《Ascend》 Prologue: The Start Prologue ~0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0~ ¡°Nobody is a villain in their own story. We''re all the heroes of our own stories.¡± ¨D George R.R. Martin ~0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0~ I lost everything. Are you curious as to what happened? Hmn¡­ Where should I start? Should I start from the beginning or the ending of my glorious life? Well, I believe the starting with the introduction is the best¡­ My name is Lian Chengyu. I¡¯m 17 years old and I am the young master of Lian tribal clan *cough* or should I say was? The Lian tribal clan is just one of the numerous tribes that can be found in Cloud Wilderness. Just like any other clan in this vast wilderness, our clan can be said to be poor and just enough to feed few people. Since the area we are located is surrounded by ferocious beasts it is hard to look for food. Every day the strong people in the tribe will go and hunt but most of the time only few of this warriors come back. Of course a small tribe like this can¡¯t afford to do this since male with enough strength is considered a valuable resource thus only few opt to do this. But if no one will go and hunt, then the people will starve, so the next best option is to make connection with larger tribes for food in exchange with man power the tribe will need. The tribe that we were connected to before was Fire Cloud tribe. We provide them with weapons that our tribe members make in exchange with rations. For generation we have been the pitiful hands of this large tribe. All the weapons that we make were only exchange for enough food that the people can eat. Just enough or even in times, it was pitifully little that many of our tribe people just die of starvation. This has always been the case for small tribes. The big tribes squish us for all we have and we have no say since we have no way to fight back. The meager protection and food was what the tribe needs to live another day. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. However everything changed when I was born. My father, the Patriarch, have learned from a person that passed by our clan that my potential was good, good enough to reach Purple Blood realm. Since then, I have been looked after by my father as a hope of the clan, someone who can save and bring honor to the clan. At a young age I have been constantly trained by my father. I was given the best of what the clan has like food, protection and education. Of course these things did not come for free. For every good things I received blood of my clansman was paid for it. If you think that I just lived an easy and carefree life, I beg to differ, I was forced to become mature and train earlier than anyone on the clan. I was made to realize the burden of being the next to carry the clan. I grew up with the expectations of my people, with talent far high than those of other children of my clan. As a child I have already learned how to bow and grovel on the mud to make those from the larger tribe to provide. I have learned how this world can only be survived by the strongest. Only those who are strong can live and have the power to say justice. I saw how these big tribes eat us small tribes to satisfy their own. In this world there are no people who help others if they have nothing to gain. If you have power, people will follow. If you have power, you will have friends. If you have power, you can speak justice. If you have power, you can live. This is how world works. And this is precisely why I have lost everything. I have lost everything because I was not powerful enough. I lost my cultivation. I lost my father. I lost my tribe. The hard work that I have made for 17 years was for nothing. The people that have died for me to reach the pinnacle of my cultivation died in vain. The years I have to smile while I grip my fist till it bleed, the years I have painstakingly maneuvered the politics of those in the big tribes to get a backer and provider. All the years of hard work was wasted because of one person. Yi Yun. Chapter 1: The Land of the Dead Chapter 1: The Land of the Dead Death¡­ it is a path that a mortal cannot escape. Chengyu knew that he died as soon as he saw the endless line of souls walking in line. Dizzy and disoriented. This was his condition when he arrived at this place. If not for the shriek of the man that was being whipped by the tall, powerful-looking demonic soldier he would have been still in a daze. ¡°Faster!¡± He heard a thundering voice shout. A massive, glowing minotaur demonic soldier stared at a another young man who seemed to be the same age as him. Seeing how terrifying the demon was he hurriedly followed the flow of the spirits. As he silently walked, he began to remember everything about his life and how he died. ¡®It was because I am weak.¡¯ This thought was floating in Chengyu¡¯s mind. He remembered what happened that fateful day, the day he lost everything. He still remembered how the battle with Yi Yun happened. Every single detail was so clear that he can replay the events with clarity, not missing anything. Closing his eyes he can still hear the words Yi Yun said. ¡°I said, you have ten charges! You owe me ten lives!!