'I have to escape...'
This was Jiang Chen's first thought.
He had just been refining a cauldron of Elixirs when the mysterious Pill Furnace he'd picked up in Taixu had suddenly started to explode.
So, he had tried to flee.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, he found that his whole body was stiff, completely devoid of strength.
This made Jiang Chen's face pale with shock.
He hastily looked around and froze completely.
This wasn't the immortal's cave where he refined Elixirs, but a room inside a house.
He was currently lying in a bed.
'What's going on?'
Just then, countless memories flooded madly into his mind.
Jiang Chen, a man of Pill Emperor Level, was utterly stunned.
'I can't believe it. I was killed in the self-destruction of that bizarre Pill Furnace after all.'
'To think I've now been reborn.'
His mind reeled.
However, given his experience, he quickly calmed down.
The owner of this body was also named Jiang Chen, sharing his exact name.
The place he was in now was Hanwu City on the Bright Moon Continent.
In his past life, Jiang Chen had visited the Bright Moon Continent, but he hadn't stayed for long.
He came from a place called Taixu.
He quickly sorted through this Jiang Chen's memories.
'What a hedonistic, uneducated silk-panted young master.'
As he sorted through the memories of the deceased Jiang Chen, he discovered something.
The body's original owner, Jiang Chen, possessed an Eighth-Grade Martial Vein but had no interest in Cultivation. He was an idler who spent his days chasing women and sleeping in the laps of beauties.
He lived a very merry life.
Naturally, this meant Jiang Chen's Cultivation was very low.
But then, Jiang Chen's expression darkened.
'My Martial Vein was dug out.'
'My fiancée, Qin Muxue, asked me to meet her, but I never saw her. Instead, I ran into a group of men in black, and they dug out my Martial Vein.'
This was the lingering obsession left behind by Jiang Chen as he died.
One must understand that this was a world where the Martial Dao reigned supreme.
Everything was ruled by the law of the jungle.
The Martial Vein was the most important thing for a Martial Artist.
It was the very foundation of a Martial Artist's Cultivation.
Martial Veins were divided into First Grade through Ninth Grade—at least, that was how they were classified in this Jiang Chen's memories.
But as a Pill Emperor, the current Jiang Chen knew that Martial Veins didn't stop at Ninth Grade; the highest was Tenth Grade.
It was just that very few people knew this.
The higher the quality of the Martial Vein, the greater one's potential to cultivate to the pinnacle of the Martial Dao.
With his Eighth-Grade Martial Vein, Jiang Chen was an absolute genius.
It was a pity that the deceased Jiang Chen had completely wasted his perfectly good Eighth-Grade Martial Vein.
And in the end, his Martial Vein was even stolen from him.
This turned Jiang Chen into a cripple, and finally, he couldn't catch his breath and just died.
It was an incredibly frustrating and pathetic death.
As for who had dug out his Martial Vein, Jiang Chen never knew, even at the moment of his death.
'Your fiancée asked you to meet her, but you never saw her. It was obviously a setup by her to harm you. How could you not have realized that?'
Jiang Chen felt sorry for the body's original owner, who hadn't even thought of this possibility.
From the clues in the original owner's memories, his fiancée, Qin Muxue, didn't like Jiang Chen at all; she was just using him as a tool.
Thinking this through, Jiang Chen privately felt it was a great injustice to the deceased Jiang Chen.
'Since it's like this, I will avenge you. Rest easy.'
'She dared to take your Martial Vein, so I will take her life.'
Since he had taken over the other's body, Jiang Chen decided to avenge the dead man.
The Jiang Chen of today was no longer the muddle-headed fool of the past.
'I am a magnificent Pill Emperor with Divine Emperor Cultivation. If I can't even get revenge, then I've lived my life for nothing.'
Although he had lost the Eighth-Grade Martial Vein, as a former Pill Emperor, he had ways to obtain a new Martial Vein—and an even more powerful one at that.
'In that case, I'll just create a Tenth-Grade Martial Vein for myself. No, it should be a Top-Grade Martial Vein.'
As a Pill Emperor, he had dedicated his previous life to researching Elixirs. The purpose of this research was to alter the bodies and potential of Martial Cultivators.
