Important Update: New website and chapters at imreallyavillain.ml. (I've recently run into issues with the hosting provider I am using (000webhost - avoid!) so I'm migrating everything yet again. Sigh. Sorry for the inconvenience. Should be up and running in a few days).
Central Yuan Continent was a world of martial arts cultivation.
According to the ancient legends, a mysterious force had divided the continent into five parts.
In the extreme west of the Eastern Continent was the True Martial Saint Sect, a behemoth that ruled over more than ten thousand square miles.
Inside the True Martial Saint Sect, beautiful white cranes flew amid the white auspicious clouds that covered the skies, adorning the gushing spiritual springs.
Here, there were cultivators who could merely step onto their swords and fly ten thousand miles in an instant.
Here, a burly man swung his fist, and the Xuan Iron Martial Stone exploded into fragments.
...........
Yannan Peak was located in the center of the True Martial Saint Sect, the peak of the mountain towering high above everything else.
Clouds shrouded the summit, ensnaring it with a deep fog.
Xu Zimou was dressed in a white robe, as pristine as snow. His long hair bellowed in the cold wind, and his eyes were deep, appearing to pierce into the infinite.
His lone figure stood at the edge of the cliff, the breeze ruffling his robe.
"I guess this means I’ve been reborn!" Contrary to his appearance, Xu Zimou was stunned inside. After staying silent for three minutes, he couldn’t help but remain silent for another three.
"Shouldn't rebirth be the origin of the protagonist? But then why do I seem to have the origin story of a villain?”
As Xu Zimou examined his situation, he couldn’t help but ridicule himself. He could only describe it as “so unlucky it would pierce one’s soul.”
This body of his was so frail he couldn't even describe its condition. He was also sure that he had returned to when he was merely fifteen years old, the day he had only just begun his cultivation journey.
But this rebirth wasn’t that simple. He had more than just the memories of his previous life.
Inside his dantian, a round, glowing bead condensed by laws floated silently.
As he looked closer, he saw that the bead was a space of its own, with grass, dew, and a sun rising in the east.
It emanated an incomparable majesty, giving Xu Zimou the feeling that merely a hint of its grandeur could flatten the mountain peak beneath his feet.
He soon felt a familiar aura inside it, and suddenly, his eyes widened.
The bead was something he had accidentally obtained in his previous life. He hadn’t known its true use, but after some experimenting, he learned that it could help him tear through space.
That was why, when he had been defeated, he had incorporated all of his divine-rank cultivation into the orb in an attempt to escape by tearing through space. However, he had definitely not expected to be reborn as a teenager.
So that was why he had felt a sense of familiarity. The energy inside the bead included his previous life’s god chakra rank cultivation!
Xu Zimo's whole body shook with excitement. He was confident that he could return to the rank of divine within a year with the help of the energy.
The path of cultivation was a path of thorns.
It was filled with difficulty, as hard as reaching the heavens.
One step at a time.
Humans started their cultivation at the mortal rank, tempering their flesh and blood, polishing their physique and tempering their skin.
After the body was tempered, one would have to open the body’s spiritual chakra to communicate with the world’s spiritual energy and enter the spiritual chakra rank.
Mortal, spiritual chakra, condensed chakra, true chakra, void chakra, venerable chakra, emperor chakra, sacred chakra, divine chakra.
These nine ranks are the Nine Chakras of Heaven Ascension.
Xu Zimou gazed into the horizon. He was now able to mobilize the energy within the bead at will. With a single thought, he could complete the tempering of the mortal rank and directly reach the spiritual chakra rank.
It wouldn’t be difficult to absorb the energy and re-enter the divine chakra rank in a year.
However, he wasn't in any hurry at the moment. First, he was currently within the True Martial Saint Sect. His father was extremely concerned about his cultivation and was definitely paying to Xu Zimou’s cultivation. Xu Zimou didn't want others to discover any abnormalities.
Second, Xu Zimou didn’t want to begin engrossing himself with raising his cultivation. He currently felt happy. He wanted to enjoy where he was.
Everything had returned to how it had been. Everything was now redeemable.
Father, Ruhu, Xiao Dingtian.
There was the girl on the banks of the Willow River, who had stood in the wind, tears in her eyes. All she had wanted was to lead an ordinary life.
In the end, he had lost everyone. After narrowly escaping, he had finally been defeated by the sword of the protagonist, Chu Yang.
...........
Xu Zimou contemplated as he looked into the distance. His white clothes fused with the fog, and as the wind around his figure slowly appeared to increase in strength, he smiled. It was a smile with a hint of madness.
"Chu Yang, in a previous life, I was but a slightly larger stepping stone for your path to the peak.
“I was just an insignificant pawn on your chessboard.
“But in this life, I will no longer be a mere pawn. Using every being as my chess pieces and the world as my chessboard, I, with my own hands, will play a game and overturn fate!”
...........
At this point in his life, Xu Zimou lived in a courtyard located at the center of Yannan Peak. As he made his way back, he observed his surroundings. Medicinal herbs bloomed on both sides, colorful rainbows extended into the sky, and a spirit beast could be seen running in the distance, its body glowing with power.
Brightly colored fruits could be seen in spirit trees randomly placed around - spirit fruits that would cause ordinary people to fight to their deaths for them.
Here, though, they were but mere ornaments that dotted the landscape along the way.
When Xu Zimou arrived near the courtyard, he noticed his guard, Zhang Zhongtian, who was waiting far away at the entrance.
"Young Master, Vice Sect Leader has just asked someone to bring a message. He says that if you’re feeling alright, you should go see him. He has something he wants to talk to you about,” Zhang Chongtian said, bowing respectfully.
"Got it," Xu Zimou nodded, and, accompanied by Zhang Chongtian, he made his way towards the Qingshan Peak.
...........
Three years ago, the current Sect Leader of the True Martial Saint Sect reached the peak of the sacred chakra rank.
In order to seek that last glimmer of hope to breakthrough to the divine chakra rank, he ceded power to Vice Sect Leader Xu Qingshan and entered the mortal world alone, in search of inspiration and truth in the mundane.
Since then, Vice Sect Leader Xu Qingshan had become the greatest ruler of True Martial Saint Sect, and Xu Zimo was the only son of Xu Qingshan.
It could be said that he was the Young Master of the entire True Martial Saint Sect.
...........
Xu Zimou recalled that at this time in his previous life, his father had approached him and spoken to him about cultivation.
He was only fifteen years old and had yet to step into the threshold of cultivation.
Before the age of fifteen, the meridians, five viscera and six bowels of the human body had yet to be formed. They were relatively fragile and couldn’t be easily cultivated.
Basically, the entire Central Yuan Continent was filled with people who started on the path of cultivation at the age of fifteen.
...........
Xu Zimou soon arrived at Qingshan Peak, the place where the greatest ruler of the True Martial Saint Sect lived. It wasn't a place of gold and splendor, of buildings and pavilions.
There was just an ordinary cabin, a slow and clear creek, and a middle-aged man in a green shirt, sitting by the river's edge.
...........
Xu Zimo stood by the river and just looked at his father in silence.
He didn't speak up, and neither did Xu Qingshan.
The father and son had a surprisingly tacit understanding.
After a while, a long gale brushed past them, breaking this rare silence, and Xu Qingshan slowly raised his head.
He appeared to be a very ordinary middle-aged man in a plain green shirt, without an iota of the imposing momentum a man of his status should have.