Chapitre 3: Chapter 3: The Hero’s Bitter Path
Upon the path of thorns doth tread the hero, borne of sorrow's cruel embrace. His every step, a memory of strife, and in his heart, the wounds of yesteryears remain. A life once steeped in bitterness and scorn doth shape the man, and though his soul may rise with noble intent, yet shadows cling unto him still. For heroes oft do bear the weight of worlds, and in their eyes, the past doth ever whisper.
With the sunlight casting its symbolic blessing upon him, Nie Li's shock and realization marked the beginning of his quest to alter his fate and the fate of those around him.
"Where is this place? Ah," Nie Li murmured, looking bewildered. The last thing he remembered was dying, but thanks to his Temporal Demon Spirit Book, he had been sent back to the past.
"I'm at the Holy Orchid Academy?"
He glanced around at the students, a manic smile creeping across his face.
"Aha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Glory City, I'm back!" Nie Li's laughed inwardly with a mix of disbelief and joy.
That mysterious Temporal Demon Spirit Book, actually brought him back through time!
"Since I'm back, the heavens have given me another chance. I will not let the destruction of Glory City happen again!" Nie Lie thought, firmly making his decision.
His mind was consumed with thoughts of his past—his good friends Du Ze and Lu Piao, who had died heroically while protecting the civilians of Glory City. The memories of their sacrifice weighed heavily on him.
Meanwhile, Shen Xiu continued her lecture undeterred by Nie Li's outburst.
"Glory City endured a long, dark age," she began, her voice echoing with authority. "It was saved through the fierce defense of Demon Spiritualists."
"In the past, a legendary Demon Spiritualist emerged and led the construction of great empires across the continent. Our goal is to propel human history to greatness. But now, the world beyond the mountains is divided and occupied by demonic monsters. Glory City remains the last bastion of mankind, led by the legendary Demon Spiritualist of the city, Lord Ye Zong."
After finishing the introduction to the basics of cultivation and the history of Glory City, Shen Xiu moved on.
"Demon Spiritualists possess the ability to integrate a captured demon spirit into their Soul Realm. This allows them to merge with the demon spirit in combat, granting them unmatched strength, far surpassing that of Fighters."
"Just like me," Shen Xiu said with a haughty lift of her chin, "my integrated demon spirit is the Scarlet Flame Fox."
Her voice grew more boastful as she continued, "After merging, I can wield the fox's strength and harness its fire abilities, allowing me to manipulate flames at will."
Her eyes glittered as she announced, "The Scarlet Flame Fox is a Gold Rank beast. This means the highest rank I can achieve as a Demon Spiritualist is Gold Rank!"
"Of course, once I reach that peak, I can replace it with an even more powerful demon spirit, should I choose. But for now," she smirked, "there are few who can rival me."
To demonstrate, Shen Xiu merged with her demon spirit. Her form was enveloped in flames, and she floated slightly above the ground, reminiscent of a divine figure.
"Woah!"
"Awesome!"
"Worthy of being a Gold-ranked Demon Spiritualist!"
The students' reactions ranged from awe to admiration. Shen Xiu's demonstration had clearly impressed them.
Naraku, observing this, thought to himself. "A Demon Spiritualist can fuse with a demon spirit to increase their power, but without sufficient resources, it's nearly impossible. Many in this class, being civilians, won't have access to high-ranked spirits. Even if they do, once fused, the spirit cannot be unfused."
He wondered about the decision to mix nobles and commoners in the same class. "I doubt there's anyone here who can become a Demon Spiritualist. What was the principal thinking?"
As Nie Li looked around the classroom, his eyes eventually settled on Ye Ziyun. His heart skipped a beat.
'She's alive! She's not dead!'
The realization hit him with such force that Nie Li nearly choked on his breath. His pulse quickened, excitement surging through him, but also disbelief.
In this past life, Nie Li had obsessed over Ye Ziyun, the girl of his dreams. After the destruction of Glory City, he managed to have special 'moments' with her, which brought him fleeting satisfaction. However her eventual death plunged him into a prolonged state of depression and redemption, and even after her tragic end, he thought of her for centuries.
His eyes shone with longing, and his heart ached with nostalgia. His last memory of her was from a few hundred years ago, in a desert where they had been overwhelmed by beasts. She had died in that battle, leaving him with only the memories of their time together.
The memories of Ye Ziyun's tragic death haunted him, but now, seeing her here, sitting just a few rows away, he could scarcely believe his eyes.
'I actually went back in time. Is this real? Not a dream?'
Suddenly, a spark of realization flickered in his mind. 'The Temporal Demon Spirit Book. It must've been the Temporal Demon Spirit Book!'
Nie Li quickly lowered his head, frantically searching his body for the book, his hands shaking with urgency. But no matter how thoroughly he checked, the mysterious book was nowhere to be found.
His brows furrowed, and doubt gnawed at him. 'How could it be gone?'
He could hardly believe that his rebirth—this extraordinary, inexplicable phenomenon—wasn't somehow connected to the Temporal Demon Spirit Book.
