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The Immortal Who Couldn't Ascend

He conquered the cultivation world. He just couldn't conquer himself. After a thousand years of ruthless cultivation, Li Chen stood at the threshold of the Dao Realm—arrogant, isolated, and absolutely certain of his path. Ignoring every warning about inner demons, he attempted ascension. It destroyed him. Instead of death, Li Chen awakens as a seven-year-old child in his own powerful clan. His cultivation is gone. His status erased. His past sealed away. But the most terrifying part isn't what he lost. It's what remains. Even without memories of his former life, Li Chen unconsciously repeats the same choices that once doomed him. He assumes rejection where none exists. He withdraws instead of listening. He mistakes silence for abandonment—and walks away before anyone can reach him. Because these weren't habits formed over a thousand years. They were who he always was. The regression didn't erase his flaws. It merely revealed them—pure, unadorned, and waiting to bloom into the same disaster. Alone in a forbidden forest, collapsing inside a forgotten cave, something ancient stirs. His inner demon—the manifestation of everything he refused to face—survived the regression. It sleeps in the depths, regaining strength, waiting for him to become worthy of consumption again. But this time, something intervenes. A system awakens. Not one that grants power through slaughter or shortcuts—but one that forces him to rebuild through humility, connection, and care. Menial labor restores broken foundations. Taming beasts forges bonds that accelerate both their growth. Strength returns only when he learns what he never could: To listen. To remain. To connect. Each humble task teaches what a thousand years of cultivation never did. Every creature he bonds with doesn't just restore his power—they evolve at impossible speeds, becoming legends in their own right. But as his strength returns and his beasts shake the cultivation world, the question isn't whether Li Chen can reclaim his former peak. It's whether he can become someone different enough to survive it. Because his inner demon remembers him. And it's waiting to see if he's truly changed— Or if he'll make the same choice he's always made.
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