Chapter 1: Awakening After a Hundred Years
Pain.
That was the first thing Maya Tie became aware of.
Not the pain of torn flesh or shattered bones—but the slow, relentless agony of her soul being eroded, as if scraped away grain by grain, while the world membrane broke apart.
She had been fighting for three days.
There was no night anymore. No silence. No rest.
Above the Central Continent, the sky had collapsed into chaos. Vast world rifts tore through the heavens like open wounds, spilling darkness into reality. From those rifts surged the Void—cold, corrosive, endless.
Void Demons.
They descended without mercy, wave after wave, feeding on spiritual energy, devouring land, life, and law alike.
Maya Tie stood at the very front of the battlefield.
Her robes were little more than blood-soaked rags. Her hair clung to her face, heavy with dried crimson. Her meridians screamed with every forced circulation of spiritual energy, cracked and on the verge of collapse.
Around her stood women.
Sect elders who had guarded their legacies for centuries.
Cultivators who had lost families to the first waves of invasion.
Young disciples who should have been cultivating in peace, not standing knee-deep in blood.
They formed the last defensive line.
No one retreated.
When one woman fell, another stepped forward.
When spiritual energy was exhausted, they fought with their bodies.
When bodies failed, they burned their souls.
By the second day, the land had turned black under Void corruption.
By the third, even the air howled in agony.
Maya Tie no longer remembered how many Void Demons she had slain. Her divine sense shattered repeatedly under Void pressure, reforming only through sheer will. Each breath felt like shards of glass tearing through her lungs.
Yet she did not stop.
She could not stop.
Because behind her was the Central Continent.
And behind that—everything she had ever sworn to protect.
Then—
The world itself trembled.
A presence descended from beyond the rifts.
Cold. Abyssal. Inhuman.
A Dark Supreme emerged at the edge of the broken world membrane, its authority intertwined with Void law itself. The heavens groaned under its pressure as it attempted to force its way fully into the Central Continent.
Maya Tie's blood ran cold.
This was no accident.
This was no natural disaster.
The world membrane had been deliberately assaulted.
Blood spilled from the corner of her lips as she straightened her back.
"So… a Dark Supreme," she murmured.
The pressure intensified.
The world membrane cracked further, threatening to collapse entirely—
And then, another will appeared.
Brilliant. Vast. Overwhelming.
A second Supreme authority descended, colliding head-on with the Dark Supreme across the shattered sky. Laws clashed silently yet violently, suppressing the Void, halting the descent.
The Dark Supreme was forced back.
The world membrane stabilized—barely.
But the damage had already been done.
The rifts remained.
The Void Demons did not retreat.
The battlefield below was still a hellscape of blood and death.
Yet Maya Tie stood frozen.
Because the moment she sensed that second Supreme's aura, her soul trembled.
That presence—
She knew it.
Too well.
Memories surged forward without warning.
A thin girl standing silently to the side during clan gatherings.
Eyes lowered. Back straight. Teeth clenched.
Her sister.
send into the lower branch.
Ignored. Overlooked. Treated as expendable.
She remembered how that girl had left the clan alone, carrying nothing but ambition and pride.
And now—
Maya Tie laughed softly, blood bubbling at her lips.
"So you climbed all the way up," she whispered.
From the lower branch…
Into the main family…
And finally—
A Supreme.
While she stood here, bleeding on the battlefield, her sister had already reached the heavens.
There was no hatred in Maya Tie's eyes.
Only disbelief.
And a sharp, quiet ache.
A Void Demon lunged from the darkness.
Maya Tie raised her blade one last time.
Her remaining cultivation ignited violently, burning away everything she had left.
Her meridians shattered.
Her soul fractured.
Her blood soaked into the ruined earth as her consciousness finally reached its limit.
She did not regret standing here.
She only regretted—
…not being strong enough to protect them all.
Darkness swallowed her vision.
She died standing.
---
Yet—
Her eyelashes trembled.
Maya Tie inhaled sharply and sat upright.
Her chest heaved as air flooded her lungs, breath coming in uneven gasps, as if she had just clawed her way back from the abyss. Cold sweat drenched her back, and her heart hammered violently in her chest.
"…I'm alive?"
Her voice was hoarse—young, unscarred.
Maya Tie froze.
Slowly, she lowered her gaze.
Smooth hands. Slender fingers. Skin untouched by scars or blood. A body that had never known the weight of endless slaughter.
She was sitting on a bed.
A familiar bed.
Dark sandalwood frame. Simple cloud carvings. Pale blue curtains swaying gently as spiritual energy circulated through the room. The faint scent of calming incense lingered in the air.
"This is…"
"My bedroom?"
Her pupils contracted.
Not the battlefield.
Not her later seclusion cave.
This was her private chamber—
From one hundred years ago.
She stepped onto the cool jade floor, movements careful, almost fearful. Everything felt real.
The hum of formation arrays.
The steady flow of Heaven-and-Earth Laws.
The distant sounds of disciples training beyond the courtyard.
A bronze mirror stood near the window.
Maya Tie approached it.
The woman reflected within looked no older than twenty. Her expression was calm but cold, her eyes deep with something far beyond her age. Her cultivation aura was faint—only the early Body Tempering Realm.
So weak.
So early.
Maya Tie pressed her palm against the mirror.
"…One hundred years."
