Xu Chen stood silently in the starry sky, his crimson eyes cold and his expression demonic.
Above him, a massive cloud crackled with streaks of fierce lightning, while hundreds of shadows formed a loose circle around him, closing in.
"Nightshade Emperor! Today is the day you die!", a cultivator shouted.
Xu Chen turned lazily toward him. The man's face instantly changed color, and he cowered in horror. Although a Tribulation Transcending cultivator, he could not hide his fear.
"Hmph!", Xu Chen sneered, his lips curling into a cold smile. He didn't move; attacking such a coward was beneath someone of his status.
Though surrounded, Xu Chen's attention was elsewhere. His crimson eyes fixed on the roaring cloud above. Lightning constantly flashed within it like a trapped beast desperate to break free.
'Immortal Tribulation!', he thought, and even with his usual composure, he found it difficult to remain calm.
After decades of cultivation and countless battles, he was finally close to achieving his ultimate dream: to become an Immortal.
As time passed, the oppressive aura around him thickened and the lightning's crackling turned more intense, as if a god was about to descend upon the world.
Moments later, the Immortal Tribulation began to stir and rays of lightning struck down one after another, wanting to tear Xu Chen to pieces.
At the same time, the surrounding cultivators sprang into action, attempting to distract him.
Soon, a battle destined to go down in history began.
----
Darkness swallowed Xu Chen's consciousness.
When he opened his eyes again, a familiar scene greeted him. He was sitting in a classroom, surrounded by dozens of students who listened attentively to the teacher at the podium.
'This place...'
Xu Chen froze, staring blankly at the familiar faces around him.
"Impossible," he muttered.
He lifted his hand. There were no calluses nor any scars of time, while his spiritual sea was empty, devoid of any trace of demonic qi.
Memories surged through his mind.
He recalled the battle under the tribulation cloud.
The countless enemies.
The final blinding strike of heavenly lightning that contained Heaven's Wrath. Then — darkness.
And now... this.
'Have I... traveled back in time?'
Xu Chen's breathing quickened. As the most powerful cultivator in the Chaos Sea, he knew better than anyone how impossible such a thing should be.
'Could an Immortal have saved me?'
He sat silently, trying to calm his racing thoughts and make sense of the situation.
The teacher's voice echoed in his ears, explaining something about the "analysis of spiritual energy". Such words meant nothing to most of the students here, but Xu Chen remembered this lecture all too well.
'It's the day before the Awakening Ceremony.'
In his previous life, this was the day that changed everything. The revival of spiritual energy, the birth of cultivators, the fall of modern civilization, and the rise of sects and clans.
"Xu Chen, are you alright?"
A voice suddenly pulled him from his thoughts. Turning his head, he saw a familiar face — Lin Hao.
Even after decades, Xu Chen remembered that face all too clearly.
Lin Hao had once been his closest friend. Back then, he was bullied because of his weak temperament and timid character.
It was only when Xu Chen stepped forward that this bullying came to a stop.
But after Lin Hao awakened the Heaven-ranked Scarlet Flame Spirit Body, everything changed.
Perhaps out of inferiority or resentment, he began to target Xu Chen again and again.
Xu Chen's expression didn't change. He looked at Lin Hao's nervous, seemingly naive expression and couldn't associate it with his former enemy.
"Xu Chen! Say something! Don't scare me like that!"
Glancing at his seemingly concerned friend, a cold smile appeared on Xu Chen's lips.
'Since Heavens have granted me one more chance... I shall take it!