《1000 Lives Relived》 Chapter Zero Chapter Zero Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash. Two horses gallop full speed ahead, urged to carry on by their two riders. Their hooves strike the puddles on the ground as the run. The two riders are covered by a black cloak hiding all their features. Strapped around one rider is something that looks like a sling, but it is slightly swaying as the horses gallop on. The wet trees and the soaked ground make the light that comes from the moon look even more beautiful. Tonight is the night of a full moon. These two riders are on a muddy path, but they are constantly looking behind them. What are the looking for? Is someone following them? Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Loud. The sound coming from behind them was loud. Every second it was getting even louder than before. It was as if the earth was trembling with fear. One of the riders urged their horse to speed up. What was approaching was something they didn¡¯t want to get caught up in. Suddenly the wind ahead of them blew in their direction forcing their horses to slow down. Is this heaven''s will? Will they die here? The wind blew off the hood of one of the riders. Long hair swayed in the wind as the riders facial features could be seen. A beauty that could conquer a kingdom could be seen. Her horse neighed as its front two legs went in the air. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! It was coming closer. The other rider looked at the woman while his mouth was opening and closing. He was telling her something, but the wind¡¯s roar was too loud. Tears streamed down the woman''s face as she urged her horse to continue going forward. The other rider turned their horse around and went head on into the loud noise coming behind them. Dust arose, and it seemed like a sandstorm was closing in. This was not a sandstorm, instead it was an army. All of the soldiers were armed to the teeth. The air around them was suffocating. The rider charged at them. Two golden swords were produced as if it was magic. The rider jumped from the horse and dived into the army. Boom! Dust rose from the clash, but the rider could not be seen. The army continued going forward. The woman who left the other rider behind gained some time. Her horse was moving slower than before because of the wind, but that didn¡¯t stop her. In her sight was a village. The village wasn¡¯t big, nor did it seem to house anyone. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Making her way to the village, she noticed one house had it¡¯s light on. The thing that was wrapped around her body was unraveled. It started moving and crying. It wasn¡¯t an object, it was a baby. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she knocked on the door. Once she knocked on the door she heard the noise get even louder. She kissed the baby on its face as she set it down. In a split second she disappeared like the wind. The horse she was on neighed as it took off. Turning her head towards the village one last time, she said some faint words. The door opened up. It was an elderly man holding himself up with a cane. He glanced to both sides before he finally looked down. His eyes almost popped out as he noticed what was lying on the ground. It seemed like it took all his strength to reach down and grab the baby. One last time he looked to both sides. No one. It was as if this baby was a gift from the heavens itself. He slowly went back inside and closed the door behind him. A few minutes later his house started shaking. He has already set the baby down so he walked to his door again. Opening it, he noticed the other houses were shaking as well. From afar he could make out a dust cloud. Loud booming noises could be made out. He was frightened for his life so he hurriedly closed the door. Inside the baby continued crying. The elderly man unwrapped the baby who was in a wet blanket. Beautiful. Was the only word the man could use to describe the baby in front of him. It was a handsome baby boy. Laying on his stomach was a small white box. The elderly man slowly opened it. Inside was a golden ring and a note. He grabbed the note first and read it. ¡®Ye Long no matter where you are, or who you may become. I love you. Even if the heavens are against you, or the earth tried to break you. I will always love you. My time in this lifetime is up, but maybe next time I can be your mother again. I have nothing to give you. No motherly love. No money. I can only leave you with this ring. May you find your way in this world and live a glorious life. Whatever you do, do not trust them. They harmed us, and betrayed our cause. They are¡­ Lin.¡¯ Chapter One Another Series, decided to drop Surviving: The Change (Already have a VR like novel no need for another one...). Thus i''m writing this one as well which will be a wuxia type of novel. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter One Boom! A thick piece of wood hit a young boy. The boy couldn¡¯t be any older than four, but he had bruises all over his body. Blood was leaking from his mouth, and nose. His clothing could be considered normal around these parts. However they were completely ruined. Blood stains were on it, it had holes in it, and there were even some oddly colored wet marks on them as well. He had short wavy white hair with streaks of black in it. His skin was deathly pale, and he was short for his age. He was wearing some worn out overalls over a holy tan shirt. When the thick piece of wood hit his head, he instantly went down. ¡°That should teach you, you fucking monster!¡± A young voice called out. ¡°Yeah, you should go die!¡± Another one added on. The young boy forced his head up. His vision was blurry, but his deep blue eyes could make out what was in front of him. There were two males who were only two years older than him. One boy had jet black hair and black eyes while the other one had shoulder length brown hair and black eyes. The young boy gritted his teeth as he slowly stood up. He staggered for a moment, but he kept his balance. ¡®Monster¡¯ was the term used to describe him. A beast, a demon that everyone feared and wanted to kill. No one wanted to have anything to do with that sort of being. Why? Why did it have to be him? He did nothing to these people, but they treated him like an outcast. ¡®How did this happen?