Before the Dark Supreme's descent.
Before the Void invasion.
Before the Central Continent fell into blood and ruin.
Her lips curved slightly—not in joy, but in resolve.
"Fate," she said softly, "since you gave me this chance…"
She closed her eyes as memories of her past life surged back—techniques, inheritances, secrets, and the paths that led to destruction.
When she opened them again, her gaze was steady.
"The Void will come again," she whispered.
"And next time…"
Her fingers clenched.
"I won't be standing at the end."
---
The morning bell echoed through the inner grounds of the Tie Family.
Maya Tie stood quietly at the edge of the training courtyard, her expression calm as her eyes swept across the gathered youths. Boys and girls stood together in neat rows, their postures tense, their faces filled with anticipation—or fear.
Today was the talent assessment.
In the Tie Family, bloodline mattered—but talent mattered more.
This was a matriarchal family.
Women inherited the family name.
Women held authority.
Women never married out.
Men who joined the Tie Family did so as sons-in-law, abandoning their original lineage entirely.
From the moment they were born, every child of the Tie Family understood one truth:
> The higher your talent, the higher your place.
The weaker your talent, the farther you were sent away.
An elder woman stepped forward, her aura steady and restrained. With a wave of her hand, glowing stone pillars rose from the ground—Talent Measuring Pillars, engraved with ancient runes.
"Begin," she said flatly.
One by one, the younger generation stepped forward.
Light flared.
Colors shifted.
Whispers spread.
Those whose pillars shone brightly were immediately escorted to the front rows. Their names were recorded, their future resources silently decided.
Those whose light was dim… were quietly moved aside.
Maya watched without expression.
She had seen this scene once before.
In her previous life, she had stood here too—talent blazing, future secure—never questioning what happened to those who were moved away.
But this time, her gaze searched for one person only.
Lara Tie.
Her younger sister stood near the edge of the group, her hands clenched tightly at her sides. The light from her pillar flickered weakly before settling into a dull glow.
Low talent.
The verdict was immediate.
No ridicule.
No insults.
Only indifference.
"Lara Tie," the elder announced. "Due to her assessed talent, she is assigned to the Cloud River Kingdom branch family, located on the Southern Continent. It is a Fifth-tier Kingdom, modest but stable. She will assist in managing the branch family and oversee its operations. Departure is scheduled in three days."
Three days.
Maya's fingers tightened inside her sleeves.
Just like last time.
After the assessment ended, the courtyard slowly emptied. Groups formed naturally—those with high talent surrounded by elders, those with low talent already being guided away.
Maya stepped forward.
"Elder," she said calmly.
The woman turned, surprised. "Young Lady Maya?"
"I wish to ask about my sister, Lara."
The elder nodded. "Low talent. She will be sent to the Cloud River Kingdom. It is a peaceful branch—suitable for management and administration."
"I see," Maya replied.
Her voice was steady.
But inside, her thoughts moved rapidly.
In her previous life, Lara had left for the branch kingdom exactly like this. Quietly. Powerless. Forgotten by the main family.
And yet—
Maya knew the truth.
That small kingdom was where fate turned.
"Has she departed already?" Maya asked.
"No," the elder replied. "Preparations are ongoing. She leaves in three days."
Maya lowered her head slightly. "Thank you."
She turned and walked away before the elder could say anything more.
Three days.
That meant the timeline was still intact.
Lara had not yet left.
And more importantly—
He had not arrived yet.
Maya changed direction and headed toward the inner residential area.
Lara's courtyard was modest, tucked away from the main paths. When Maya pushed the gate open, she found her sister sitting alone beneath a tree, sorting simple travel items into a storage pouch.
Lara looked up, startled. "Sister?"
Maya studied her quietly.
Still young.
Still unpolished.
Still unaware of what kind of existence she would one day become.
"You're leaving soon," Maya said.
Lara nodded, forcing a small smile. "It's fine. The Cloud River Kingdom isn't dangerous. I'll do my best."
Just like before.
Always accepting. Always yielding.
Maya sat down across from her.
"Lara," she said softly, "if you were given a choice… would you stay?"
Lara hesitated. "I don't have talent. Staying here would only waste resources."
Maya's gaze hardened—not at her sister, but at the world.
Low talent.
That was what they believed.
In her past life, Lara's rise had shocked the entire Central Continent. She had not been born powerful—she had been made powerful.
By a man.
A true genius.
A man who would one day stand at the peak of the world as a Great Supreme.
And the one who had helped Lara walk that same path.
Maya stood.
"I'm going with you."
Lara's eyes widened. "What?"
"You won't leave alone," Maya said calmly. "I will accompany you to the Cloud River Kingdom."
"But sister—you're now a core member of the main family. You have high talent. You don't need to—"
"I need to," Maya interrupted.
She did not explain further.
Some things could not be explained.
Maya turned her gaze toward the distant horizon.
That kingdom was small. Remote. Insignificant in the eyes of the Central Continent.
But it was there that a monster would awaken.
And this time—
She would not let fate slip past her again.
If the Tie Family did not marry out their daughters—
Then she would bring the right man in as a son-in-law.
A man who would one day stand above Supremes.
A man who would change everything.
Maya's lips curved faintly.
"Rest," she said to Lara. "We leave together."
This time—
She would not arrive too late.
---