Matthew groaned painfully as he opened his eyes, every cell in his body screaming at him. 

"Matthew, you're awake!" a sweet voice called out to him and rushed to his bed. 

He looked at the pretty girl, who probably looked around 18 years old, who looked both familiar and unfamiliar to him at the same time. 

"Don't move. I'll call the doctor" she said as she touched him on the forehead and rushed off. 

Matthew looked confused, but the agonizing pain throughout his whole body prevented him from thinking too much about it. 

He focused on his breathing, letting the pain flow through him as he gained his calm. 

"What is going on?" he wondered, remembering his last thoughts which was him being shot full of bullets and his wife Jennifer grabbing his member tightly and suddenly his world turning dark. 

Just then, a sudden flood of memories of a life that was not his flooded his mind as his body spasmed at the same time. 

The beautiful girl from earlier rushed in with an elderly looking man, holding him down as his body continued spasming as the doctor injected something in his arm to calm him down. 

But all Matthew could do was let them treat him as he helplessly recalled what had happened to him. 

He was Matthew Asher, son of Duke Brandon Asher, the famous retired general and famous hero of the Kingdom of Rolendra.

Duke Brandon was a handsome warrior, hugely admired by all the population, with the daughters of the many nobilities, including Princess Theresa who was the younger sister of his best friend and now King Maximillian, after him. 

But Duke Brandon returned after a victorious military campaign suddenly bringing back a baby boy who he claimed was his son he named Matthew. 

Matthew was a beautiful baby, even though his mother's origins were a mystery, whom Duke Brandon would not disclose. 

But it was very clear that Matthew was not ordinary as it was discovered early in his life that he was blessed with the ability to talk to nature. Even the wild beasts in the forest seemed to obey him and it seemed nothing in nature would harm him. 

It was as if nature itself was subservient to him from the age he could walk and talk. 

This was a land full of magic and cultivation with the population training themselves with their cultivation levels divided into Mortal, Novice, Master, Grandmaster, Sage and Saint, with the higher realms of Immortal, Demi God and God levels being spoken about only in myths and legends. 

From a young age, Matthew was able to wield the abilities of a Master, which would be impossible to normal people since most only start cultivating at the age of 7, starting at Novice level 1. 

Not only that, he could fly, control multiple elements with ease and seemed "lucky" at whatever he did.

This led him to be called the Blessed One, or the Chosen One, much admired and loved by everyone in the Duchy. 

However, one day, at the age of 10, while he was out in the forest playing with the wild animals, he was attacked by an unknown group of assailants, all of which were no less than Master level exponents. 

Matthew was horribly beaten up, his meridians ruined and his ligaments sliced and dantian pierced so he could never cultivate again, nor even walk or hold a weapon ever again. He was beaten into a coma, and had never woken up till now, after 4 years.

This infuriated his father Duke Brandon, who was a Grandmaster exponent himself, who searched far and wide for the assailants, but no traces of them could be found.

Not long later, Duke Brandon was suddenly summoned to the palace and asked to lead the Rolenda army to war against the neighboring army of  the Kingdom of the barbaric Gands.

He left the care of his catatonic son to his loyal helpers as he rushed to war. 

Unfortunately, tragic news arrived as it was reported that although the armies of Gand were ultimately defeated, it took the sacrifice of Duke Brandon, who singlehandedly killed several of the enemies' generals and even the ruler of Gand by himself before dying. 

Of course, he didn't know of his father's death and was only slowly starting to recognize the pretty girl helping the doctor administer medicine to his body.

"Martha? Is that you? You've grown..." he said with a raspy voice.  

"Oh Matthew..." she cried as tears ran down her eyes. 

--

Martha was the daughter of the royal butler and royal cook. She was 4 years older than Matthew and was like his older sister growing up. 

She was always by his side, being raised to be his loyal maid. She was there when he first displayed his abilities, and she was there as he grew up, watching his growth as the so called Blessed one. 

She was also the one who discovered his mangled body when she finished her chores to go look for him 4 years ago and has been tasked with taking care of him and bathing and cleaning him for the past 4 years. 

After treating him with pain medication, Martha sat with Matthew and started telling him what had happened this past 4 years, including the death of his father. 

And things had not been going well for the Asher household after that. 

After his father's death, much of the prestige and authority of the Asher household were taken away since the sole heir to the Duke was a catatonic invalid. 

Many of the fertile lands that belonged to the Duke was assigned to other noblemen as rewards for serving in the war, leaving the Asher Duchy with just the land their grand manor was located on, and several acres surrounding the large house. 

Even all Duke Brandon's businesses were taken away by other noblemen, leaving the household to slowly drain whatever money the household had left.

By coincidence, today the very day Matthew woke up, a letter was delivered to the house, annulling the arranged marriage between Alexandria De Mornay, the beautiful daughter of Marquise August De Mornay, born with the rare Purple Body. 

The Purple Body, a rare body that enables the owner to cultivate at an incredible rate would also be shared by her cultivation partner through sex, which was why it was so sought after. 

She was paired with Matthew, since he was a never before seen genius, far exceeding even her with her purple body. But it was now seen as a shame that he is crippled, and her body wasted on him. 

Matthew listened to everything, even though it seemed foreign to him. After all, he was James Bourne, not Matthew Asher. This body was not his, nor were his attachments to the people around him. 

He looked at his emaciated body, wasted away after 4 years of not moving, and unable to move due to his injuries. He wondered, was this really any better than dying after his first death? Even if he lived, as this body was still young, was it really better?