Chapter 001: Reborn Young Man

  Gu Chen let out a low hum, his head splitting with pain, and slowly opened his eyes.

  A sharp pain shot through his entire body, causing him to take a deep breath. His weak body made him feel drowsy, and his eyes soon closed again.

  "Didn't I die at the hands of Cang Tianji?" He closed his eyes, but in his heart, he was suddenly shocked.

  Gu Chen's mind quickly recalled the scene of fighting against Cang Tianji.

  Gu Chen was over 500 years old, and his cultivation had not yet broken through the Mingyuan period of the Great Perfection of the Fate Spring. His lifespan was coming to an end, and he thought of the deep-seated grudge that had not been avenged in the bloody sea. With resentment in his heart, he decided to have a final showdown with his arch-nemesis Cang Tianji in the last moments of his life.

  Although Gu Chen reached the third level of Yuan Shen in the Ming Quan realm, he was already a great cultivator on the ancient continent of Gu Huang, but Zang Tianji was a rare talent in the ancient continent of Gu Huang for thousands of years. As early as when Gu Chen entered the first level of Ling Yin in the Ming Quan realm, Zang Tianji had already reached the Great Perfection of Ming Quan realm.

  When Dèngǔ Chén stepped into the third level of Yuánshén period in Mìngquán Jìng, Cáng Tiān Jī had already broken through the shackles of Mìngquán Jìng and entered the legendary Duò Xū Zhī Jìng, becoming a land-based immortal on the ancient desolate continent, stepping into the immortal flow.

  Even if Gu Chen had a mind of certain death and wanted to perish together with Cang Tianji, how could he be compared to Cang Tianji's cultivation level which was far higher than his.

  As that loud explosion sounded, Gu Chen directly burned his yuan Shen, begging to give Cang Tian Ji a fatal blow, but unfortunately was still dodged by Cang Tian Ji.

  Gu Chen could only sigh deeply, fate is not controlled by humans...

  With a heart full of resentment, consciousness gradually dispersed between heaven and earth.

  "Am I already dead?" Gu Chen thought of this and was shocked again, his eyes opening once more.

  After a long time of reminiscing and contemplation, Gu Chen's spirit was much better than last time. Although his whole body still hurt unbearably, he didn't pass out again like last time as soon as he opened his eyes.

  He turned his head to look around, and he was in a room that was neither big nor small. The room was quite simple, with only two chairs, a table, a strong bow on the wall, and a wardrobe against the opposite wall. On the door of the wardrobe was a large mirror that perfectly reflected the scene on Gu Chen's side.

  An ancient wooden bed, on which lay a boy about ten years old. Gu Chen's face changed again in shock. This person was over 500 years old and had long since gone white-haired, yet he had become a boy of about ten years old?

  In almost an instant, Gu Chen abruptly raised his arms, and the pair of white, delicate, and smooth hands that entered his eyes were those of a child. However, before Gu Chen could react in surprise, a piercing pain spread from his chest as he lifted his hands, and they fell back down powerlessly.

  This time Gu Chen didn't pass out from pain, but instead showed no signs of pain at all. His face revealed an excited expression as he turned his head to look around this simple room once again.

  That table had once been a place where a young boy repeatedly read books and practiced calligraphy.

  Those two chairs, at some point in time, had a father and son sitting on them laughing and smiling together, their joy was palpable.

  On that day, at some point in time, there was a young man who clenched his fist and made up his mind in front of the shadow in the mirror: I want to become stronger.

  ……

  When was it? When was it?

  Gu Chen's thoughts flew back and forth, traversing hundreds of years of time. Those memories that had long been sealed deep in his mind burst out once again.

  500 years ago, Gu Chen was born in the Leishui City of the ancient Daxia Dynasty's easternmost land, into the Xiu Zhen family of Gu. His grandfather, Gu Xian, was the patriarch of the Gu family. According to the rules of succession by generation, Gu Chen should have been a prince, but Gu Xian had no sons in his lifetime, only one daughter named Gu Yulan.

  Gu Chen's father, Gu Cangqiong, was the adopted son of Gu Xian. He later married Gu Youlan and became Gu Xian's son-in-law, but not his biological son. Although Gu Xian wanted to pass on the position of clan leader to Gu Cangqiong, he was opposed by the elder Gu Ming and the second elder Gu Ren.

  So, although Gu Cangqiong was the foster son of the clan leader, he didn't get recognized by the First Elder and Second Elder, and his status in the Gu family wasn't very high.

