In a quiet cultivation abode floating amidst the void of a distant realm, an old man with long white hair sat cross-legged.
His sharp eyes, like twin stars dimmed by time, stared into the darkness of the sealed chamber.
With a deep, resigned sigh, he muttered to himself, "It looks like I really can't heal this injury after all."
He lowered his gaze to his own body, one that still radiated the boundless aura of an immortal… but underneath that surface, the cracks ran deep.
"I won't die," he whispered, "but I will never make any more progress like this. My battle prowess will slip away… little by little… with every passing eon."
His voice was calm, but heavy with unwillingness.
This was Chen Yuan.
A name that once shook the heavens.
An immortal whose power bent the laws of heaven and earth, whose presence alone could crush entire sects.
In his prime, only the mythical Ancient Gods—those beings buried in forgotten legends—could possibly suppress him.
Not even Immortal Venerables dared to provoke him lightly.
Over a million eons ago, Chen Yuan traveled to another Chaos Plane to fight for a forbidden, primordial technique. The legends claimed it could mold a cultivator's body to rival, and even surpass, the might of the fiendgods themselves.
The price of such power was unimaginable.
Entire immortal sects vanished overnight.
Rivers of blood flowed.
The battle was beyond what any realm had seen in countless eras.
In the end, Chen Yuan survived.
He obtained the technique.
But he also suffered a grave price—an existential wound that no pill, no array, and no divine medicine could cure.
He tried everything.
Even the most arrogant of alchemists, who charged him ancient treasures for pills, failed to help.
The technique he had fought for with everything… he couldn't even use it.
It could only be practiced by someone just beginning their cultivation journey.
And he had no clan, no family, no disciples to pass it on to.
He was alone.
And the heavens had left him with no path forward.
That was when Chen Yuan made a choice—a desperate, mad choice.
A path that even broken immortals feared to take.
"I'll reincarnate," he said quietly.
"Even if I lose my memories. Even if I never return to this height again… I refuse to end here."
He stood.
With a single step, he vanished from his cultivation abode, entering the folds of space.
He appeared in a hidden realm only he could find—protected by ancient arrays so terrifying, even Venerables would die trying to break in.
At the heart of the realm lay a massive platform of divine spiritual jade.
Chen Yuan sat down, cross-legged.
His soul began to rise from his body, surrounded by shimmering light.
He formed hand seals, slow and precise.
Above him, a vast Samsara Array lit up, spinning with the force of reincarnation.
A gate of swirling light and shadow formed in the air.
Chen Yuan looked forward.
He didn't look back.
He didn't hesitate.
His soul shot into the gate—and vanished.
In a faraway Greater World, under the rule of the Ethereal Dao Sect, thunder cracked across the skies.
Lightning lit up the heavens.
In the Sect Master's courtyard, cries of labor echoed as the Sect Mistress clutched her belly.
The wife of the Sect Master, and Matriarch of the powerful Chen Clan, was giving birth.
The moment the child emerged into the world, the skies trembled.
Dragons and phoenixes soared through the clouds, blazing with light.
Heaven and earth rejoiced.
Such was the birthright of children born to Dao Beings.
But this child…
He didn't cry.
He opened his large violet eyes and looked around curiously, calm as still water.
The Sect Mistress held him gently in her arms, smiling with love in her eyes. She kissed his forehead softly.
The baby… smiled back.
At that moment, the door slid open.
The Sect Master entered with long strides. His powerful aura filled the room, but the baby didn't flinch.
Instead, he looked up at the man with quiet curiosity.
The Sect Master burst into hearty laughter.
"Haha! What a fearless little one."
He stepped forward and cradled the child with pride.
"This child… will be named Chen Chao."
And so, Chen Yuan's story began anew.