In the Thousand Stars World, a special force exists.

    There are two names for this force, Qi and Mana.

Qi is the channeling of external energy to strengthen one's body. 

Mana is the power to manifest imagination through the understanding of the world’s laws and its manipulation.

Qi and Mana are the same yet different.

Mana classifies the power of a Magus, while Qi ranks the strength of Martial Arts cultivators. Every being has one, and only one essence! They can use either Qi or Mana but no man can use both at the same time.

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The war between the humans and demons lasted 100,000 years. The two people who ended it were revered as the Solar Martial Monarch and the Lunar Magus Monarch, the youngest peak Martial Emperor and Magus Emperor.

In the year 17000 the Solar Martial Monarch and the Lunar Magus Monarch killed the Demon Monarch, ending the 100,000 years old war.

But when the Solar Martial Monarch defeated the Demon Monarch, he went insane from the shockwave which the Demon Monarch’s Devil Arts left behind, making him turn into a true demon. 

After he became a demon that was much stronger and an even bigger threat to the world than the Demon Monarch, the five great Magus and Martial Artists felt obliged to kill him.

While he was still in a weakened state they all struck him and killed him in the spot known as the Peerless Demonic Ruins… 

After the battle the Magus Monarch vanished from the eyes of the world.

Since then, 8,089 years have passed and currently it’s the 25,089th year in the thousand stars calendar. 

Well, the story is told like that, but nobody knows about what had actually happened in the Peerless Demonic Ruins, but most believe the words of the 10 Nether Emperors that rule over and protect the region of the Thousand Stars World.

   

…..

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On the far west side of the Thousand Stars World, in the Blue Star Continent, there was a rickety building leaning against the wind, out of place next to the massive mansion it occupied the yard of.

The entirety of this small construction consisted of one room. Inside, the only piece of furniture was a bed, but that took a backseat to the bittersweet stench of freshly spilled blood. The scent was being produced by a young boy, lying motionless on the floor. He was clearly injured, several wounds covering his body in various places.

Even as young as he seemed to be, perhaps fourteen or so, he still had a handsome face. From a casual observer’s perspective, one would likely call him a good-looking child, or perhaps a well-proportioned teenager.

At any case, this curious person was most assuredly, undoubtedly, dead. His heart wasn’t beating and no breath left his scarred body.

Thump.

He sat up with a sudden gasp, dragging a hoarse breath through his oxygen-starved lungs and staring around the small room wildly, as if a close family member or friend had just been killed in front of him.

Dragging himself to his feet, he stumbled and seized the bed for support, still heaving ragged breathes and trembling. “Wh… where am I? What happened!?”

Then suddenly a surge of memories flowed into his mind. They somehow felt familiar, more familiar, than anything. After those memories flowed into his mind, he suddenly pounced up with an expressionless face, but in his eyes were the raging flames of hatred and unlimited killing intent. 

He then opened his mouth and filled the room up with a roar, that sounded like a kid’s voice yet it felt deeper and graver than any voice in this world:

“Those 10 old foxes dare to betray ME?!! WHO DO YOU TAKE ME FOR!!!”

Slowly the fire in his eyes started to dim and now his expression changed to a rather shocked, dumbfounded and astonished one, as he took a look at his body and tried talking once again.

“What is this? Why, why are my fingers and my hands so small? And what is with my voice, it’s...”

Before he could spout another word, just like what happened before, another surge of memories flowed into his mind. But this time, he felt as if  the sky was falling down directly onto his mind and his breath became hectic and heavy. He pressed his hands against his head while shaking. 

These memories were not familiar like the last one, they felt like someone else was invading his mind. His head was throbbing in pain. He fell to his knees and tried to bear with it. The pain started to cool down not long after.

“Haah”
 

He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, which was a sign that he was concentrating, this time he concentrated to think. After a short time, he looked as if he had solved a great mystery.

“Wait… Could this be... what they call reincarnation? These memories in my mind... I see. So, this was originally the body of a kid named Wulan? I didn’t think I would reincarnate with a body who has the same name as me, the ‘Solar Martial Monarch Wulan’. What a coincidence, ha.”

