章 1: *************Do Not Read "Word Count"*******************
I The Chen Fan, the great cultivator, failed to transcend the Tribulation of Heaven: the final stage of his cultivation. Little did he know that this accident would bring him back to Earth and turn back time to five hundred years ago when he was just a teenager. 'I had once reached the precipice of power in the known universe and could look down on the ten thousand realms with pride; I was lonely nonetheless. I will not leave any regret nor anyone behind while I relive my past life this time around. ' Join Chen Fan as he relives his teenage years, righting the wrongs of the past as he punishes his unwitting old enemies.
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In the summer of 2007, a bus operated by Golden Dragon Travel Service was heading towards the County of Si Shui near Chu Zhou, a city in the Hu Dong Province.
Si Shui was a backwater county in the middle of nowhere. In the heat of the summer, the passengers on the bus had mostly fallen asleep.
A five foot six, handsome boy with a smooth face and a sleek haircut suddenly jerked his head up as he woke up from a nightmare. He scanned the bus with a weary look.
As reality finally set in, his face suddenly hardened with a frown. He had been to another world and back, yet no one on the bus would have any idea of what he had just been through.
"This is the same bus as the one I took to Chu Zhou City for my last year of high school!"
"Why am I here? Am I no longer in the Tribulation?"
"Could it be that I am back in the mortal world again?" Disbelief flickered in Chen Fan's eyes as he thought to himself.
"How is it possible that I, Chen Beixuan, escaped the heavenly tribulation, and was reborn again as my former-self?"
Chen Fan, also known as "Chen Beixuan," was a cultivator. "Bei Xuan" was the cultivation name that his teacher had given him when he met his teacher for the first time.
He cultivated for five hundred years under one of the nine celestial sects in the universe: the True Martial Immortal Sect, and he was the disciple of the sect's Grand Elder: Cangqin, the immortal cultivator.
Thanks to Chen Fan's incredible talent, it only took him five hundred years to enter the last stage of his cultivation: The Tribulation. He was thought to be the most likely cultivator in centuries to successfully ascend beyond the current realm to that of the immortals.
Chen Fan lived in this universe for five hundred years, fighting and winning every battle against any sentient being across the universe that dared challenge him. His invincibility had earned him the title: The North Mystic Celestial Lord.
However powerful he had been, he had lost himself in the heavenly tribulation after all.
It was not until his doom was knocking on the door did he realize that the culprit of his failure was the hastened pace during his cultivation. Fast and furious was his motto, but it had also made his cultivation foundation riddled with weak points.
His resolution and dedication— the so-called "Dao-Heart"—crumbled when he had to face the mental demons that lurked in the darkest corners of his mind.
His eagerness to complete the cultivation had become his downfall. To advance as fast as he could, he had left many regrets and made countless mistakes. As guilt and self-resentment slowly eroded his mind, he became vulnerable to the mental demons' deceits and illusions.
As Chen Fan reflected his battle against the mental demons, he tried to tap into the energy within his system, to see if he was in another illusion. To his surprise, he found that not only was there no trace of his star-devouring Dharmic Power, but his boundless Primordial Essence had also disappeared.
"This is not the work of mental demons. I really am BACK!" Chen Fan furrowed his brows as realization finally dawned upon him.
Chen Fan knew that however real and vivid mental demons' illusions were, they could not mask all traces of a Celestial Lord's Primordial Essences.
"My powers are gone. There is not even a trace of Dharmic Power, Primordial Essence, Immortal Enlightenment in me, much less my precious Dharma Treasures. I am now no different than an ordinary man, and anyone could strike me down if they try hard enough."
Despite the huge setback in his cultivation, he did not seem to be too upset about it. Instead, he laughed at his defeat lightheartedly.
"So be it, my last life's cultivation was doomed from the beginning anyways.
"This time around, I will make sure that I take my cultivation one step at a time. I will not only complete but also perfect each and every level."
He cracked a smile as fire danced in his eyes.
"I will return the humiliation and contempt the world had given me in kind, and I will learn from my previous mistakes and leave no regrets as I progress."
There had been many regrets in his past life. Although his mind had always been preoccupied with cultivation, the regret and sorrow persisted.
"Mom, Dad, Sister-An, and Xiao-Qiong. I am BACK! This time I will not fail you."
Chen Fan lowered his head as resolution rose in his heart.
Chen Fan was born in an ordinary family in the Si Shui County. His father, Chen Gexin, was in the Jin City of the Hu Dong Province. His mother, on the other hand, hailed from a prominent household in the Yan Jin City.
The two met at college, and they quickly fell in love, despite the outcry from Wang Family. The overall sentiment of the society was hostile towards marriage without the parents' arrangement. It was particularly true in a prestigious old-money family such as the Wangs.
After failing to put a stop to the marriage, Chen Fan's grandfather went as far as denouncing his own daughter.
In a fit of anger, Wang Xiaoyun left her parents with her husband and settled in Hu Dong Province.
In order to prove to the Wang Family that he was worthy of their daughter's hand, Chen Gexin did not choose to stay in the populated cities where Wang Family's influence was strong; instead, he had moved to Si Shui County and started working as a low-ranking public servant.
Chen Gexin continued working for the county for a few decades, and never once had he tried to seek advantage using his connection with the mighty Wang Family. He had worked his way up from his first low-ranking position to the management level, but it was still a far cry from the expectation of the Wang family.
The tension between the two sides finally started to ease after Chen Fan was born. Chen Fan's grandfather granted the couple a visit during the Chinese New Year. However, unbeknownst to the young couple, what awaited them at Wang Family were cold sneers and lofty disdain.
The entire family had considered Chen Fan's parents a taint on the family's reputation. They had defied the will of the family patriarch and gave birth to a son who had brought no joy but only shame to the Wang family.
As for Chen Gexin's achievement in the county, it was laughable and pathetic in their eyes.
The thought brought a bitter taste to Chen Fan's mouth. He shook his head and smiled wryly.
"Wang Chen, I bet that you had never expected me to be back from the future!"
"My family had worked hard to catch up with you and your parents, but in the end, we are still worthless worms in your eyes."
"My mother was a proud person, and she could not stand being looked down upon. That was why she worked so hard, but what did she get in the end? Nothing!"
"I swore I would avenge my mother. Although I am an ordinary person right now, once I got my power back, I will be knocking on your door. I will show you what it is like to be looked down upon and to be crushed like a worthless worm."
Wang Chen was Chen Fan's cousin. He was the favorite child of the great house Wang. In Chen Fan's last life, he had tried for all his worth to catch up with Wang Chen but failed. The gap between Wang Chen and Chen Fan was unbridgeable.
The last time that Chen Fan saw any visitor from Wang Family was during his mother's funeral. As if the Wang Family thought the death of Chen Fan's mother was not tragic enough for the young man, they had to gloat over the tragedy and sent only three youngsters to attend the funeral. No one from the older generation of the Wang Family had come to pay tribute to their own blood; not his grandfather, uncle, or grandmother.
To rub salt into the wounds, one of the visitors was Wang Chen. Wang Chen acted as if he was walking the red carpet instead of attending his aunt's funeral. Surrounded by his sycophantic entourage, his steps carried such a haughty and proud quality that blatantly disrespected the dead.
He was the star, and wherever he went, he deserved attention and respect, regardless of the circumstances.
Although it had been five hundred years, the thought of the Wang family still lit up the knot of fire in Chen Fan's belly. This memory was toxic to a cultivator such as Chen Fan.
Without coming to terms with the past, the cultivator would be vulnerable to the attacks of the devious mental demons. A small mistake would lay waste to thousands of years of hard work.
"Anyways, I better not dwell on the past. I wager that Shen Junwen's family fortune has not reached Chu Zhou City at this point in time."
Looking out the window, the familiar scenery of Chu Zhou City filled Chen Fan's heart with nostalgia.
The thought of Shen Junwen also reminded him of Xiao Qiong.
He had loved that girl, and she loved him, but that was not how their love story ended. Later on, his love for her had turned into an obsession which ultimately ruined his cultivation.
The mental demons had used her image to weaken his mind during their battle. One look of her face was enough to render his defense useless.
"Shen Junwen! You had robbed me of my fortune and the love of my life! You forced me to return to the county where I came from. You sat on your throne while I licked my wounds like a street dog." The thought brought Chen Fan's blood to a boil, and his eyes glinted like sharp steels.
Shen Junwen was the director of the Wanrong Group, a magnate of the real estate industry, and he was the son of the richest man in the Hu Dong Province.
He was also Chen Fan's greatest rival in love. Not only had he stolen Fang Qiong from Chen Fan, but he had also contributed to the collapse of his mother's company: the Splendor Group.
"Xiao-Qiong and I had a crush on each other ever since we were little, and we hit it off when we met again at university after a long period of separation. However, it was you who came in and stole her from me. You had driven a wedge between her family and me and forced her to give up in the end."