¡¯ He thought to himself. He wasn¡¯t a ¡®Monster¡¯ at all. He was a human being just like the two in front of him. The only difference between him and them was the color of their hair. Everyone in the village treats him horribly. Some call him names, while others throw things at him. Some people are worse than others, and some days are better than others. Being beaten behind this abandoned house wasn¡¯t anything new to him. Ever since he turned three, has he endured this kind of treatment. The kids would try to kill him whenever they could. The parents would talk about him in front or behind his back. He only had one parent, one person who loved him. His grandfather, but even he sometimes looked at him differently. Was he really a ¡®Monster¡¯ that they made him out to be? Should he really go die like they told him? A tear strolled down his face. He was conflicted. The emotions in him were stirring around and around, but he couldn¡¯t control them. ¡°Is the baby crying!? Want your mother!? Oh, I forgot she left you because she couldn¡¯t bear to look at a Monster!¡± The black haired boy told him. The brown haired boy put his hand in his pocket. His clothing was no different than the young boys, only it wasn¡¯t tattered. Out came a rock the size of a grown mans fist. He threw it in the air a few times while he grinned. ¡°Damn monster, just die already!!¡± He yelled as he threw the rock at the young boy. The young boys feet was froze. It was as if he couldn¡¯t move his body at all. When he tried he just felt pain surging through his body instead. It was too painful for him to move, but he had to. However no matter how much he struggled, the pain was just too great to bear. Boom! The rock hit the young boy straight in the head. His head flew back along with his body as he collapsed on the ground. His body twitched three times before it finally stopped moving. Blood leaked out of his head while the two boys looked at him. Both of them had their mouths wide open. They couldn¡¯t believe their eyes. Did he really die? If he did die, then what would happen to them? Would they get into trouble? Both of the boys looked at each other and gulped. ¡°His fault! Yeah, it¡¯s his fault!¡± The brown haired boy slowly said. He was pushing all the blame on the young boy. It was his fault that it had come to this. It was his fault for not dodging the rock. If he did, then he wouldn¡¯t be dead. ¡°W-we should leave! If anyone finds out¡­ we¡¯ll be goners¡­¡± The black haired boy cried out. His body was trembling in fear as he imagined the things that would happen to him. He thought of all the adults in the village treating him like a murder. Thinking of what would happen when he got home and his parents found out. Why? Why did he have to go die when he started bullying him? Both boys turned tail and ran away leaving the young boys corpse. It was a silent promise, but it is something they would keep for the rest of their lives. They would never tell what happened here today. If anyone happened to find his body, they would pretend like they knew nothing about it. The young boys head was completely blank. There was no light only complete darkness. He felt like something was trying to suck him in, but he didn¡¯t want to go. Would he die? Is this his fate? No! He didn¡¯t actually want to die. He still had to see his grandfather one more time. He still needed to live his life. He is so young, so why should he die. The suction slowly died down and the young boy calmed down. Slowly his mind started shaking. He couldn¡¯t see what was going on because it was completely dark, but something was shaking. Boom! A small white light came through. It was like a hole was made in the darkness letting the light shine. Through the hole floated out a small blue ball. The boy tried to touch it, but he didn¡¯t have any hands. This was inside his mind so he didn¡¯t actually have a form. He could only continue watching what was happening to him. The small blue ball flew high until it stopped. Spinning. The blue ball started spinning around and around. Each rotation faster than the last. It produced a golden light around it as it flew towards the young boy. He couldn¡¯t catch it, nor touch it. He couldn¡¯t even stop it from approaching him. He wasn¡¯t real, so he could only watch what was happening. As the small blue ball came closer, the young boy felt like he was being ripped apart. He couldn¡¯t let out a sound, nor could he cry for help. None of this was real, but it felt real. Is this what the afterlife is like? Boom! The small blue ball felt like it hit him in the head. His mind shook once again as it was overtaken by a white light. ¡°Ugh.¡± He groaned. The young boy who was lying on the ground slowly opened his eyes. He was laying in a pool of blood. He shook his head slowly as he got up. Looking down at his body, he noticed something strange. ¡®Wierd. I¡¯m sure I only get these back when I am seven.¡¯ He told himself. Something was different about this young boy. He didn¡¯t seem like the same young boy who was getting beaten up a moment ago. His eyes seemed to be filled with life. Those deep blue eyes of his stared at his surroundings. A small house with a ton of holes in it. There was a boulder sized hole where he was staring. You could even look into the house, but it was clearly empty. ¡®I see¡­¡¯ He muttered to himself. ¡®Everything has happened earlier than expected, but even better!