Chapter 1:
The night was quiet, the moonlight spilling softly over the Azure Cloud Peaks. High above the mountains stood the Azure Heaven Sect, its countless halls glowing faintly in the dark like stars scattered across the earth. Tonight, however, the entire sect seemed to hold its breath.
The Heaven's Forgotten Tomb, sealed for a hundred years, was opening again. To most disciples it was a forbidden place, a place of death. But to one, it was destiny.
Long Tian stood at the edge of the stone path leading to the tomb. His white and blue robe fluttered in the mountain wind, his fists clenched at his sides. His heart pounded with anticipation. For years he had trained, for years he had endured whispers and doubt. Tonight would be the night his Dragon Vein bloodline awakened.
"Senior Brother Tian!"
A soft voice broke his thoughts. He turned and saw Mei Lin hurrying toward him. She was only sixteen, with clear eyes and a nervous expression. She stopped in front of him, panting lightly.
"Are you really going to enter the tomb?" she asked, clutching her sleeves tightly.
Long Tian smiled faintly. "I must. Elder Han himself confirmed it. The tomb calls to my bloodline. If I succeed, I will awaken the Dragon Vein."
"But… but no one who has entered ever came back," Mei Lin whispered. Her eyes glistened as she looked at him. "What if you—"
Long Tian raised a hand gently. "Lin'er. You've always believed in me. Don't stop now. If fate truly belongs to me, then I have no choice but to walk forward."
She bit her lip. "Then promise me… promise me you'll come back alive."
"I promise," he said softly, though his own heart felt heavy.
Before more could be said, a calm voice echoed from behind.
"So touching. Truly the words of a hero destined to rise."
Long Tian turned and saw Li Shen approaching. His senior brother looked every bit the golden child of the sect—tall, handsome, his azure robe embroidered with gold, his expression gentle. His reputation was spotless. The elders often praised him, the disciples admired him, and Long Tian respected him deeply.
"Senior Brother Shen," Long Tian greeted respectfully.
Li Shen smiled. "Junior Brother, tonight you take the first step toward destiny. I only came to congratulate you."
Long Tian bowed lightly. "You honor me."
Li Shen walked closer, his hands folded behind his back. His eyes never left Long Tian, though the warmth in his smile did not quite reach them. "To awaken the Dragon Vein… what a rare fortune. Do you realize how many envy you?"
Long Tian lowered his head modestly. "Fortune or curse, I cannot say. I only wish to serve the sect."
"Serve the sect," Li Shen repeated, a strange light flashing in his eyes. He chuckled softly. "Yes, how noble."
The tomb gates rumbled then, ancient stone grinding against stone as a crack of darkness opened. A cold wind blew forth, heavy with the weight of forgotten centuries.
Long Tian drew a steadying breath and stepped forward. This was the moment. The tomb would test him, and his bloodline would awaken. He lifted his foot toward the gate—
And a palm slammed into his back.
The force was sudden, merciless. He stumbled forward, coughing blood. Shock and pain blurred his vision as he turned. "S-Senior Brother…?"
Li Shen's gentle smile remained, but his eyes burned with contempt. "Do you know what it's like to work endlessly, only to hear the elders whisper that you are nothing compared to the boy with the Dragon Vein?"
Long Tian's breath caught. "Senior Brother… why…?"
"Why?" Li Shen laughed coldly. "Because you stand in my way. The sect only has room for one rising star. And it will not be you."
His hand struck again, this time aimed at Long Tian's chest. Bones cracked, blood sprayed from his lips. He fell to his knees, struggling to breathe.
"I trusted you… I respected you as a brother…" he gasped.
"Brother?" Li Shen sneered. "Don't be naïve. In this world, loyalty is weakness. Ambition is all that matters. You should have died quietly."
A surge of energy slammed into Long Tian's meridians. Agonizing fire tore through his body. He screamed, clutching his chest as he felt the fragile spark of his Dragon Vein bloodline collapse, shattered before it could awaken.
The pain was unbearable, but worse was the despair. His dream, his destiny, destroyed by the very one he trusted most.
Li Shen leaned close, his whisper colder than the night air. "Tonight, the tomb will be your grave."
With a final strike, he hurled Long Tian into the abyss.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
His body broken, his soul adrift, Long Tian felt death's icy hand closing in. Yet in the abyss, strange light began to stir. Ancient runes glowed faintly, lighting the walls of the tomb. Whispers echoed around him, voices as old as the heavens themselves.
"He who is cast aside… shall be chosen.
He who dies… shall live again.
The Dragon Vein… must awaken."
The words seared into his soul. Light poured into him, wrapping his broken essence, fusing knowledge into his mind—sword arts that split mountains, cultivation methods that defied fate, secrets buried since time immemorial.
Visions flashed before his eyes. Dragons soaring across endless skies. A man standing alone against the heavens, his roar shaking worlds. Rivers of blood and endless battle.
The whispers grew into a single thunderous decree:
"Rise again, bearer of the Dragon Vein. Defy fate."
---
Long Tian gasped and sat upright. His chest heaved, sweat dripping down his brow. His eyes darted wildly, and froze.
He was not in the tomb. He was in his old room.
The cracked desk. The faded bamboo mat. The wooden talisman he had carved at fifteen and kept by his bedside. It was all there.
He rushed to the bronze mirror. The face that stared back was not battered and bloodied. It was younger, smoother. His cultivation aura was weak—only at the first stage of Qi Condensation.
"This… this is…" His voice shook.
It was the past. Three years before his betrayal.
His hands trembled as memories clashed with reality. He could still feel Li Shen's palm shattering his veins. He could still hear the whispers of the tomb. And yet, here he was, alive, reborn.
"I… returned?" he whispered, his eyes wide.
Slowly, disbelief gave way to fury. His fists clenched, nails piercing his skin, blood dripping to the floor. His eyes burned with a fire fiercer than any he had known.
"Li Shen," he growled. "You stole my future. You destroyed my bloodline. But in this life…" His voice rose, shaking with unyielding resolve. "…in this life, I will awaken the Dragon Vein. I will reclaim everything you took. And I will carve my vengeance into the bones of heaven itself!"
The morning sun broke over the mountains, light streaming into the small room. But in Long Tian's gaze burned something far brighter and far darker—a flame that even the heavens would learn to fear.
His second life had begun.
And this time, he would not bow to fate.