He took his time to properly sort the memories of his new body he reincarnated into and found an important piece of information. Then he once again murmured.

“To think that in this new life of mine I would have a ‘Magus’ essence. This is really ironic, I hated Magus my whole life. Yet, now this body of mine, is one, fate sure likes to play with me. Well, never mind that. At the moment, there are matters of greater importance, especially…”

Wulan looked down at his body which was covered in injuries and gave off the stench of blood.
   
“This body is really injured quite badly. I should try to recover as fast as possible or I may get crippled. Ha, well, my appearance wasn’t much better the last time I looked down on my body...”

“...” 

He sat down with closed eyes.

“I was a Martial Artist in my previous life, so I only know how to inhale Qi, but this is a Magus body, which can only use Mana, even though I have this body's memories my mind has not adapted to it yet .”

He concentrated even more. While he was wondering how he could inhale the surroundings innate energy and storing it in Magus Essence he sensed a dim red energy which felt really familiar, suddenly, his eyes shot open, they almost looked blood-shot. Wulan’s voice faintly trembled as the said:

   

“How? Why? This is the body of a Magus, so how is this possible? I don't believe it … I have a Martial essence? Not only that, this feeling... it is undoubtedly the Rex - Essence from my previous life, how is that possible?”

He was to the point it couldn’t just be called ‘astonished’ because the Essence is inside of the heart and it is directly connected to it. Nobody has two hearts so it’s impossible to practice both Magus and Martial ways.

He reached the peak of Martial Emperor with his Rex - Essence at the age of 560, which is considered young in the Thousand Star’s World.

“That should not, no, it can't be possible, however… this is without a doubt, the Rex -Essence from my previous life….”

He felt below his heart and was able to feel the pumping of an Essence other than this body’s Magus - Essence. How could he mistake his own Essence for anything else.

“But, my heart, 8,000 years ago…  it…”

    …..

On an open field which gave off the feeling of darkness and evil stench,there stood a man, who was seemingly surrounded with the aura of a roaring dragon, he was heavily injured from head to toe. 

Beside him stood another man who was wearing clothing, which gave off high Magus energy, he was obviously a magus. Behind the two men, there were 10 middle-aged looking people, they were seemingly high Magus and Martial Artists.

The man who had the dragon-like aura, but also looked pretty bulked, suddenly spoke with a deep voice which could make anyone who hears it shiver in fear. 

“Haha we did it. Finally! We finally did it! We defeated the Demon Monarch and his 10 Emperors! Whoa, Lakiron you're totally messed up. I think it’s time for us to hold a huge banquet and be able to relax. We really deserve that!” 

The man who had Magus energy surrounding him spoke up with a weak voice. His throat was injured and his whole body was clad in the stench of fresh blood. 

“You’re the last one to talk, you're even more badly injured than me, Wulan, you are looking terrible. At least I saved a portion of my Mana to recover faster. You Martial Artists are all just muscle heads, seriously, you should use your Qi more wisely.” 

The whole scenery seemed like there was not a single living person in this world, everywhere were the signs of a long and hard battle, thousands of corpses were lying on the ground.

The 10 middle aged experts all started moving together. They approached the two of them and…

“Bam”

Pain suddenly spread through Wulan’s back.

   

“Wulan… Great! You did great! Really. We finally did it!”

   

One of the 10, a middle aged man, named Lengku, suddenly hit Wulan with the palm of his hand.

“Could you please stop, even if you only use a little bit of your strength and hit me in a gentle manner, it still hurts badly.”

“You really are messed up that badly? Well, you did most of the work, I almost feel bad, no, actually I feel really bad. Truly...”

“No need for you to doubt yourself, you all did a great job!”

“...”

Lengku fell silent with a strange expression and looked away from Wulan, towards the other 9 that were coming over. It’s as if he wasn’t able to look Wulan straight into his eyes.