¡¯ He muttered to himself. Memories. What are they? It is something you remember for a long time and can always recall. Some memories fade while new ones are made. During reincarnation, your memories are kept hidden away. A few lucky souls will remember one of their past lives, while most remember nothing. Lucky is what you should call the young boy. That is what he was, because he could remember all of his memories. He didn¡¯t know everything or everyone in the world. He didn¡¯t understand high grade techniques. He only recalled a few things he did in his past lives. A farmer in a few. A merchant in a couple. A lost soul on the path to Immortality. Each an every path he took lead him to his death. However every time he was reincarnated, at the age of seven he remembered something. He remembered the life he had before. This strange phenomenon shouldn¡¯t have occurred, and yet it did. In one of his lives, he recalled a story. It stated no soul could survive under one thousand reincarnations. The heavens wouldn¡¯t allow it. When you die for the thousandth time, your soul disappears. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.Was it real or is it fake? If it was real, then he shouldn¡¯t be alive now. He has already lived one thousand lives already. This time would make it one thousand and one. He didn¡¯t know if this was true of false because he couldn¡¯t compare himself to others. In each and every life he had, only two things stayed constant. One, he was always a male in his new life. Two, the world he lived in was always ruled by those who cultivated. This life, would it be the same? The young boy knew who he was, and knew he was getting bullied. He understood that the reason for this was because of his hair color, but he couldn¡¯t change that. It was the color it was because of his parents. It was because of his genes that his hair was this color. He couldn¡¯t do anything to change it even if he wanted to. The young boy thought about going home to his grandfather, but decided not to yet. First thing he should do is check out his dantian and meridians. Now that he gained his memories early, he can cultivate from an earlier age. He may not be able to compete with those from wealthy clans, nor those genius¡¯. However he would still be above average if he started now. His bleeding stopped when he woke up, and it was still sunny out. He didn¡¯t know how long he was out for, but it couldn¡¯t have been long. If he disappeared for a few days, what would happen to those two? ¡®No, i¡¯ll have my revenge later.¡¯ He told himself. Now was not the time to get those two in trouble. If he just disappeared, they would get off with a light punishment. However if he gained strength then he could punish them more than their parents would. No matter what, those who have bullied him will get their punishment tenfold. He took a deep breath as he sat down cross legged. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift away. One minute passed, but nothing happened. Ten minutes past, and nothing happened. Thirty minutes past and nothing happened. He opened his eyes and sighed. The Qi in this world is rich and thick, but he couldn¡¯t obtain any of it. In all of his lifetime''s, his meridians never had any problems. However this time they did. They were broken. He would be considered a cripple if he was in a clan. He would be lower than trash. Those tales of people restoring their meridians or finding some mysterious treasure to help them out was a lie. In all of his lifetimes, he has never heard or found any himself. Their wasn¡¯t any genius suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Stories are only that. Stories. He shouldn¡¯t believe in them, because they would not help him out. His path to gaining strength was cut off from him. Is this because his soul didn¡¯t disappear like it was suppose to? Maybe the heavens really was against him and wanted him to continue dying. His revenge on those people who bullied him will have to wait. He couldn¡¯t gain strength from cultivation, so he could only do it the hard way. By training hard. He gritted his teeth with anger. He has to return to his house and he knows that he will have to pass those who bullied him. The bullying, would it continue? What could he do when he is only four years old? How can he fight back against those six and eight year old kids in the village? He sighed as he took his step forward. He came from behind the abandoned house with his bloody tattered clothing. Even the back of his head was dyed red. The village had around one hundred small houses. This village wasn¡¯t big at all, and there were around two or three new houses built a year. The ground in front of him was pure dirt, not one piece of grass could be found. When he came from behind the abandoned house, some of the villagers looked at him. None of them pitied his look, some even smirked. They all knew what happened to him, but they didn¡¯t care. They continued their work without even paying him any attention. Some of the older females were whispering to each other while glaring at him. He shot them a murderous look, but they coldly snorted at him. ¡®Fuck all of you!¡¯ He yelled to himself. These damn people in this village didn¡¯t care for him at all, so why should he care for them. They turn a blind eye in his time of need! ¡®Wait until I grow up!¡¯ He told himself. Tomorrow morning he would begin his training. He would train his body until it broke down, then he would build it back up again. No matter the pain, he would endure it. Until the day he had the strength to punish all of these villagers. Slowly he made his way to his house. There was nothing different about it than the rest of the houses in the village. His grandfather stayed here, and some of the villagers pitied him. He was raising a ¡®Monster¡¯ when he didn¡¯t have to. He could have left the little thing die for all they cared. He was too old to be taking care of someone else¡¯s brat. The young boy recalled what some of the villagers said. They told the old man to take the young boy out the village and toss him in the river. Let the river take him where it takes him while he lives the rest of his life in peace. The young boy was grateful that his grandfather didn¡¯t listen to those nasty villagers and continued to raise him. Sure his grandfather would look at him differently sometimes, but it was much better than what those villagers did to him. He opened the door and found an elderly man with grey hair sitting down in a chair. You could clearly make out every wrinkle in his face, even his back was bent forward. He was old, his time was soon running out. The young boy noticed that the elderly man had a letter in his hands. He must have heard the young boy come in and he hurriedly hid it behind him. The elderly man smiled, ¡°Ye Long welcome home.