¡± Everything replayed in Chengyu¡¯s mind. He can still hear all the ten charges that Yi Yun sprouted. A cold smile appeared in his face as he opened them. In that world the crimes that he said were all that was done by those who are in power. Just like how those big tribes have done to them. He knew and does not need anyone to tell him how many tribe members¡¯ blood he has in his hands. Since he can think, he had taken the lives of those in the tribe to become stronger. Without the sacrifices of these people, he would have not gotten the resources he needed to advance his cultivation. As a leader of a small tribe, he hardened his heart to walk the path of blood of his kin. However despite this, each and every faces of this people was engraved in his mind. He has no excuse for the ruthless methods that they have done but all of this was done to achieve one goal and that goal was to reach a high cultivation and enter the competition. If he can show his strength then, they can use it as a leverage to strengthen the tribe. Get more power to increase the status of the tribe which will open more prospects for the tribe. This will open a path for the tribe to rise and change. Give more hope and change the life of the people. For this wish, for this goal he became cold and ruthless. He will eliminate those who stand in his way. It was Yi Yun who represents the threat to his goals. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Despite how much he had crawled to achieve his goal, in the end everything disappeared. He lost everything because he was not strong enough. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Yi Yun was able to judge him because he has the power to do so. If it was the reverse then he will be the one to judge. Those who have the power will be the justice. His thoughts were interrupted by a thunderous sound that shouted ¡°Ji Ning!¡± Just like all the ghosts, he raised his head and looked as an enormous minotaur sitting on a dark cloud neared. Just like the all the other ghosts in the vicinity, he was shocked as the god like demon illuminated the young man and he vanished. It was only after a long time before the shock about the event disappeared. The long walked continued however the speculation between the people around did not die as everyone tried to guest what happened a while ago. He didn¡¯t know how long he had been walking but it was it seems that it was his turn. As he stopped in front of an old man, he noticed that the old man was buried in piles upon piles of papers. His old and worn-out face was still looking at the book in front of him. ¡°Name¡± He said without lifting his head from looking at the book. ¡°Lian Chengyu¡± He answered. He knew without asking that he will be thrown to the deeps of hell, if that mythical place which he had heard about really exists. According to the person, those who committed numerous sins will be thrown at that place to suffer for eternity. The stories Chengyu heard from the person beside him stirred his interest which prompted him to speak with this person. He had a long discussion with the man telling him about his life. There after the man categorized him as one of those people who are evil and will be thrown in hell. After saying this, the man looked at Chengyu with disdain and moved far away from him. Despite the man¡¯s actions, he did not feel anything and let it be. Now in front of this old man that was to give him his sentence he did not feel anything. The old man grunted as he heard his name, with a flick of his hands the pages of book in front of him moved. A second later it stopped, and the old man seemed to read something as he stated to mumble to himself. A moment later, it seems to be that he made a decision. Chengyu steeled himself to whatever will happen however he did not expect to be suddenly transported to certain road full of mist. Note: Well, I believe you will notice some characters and events from other novels will be appearing... Well lets just enjoy the wild imagination? Chapter 2: Reincarnation Chapter 2: Reincarnation Just like the other souls, Chengyu continued to walk forward. It seems that this place was called Yellow Springs Road. Countless souls were walking forward and just in front of them was Bridge of Despair. Time seemed to move slowly as he neared the mist where all the souls disappears. No one knows what was inside it but everyone knows that beyond the Bridge of Despair will be where one can be reincarnated. Chengyu continued to walk forward, mind blank. He tried not to think of anything. But despite himself, deep in his heart he is hoping to have a better life. A life where he doesn¡¯t need to make the same decisions he made in his previous life. Thought his previous life was not as good as he wanted and he also had some things he wished he can change but all in all he did not regret his life. He made all the decisions knowing the consequence. Whatever judgment he will face as a consequence for all his action, he will accept it without complain. It was because of his weakness that the deaths that happened were in vain. With determination burning in his eyes, he stepped forward, entering the fog which was the entrance of Bridge of Despair. As Chengyu entered the fog, he was disoriented before