The sun had barely risen over Azure Heaven Sect, yet Li Ming's eyes were wide open, burning with a fire the dawn itself could not outshine.
His body felt different—lighter, stronger, yet restrained. Bones like steel, veins like rivers of molten fire, yet still raw with untested potential. He flexed his fingers, feeling life itself hum beneath his skin.
[Ding.]
[System Notice: Host detected. Current Realm: Qi Refinement 3rd Layer. Lifespan: 41 years, 3 months, 11 days.]
[Side Quest Activated: Acquire first forbidden technique. Reward: +10 years lifespan.]
A curl of satisfaction touched his lips. Forbidden techniques… exactly what he had always hungered for.
"First step…" he whispered, hoarse but alive. "Eternity begins with defiance."
He rose from the stone path, ignoring the curious stares of young disciples bustling toward morning training. To them, he was just another youth of Azure Heaven Sect. But he carried memories of death, the bitter taste of betrayal, and the weight of centuries in his mind.
A fragment of a forbidden manual burned in his memory: the Blood Soul Tempering, a technique so reviled the sect deemed it a crime against Dao. Yet now… it was a key.
Li Ming stepped into the forest beyond the training ground, the wind whispering through pine needles like an old friend. He knelt by a small creek, dipped his fingers in the water, and spoke the first verse he remembered from his past life:
> "Rivers flow, mountains crumble, but my will endures. Time may devour flesh, yet my soul shall remain unbroken."
[Ding.]
[Side Quest Progress: 10%]
A single word from the System echoed in his mind: Begin.
The forest seemed to recoil as he drew blood from his finger—not recklessly, but with precision—and let it drip into the creek. The water hissed and shimmered, alive with the pulse of his awakening.
Heat surged through his veins, his senses sharpened, his mind expanded. Every particle of the forest resonated with him. He was not just alive. He was awake.
Hours passed—or was it minutes? Time itself seemed malleable. His body absorbed the forest's natural Qi, his soul tempered in fire and blood.
At last, Li Ming opened his eyes. His chest heaved. A warmth unlike any earthly fire filled him. The System displayed a subtle notification:
[Side Quest Progress: 50% – Forbidden Technique Imprinted.]
A smile touched his lips. Halfway to his first step, and the old world already felt smaller. The weaklings who once mocked him would soon kneel, if they survived at all.
A rustle in the bushes snapped him from his reverie. From the shadows emerged a small group of disciples—young, naive, brimming with arrogance—the very faces that would one day betray him.
"Li Ming?" one called, stepping forward. "You… you're here already?"
The System chimed silently. [Potential Threat Detected. Level: Low]
Li Ming's lips curved into a faint, cold smile. They did not see the fire behind his eyes, the death reborn in flesh.
"Just… training," he said softly, voice calm yet weighted with unspoken power.
The smallest disciple frowned. "You… you're different. Something about you…"
Li Ming turned his gaze toward the rising sun. Eternity stretched before him, infinite and unbroken.
> "I am reborn. I walk alone. And the Dao I carve… will leave Heaven trembling."
A shadow moved between the trees—a chilling presence. He felt it instinctively: the first of countless trials that would test his will.
[Ding.]
[Side Quest Update: Forbidden Technique fully acquired. Reward: +10 years lifespan.]
Li Ming's hand brushed the edge of his new blade, a simple iron sword from the sect's training armory. In his mind, he calculated the first moves, the first sacrifices, the first betrayals yet to come.
This was the first true step of the Eternal Dao.
And already, the air grew heavy with unseen eyes, the first whispers of death circling around him.
> "The world seeks to stop me," he whispered. "Let it try."
The forest fell silent once more, yet Li Ming knew he was no longer the same. Not a disciple. Not a fool. He was a harbinger of eternity—and the path had only begun.
---