¡± He tried to smile, but he felt a slight pain in his heart. He knew that the young boy was getting bullied, but he couldn¡¯t do anything to stop it. He was too old and not in his prime anymore. When the bullying first started, he asked the adults to keep their children under control. It¡¯s already been a year, but it continues to get worse. Ye Long didn¡¯t say anything about it, so the old man didn¡¯t bring it up. Ye Long came and sat down in a seat across from the old man. ¡°Grandfather, what are you reading?¡± He asked. ¡°Huh? What are you talking about?¡± His grandfather questioned. Ye Long pointed behind his grandfather. ¡°That letter you were reading. What was it?¡± ¡°You are mistaken boy, I wasn¡¯t reading anything. You must have taken one too many hits and are seeing things.¡± He replied. ¡°Ok, if you say so.¡± He sighed. His grandfather was clearly hiding the letter from him, but he didn¡¯t pry any further. ¡°Grandfather, i¡¯m thinking of starting training tomorrow¡­¡± Ye Long said. His grandfather was surprised and a faint smile appeared on his face. ¡°That¡¯s my boy! You¡¯ll show them whose boy when you''re older!¡± He told Ye Long giving him some confidence. ¡°Right, i¡¯m going to go to your study. I need to look at some material for later.¡± Ye Long told his grandfather as he got up from his seat and went out of the room. ¡°O-ok¡­¡± His grandfather said. ¡®Weird. What has gotten into that boy?¡¯ The elderly man thought to himself. He has never known Ye Long to like reading. He didn¡¯t even know if the boy could read! After today he came home and wanted to train. Not only that, he was going to read! This was a miracle from the gods. If Ye Long read those books in his study them maybe he could learn a thing or two. Not to mention to amount of people in this village who can read and write were quite few. Even if Ye Long would be treated as an outcast, anyone with knowledge can go anywhere. Now that Ye Long is going to train, the burden on the elderly man is greatly reduced. As long as he becomes strong, then he doesn¡¯t need to worry about being bullied. The elderly man reached behind him and pulled out the letter. ¡®Mr. Mu Wei, I have estimated that you only have around one year left to live. It may be more if you don¡¯t continue being under constant stress, but not guaranteed. I strongly urge you to live the rest of your life in peace.¡¯ The elderly man sighed to himself. One year. In one year, what could he do? He has to find living arrangements for Ye Long once he¡¯s gone and needs to find a way to feed him. How will Ye Long live if he isn¡¯t around anymore? The elderly man knows that once he is gone, the villagers will surely toss Ye Long out of the village to fend for himself. He sighed to himself. He could only hope for a miracle to happen.
Surprises coming 25-27th for all my novels! Chapter Two Chapter Two Ye Long stepped into his grandfather''s study. It wasn¡¯t as big as the studies he had seen in his previous lives, but it was big enough for this village. There are a couple of reasons why Ye Long wanted to come to this study. One reason is to learn more about this world. He must know if their are still people who cultivate and if he was just unlucky to be born with broken meridians. Two he needs to learn how to write. Ye Long already understands how to speak, but he needs to be able to put words on paper. If one knows how to do that, they will go a long way in life. Lastly he needs to know Ye Long looked around the room for a moment. There were three shelves full of books, a globe showing the world, and a map. Ye Long first decided to look at the map, he needed to know how this continent looks. As long as he can understand that, then his knowledge will shoot up. Looking at the map - which was fairly long, it was at least two times bigger than all of the continents he has been on. The continent was divided into eight sections. Each one was a different color, and each had a name on it. Ye Long looked at the biggest one. This section was at least two times bigger than the other ones, but it had it¡¯s back against the water. The name of that section was He. The second biggest was Fe. Third Li. Fourth was Lin. Fifth was Shen, sixth Wei, seventh Sho, and eight Ye. ¡®Ye¡­ Ye¡­ matches my name. Could we be from there?¡¯ Ye Long asked himself as his finger touched the map. After his finger touched the map, the borders for each section moved. The Ye section was faced off against the Shen, Wei, and Li sections. When his finger touched the map, the Ye section got small while the other three got bigger. ¡®This map¡­ it seems to work in real time.¡¯ Ye Long thought to himself. The map he was looking at was not a normal map. When a part of a land is taken over, the map will update itself, so everyone knows how much land they have. Ye Long made an assumption that these sections were at war with each other, and it seemed the Ye section was on the losing end. If the Ye section disappeared, what would happen then? Ye Long really hoped he was not in the Ye section at all. He guessed that in at least ten or eleven years time, that place would be gone. If he was really in the Ye section at that time, he was sure he might get caught up in the war and die. He couldn¡¯t have that. Ye Long shook his head as he stepped away from the map. He walked over to the globe that was on a table. When he was on earth, he had seen tons of globes before. However he had to say, this one definitely takes the cake. A globe this size shouldn¡¯t even be called a globe. It was at least three times bigger than the one of earth. Just thinking of the amount of continents this globe could hold shocked Ye Long. Unlike most of the earths he was on where most of the planet was taken up by water, this place was taken up by mostly land. That or it was close to being fifty-fifty. There were six oceans on the globe, and eighteen continents. Ye Long studied each one and memorized their names. He didn¡¯t know if he would ever leave this continent, but