In fact, he was already capable of refining an Elixir that could create a Top-Grade Martial Vein.
Moreover, he was the only one in the world who could do it.
This method was enough to allow an ordinary person to obtain a Top-Grade Martial Vein and become a genius with heaven-defying aptitude.
In his past life, he had taken ten apprentices, all of whom were Martial Cultivators with Top-Grade Martial Veins that he had created for them using Elixirs.
Every single one of them was an extraordinary genius and a powerful expert.
Before he was killed by that bizarre exploding Pill Furnace, his ten apprentices had already come to dominate Taixu.
But for now, he didn't want to dwell on the past.
'I still don't know how long it's been since I died.'
He examined his body and found it to be terrifyingly weak.
"Young Master, you're awake."
Just then, a fragrant breeze wafted over.
A young woman in a goose-yellow dress ran over, her face filled with worry. She had a fine figure and a pretty, rounded face.
Jiang Chen knew this was his personal maid, Liang Yiyi.
He nodded.
"Yiyi, bring me a mirror. And help me up."
Yiyi was very obedient. She immediately brought over a Copper Mirror and helped Jiang Chen sit up.
Jiang Chen looked at his reflection in the Copper Mirror.
'I didn't expect the owner of this body to look exactly like me. This must be fate.'
He discovered that he looked the same in this life as he did in his last; there was no discernible difference.
He took a deep breath. Not only had he been reborn, but he had been reborn into the body of someone who looked just like him, which pleased him greatly. He still possessed a mysterious sense of narcissism about himself.
He believed he was the most handsome man in the world.
He set down the Copper Mirror.
He said to Yiyi, "Yiyi, help me prepare a bowl of Hundred-Year Ginseng Porridge."
At this moment, Jiang Chen's body was still incredibly weak. This was hardly surprising. For a Martial Cultivator, having their Martial Vein dug out was practically a death sentence. Weakness was only natural.
The person who could dig out Jiang Chen's Eighth-Grade Martial Vein was clearly extremely vicious.
Therefore, Jiang Chen needed to recuperate.
"Of course, Young Master. Please wait a moment."
Yiyi was very obedient and quite considerate toward this wastrel of a young master.
"My son..."
Just then, a woman rushed frantically into the room.
Her voice was filled with anguish.
She quickly reached Jiang Chen's side.
It was Jiang Chen's mother, Xiao Yun.
She approached and looked at her son, Jiang Chen, with worry.
"My son, are you feeling any better?"
Of course, she had no idea that her son was already dead and that this was now a different Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen looked at the woman. Given his own age, he couldn't possibly call this woman "Mother."
However, since he had been reborn into her son's body, this was fate.
After a moment's hesitation, he spoke, "Mother, I'm fine. Don't worry."
How could Xiao Yun not worry?
After fussing over her son for a moment, she said angrily, "My son, don't you worry. Your father will get revenge for you."
Knowing that her son's Martial Vein had been dug out, Xiao Yun was so angry she started to cry.
She felt an immense hatred for the heartless person who had done this.
It was just that they still didn't know who had stolen her son's Martial Vein.
After all, her son had been unconscious ever since he was brought back, and they hadn't had a chance to ask him.
"My son, who was it that dug out your Martial Vein?"
Stealing their son's Martial Vein meant he would be a cripple from now on.
Even if they managed to retrieve the Martial Vein, they didn't have the ability to reattach it.
Thus, for this son, his journey as a Martial Cultivator had come to an end.
"My son, who did this?"
An even more furious man walked in. He was powerfully built, with broad shoulders and a thick waist.
It was Jiang Chen's father, Jiang Han.
Although he was a big, burly man, he loved his son dearly. The matter of his son's Martial Vein being stolen had pushed him to the brink of rage.
Looking at his concerned parents.
Jiang Chen sighed inwardly.
He immediately recalled the events of that time.
He said in a heavy voice, "It was my fiancée, Qin Muxue."
BOOM!
The moment he said this, the couple, Jiang Han and Xiao Yun, were instantly stunned.
It was actually Jiang Chen's fiancée.
After their shock came immense fury.
"That bitch! She's your fiancée, how could she do something like this?"