his vision cleared and saw in front of him was a huge pool of blood. Countless soul walked forward, some was able to pass without any problem however some were pulled and was submerged, unable to move and suffered from numerous punishment. He can see as they shout and despaired. He knew that he will be one of this people but he was not afraid. This will be is retribution for all the things he did. His body walked automatically nearing the pool of blood. However unlike what he expected that he will be pulled and submerged like the others, he was still able to walk forward. The difference was that half his body was submerged in the pool of blood but still kept moving forward despite the slowness. Chengyu did not know whether to be thankful or not. He can¡¯t understand what was happening and it seems no one here will be able to explain. He would really like to have explanation about this unknown event however right now was not the time to think as he was experiencing excruciating pain. Pain he never experienced before. The pain was something that can¡¯t be explained. In a normal situation for a person to experience this kind of pain will be enough to make them die or faint from it but the mysterious thing was that this pain was preventing the person both this relief. Time passed, slowly but surely. All Chengyu can think was the pain. Chengyu did not know how long everything lasted. He felt like a decade or even more have passed before the pain disappeared. Before he knew it he was already at the other side of the pool of blood. He felt weak and dizzy from what he experienced. He felt like the torture happened for a very long time, seems like it was decades or even centuries or even more. Since he did not know how this world works he decided to drop his questions as he looked forward. Indeed, the questions he had will never be answered. How could he know that time flowed differently inside the Bridge of Despair especially for those who are submerged in the pool of blood. Those who were not submerged might think that they were just submerged for a while however time flowed differently for those people. For a second they just walked past someone that was submerged it might have been millions or even billions of years that this person has been tortured. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. From a distance he can see Grandma Meng which was the last step before they are reincarnated. From his location, he saw the youth that was taken by the god like demon before. If he remembered it correctly his name was Ji Ning. As he was thinking about the youth and what happened, his eyes saw six tunnels behind Grandma Meng. As he was puzzled about these tunnels he saw as one ghost drank the elixir and moved to one of the six tunnels. As he distracted himself about this question, He heard the ancient and indignant shout of Grandma Meng. ¡°Impudent!¡± Everything happened in an instant. It became so dark and everything seemed to brake. It was like a big calamity was about to happen. It might have been because of this, the invisible power holding every spirit in the place disappeared which gave the spirits ability to move. Every spirit panicked. Everything was starting to fall apart and because of the confusion and fear every spirit started to run and jump on any of the tunnel nearest to them. Just like everyone, Chengyu not wishing to see where this fight will go tried to run as fast as he can to the nearest tunnel however since he was feeling weak, he did not have the strength to run. The sky roared and countless thunders started to descend, killing anyone without a trace. For a soul to be stuck and cease to exist can be considered true death. Boom! Chengyu can''t help but curse as he nearly become one of the unfortunate soul that cease to exist. Fortunately, thought one of the thunders fell it did not directly strike him, however the impact of it was so strong that it blew him away and a residual flash of the thunder struck his heart. He cried in pain but before he lost consciousness, he gave thanks to the goddess of luck because despite his injury he knew his soul was not extinguished and the force of the impact became a saving grace since it blew him to a tunnel. Chengyu did not know what will happen because of this incident however one thing was sure, he was thankful to be alive. ~0o0o0o0o0~ Note: It''s been a while since I tried writing fanfiction again so I know I have a lot of issues to fix so please go easy on me. I''m also thinking of picking my other novel back but don''t worry since i''ll still continue this one. Appreciate comments and if you notice anything that need fixing, please don''t hesitate to comment. T''ll try to fix it. Chapter 3: New Life Chapter 3: New Life The first thought that popped in Chengyu¡¯s mind was the uncomfortable cold and slimy feeling. The next was the unbearable pain that made him cry out loud. ¡°Ouahhh¡ª¡± Chengyu¡¯s sluggish mind was able to register a sharp and high-pitched cry that definitely came from a newborn. The instinct to investigate the weirdness of the situation nagged his mind however, as much as he wanted to investigate, he felt sleepy. The cold and uncomfortable feeling was replaced by warmth and combined with a soft