## Chapter 2: Rebirth And Betrayal
Pain did not come first.
Awareness did.
Li Tianchen felt himself drifting through endless darkness, his consciousness suspended between nothingness and eternity. There was no body, no breath, no heartbeat—only a lingering obsession, sharp and indestructible.
Revenge.
Then, without warning, the void shattered.
A violent surge of force crashed into him, dragging his soul downward as if the universe itself had seized him. Sound returned in fragments—wind howling, bones creaking, blood rushing through unfamiliar veins. Agony followed a heartbeat later.
Li Tianchen screamed.
His eyes flew open.
Above him stretched a sky unlike any he had ever seen—vast, layered with shifting constellations that glowed faintly even in daylight. The air was dense, heavy with an invisible energy that seeped into his skin and lungs, causing every cell in his body to tremble.
Qi.
The realization struck him with terrifying clarity.
"I… reborn?"
He lay on cold stone inside a crumbling cave, his body small, weak, and unfamiliar. Memories flooded in—not only of his previous life, but of this one as well. He was Li Tianchen once more, but no longer the heir of a corporate empire.
He was a discarded outer disciple of the Azure Mountain Sect, crippled after a failed cultivation attempt, left behind to die during a trial in the wilderness.
A bitter laugh escaped his lips.
"So this is fate's answer."
Yet beneath the bitterness burned a fire far more intense than despair.
Opportunity.
This world—the **True Martial Continent**—was one where strength reigned supreme. Where cultivators shattered mountains, reversed rivers, and defied the heavens themselves. Unlike his previous life, power here was not inherited by birthright.
It was seized.
Li Tianchen clenched his fists. Despite the frail body, his soul was forged by suffering and regret far beyond his physical age.
"This time," he whispered, "I will never be powerless again."
---
The early years were hell.
His body was weak, his meridians damaged, and the Azure Mountain Sect had long erased his name from its registers. Alone in the wilderness, Li Tianchen survived by scavenging, hunting spirit beasts weaker than himself, and enduring cultivation failures that would have broken ordinary men.
But Li Tianchen was no ordinary man.
With the clarity of two lifetimes, he rebuilt his foundation from nothing. He abandoned orthodox methods and instead pursued perfection at the most fundamental level—tempering bone, blood, and soul in unison.
Years passed.
Decades.
The True Martial Continent came to know his name.
From wandering rogue cultivator to sect elder, from nameless nobody to one of the continent's most feared experts, Li Tianchen advanced step by step—each breakthrough paid for in blood.
He fought ancient clans for resources, challenged sect geniuses, and survived life-and-death struggles within forbidden realms. His cultivation path was ruthless, precise, and utterly uncompromising.
Hatred remained his core.
Not hatred for any single enemy—but for weakness itself.
---
Four thousand years after his rebirth, the heavens trembled.
Thunder tribulation descended like the wrath of creation itself, lightning tearing open the skies for millions of li. Cultivators across the continent fell to their knees, sensing an existence on the verge of transcending the mortal realm.
At the center of the storm stood Li Tianchen.
His robes were shredded, his body scorched black, yet his spine remained unbent. With a roar that shook the firmament, he shattered the final heavenly restraint.
Immortal Ascension.
Golden light enveloped him as his mortal body was reforged, every trace of impurity burned away. When the radiance faded, Li Tianchen stepped into the **Immortal World**, leaving the True Martial Continent behind as a legend.
From that day onward, mortals would speak of him as the Immortal Li Tianchen.
---
The Immortal World was crueler than any lower realm.
Here, immortals slaughtered immortals, and laws were dictated by ancient lineages and supreme immortals-in-waiting. Talent alone was insufficient; survival required cunning, alliances, and absolute vigilance.
Li Tianchen adapted.
He founded no sect, pledged allegiance to no power, and walked a solitary path. His cultivation advanced steadily, refined by countless battles across immortal domains and primordial ruins.
It was during this era that he met **Mo Jun**.
Mo Jun was not extraordinary at first glance—his cultivation average, his background unremarkable. Yet he possessed something rare in the Immortal World.
Loyalty.
They survived ambushes together, escaped immortal conspiracies, and stood back-to-back against foes far stronger than themselves. Over centuries, trust formed—not shallow, but absolute.
Li Tianchen shared techniques.
Mo Jun shared secrets.
They swore brotherhood beneath a shattered star, their blood mingling as an oath echoed through the void.
For the first time since his rebirth, Li Tianchen allowed himself something dangerous.
Faith in another.
both relayed on each other in any type danger they were together all the time in easiest of easiest times, in hardest of the hardest times.
they slowly climed the ladder of power by supporting each other, sometimes Mo Jun behave strangely but Li Tianchen dismissed that thought and thinking he was too sensitive because of the past incidents.
Time slowly passed as Li Tianchen and Mo Jun made name for themselves
---
Six thousand years passed.
Li Tianchen stood at the pinnacle of the Immortal World.
just his name is enough to send shivers in their enemies
His cultivation had reached its limit. The path ahead led to only one destination—the **God World**, realm of true divinity. The heavens opened once more as he prepared to ascend, divine laws converging upon his body.
But fate had not finished with him.
As the ascension began, a familiar chill crept into his heart.
Heart demons.
Visions surged forth—his mother's bloodied body, his father's hollow eyes, the night his arrogance destroyed everything. Regret, long buried beneath cultivation and time, erupted with devastating force.
Li Tianchen's breathing faltered.
At that exact moment—
A blade pierced his back.
He coughed blood, divine light fracturing violently around him. Slowly, impossibly, he turned.
Mo Jun stood behind him.
His expression was calm.
"Why?" Li Tianchen asked, voice hoarse—not with rage, but disbelief.
Mo Jun sighed softly. "Brother… the God World has limited seats. And your heart demons… made this too perfect an opportunity."
The final strike descended.
As Li Tianchen fell, divine ascension collapsing into chaos, one thought echoed louder than pain.
So this is the price of trust.
Darkness swallowed him once more.
But this time—
The heavens trembled in fear.
Because Li Tianchen's hatred had evolved beyond revenge.
It had become defiance itself.
And fate, once again, had failed to kill him completely.