That book had always been shrouded in mystery. Its origins were unknown, and its powers unmatched by anything Nie Li had ever encountered.
Nie Li vividly recalled his final confrontation with the Sage Emperor.
The setting was a desolate, apocalyptic landscape. The sky above roiled with stormy dark clouds, each one crackling with arcs of violent lightning, momentarily casting light over the chaotic devastation below. The earth trembled, splitting open to spew molten lava and towering flames. Fire tornadoes spiraled upward, forming a hellish vortex that seemed to announce the world's inevitable end.
Above this cataclysmic scene floated the Sage Emperor's domain—a realm of drifting clouds and fragments of shattered world, the ground beneath it vaporized by unimaginable power. Occasionally, enormous columns of energy would pierce the sky, creating an otherworldly, hostile atmosphere.
In his adult form, Nie Li stood alone, facing the Sage Emperor on a battlefield strewn with the debris of broken realms. Jagged fragments of earth and sky floated around them, suspended in the chaos of destruction.
The sky itself seemed to weep as spears of light rained down, each one imbued with the emperor's will, tearing through the battlefield with unstoppable force. Amidst the devastation, Nie Li fought with everything he had, dodging the relentless attacks and battling beasts born of the Sage Emperor's twisted power, one after another.
Finally, he stood before the Sage Emperor himself. The emperor's avatar was a towering, imposing figure—draped in regal garments that flowed like liquid gold. His long, white hair shimmered like cascading silver, and two sharp horns protruded from his head, making him appear like an ancient deity of destruction.
With a roar that shook the heavens, the Sage Emperor hurled a colossal stone pillar at Nie Li, its surface covered in intricate ancient runes. The sheer force of the pillar's momentum warped the very fabric of space as it tore through the air, aimed directly at Nie Li.
Their final clash came with such ferocity that it sent shockwaves through the heavens. The sky itself seemed to fracture as their attacks collided, the force of the impact unleashing a blinding, all-consuming light that enveloped the entire realm.
In the aftermath, Nie Li was left broken. His body lay on the verge of collapse, every ounce of his strength depleted. Bloodied and battered, he could feel his consciousness slipping as he plummeted from the sky. His blood splattered onto the Temporal Demon Spirit Book that had been with him throughout his journey, staining its cover.
In that moment, a majestic spatial array was triggered, its patterns glowing with radiant energy as it twisted the space around him.
Space itself warped as the array closed, and in an instant, Nie Li's body was drawn into the swirling vortex, vanishing from the battlefield without a trace.
The battlefield, the Sage Emperor, the destruction—all of it vanished from his sight as the array transported him away, leaving no trace of his existence behind.
The next moment, he awoke in a classroom—as his thirteen-year-old self. The battle, the destruction, the overwhelming power—all had become mere memories.
After seeing all these familiar faces, Nie Li's thoughts began to drift, slipping away from the present and back into the distant memories of his previous life.
He remembered one night, deep in the desert, when they were surrounded by a sea of beasts.
Fear had gripped them both, and later, as the night descended in cold silence, he and Ye Ziyun had sought solace in each other's presence—seeking comfort, warmth, and escape from the despair that weighed heavily on their souls.
That night, under the vast expanse of the starry sky, Nie Li had finally embraced the goddess of his heart.
The silver moonlight, soft and ethereal, draped over them like a shimmering veil, casting a faint glow on Ye Ziyun's delicate figure.
Her beauty had been almost otherworldly, her skin as flawless as polished jade, gleaming under the moon's tender caress. In that moment, their hearts and bodies intertwined, driven by a mad, desperate passion.
For the first time, Nie Li had held her close, feeling her warmth against him as they clung to each other beneath the endless sky. It had been a moment of pure connection, a fleeting reprieve from the harsh reality they faced.
But that blissful night was short-lived.
The following day, another horde of beasts attacked them. In the chaos of battle, Ye Ziyun had fought bravely, her cultivation surging as she tried to protect them both.
But despite her strength and determination, the beasts overwhelmed her. In her final moments, she had sacrificed herself, taking the fatal blow that could have been his.
Her life had slipped away before his very eyes.
That moment—the sight of Ye Ziyun falling, the light fading from her eyes—was etched into Nie Li's soul. He could never forget the crushing despair that had consumed him. The pain of losing her had driven him into a spiral of sorrow and regret that had haunted him ever since.
Now, sitting in this classroom, staring at her living, breathing form, Nie Li's heart ached with the weight of the past. But it also filled with determination. This time, with the knowledge of what was to come, he wouldn't let her die. He wouldn't let that tragedy repeat itself.
Nie Li felt a strong urge to approach her, to sit beside her.
"Hm?" Sensing the impending simping, Naraku, deep in thought, glanced back, and saw Nie Li, the orange-haired boy in Naruto-like clothes, grinning maniacally while casting infatuated glances toward Ye Ziyun.
"Hey, Nie Li. What's wrong with you?" Lu Piao's voice broke through the confusion. "Hey, there's no beauty out there. What are you looking at?"
Naraku observed the commotion at the back of the classroom and noticed the strange behavior of Nie Li.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone