[Year 7]

 

When I was young, my family was poor… not scraping by poor, but how can you live like that poor.

 

We were below dirt poor, and my body was thinner than a stick's. My brothers and sisters were about to die of hunger, and my mother lay bedridden… I… had to do something.

 

If I couldn't get food by working, I would forage in the forest. From bugs to worms, all of it was turned into food, not wasting a single thing so that we could survive.

 

Slowly, my body became revitalized, so I went hunting for more ferocious beasts… like the rabbit. I ran after it and caught it, and in time, my brothers and sisters caught up with me.

 

[Year 15]

 

I met an expert in the Cultivation World. I stole money from him, and the eccentric coot offered me to become his disciple.

 

After talking about it with my family, I accepted and became his disciple. It was a tearful farewell; I, the great older brother, was going away. Of course, they would miss me… and the food I brought in.

 

As for Mother… She gave me her blessing to leave with a bittersweet smile.

 

My Master was from the Elevated Water Clan; his ways were mysterious, and his home was ten thousand meters below the sea.

 

But as I began my training, I asked my Master for one thing, "Please ensure the safety of my family."

 

He accepted, and I began forging my path from there.

 

[Year 25]

 

Ten years passed, I had tens of journeys, and my name spread to the world as a rising genius. I stepped over many and matured wonderfully. 

 

In my journeys, I claimed hundreds of lives. Many hailed me as a hero, but I started to doubt my worth.

 

[Year 40]

 

I reached the Golden Veins of the World; I am now an expert and managed to take my family with me. I provided them with all the richest one could imagine and watched them grow and create their own families.

 

I did not spare any gold coins, giving them all I had, letting them experience the life they didn't get to live.

 

My mother's radiant smile stuck to me until she died ten years later.

 

I am a man who fought more wars than I could imagine; I lost more blood than a river's flow and took more lives than a City could hold. I am feared and revered, they say I am fearless and unbeatable, yet at the time of my Mother's death, I cried for three days to no end.

 

[Year 150]

 

My immediate family all perished with time. They were not blessed with the same gifts of cultivation as me. All of them could not follow me in my path.

 

The families they created remained, however. A clan under my name was erected, and they grew more prominent by the year under my radiance. I watched them grow until I grew bored of ruling over such trifling land.

 

I left to cultivate for my family in the first place. I chased greatness for them. Now, without them, I had nothing to work for. The Clan under me was not mine; they were the shadows my siblings left behind.

 

I left seeking a path of my own.

 

[Year 350]

 

My cultivation has reached Worldly Harmonization. My lifespan grew to 500 years, and now, I began to wonder what I desired. Years of meditation passed, and after so long, I understood what I truly wanted – everything.

 

The passing generation of the Clan I created with my family now had so little relation to me that they cannot be considered a part of me.

 

It is ruthless for me to act in this manner, but I must leave them for their own good. For them to rise, they could exist under my shadows.

 

But I left them a gift, a mountain that would exist for eternity. There I engraved three techniques… I would later hear that someone learned these techniques and grew to become an Emperor.

 

How amusing it was.

 

[Year 750]

 

The Immortal Poison Master of the Thousand Poison Valley treated me like his worst enemy and tried to kill me. Just stealing his Golden Dragon Bead led him to this much uproar; I wonder what his reaction would be if he learned I killed his son?

 

Don't worry, that son of his was creating Human Dolls with Mortal Flesh; he's a villain through and through… though it wouldn't matter either way. I already killed him, and the weight of his life now falls under my shoulders.

 

[Year 1000]

 

I killed the Immortal Poison Master and his associates and then became the sole ruler of the Underbelly of the Underworld.

 

Some Kingdoms and Experts went against my rule, and all of them died.

 

Time went on; I killed more and more until the whole world went against me like a tide. They called me the Ruthless Iron Hearted King.

 

I wonder who's the strongest under the Heaven? Many claim the title, and not once have I tried going after it… I wonder.

 

Bah, I already have all the treasures in the world. I control the Righteous with my shadow.

 

I decided to rightfully claim the title of strongest.

 

[Year 1100]

 

For the last century, I went on a 100-man challenge, sweeping the entire World Rankings of the greatest Martial Masters in the world.

 

Challenging them all in a man-to-man fight, some avoided me in fear of losing their prestige, while some fought to increase theirs.

 

Every year I would challenge one, and every year I would climb the rankings. I did not finish the challenge in a single year; I waited for a year to enjoy the journey claiming that I needed to prepare.

 

In truth, they were just so weak that I needed to give them time to grow stronger. The pressure I exuded made them train like no tomorrow. How amusing it was seeing aged experts scrambling for power. Some even stole treasures just to prepare for my arrival.

 

Wars raged for this reason, but I didn't care.

 

And after my 100th victory, I finally decided to try the impossible. Go against Heaven's Will.

 

My lifespan had already passed a thousand years. I should be dead, yet I wasn't.

 

I could feel the world had changed many times over. The monsters I used to look up to are now dead and have already turned to ashes. 