“Hey, all of you did a great job! It’s thanks to all of you that we were able to finally defeat all of them… Hm? Is something the matter? Shouldn’t we all rejoice that we saved the world, what’s with your mood?” 

Wulan was confused about their weird attitude.

All 10 people somehow had a strange atmosphere around them, and didn’t even meet his eyes. Wulan wasn’t able to see their faces nor expressions.

“...”

They suddenly surrounded Wulan and Lakiron, while not looking into their eyes. Every single one of their steps seemed to be heavy.

“Now!”

   

All of them jumped at the two, before he knew it, Wulan was pressed to the ground by five of them. Next to him, the same thing happened to Lakiron. 

Lakiron only had a small quarter of his mana and was able to resist a little but Wulan was motionless. He had not a single Qi on him or he could’ve jumped up from that position long time ago.

“You! What?!  What are you doing?!”

He suddenly asked with a gloomy voice which sounded like an enraged beast.

They didn’t respond.

 
Suddenly they pulled out five daggers, and in unison, they stabbed him through his chest, and then his vital point.

“You… YOU BASTARDS!!! DAMN YOU, YOU FOXES, HOW DARE YOU BETRAY US!!”

Wulan roared once again, he instantly understood why they were acting strange.

Wulan’s eyes were filled with many emotions. But the most present and stronger one was:
Fury!

While coughing up blood he opened his mouth and with the last of life left in him, he roared:

“I - I WI - WILL - KI -LL  A -LL OF - YOOOUUUUU!!!!!”

These were the last words, before Wulan, the Solar Martial Monarch lost consciousness. His roar sounded as if it was the roar of a true dragon. Seconds later his heart stopped beating and he... died.

…..

After he stopped thinking about what happened 8,000 years ago, he was beyond enraged, he wanted to tear the 10 Nether Emperors to pieces.

They killed him and his precious best friend Lakiron, and from the memories of the boy, it seems, they even told the world that he had turned into a demon and had to be exterminated. This was not a simple offense it was beyond anything he could handle. 

He trusted those 10 Nether Emperors like they were his brothers. They were his friends and comrades, they went through grief and joy together, they were almost like a family to him, and yet they betrayed him and Lakiron.

……

They hit him in his chest which should have destroyed his essence, yet, somehow he still had it. Both Magus and Martial arts Essence residing in one body is a foreign thing to the Thousand Stars World.

“If I really have reincarnated with my Rex essence, I might still have my strength from my previous life, and that would mean, I wouldn’t need to start over with a magus essence. That would be just perfect!”

He was elated just thinking about it because he thought he would need to start over from the beginning with a magus essence….

He closed his eyes and used his inner vision to look for the exact location of the Rex -Essence. 

   

The Rex -Essence is a rare Essence which was never seen before in the world and Wulan, the one who was born with it, had an unlimited talent. 

Martial Arts use Qi. Qi is an external energy, which is taken in and channeled through the body to strengthen its muscles, durability and overall strength  and . While a Magus uses Mana, Mana is the understanding of the laws of the world and manipulating it. The higher one's mental or internal energy, the higher your level of manipulation.

Wulan was in the deep sea of his Essence, the Essence is connected to one's heart. Qi is basically inhaling the surrounding external energy and letting it go to the heart. Then, the heart, or Essence, will pump the energy to all parts of your body thus strengthening your body. 

While Mana is also inhaling the same energy, it is different, because when it reaches the Essence, you store it there, that means that you strengthen your internal, or mental, energy.

                           

After he carefully searched for a while in the vast sea of inside the Essence. He finally sensed a bright red energy from the corner of his new body’s heart. It was shining like an emerald, as he got closer to it, he sensed that it had no energy. It was sitting at the first level Martial Novice. 

His hope was shattered. He thought if he reincarnated with his Rex essence he wouldn’t need to start over with a Magus Essence. Now he had both a Martial and a Magus - Essence, yet both of them were at Novice Level.

“Sigh, I was really thinking I might not need to start over from scratch. Well it's not a bad thing. You old foxes mark my words, one day, I, the Monarch of Martial way, will hunt you down and avenge my friend and myself.”

