Pain. That was the first thing Lin Tian felt.
It burned through his body like molten lava, tearing through his very soul. His once-mighty divine physique, honed over thousands of years, was gone. In its place was a frail, broken body—limbs trembling, breath ragged, and dantian shattered.
He opened his eyes, As confusion set in his mind.
Darkness. A damp, moldy scent filled his nostrils, and a sharp chill seeped into his bones. He was lying on the cold stone floor of a tiny prison cell, his hands bound by rusted iron chains.
"Where am I?" The words came out hoarse, barely above a whisper. His head pounded as memories flooded in, a life of supreme power, ruling over the Celestial Realms, commanding countless deities and immortals. Yet, betrayal had taken it all away.
His own disciples. His most trusted generals. The people he had raised to prominence had turned against him.
"They… killed me," Lin Tian murmured, his heart burning with rage. "No, they thought they killed me." How cruel were they to want him dead, he had never been one to treat his own people unfairly, yet. They actually came together and killed him, His eyes filled with mockery and his smile filled With bitterness.
A cruel smirk formed on his chapped lips.
Fate had granted him a second chance.
He searched his mind, quickly sorting through the memories of his new body. Lin Tian, Outer Disciple of the Azure Sky Sect. A laughingstock. A cripple whose meridians had been destroyed three years ago by a young master's arrogance. Beaten, humiliated, and thrown away to rot in this prison.
And today was his execution.
"Heh… to think I would return in a body fated to die." Lin Tian clenched his fists. "Then let me defy fate itself."
A sudden rush of heat surged within him. Ancient, long-forgotten power awakened in his core. His past cultivation knowledge,his comprehension of the Dao, the forgotten techniques of the Heavens, none of it had disappeared. It reincarnated with him as well, hidden to the world.
His enemies had only killed his body.
His soul? Unbroken. Indomitable. Eternal.
BOOM!
A surge of golden light erupted from his chest, shattering the rusted chains like brittle twigs. A pulse of energy spread through his veins, repairing his broken meridians at a terrifying speed. The Divine Seal of Rebirth, a technique lost to time, one that only he had ever mastered.
Footsteps echoed down the stone corridor outside his cell. Guards, likely coming to drag him to the execution grounds. Too late.
Lin Tian stood up, rolling his shoulders as his strength surged.
"This time, I will not just survive," he whispered, his golden eyes gleaming like twin suns. "I will conquer."
He calmly stood there waiting for the guards to come.
****