voice that has this soothing effect, lulled him to a deep and comfortable sleep. Before he can stop this mysterious effect, everything disappeared. ~*~*~*~**~*~*~* ¡°%^$&**&^%¡± The next time Chengyu woke up, was from the soft words and movement around him. Instinct kicking in gear, he automatically opened his eyes however only outline of shadows greeted him. He tried to move but to his astonishment he was having a hard time. With only a few movements he already started to feel tried and frustration was starting to pile up. Chengyu needed answers. He needed to know what was happening but the uncontrollable emotions were starting to overflow which was not helping his current dilemma. As someone that is already considered an adult, this jumbled and uncontrollable emotions swelling up and about to erupt was something foreign and unbelievable to Chengyu. Perhaps because of this, the last restrain Chengyu had finally snapped resulting to a burst of high pitch wails. Hearing this unbelievable sound coming from his own mouth further fueled and heightened Chengyu distress which made the wails stronger and in full force. ¡®How pathetic, for me to be crying like a baby¡¯ Strangely, as this thought popped in his mind, a sudden idea caught him unprepared. He tried to get his emotions together to test and check if his theory was correct when he heard footsteps. It seems like the person in the vicinity heard his cries and was walk towards him. Chengyu was caught off guard when a giant head appeared above him. Thanks to the sudden shock, his wails stopped as he looked person above him with big round eyes. The ¡®giant head¡¯ was a young woman around the age of twenty. She looked no different from any human; in fact she looked beautiful despite the issue in regards to her size. ¡°%^$&**&^%¡± The ¡®giant head¡¯ seemed to have spoken, but to Chengyu¡¯s frustration; he did not understand a thing. ¡°Ai, au, ai, ah¡ª¡± Chengyu tried to speak, however to his horror, he found out that not only the sound of his voice weird but he felt that his tongue wasn¡¯t moving well, it wasn¡¯t possible to talk. It seems like the ¡®giant head¡¯ found Chengyu¡¯s action funny since a smile bloomed and her eyes brightened. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.Before Chengyu can even vent his frustration another shocking event happen. A hand, a big hand from above came near and seemed to have poked his cheeks and after that he felt something touch his hands which he instinctively grabbed. To his horror, he saw a small, chubby and white hand gripped one finger of the giant. It was then that everything seemed to become clear to Chengyu, the weird voice and the inability to speak, the uncontrollable emotions and the giant, all this strange things was because he was a baby. As he was processing this information he heard sounds coming somewhere. It seems that it also caught the attention of the young woman because she finally stopped playing with his hands and her ¡®giant head¡¯ which was hovering above disappeared. As the woman left, it gave Chengyu time to analyze his situation. It seems that he successfully reincarnated as a baby. This explains his current situation having hard time moving and speaking. However another question sprouted in Chengyu¡¯s mind. It was that he can¡¯t understand the words spoken by the woman. ¡®Did I reincarnate somewhere outside Cloud Wilderness?¡¯ He never had a chance to leave the wilderness, however he learned from passing merchants from bigger tribes that there were many places that has different customs and also language. This language issue had made Chengyu anxious on how to handle his current situation. Thought it helped that he still have his previous life¡¯s memory, he was starting to feel that it might not help him in this new environment. The anxiousness seemed to have taken a toll on Chengyu small body since he started to feel more sluggish as his thoughts were becoming slower and incoherent. Before long he closed his eyelids and welcomed the comfort brought by nothingness. ¡®New life huh?¡­¡¯ This last thoughts floated his mind before he fell a sleep. ~*~*~*~**~*~*~* Shadows seemed to move within a big and spacious room. The room was enormous and the interior decor, from the intricate wood furniture to the thick and soft carpet, shows luxury and extravagance. In the middle of the room, an eye catching silk curtain embroidered with a gold dragon hung down from the ceiling reaching the floor. The silk curtain was like a barrier surrounding a wide crib like bed. Inside this crib was a baby who was sleeping peacefully. The shadow moved again, however unlike before it formed a silhouette of a person. The shadow¡¯s hand parted the curtain and without any sound went near the sleeping baby. Cold eyes without any emotion looked at the peacefully sleeping creature. The shadow silently looking at the child for a few seconds before taking the baby with fast and careful movement which was deliberately done to avoid waking the baby. After taking the baby, the shadow disappeared leaving nothing behind. The very next morning a commotion never been seen in the capital of Baruch Empire erupted. The crown prince of the mighty Baruch Empire has disappeared without any trace.