  His father being like that, Gu Chen's status after birth can be imagined, and he was often bullied by the young masters of the ancient family.

  Gu Cangqiong was twenty years old when he entered the Gu family, missing the best period for laying a solid foundation in his cultivation. Although Gu Cangqiong was naturally talented and intelligent, it only took him thirteen years to reach the fourth layer of the Xiantian realm, a cultivation speed that no one in the entire Gu family could match.

  But the son of the Great Elder, Gu Cang Yue, was also quite talented. Although he couldn't compare to Gu Cang Kun's cultivation speed, he had started cultivating more than a decade earlier and his attainments had surpassed those of the Patriarch of the Gu Clan, Gu Xian, reaching the Seventh Layer of the Pre-Heaven Realm.

  Thus, without a doubt, Gu Xian grew old and the position of head of the Gu family fell into the hands of Gu Cangyue. As the first person in the Gu family, he was arrogant and looked down on others. After becoming the patriarch, he provoked a very formidable opponent, which led to the entire Gu family being implicated and suffering a bloody massacre.

  Gu Chen was mediocre in talent, and when the Gu family was annihilated, he was only 13 years old. His cultivation had only reached the third layer of the Post-Heaven Realm. His father, Gu Cangyun, took Gu Chen and fled a hundred miles, and they were the only two people from the Gu family to escape with their lives. However, they were caught up by their enemies, and in order to save Gu Chen, Gu Cangyun fought the enemy to the death, dying in front of Gu Chen's eyes.

  This was the first pain and regret in Gu Chen's heart. He cried for three days and three nights in front of his father's grave, wishing that his father could come back to life. However, the cruel reality proved that he had no relatives left in this world, leaving him alone and pitiful.

  From then on, Gu Chen wandered alone, with the sky as his blanket and the earth as his bed. As a disciple of the Xiūzhēn family, although being in the Hòutiān realm was the lowest level among cultivators, it was still slightly better than ordinary people. After wandering for several years, although life was hard, he had not yet faced any threat to his life.

  As for revenge, that can only be thought of in his heart. The avenging family is so powerful that they can destroy the entire Gu family, and Gu Chen's cultivation at the third layer of the Post-Heaven Realm is not even enough to withstand a single finger from someone else.

  Gu Chen headed north, and five years later arrived in the northeastern region of Da Ying Chao. Here was a major sect of Xiu Zhen, the Xū Tiān Zōng (Void Heaven Sect), which happened to be recruiting disciples at that time. Gu Chen was lucky enough to be accepted into the Void Heaven Sect, but by then he was already eighteen years old. Although his cultivation had reached the fifth layer of the Later Heaven Realm, this was still the lowest level among people of the same age.

  So, after entering Xutian Sect, Gu Chen did not become a formal disciple, but was assigned to Baicao Hall as a medicine practice apprentice, and Gu Chen once felt disheartened.

  But in Baicao Hall, Gu Chen met two other very important people in his life. One was the master of Baicao Hall, Huang Yaoxian, and the other was his senior sister, Xu Ziyu. Xu Ziyu was as beautiful as a heavenly fairy, but she was born with an extremely rare and incurable disease that would cut her life short to only thirty-three years. However, she loved life dearly and never complained about her fate. She often consoled Gu Chen, who regained his confidence under her help and developed romantic feelings for this ill-fated senior sister of his.

  Huang Yaoxian taught Gu Chen everything he knew, and although Gu Chen didn't make much progress in his cultivation, he showed great talent in alchemy and became a well-known alchemist.

  The good times didn't last, the young master of Xū Tiān Zōng didn't truly care for Xū Zǐ Yuàn's beauty. He had his heart set on making Xū Zǐ Yuàn his own, and wanted to make her happy before she died, using some despicable means. However, this was discovered by the master of Xū Tiān Zōng, who then expelled him from the mountain gate.

  Unexpectedly, Wu Huan had a grudge in his heart and defected to the Great Winning Dynasty. He received the help of the Great Winning Dynasty's Crown Prince Zang Tianji, who was a peerless genius, and returned to the Xū Tiān Sect to kill his father, the master of the Xū Tiān Sect. The entire Xū Tiān Sect was destroyed.

  Master Huang Yaoxian died at the hands of Cang Tianji to let Gu Chen and Xu Ziying escape, which is the second pain and regret in Gu Chen's heart.

  Zang Tianji's power was too strong, and Gu Chen and Xu Ziyan were ultimately unable to escape, captured by Zang Tianji. Xu Ziyan could not bear the humiliation and took her own life in front of Gu Chen.

  This is Gu Chen's third heartache, his third regret.

  Wu Zhen poured all his resentment on Gu Chen, but instead of killing him directly, he captured and tortured him in every way. Perhaps Gu Chen's life was not meant to be ended, for once when Wu Zhen relaxed his guard, he escaped.

  Nursing a deep blood feud, Gu Chen escaped from the Great Winning Dynasty and went through nine deaths and one life. Relying on his alchemy skills, he shuttled between various major forces in the cultivation world. However, when it came to avenging his deep blood feud with Cang Tianji, there was nowhere to report. He only heard news of Cang Tianji's continuous breakthroughs in his cultivation.

  There are often spiritual treasures and elixirs appearing in the world, but Gu Chen has no power to compete for them, he can only be a listener. For so many years, Gu Chen relied on a single Rebirth Elixir to live beyond the age of 100, his hair turned white, just at this time, heaven played a joke on him.

  A pie fell on Gu Chen's head, and in an adventure, Gu Chen unexpectedly obtained the Supreme Cultivation Method of Tai Xu Gong, one of the three ancient cultivation holy lands, "Ding Tian Zhan Di Jue".

  Gu Chen relied on this supreme law to start his cultivation, and he continuously broke through the acquired realm to reach the innate realm, and then consecutively broke through nine levels of the innate realm, entering the Divine Sea Realm.

  Forty years later, he broke through the four levels of the Divine Sea Realm: Building the Fetus, Summoning the Soul, Cultivating the Origin, and Refining the Golden Elixir. Before his lifespan was about to expire, he took a step forward and entered the Realm of the Fountain of Life, increasing his lifespan by 129.6 years, stepping into the ranks of high-ranking cultivators.

  When Gu Chen stepped into the realm of Mingyuan, he once again heard that Cang Tianji had entered the fourth layer of Mingyuan. Gu Chen was unable to find spiritual medicine, practice alchemy, and crazily cultivate, hoping that one day he could catch up with Cang Tianji's cultivation and avenge his hatred.

  Every hundred years, Gu Chen breaks through a level and his lifespan increases by 129.6 years. At the age of 140, he enters the Lingyin period of the Mingquan realm; at 240, he enters the Duoshe period; at 340, he reaches the Yuanshen period. Gu Chen's cultivation stops here, and after passing 500 years, his lifespan is exhausted, ultimately unable to enter the last level of the Mingquan realm, the Mingyue period.

  At this time, Cang Tianji had already transcended the shackles of fate and stepped into the void, entering the immortal flow. Gu Chen would never be able to catch up with Cang Tianji's footsteps, a once-in-a-thousand-years peerless genius in this ancient desolate continent.

  Gǔ Chén yǎng tiān cháng hèn, wèi hé lǎo tiān yào zài tā nián guò bǎi suì、bái fà cāng cāng、shēng jī jiāng jìn zhī shí, cái dé dào zhè juǎn tōng tiān chè dì de wú shàng fǎ jué? Nà shí Gǔ Chén yǐjīng nián lǎo tǐ shuāi, yǐjīng yánzhòng cuò guò le xiū liàn de zuì jiā qījiān, kōng huái 《Dǐng Tiān Jué》 wú shàng fǎ jué, què bù néng jiāng tā fā yáng guāng dà.

  In the end, he failed to avenge and instead died at the hands of Cang Tian Jue, this is truly a hatred that will last for ages.

  Failed to destroy the Tianji between heaven and earth, this is the fourth regret of Gu Chen.

  ……

  Hundreds of years of time flashed through Gu Chen's mind, and his expression also changed with the memories, from the final happy smile, to the mid-term sad tears, to the final boundless hatred.

  "Could it be? All sorts of experiences, were they just a dream in the land of Nanking? But this dream has gone on for too long. It's been too real."

  Gu Chen closed his eyes, and countless cultivation techniques appeared in his mind, including the Supreme Technique "Ding Tian Zhan Di" from the ancient sacred land of Taiyu Palace, proving that all these experiences were not just illusions.

  After a long, long time, I slowly opened my eyes again. There were no more tears in them, only excitement.

  "Now that I've been given a second chance, this life, I want to make all those enemies disappear, let my father live well, let my master sister live well, let my master live well... This life, I don't want any regrets..."

  Gu Chen gritted his teeth and made a vow in his heart.

  Just then, footsteps were heard outside the house, and immediately afterwards, the door creaked open and a man in his thirties walked in.

  Gu Chen turned his head and looked away, his whole body shook.

  ...........................

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