   

He said those words to comfort himself with those words, but he was actually very disappointed.

Suddenly in the vast sea of the essence a blue energy started running towards his direction. This blue energy was the Magus Essence of his new body. The scarlet red Rex essence also reacted with a strange light like it was seducing something.

“What is going on here? Why are the Magus Energy and Rex Essence acting so strange?”

His eyes blanked and was startled by these two lights, which were shining like the bright stars that you see in this world called the Thousand Stars World. This world was called the Thousand Stars World, because in the night, thousands of stars cover the sky.

The scarlet red and the azure blue Essence ran towards each other like two ferocious beasts which wanted to clash with one another. Then suddenly they hit each other and a big shockwave shook the whole sea of the Essence. Wulan was suddenly forcefully kicked out of his sea Essence and his heart was aching heavily. 

He spout out red blood constantly. After a couple of minutes of enduring this pain Wulan’s heart shaking finally subsided.

“...”

His breath was still irregular and frantical.

“Huff, huff, what the hell was that just now?! It was as if something damaged my heart! But, why do I feel so refreshed, after such a painful experience?” 

Wulan’s breathing was hard. The heart is the most important organ of the human body, just touching it directly could possibly kill you.

After a couple of minutes of resting, He was curious as to what had actually happened in his Essence. He, like before, activated inner vision and once again arrived at the vast sea of his Essence.

……..

   

Something was different than before, the color of the sea had changed from all blue to half red and half blue. On top of the Essence sea, there were two glowing energies, the blue and red energy intertwined with one another and as if they were water with two colors, they immersed and mixed with each other.

The red and blue essence were like brothers; they were joined together in harmony. Both of them were spinning around, and finally, they became one essence.

His face showed how greatly surprised he was from what he saw was before his eyes.

“What is this? Why are my Rex Essence and this body’s Magus Essence combined?”

He was dumbfounded just from the fact that he had two Essences residing in his sea of essence, but two Essences merging with one another is a completely never heard of thing in this Thousand Stars World.

“I never imagined my Rex Essence could merge with another Essence.”

On the left side of the joint essence, there were 7 stars glowing inside of the Azura blue side. These 7 stars all looked different, such as red, blue, purple, dark black, bright light and so on.

Wulan, for some reason, had an dumbfounded expression.

“T-those 7 stars!! It is like Lakiron’s affinity for all elements!”

Magus use a system called affinity to determine which law you can use. Well, though Lakiron said that it actually is just the talent to understand one of the laws. For example, if you really like fire, and you easily learn how to use it and how it works, then you have the affinity for fire. It is hard to learn a law that you don’t have an affinity for, but not impossible.

“To think my Martial Essence and this body’s Magus Essence would combine... This is really convenient, so I just need to inhale one energy and it will go to both magus and martial essence. This must be a blessing in disguise. Going through that pain was definitely worth it, haha.”

He knew the external Energy goes to the Essence and since his old Essence and the Magus Essence combined and were now one, he just needed to use one energy way. He only knew how to use Qi inhaling techniques so if he used that, it would go to both the Magus- and Martial- side of the Essence.

“Well, since it’s a never before seen Essence and it is my personal special Essence as well, I should give it a proper name, to honor it. Hmm, I was never really good with names but… Maybe… no, it sounds just wrong... Let me see…. Rex, Rex, Rex Essence…. Oh I think I got an idea. How’s the name Magistial Rex Essence? Well, nobody is here to say anything, or to judge the name, but it is the best I can think of at the moment. It is a fusion of Magic and Martial, just like my sea, and Rex stands for King, and such an Essence is truly worthy of this title!”

“I think I should try to take in some of the surrounding energy and tend my injuries now, after all, I’m in a really bad state. With the Qi, I can heal those wounds, I just need enough time. Also, I really want to know how it is to cultivate with an essence that was born from the combination of both a Magus- and Martial- Essence. ”

He was preparing to close his eyes once again, before he blinded his eyes, Wulan started to breathe in some of the surrounding energy...

                                 To be continued.