 

Their tombs were ransacked and desecrated by the next generation.

 

All those who contended with me were dead.

 

I wonder when I will meet my end? 

 

[Year 1500]

 

It had been hundreds of years since I appeared in public and decades since I last met someone.

 

For fifty years, at the peak of Crossing Heaven Mountain, I continued my meditation. My eyes remained close, my soul still, like tranquil water.

 

For the past fifty years, I have created my own path of cultivation and have long preceded the entire era. 

 

Will it take them a thousand years to discover my current course? I don't know, but I don't really care either.

 

I spent my time with my eyes closed. I felt the world and allowed it to embrace me. Slowly, my body assimilated to the growing trees' world roots, ate my body, and vines wrapped around me, but it didn't kill me. They kept me alive; they shared their life with mine, mistaking me for one of them.

 

I reached enlightenment and became one with the world. 

 

When I opened my eyes, the era no longer mattered, this world no longer possessed danger, and as I raised my head, I could see the darkness coalescing over the horizons.

 

Red lightning crackled and slithered like giant Wyrms dancing across the skies. I smiled at the sight of the Heaven's disgust for my existence. I freed myself from the binds of the earth, but I needed not to destroy the roots. They moved on their own, as though parting to create a path for a friend.

 

I jumped and shot up to the skies; this was the final battle I must face; to ascend beyond my mortality, I must defeat Heaven's Will and defy commonality.

 

I have no sword; I have nothing, only my conviction. The Heaven's Will that controls the world, the Heaven's Will that maintains the balance sensed my transgression.

 

It raged.

 

It sent down its servant, the Lightning Tribulation, to strike me down; it roared, announcing my judgment. I didn't escape my fate; I accepted the Tribulation's judgment waiting to see if it could end this life.

 

Thunder roared as it echoed across the lands.

 

Lightning lacerated my flesh. Blood spilled, and my soul shook, but it still couldn't kill me.

 

My feet touched the ground, 'What a pity.' was my thought.

 

For years, I have fought for my survival; now, after living for so long. I have lived for so long that I have nothing left. Love or challenges, no one could propose anything to me. The only reason I live is to move forward. My eyes fixed on the world before me; I could not stop now; else, my reason for being would disappear.

 

I want everything, and I will get everything.

 

I had everything, all but the heavens.

 

Thus, I decided to pluck its truth for myself.

 

Lightning above me writhed with even more savagery showing Heaven's anger to my derision and discontent.

 

Again, another lightning descended, and I decided to fight the Tribulation head-on. I had no weapons, nothing but my body. 

 

The elements of the world cannot be shifted; thus, I must overcome with my body!

 

From the tips of my souls to the end of my fingers, I circulated my energy, drawing out everything to see if Heaven can contend!

 

'Accept my utmost respect.'

 

BOOM!

 

The lightning stopped, and utilizing my spirit, I latched onto the remnants of the Tribulation and claimed it as mine. It, of course, lashed out in anger, but it was to no avail. 

 

I am the one who wants everything — even the dog of the Heavens cannot escape my greed.

 

'With this… even the heavens can no longer defy me.'

 

After dozens of decades, my steps began, searching for the following item I would claim. Yet, I felt the world around me suddenly warp.

 

'What's this?'

 

I turned around and saw that the skies had cracked. I smiled wryly, my heart in trepidation… I grew excited.

 

A purple light came down upon me; my body felt as though it was being ripped apart.

 

The pain surged, finally… I feel alive again!

 

'Come! Kill me if you wish! I shall face you without turning my back!'

 

I accepted its light and received its wrath, thanking it for letting me feel again.

 

Ahh, this is what I have been missing for centuries—the beauty of pain.

 

The light completely enveloped me; I could feel my body turning asunder. I saw the light pass me by, and I witnessed different sights and oddities I had not seen before.

 

Creatures beyond my conception, the strength that could shatter the stars, impossible feats like resurrecting the dead. I caught a glimpse of a different world, and when I reached out to it, my entire being was stolen from the world I ruled.

 

Everything went away, and I found myself in the skies — falling.

 

[You have Ascended — you have been kicked out of the Shadow Eclipsing Continent.]

 

A strange blue panel accompanied a peculiar voice echoing in my head.

 

'How curious.'

 

Another panel appeared and came with a new wall of information.

 

Name: Weiss Na (Owner)

 

Race: Pseudo-Human

 

[Welcome to the Arcadia]

 

'Is this another world?' I was befuddled, but the truth lay before in the form of the foreign board. 

 

The air, the spirits, it felt different from before.

 

An otherworldly sight detailed my strength with unearthly words. They were foreign words, yet I understood them.

 

Is this the gift of the heavens?

 

Was I sent to a higher plane of existence?

 

When I take a deep breath, I can feel my spirit revitalized. How thick and wondrous it was. What a bountiful land.

 

What a curious land! 

 

I grew excited for what was about to come-

 

BOOM!

 

I finally reached the ground.

 

Thus a new journey began.