he needs to know the others. One reason being that if he ever wants to leave this one, he¡¯ll need to know which direction to head in for the others. Not to mention that it would be stupid of him to not know the names of each continent. Ye Long was in the body of a four year old boy. Sure it was his body, but it had the same four year old functions. As long as he jammed everything into his brain from an earlier age then they would be stuck there for a long time. He would definitely be an early bird in this life. He might forget what he learned the next day, but he would study it all again. No matter if he forgot what he learned next week, he would study it once more! Ye Long looked at the three shelves that were filled with books. ¡®Which one to start with¡­¡¯ he asked himself. He thought over it for a moment before deciding to start with the left shelf. He approached it and glanced at the books that were displayed on it. It was filled with at least twenty different books. If he were to read this shelf alone, it would probably take him a few days. Ye Long stretched his body out before grabbing the first book. It was a basic language book. He¡¯s four and he is new to this world. It is better if he learns this language and any other while he still can. The more proficient he is at it, the better it will be later on. ¡®In this life, I shall not fail!¡¯ He told himself. Opening the book to the first page which was title ¡®Introductory¡¯ he started reading. Reading in general would let him increase his knowledge as well as his reading speed. If he couldn¡¯t become a cultivator in this world, he could become a scholar. That or a strategist for some king somewhere. This world had a total of six languages. There was the Hen language, Zhou language, Solin language. Lanix Language, Qin Language, and Zu Language. Each language was mostly spoken in certain continents and from certain races. Ye Long already learned just from reading the introductory that their were six languages. Now he learned that their are certain races as well. Their was the sphinx race, beastman race, human race, elven race, pixie race goblin race. There were at least ten others on the list as well. This world was filled with different races. Ye Long wondered if it would be taboo for a human to have a child with one of the other races. He decided to put it in the back of his head for now and ask his grandfather later on. Ye Long started studying the Hen language first. Just looking at it made sense to him. This was the language he could read and talk in. He thought about changing to another language, but opted not to. He should not skip anything. It felt like hours passed by. Ye Long was sitting down with his eyes glued in the book. Every so often he would pronounce a few words and write them down using hand strokes in the air. Suddenly he yawned for the third time since he started reading. His body was somewhat numb so Ye Long got up and stretched his body. His stomach started growling so he walked out of the study. ¡°Grandfather, did you make anything to eat!¡± Ye Long asked. He walked into the living room where he first met his grandfather. His grandfather was seated in his chair dozed off. Ye Long sighed to himself. It seems he wouldn¡¯t be eating anything yet. Suddenly he turned his head and looked out the window. It was dark out. The moonlight was shining down and letting a little light into the room. It was only then that he understood that he spent a long time studying. He was so immersed in it that he forgot about the time. He laughed at himself and strolled to his room. He already understood that he wouldn¡¯t get fed tonight, so it was better to try again in the morning. He opened his room door and laid down on his bed. He ran all the knowledge he studied through his head a few times before he finally dozed off. He didn¡¯t have a single dream that night. He woke up feeling fully refreshed, but his stomach still growled. His nose smelt something good in the air so he rushed to find out what it was. Ye Long found his grandfather in the kitchen pouring a cup of milk. On two seperate plates were some meat. Ye Long rushed to the table and sat down. ¡°Grandfather you¡¯ve made a feast today!¡± His grandfather laughed. ¡°Indeed, we both went without eating yesterday thus we need our strength to work hard for another day.¡± ¡°En!¡± Ye Long said. His grandfather slowly sat down a cup of milk by Ye Long and then slowly took a seat as well. Ye Long started stuffing his face. ¡°Slow down it¡¯s not going anywhere.¡± His grandfather spoke. Ye Long¡¯s mouth was full of meat so he started chewing. Next he took his cup of milk and downed it along with the meat. It seemed like it got stuck in his throat because he started coughing. ¡°It¡¯s not, but I am!¡± Ye Long told his grandfather. His grandfather was a bit surprised when he heard Ye Long tell him that he was going somewhere. The only time he ever heard Ye Long say he was going somewhere was when he went to get something for him. Other than that, that boy never stepped foot outside. ¡°Where are you going?¡± He asked him. ¡°Training!¡± Ye Long replied before stuffing himself full of meat once again. ¡°Oh.. ok.¡± His grandfather slowly said. When Ye Long told him that he would begin training, his grandfather didn¡¯t really believe him. What sort of four year old would train? No, what sort of training could a four year old do? Ye Long hurriedly left the table as soon as he was done with his food. He went outside and to the back of his house. Ye Long noticed a giant tree in the back of the house. This tree was old and sturdy, it was perfect for his training. He couldn¡¯t use the Qi in the air to further his strength, so he had to go the old fashion way. During one of his past lives, Ye Long was a student at a well known dojo. It was called Re. During it¡¯s peak, it was considered one of the top three most famous, but slowly fell down due to the lack of members. Ye Long was one of the five hundred disciples, but he could only be considered the peak of all the low class disciples. His strength was enough to beat all low class disciples, but not enough to beat even the lowest middle class disciple. Re dojo was a type of martial arts that focused on reversing the flow. It would take your opponent''s strength and use it against them. However there were a few moves in the Re techniques that allowed you to be the one to attack. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. In total, the Re dojo had a total of two stances. One was for attacking and defending, while the other one was for pure attack. In total there were thirteen moves. Ye Long played back all the moves he had learned or seen from his fellow disciples. He nodded his head while taking the first stance. He spread his legs apart while raising his hands. Next he started moving his arms around slowly, and throwing out a few punches or kicks here and there. After ten minutes the speed picked up and went faster. Ten minutes after that, his speed increased once again. The speed stayed constant after that and it seemed like his hands were creating afterimages. Sweat was dripping down his body and it felt like his muscles were being ripped apart. Not only was the Re style good for attacking and defending, it was also good for increasing your strength. Your stamina would build up as well as your speed. Ye Long continued using different techniques until his body finally collapsed down. Ye Long laid on the ground with his body spread out and was heavily panting. Even the air he sucked in hurt his lungs. They made it burn with pain, but he knew that this was only the first step. After resting his body for thirty minutes or so, Ye Long forced himself up. His muscles ached, but he endured it. ¡®Must continue!¡¯ He told himself. Ye Long took off his shirt. His pale white skin was full of bruises and marks left from all the bullying he went through. He himself didn¡¯t mind it and took another stance. The first stance he took was the one for attacking only, now he would use the one for attacking/defending. He closed his eyes and an image of an old man appeared. He had a long white beard along with a white robe. His jade green eyes were extremely sharp. This person was his master. What Ye Long was doing now was something he learned a long time ago. It was shadow fighting. If he imagined the strongest person he knew, he would then begin to fight against them. In all of Ye Long¡¯s lives, this person could be considered one of the top four strongest. Once Ye Long beat this old man, he would move on the the next. He would repeat that until all of his masters were finally defeated. Ye Long knew that once he beat them all, that would mean he completely mastered the Re fighting style. Ye Long bowed to his master before taking his stance once again. His master took a stance, but the instant he did his arm moves like a serpent. Ye Long was only four years old so his body wasn¡¯t like it use to be. If this was the other him, he would be able to see the blow coming. However it wasn¡¯t the other him, it was the four year old one. Naturally his eyes weren¡¯t use to that kind of speed. However they would adjust if he continues to see it and do it himself. His master''s hand struck his chest and Ye Long went back. It didn¡¯t hit him, but the image was too real. Even if he didn¡¯t feel any pain, he still had to take this serious. If he didn¡¯t, then this wouldn¡¯t be called training. It would only be called playing. His form got messed up when he went back, so he hurriedly took it once more. The old man¡¯s hand flashed once again striking at Ye Long. It was the same one as earlier, Ye Long moved his left arm to blow it. His arm rotated the blow making it miss him, and used the same force to attack his master. His hand struck out and made a Pua sound, but his master countered with his own. Ye Long¡¯s fist was shot down causing all his momentum to suddenly stop. His master''s hand struck up gliding past his arm and attacking his shoulder. Ye Long¡¯s shoulder went back and the next moment a fist was right in his face. He opened his eyes and shook his head. His body was drenched in sweat and he was breathing hard. Shadow fighting used more of his strength than practicing by himself. When he fought against his master and he was struck in the face, he lost. The image of his master disappeared with the lose as well. Ye Long grabbed his shirt that was on the ground and walked back into the house. His grandfather looked at him weirdly for a moment. ¡°What sort of training did you do?¡± He asked him. ¡°Nothing much, just shadow fighting.¡± Ye Long replied. ¡°Shadow fighting?¡± His grandfather asked confused. In all of his life he has never heard of such a thing. Naturally his grandson shouldn¡¯t know of it either. Ye Long was taken aback by this. He thought that this world knew of shadow fighting so he just casually said it. Only when his grandfather asked did he understand that this world didn¡¯t know of such a technique. It was that, or this village was really out there and cut off from the rest of the world. Ye Long really hoped it was the latter. If that was the case then that would explain why his grandfather never knew of such a thing. ¡°It¡¯s when you imagine a strong person. After that you and that person begin fighting each other. Only the attacks aren¡¯t real and only a shadow.¡± Ye Long explained. His grandfather stroked his beard for a moment. ¡°Strange, why would someone do what, when you could do Image training instead¡­¡± ¡°What is Image training?¡± Ye Long asked. In all of his lifetimes, he has never heard of such a thing. He imagined one standing in front of a mirror and fighting themselves. When he thought of it, he couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡± His grandfather spoke. His grandfather cracked his next and took a deep breath. His cane glowed black for a moment before black smoke rose one meter away from him. It slowly went away and what was left was a person who looked like Ye Long. If Ye Long didn¡¯t see it with his own eyes, he wouldn¡¯t believe it. He wouldn¡¯t believe that he had a twin in this world no matter what. However someone or something that looked exactly like him had appeared right in front of his eyes. His grandfather looked back at Ye Long. ¡°Go ahead and attack it.