voice was calm.
But there was a crack in it. A depth of fury buried beneath decades of silence.
"And now?" Li Tian asked.
"Now I take it all back," Feng Lian whispered. "And if you get in my way, I break you."
Li Tian smiled slowly.
"I'd like to see you try."