"The last time I met Xiao-Qiong was at an alumni party where I heard about her engagement to none other than you. I do not expect you to understand how I felt back then, but I promise that I will give it back to you ten times worse!"
"If not for Cangqin's help, I would have already ended my miserable life after I jumped off from the roof of my apartment. " Chen Fan murmured.
It has been five hundred years, and he should have already come to terms with what had happened. However, every single word that came out from Chen Fan's mouth carried a bone-chilling intent that threatened to claim souls.
"I will never forget the moment right before I decided to let go of my life. From that moment on, the old Chen Fan was dead, and the new Chen Beixuan was born.
"Thanks to you, I was able to focus entirely on cultivation. I fed on the anger inside of me and advanced through my cultivation at an incredible rate. It only took me five hundred years to reach the final stage: Tribulation. I felt that I almost owe you my appreciation."
Chen Fan's lips curled into a smile.
While Chen Fan had lived as the loser, Shen Junwen was basking in the glory of his success.
The Shen family had contributed to the death of Chen Fan's mother as well as the collapse of the Splendor Group. In other words, Shen Junwen and his family were responsible for nearly all the miseries in Chen Fan's life.
In his last life, Chen Fan had lost everything to his opponent. These old wounds never healed, at least not until redemption was sought and completed. He grunted as anger flickered in his eyes.
"Shen Junwen, Fang Family, Wang Family, and Wang Cheng, I will return the humiliation and suffering back to you in kind."
After five hundred years of cultivation, he was finally ready to right the wrongs in the first thirty years of his life. As he looked outside the window, his mind sought only one thing: retribution..
Suddenly, a loud ringtone wrenched Chen Fan's mind out of his reverie.
He glanced at the caller ID which read: Mom!
"Is this Fan? Are you almost at Chu Zhou City? Auntie Tang should be waiting for you outside the bus station right now. I told her to find a place for you in Chu Zhou City and help me take care of you while you stay there. Do not blame me for being such a tiger mom and sending you away. You know how low your grades are right now. If you do not work hard, you could not even make it into a good university. So, I had to pull some strings to send you to the best school in the city. You listen to Auntie Tang while you are in Chu Zhou City, you hear me? She was one of my business partners while I worked in Chu Zhou City. Really nice people!"
Hearing his mother's harsh voice for the first time after hundreds of years sent a warm current through Chen Fan's body; tears welled at the corner of his eye.
"Mom, I get it. I will study hard, I promise," despite the tears, he replied with a bright smile.
This was the first time he had heard his mother's voice ever since she passed away five hundred years ago, or a few years later, depending on which time-line Chen Fan looked at.
Mother had always been a distant and fuzzy concept to Chen Fan since they did not have many opportunities to meet each other.
His mother, Wang Xiaoyun, was the very definition of a willful woman. After having been held up as the object of ridicule by her own family, she had sworn to prove them wrong. In a fit of anger, she took Chen Fan's sister, An Ya, to the international metropolis of Zhong Hai, and created the Splendor Real Estate Group. By the time Chen Fan went to college, the Splendor Group had grown into one of the largest companies in Zhong Hai, and Wang Xiaoyun was known as the Queen of Real Estate.
Therefore, Chen Fan could not have remembered much about her, at this point in time in his past life. It was not until she died in a car accident did Chen Fan finally realize how much his mother meant to him.
She had always been the backbone of the family. Chen Fan remembered that his father's hairs turned gray overnight after her accident. It was as if the tragedy had sucked his father's soul out of him, rendering him into an empty husk.
"Ah! I almost forgot to tell you. The Tang family has a daughter, and her name is Jiang Churan. Unlike you, she is a straight-A student. Your Auntie is very keen on setting you two up, but I had to warn you that studying is your priority right now!" Wang Xiaoyun said.
Chen Fan laughed in his mind.What kind of Asian mother would allow her daughter to date in high school?
Chen Fan paused a second and then said, "Mom, do not worry, I will study hard. Promise me that you will pay more attention to your health and safety while you are in Zhong Hai, particularly when you are driving. Is Sister going to get her driver's license soon? When she does, you better let her drive. I do not trust your driving skills, Mom. Sooner or later you will have an accident! "
"Okay, okay, since when did you learn to preach to your mother? Anyways, I have to go. I have already wired some money to your account but try not to waste it!" Wang Xiaoyun hung up the phone.
Chen Fan knew that although his mother was a resourceful and talented businesswoman, she was not the most detailed and meticulous person. Without the help of his sister An Ya, her company would be plagued by minor mishaps and mistakes.
The thought of his sister An Ya brought another bout of pain to his heart.
