Blood.
The metallic tang filled his mouth as he stumbled across the shattered courtyard, ribs broken, organs ruptured. His robes—once white, now drenched in crimson—clung to his thin frame like a funeral shroud.
"Li Ming, you fool!"
Laughter echoed behind him. Dozens of sect brothers—his so-called family—stood watching with contemptuous smiles. Swords in hand, eyes blazing with self-righteous fire.
"Still chasing eternity?" one sneered. "You've wasted decades on forbidden texts, rejected the sect's Dao, and for what? Look at you now. A cripple crawling in the dirt!"
Li Ming spat blood onto the cracked tiles. His vision swam, but his mind was sharp. Clearer than ever.
Eternity…
He had sought it his whole life. When others pursued glory, wealth, or fleeting romance, he studied forbidden fragments. When others basked in camaraderie, he walked in solitude beneath cold stars.
They mocked him for his obsession. They called him insane. Now, they watched him die.
"Kill him," the eldest brother ordered. "His demonic methods stain our name."
A dozen swords rose.
Li Ming laughed.
The sound was hoarse, broken, but it silenced the courtyard.
"Righteous path?" he rasped, blood bubbling from his lips. "You speak of righteousness while crushing a dying man? Hypocrites. Cowards. Blind frogs in a well."
He raised his trembling hand toward the sky. Lightning tore the heavens, illuminating his broken figure.
"Loneliness is my companion," he whispered. "Eternity… my destination."
Swords pierced his body.
Agony flared—then dimmed. His heart faltered, his blood ran cold. Darkness claimed his vision.
But just before the end, he formed his last vow, words etched into the marrow of his soul:
> "I bow to nothing but eternity. Heaven may crush me, earth may bury me—but I will rise again."
Silence.
Death.
---
Yet death was not the end.
A sound—like a great bell tolling within his skull—shook him awake.
[Ding.]
A cold mechanical voice resounded in the void.
[Eternal Path System binding… Complete.]
Li Ming's consciousness floated in darkness. His broken body was gone, but his will endured.
"System…?" His voice was thought itself, echoing across the void.
[Host: Li Ming. Status: Deceased. Time: 3 breaths after death.]
[Error. Fate thread cut prematurely. Restarting timeline.]
A pull seized him—violent, unstoppable. His soul was dragged backward, across shattered moments, through rivers of memory and seas of time.
---
He woke to the warmth of sunlight.
Air filled his lungs. His chest heaved.
Li Ming jolted upright, heart hammering.
He was… alive.
Hands trembling, he touched his chest. Whole. No wounds. No broken bones. His body was young, flesh unscarred.
Before him stretched the familiar peaks of Azure Heaven Sect. The mountains rose like immortal blades into the sky, their tips wrapped in mist. Disciples moved in groups across the stone paths, laughter and chatter filling the air.
It was the past.
The exact courtyard where his life had crumbled decades later.
He had returned.
Li Ming's breath shuddered. Then laughter—low, disbelieving—escaped his throat.
"Rebirth…" he whispered. "Hahaha… Heaven! You tried to bury me, but I've clawed my way back!"
---
[Ding.]
[System Initialized.]
A panel of light unfolded before his eyes, invisible to all but him:
Eternal Path System
Current Realm: Qi Refinement (3rd Layer)
Lifespan Remaining: 41 years, 3 months, 12 days
Main Quest: Walk the Eternal Way. Attain Undying.
Side Quest (First Step): Acquire a forbidden method. Reward: +10 years lifespan.
Li Ming's pupils contracted. His breath froze in his lungs.
A system that could extend his life. A system that demanded forbidden paths.
Eternity had answered his vow.
---
For a long time, he sat in silence beneath the rustling pines. His heart was calm, yet the flames within him burned fiercer than ever before.
Others might rejoice at a second chance, swear loyalty to their sect, repent their mistakes.
But not him.
"I was mocked for obsession once," Li Ming murmured. His gaze swept over the distant peaks, cold and sharp. "This time, I'll show them what obsession truly means."
He clenched his fist, nails biting into flesh.
"If the righteous path bars my way… then I will walk the demonic one."
---
At that moment, distant laughter reached his ears.
"Li Ming! Still brooding alone?"
He turned. A group of disciples approached, their faces young, brimming with arrogance—the same ones who would one day drive swords through his heart.
His lips curled into a faint smile.
Not this time.
---