¡± Ye Long threw his shirt on a chair not to far away from him. He then approached the other Ye Long and threw a punch. When the punch hit, it actually hit him. The other Ye Long went back a few inches before it threw a punch back at the original Ye Long. Ye Long was stunned, this image of him felt so real. Even it¡¯s attacks are real. This was hundreds of times better than shadow fighting! The image of Ye Long disappeared and his grandfather coughed a few times. Ye Long looked at his grandfather and gave a slight smile. ¡°Grandfather, what was that?¡± He asked. No matter what, no matter how many lives he has lived. He has never in his life heard or seen of such a technique. ¡°I told you, it¡¯s Image training. You image someone and use your mana to create an image of them. The time they last depends on the amount of mana you have.¡± His grandfather explained. ¡°Huh? Mana?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the essence we magicians use. However this old man hear is only of the lowest grade thus I cannot hold an image for more than three minutes.¡± ¡°Whats mana? Is it like Qi?¡± Ye Long asked. ¡°Qi? I¡¯ve heard of no such thing. However when a person is born, they are born either being able to sense mana or not being able to. If you can sense it, you¡¯ll feel it in the air. When you breath it feels like your body is being recovered at an incredible pace. If you meditate your mana surges through your body and increases. With it you can use magic.¡± His grandfather explained. ¡°If you aren¡¯t born with it, then you¡¯ll never be able to sense it. No matter how much you try, you¡¯ll never be able to. Thus you are a normal civilian.¡± Hearing what his grandfather said, it began to make sense to him a little. No wonder he couldn¡¯t absorb the Qi in the world. Sure it might be there, but this is a world filled with magicians. If magicians use mana, then they cannot use Qi. Only martial artist use Qi. If this world is filled with magicians then it¡¯s no wonder his meridians were broken. The heavens weren¡¯t against him, it was just the way the world was! ¡°So can I learn?¡± He asked. ¡°No. I¡¯ve checked before, and you are unable to learn magic.¡± Ye Long sighed. ¡°Why?¡± This time his grandfather sighed. ¡°In this world, the probability of one being able to sense mana is extremely low. Look in this village, there are at least two hundred people but I am the only one here who has magic. I might be only able to use Image, but I am still weak. Those who are born being able to sense mana would have a better life than others. Or so most would assume. However even we have a ranking. Those of us at the bottom are treated the same as normal civilians while those at the top are treated as kings. However for one to have the strength of a king is extremely low. The number of them could be counted on two hands.¡± Ye Long school his head. ¡°Ok, if I can¡¯t become a magician i¡¯ll forge my own path.¡± After speaking Ye Long went to take a bath. After that he went back to the study to learn more of the world. His grandfather was seated in his chair and sighed to himself. ¡®Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have lied, but I feel it¡¯s better this way. Out in this deserted land, no one would even come here. It doesn¡¯t matter even if you have talent, no one would outside this village would take notice of it¡­.¡¯ his grandfather told himself. Chapter Three Chapter Three For the next couple of days, Ye Long continued his same routine. Waking up early to eat, training his martial arts, coming home to study, shower and sleep. His strength continued to grow little by little along with his knowledge of the world. He was still studying the language book, but he didn¡¯t study it a lot. Instead he decided to look at it every now and then to cram a few things into his head. He didn¡¯t want to spend this year trying to learn something that he might not use until later on. Instead he read a few other books in his grandfather''s study. There were a total of three books he has read over the past few days. One was on the religion of the world, one on politics, and the last one on mana. Ye Long was very interested in mana. His grandfather told him that he didn¡¯t have any talent for it, but Ye Long thought otherwise. If he didn¡¯t have talent for it, then how could he sense what was in the air when he meditated? Ye Long wanted to know more of mana and it¡¯s properties. He learned that it is basically the same as Qi, but instead of being in the body it is in the air. Ye Long hasn¡¯t tried to gather any yet because he didn¡¯t know how to. Rather than spending time trying to figure out something he would learn sooner or later, he figured he continue to train. Why would he want to spend an endless amount of time when there wasn¡¯t any way to show off. Who would he show off his magic to anyways? In this small village having magic probably didn¡¯t mean much. Ye Long was in the back of his house continuing his shadow fighting. He still couldn¡¯t win against his master, but he was better than before. Actually thinking about it, Ye Long could never beat his master. No matter if it was in any of his lives, Ye Long could never beat his master. There were a few reasons for this. The most important being that he always died before he was able to advance to a certain degree. The second one being that he never trained hard. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to train, it was due to the fact that training bored him out. Sure he trained to be strong because the strong dominated the world. However if he constantly trained every single day, he wouldn¡¯t have a life. Instead he spread his time out into talking to people and training. His progress was naturally slower than other disciples, but he felt that was ok. This was also a reason for him never being able to beat his master. That and due to the fact that his master was a high ranking martial arts. In his past lives, Ye Long never learned some of the ultimate techniques his master taught to the other disciples. Ye Long only knew the basics and some intermediate ones. Other than that, Ye Long didn¡¯t know anything else. It was like this for all the martial arts he knew or heard of. Ye Long decided that he wouldn¡¯t be like this in this life. He would master the basics to a terrifying level so he could match those who are stronger and know more advanced techniques than him. If he learned and mastered the couple of martial arts that he knew, he figured he¡¯d be able to beat a magician if he got close to them. That is until he figured out how to use mana. Once he figured that out, he would be able to make his own fighting style. One that used magic and martial arts at the same time. Just thinking about such a style got Ye Long excited. ¡°Hehehe, I told you he would be here.