Aside from Xiao Qiong, his sister and his mother were the two other greatest regrets of his previous life.
"I owe her a big one, and I don't even know how to make it up to her." Chen Fan kept his silence; after all, how could he assign a value to familial ties.
As Chen Fan was engrossed in his reflection of his past life, the bus arrived at the destination.
Looking at the flood of people passing by him at the bus terminal, reality finally hit him. He was back; he was seventeen years old, younger, and better than he ever had been.
"Another life, another story." Chen Fan cracked a smile, and then he followed the crowd to the exit.
Meanwhile, outside of Chu Zhou City bus terminal, something had caught the crowd's attention: an imported red Audi-A6.
This car's worth was seven hundred thousand yuan in 2007. It was no doubt a rare sight of luxury in the street of Chu Zhou City. However, the car was not what the public was gawking at; it was the two women standing right in front of it.
The older one looked like she was in her thirties; she had a beautiful face and was wearing a black dress tailored to her curves, a formal white shirt, and a pair of high heels. No doubt she was an elite-class woman with a white-collar job.
The younger one was no older than 16; she was tall and was as beautiful as the older woman if not more so.
They were Auntie Tang and her daughter, Jiang Churan. Jiang Churan surveyed the exit of the bus terminal with a frown.
"Mom, when will he be here, do you want to call him?" Jiang Churan asked impatiently.
"We have only been waiting for ten minutes." Auntie Tang refuted.
Chen Fan's mother had been her best friend in Chu Zhou City, and she could not let her down. Wang Xiaoyun trusted her, and naturally, she had to do her best to look after the child.
"Chen Fan is a very good child. Be nice to him! You two are going to be schoolmates, so I hope you will get along. This is the first time he's leaving his county, so he is not familiar with life in the city. You need to take care of him." Auntie Tang said.
"I know… I know, Mom! This is the thirteenth time you have told me the exact same thing!" Jiang Churan complained.
Because of the stupid country boy, she thought she had to waste her entire afternoon outside of this stupid bus station under the stupid sun. She could have been spending time with her friends at the Starbucks with a cup of pumpkin spice latte in her hand right now; but no, she had to be here and be miserable.
What's worse; she had noticed the way her mother had mentioned his name to her: she was trying to set her up with that boy. "Well, over my dead body!" Jian Churan thought to herself.
Suddenly, she heard a voice calling out to her mother.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Auntie Tang." The boy politely greeted her mother with a gentle smile.
"Is this Chen Fan?" Jian Churan quietly regarded the boy from head to toe while standing behind her mother.
He was of average height, 5'7" if not less, the same height as she was in her flats.
His look was…. pedestrian at best, and his taste in fashion was definitely questionable.
She shook her head slightly. "He is overrated, not nearly as cool as Li Yichen."
Li Yichen was her classmate, president of the school's student council and the son of the deputy mayor of Chu Zhou City.
Li Yichen got both the good looks and a good family. He was one of the pursuers of Jiang Churan, one that Jiang Churan actually liked. The two were already regarded as a couple on campus.
Auntie Tang smiled at Chen Fan. She was very pleased with Chen Fan's courtesy.
"Xiao Fan, this is my daughter Jiang Churan."
"She will start her last year of high school next semester, and you will be schoolmates. She is three months younger than you. You can call her Ran-ran, make sure that you look after her for me at school, will you?"
Chen Fan nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, Auntie Tang, I will treat her like my own sister."
Afterward, he turned around to look at the girl who he had liked, hated, and eventually forgotten about in his past life.
Her name was Jiang Churan.
She was not only Auntie Tang's daughter, but also his high school classmate and the first girl that he had liked.
Chen Fan reminded himself that the year was 2007, before the real-estate boom and her mother's sudden rise to power. Therefore, in the eyes of the mother-daughter pair, he was just a country boy.
"That was the first time I left the backwater county to a prosperous city. I was young and foolish. How could I not fall for an upper-class beauty such as Jiang Churan?"
The flashback made Chen Fan lighthearted. What a foolish boy he had been!
He should have known better. There was no way that Jian Churan, the princess who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth would have had any feelings for him. Chen Fan shook his head.
"I remembered that she eventually fell in love with the most popular boy at that time, Li Yichen, the son of the deputy mayor of Chu Zhou City. Later, the two of them went to Zhong Hai University together and started officially dating each other. I had been quite devastated by that development."
Chen Fan was no longer the boy he had been five hundred years ago. What would he do this time? Would he make a proper closure to this secret infatuation?
