Chapter 1
Ten seconds.
That's all it took for Liang Chen's life to wither and turn to ash.
It took five seconds for the killing blow to land. It took another five for his cultivation to shatter.
A loud collective gasp by the audience followed as Liang Chen fell into the lotus pond.
SPLASSSSHHHHH!!!
Liang Chen's body hit the body of water, the surface of the water exploded like a volcano, droplets flew into the air, catching the sunlight, looking like wonderful jewels. It was ironic how beautiful things could happen when one was about to die.
The water fell back down, soaking his robes. A scarlet mist trailed from the wound on his abdomen, colouring the water of the pond red. Liang Chen's body lay there, half dead, tears that refused to come out stung his eyes
He just floated in the pond, waiting for it to all be over.
How had Liang Chen's life turned to this.
His life was the envy of some and the dream of others.
His clan was one of the clans that made up the Crimson Lotus Sect. He was born into the Liang clan, a prestigious clan from the western continent.
From the moment he could crawl, the sect elders were already whispering between themselves about his immense potential.
At age eight, he had mastered the spear arts, sword arts and the projectile arts.
At age nine, he was beating grown men in fights.
By age 10, he had awakened his dantian and had cultivated towards the Foundation establishment realm by the time he was 15, the youngest in history to ever do so.
At the age of twenty, he had achieved immortality by beating the dreaded heavenly tribulations and becoming a Martial Expert.
And coupled with his exquisite good looks, his life was a fairy tale. He had pale olive skin with silver grey eyes. He had long curly dark hair, so dark it had blue undertones under the right lighting.
So how?
How did it all fall apart so quickly?
He had never chased power. He had never bitten the hand that fed him.
He trained, he studied, he taught others. He defended the sect at its borders, killed beasts, quelled uprisings. He never once questioned orders.
And now, here he was laying in the lotus pool, his executioner's words ringing in his head.
"The evidence is overwhelming. You are hereby sentenced to death."
From the same person that once called him his 'nephew'. From the same person who he had trained under. From the same person, whose daughter he had been wedded to, all of it, were lies.
But how?
How could he be responsible for the death of the sect grandmaster; it simply made no sense.
He had been instructed by the grandmaster to meet him in his chambers in the night, to discuss some pressing sect matters. When he entered his chambers, he found the grandmaster in a drunken state.
He was holding a gourd of alcohol, dressed in loose fitting turquoise nightwear. When Liang Chen asked what was wrong with the grandmaster, he suddenly stopped and as if possessed by a dark force, lunged at Liang Chen.
Liang Chen side-stepped the attack, his eyes widened with shock at the sudden outburst. He began swinging a concealed dagger at Liang Chen. Liang Chen dodged the strikes and tried to talk some sense into the grandmaster, but it was like the grandmaster was not in his right state of mind.
The grandmaster suddenly stopped, and stabbed himself in the chest, then he threw the dagger at Liang Chen, he caught it with his two hands as it was about to impale the bridge of his nose. Then the grandmaster fell to the floor.
At that moment, the guards barged into the room, they surveyed the sight. Liang Chen holding the dagger and the grandmaster's dead body lying on the ground.
And just like that, Liang Chen was convicted of the crime.
Because some evil force needed a scapegoat.
And Liang Chen?
He was perfect. Powerful enough to draw attention. Young enough to be discarded. Loved enough to make a statement.
The trial had only lasted less than a day.
Liang Chen wasn't even allowed to defend himself. The sect elders sat atop their thrones of jade and gold, eyes already blind to truth, ears already deaf to reason. They read the evidence, which were fabricated scrolls, twisted testimonies and even a so-called witness who claimed to have seen him flee the chamber in the dead of night.
No one asked why a man with Liang Chen's strength would be foolish enough to leave the body behind.
No one asked why a trusted disciple would kill his own master with no motive.
No one wanted to ask.
They had their villain.
And villains are meant to die.
Even his fiancee stood silent. She didn't cry. She didn't speak on his behalf. Her face was pale, her expression was unreadable, but her silence stabbed deeper than any sword could. He searched her eyes, hoping, begging for a flicker of belief.
But she looked through him like he was a stranger.
That was the moment something inside Liang Chen broke.
And he stopped caring about anything.
Back in the lotus pond, the blood was leaking faster now.
Above him, he could hear the murmurs of sect disciples.
"Such a shame… he was so talented."
"He hid his madness well…"
"No, I always knew something was off about him…"
The lotus petals floated down from the branches above, time seemed to slow down, and invisible breeze blew an upcoming petal away. Death was appraoching fast.
"Is this how I die?" he thought.
His vision blurred and the world began to dim.
But just before the darkness could take him....
Something awoke inside him. All the hatred that had been building up inside him suddenly awoke.
DING!!!
A sharp chime resounded. It wasn't coming from outside, it was coming from inside his mind.
[SYSTEM BOOTING… ERROR DETECTED: HOST IS DYING.][TEMPORARY ACCESS GRANTED. Rewriting causality… Please wait.]
His body convulsed in the water.
[Regression Protocol Initiated.]
"No…" he gasped, blood pooling in his mouth. "What is this…"
[Time Lock Broken. Commencing soul transfer… 3… 2… 1…]
The world shattered.
Not metaphorically. It literally shattered. The pond fractured like glass under a hammer, shards of the very fabric of reality hanging midair like stardust. Screams were frozen, the petals paused mid-fall, the wind paused.
And then—
BOOOOOM!!!
A blast of golden light erupted from the pond, reaching to the heavens like a beacon. Every sect disciple felt it, a power so ancient it made their hearts seize in terror.
Then all went silent.
And Liang Chen…
Vanished.