¡± A voice called out. ¡°It¡¯s such a shame you didn¡¯t die, now you¡¯ll get the beating of your life.¡± Another voice said. Ye Long took a deep breath as he turned around to see who it was. It was a group of five boys. He glanced them over real quick before nodding to himself. Their age was around six to ten years old. Ye Long noticed that the two who attacked him a few days ago was also in the group of boys. Ye Long smiled to them. ¡°What the hell you smiling for?¡± ¡°Yeah, what you smiling for? You like getting beat?¡± ¡®A beating huh, well it won¡¯t be me who¡¯s going to get beat.¡¯ Ye Long told himself. Fighting against a shadow is one thing, but the real deal is a lot better. Now that these bullies came back, Ye Long can test out his skills against them. If he¡¯s able to beat them now, he¡¯ll do some serious damage to them in the future. ¡°I¡¯m smiling because you are all stupid.¡± Ye Long told them. ¡°Fucking monster grew some serious balls!¡± ¡°You talk big now, but how about when I beat you up! What then!?¡± A male the age of ten called out. Ye Long started provoking them. He raised his hand and signaled them to come at him. ¡°Come. If you have the balls to attack me with weapons, you wouldn¡¯t mind fighting with your hands would you? I mean, I am a ¡®Monster¡¯ and all.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Th-¡± An older boy was going to say something, but the ten year old stopped him. He looked at a six year old boy and nodded his head. The six year old boy took a step forward. Ye Long took a stance for attacking and defending. The six year old boy started laughing at him. ¡°What you had a dream of being strong so now you think you¡¯re strong? Just because you take a random stance doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯ll know what to do!¡± Ye Long grinned at the male. ¡°Shut up and come already. If you don¡¯t, you¡¯ll be sorry.¡± The six year old boy ran forward with his fist pulled back. Once he was in range, he shot his fist forward. It was heading straight for Ye Long¡¯s face. Ye Long has trained with his master, not only in another life but here as well. Looking at the speed of the young boys first didn¡¯t even excite him. It was as if a catipler were crawling up his leg. His masters speed is much faster than this young boys, so to Ye Long he could easily dodge it. However he didn¡¯t. The fist approached Ye Long¡¯s face, but he still smiled. Bang! The next moment happened way too fast. The six year old and the others didn¡¯t even see what happened. It was as if they say an illusion. The only thing they saw was a hand movement made by Ye Long, but the next moment the six year old was facing the ground. Ye Long sneered as he struck the boy in the back of the head. He instantly went down, shocking the other boys. ¡°So, who''s next?¡± Ye Long asked with a smile on his face. Training these last few days really paid off. However it still wasn¡¯t good enough. Ye Long wanted to test and see if he could fight against all of them instead of one on one. If he could do that, then it would be much easier for him later on. The two young boys from a few days ago stepped forward. They coldly snorted at him. ¡°You think your big shit because you beat him? Wait until I have you kowtowing to me and licking my feet!¡± One of the boys shouted. These young boys sure knew how to talk. However Ye Long wasn¡¯t agitated by their words, to him they meant nothing. Both boys ran towards Ye Long and started attacking him. They came from both sides and threw out a punch. Ye Long blocked their first and forced their momentum down. Both of the boys didn¡¯t know what happened, but they suddenly stopped moving for a moment. With both of the boys right in his range, Ye Long would naturally make his move. Their momentum was stopped, but his wasn¡¯t. He moved his hands until his palm hit them directly in their chest. Boom! Both boys flew back and landed on their backs. They started groaning and holding their hand on their chest. It seemed like their chest was going to break after that strike. The last two young boys seemed to be age ten. They had their mouths open full of shock. They didn¡¯t say a word and ran towards Ye Long. Unlike the last three who went at him with their fist, one used their legs. He couldn¡¯t attack them if they used their legs right? The range of a person using their legs is greater than a person using their fist. If one had short range and the other had long, how would Ye Long be able to dodge it. Ye Long moved fast. The leg that was approaching him like a whip was caught between his thigh and arm. He hit it down at the joint with his elbow causing a cracking noise. The young boy instantly went down and started crying. The fist that missed Ye Long was still in the air. Ye Long¡¯s body moved fast and he was right in front of the older boy. He clipped his leg making the older boy fall over, only to smash his palm against his head. The older boy flew back and landed hard. He didn¡¯t even move. Ye Long glanced at the young boys who were in pain and smiled. ¡°This was fun! We should do this again.¡± He told them as he went to the front of the house. He opened the door and walked in, only to find his grandfather at the door. His grandfather looked worried. ¡°Ye Long, are you ok?¡± Ye Long nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Really? Then what was that noise I heard?¡± Ye Long laughed. ¡°Nothing grandfather. Just taking out the trash.¡±