Chen Fan took the initiative and reached out a hand. "Hello, my name is Chen Fan, from Si Shui County. We will be classmates in the future. Let me know if you ever need any help!"
Although Jiang Churan had hurt him once, he had made a promise to Auntie Tang that he would protect her.
Jiang Churan had to admit that although the boy was not handsome by a long chalk, he was not entirely an eyesore. The features on his face could even be pleasing to her eyes, depending on the angle she looked at them.
"Unfortunately, his family was too poor; we could be friends at best." Jiang Churan lamented in her mind as she shook Chen Fan's hand.
"Very well; I will take you up on it." Jiang Churan said, and then her lips thinned into a smile.
Her father was a high-ranking government official, and her mother ran a million-yuan company. She had never thought that she would ever need any help from Chen Fan.
Auntie Tang put in, "Get into the car, we will go to your new place and drop off the luggage first. Then we will go to my house for lunch. Where I will introduce you to your uncle."
"Okay." Chen Fan nodded with a smile.
After getting into the vehicle, they headed toward Chen Fan's new house in the Lakeside Community.
This was a mid-range residential property in Chu Zhou City. The scenery was beautiful as it was surrounded by trees and was right next to Yangui Lake. It was also not far from the Ivy League High School where Chen Fan would be studying. Chen Fan was led to a large furnished one bedroom suite. It came with air conditioning, hot water, bathtub, TV, sofa, and a refrigerator. It was evident that Auntie Tang had spent a lot of time preparing for his stay in the city.
"Thank you, Auntie Tang, for all of this," Chen Fan said sincerely. Auntie Tang was one of the few people who had been genuinely nice to him.
She was a business partner of his mother, Wang Xiaoyun. She ran an architectural design company and was considered a successful woman.
Worried about her son's low grades, Chen Fan's mother sent him to the best private high school in the City of Chu Zhou: the Ivy League High School and Auntie Tang had been taking care of him ever since. Not only had she helped him with accommodations, but she had also packed him lunch from time to time.
Looking back on his past life, Auntie Tang had always been there looking out for him.
"You are too polite. Your mother has entrusted you to me so that I will take good care of you. Plus, I had always wanted a son," Auntie Tang said with a smile.
"Thank you." Chen Fan nodded, and he was ready to repay Auntie Tang's loving care in his past life.
Auntie Tang felt the sincerity in his words, and she was even more impressed by the boy. Compared to that cocky city boy, Li Yichen, Auntie Tang preferred Chen Fan as a son-in-law. Money and power were not the key to a happy marriage; honesty and integrity were.
After a while, they drove out of the Lakeside Community, and towards the Tang family residence.
Jiang Churan and Chen Fan were sitting side by side in the back seat. They only exchanged a few words before the girl completely lost interest in Chen Fan. She was out of his league. None of them spoke a word to each other, dragging out the silence. Chen Fan eventually put on a tired look and rested his head against the window and pretended to be sleeping.
Although Chen Fan had given her a good impression during their first meeting, she didn't like to talk to people who were less popular than her, especially when the boy was ignoring her in the first place.
She knew the likes of him: pretending he was not interested, thinking that he could make her feel jealous. She had seen too many boys play that trick on her, but none had succeeded.
However, Chen Fan was not even remotely interested in her, much less in the mood of playing tricks. His mind was occupied by his cultivation..
Chapter3Levels of Cultivation
For Chen Fan, the most important thing at the moment was to regain his power.
The progression of cultivation was divided into eight levels:
Qi Refinement, Connate, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, Void, Reunion, and Tribulation.
Although his teacher, Cangqin the Immortal Cultivator had lived for eight hundred and forty thousand years, he had just reached the seventh level. Once the cultivator reached the seventh level, he was granted the title "True Immortal" and could live up to a hundred thousand years.
In this universe, a seventh level "True Immortal" would be revered as the embodiment of power and invincibility. Their powers would allow them to crush the stars, swallow the sun, and even create another dimension beyond space and time.
In the past five hundred years, Chen Fan had reached the eighth level: Tribulation, surpassing his teacher and earned the title of the: "Celestial Lord."
However, Tribulation was too far away and too much for Chen Fan to worry about right now.
"I came back to the Earth once during my cultivation. At that time, the Earth's Spirit Qi was completely exhausted, and it was no longer suitable for the cultivators to live." Compared to the earth, the realm of "Cangming"—an alternative universe created by his teacher Cangqin—was a much better place for cultivators to harness energy. Chen Fan reflected on his last visit to Earth as he started to sense the Qi surrounding him right now.
The last time he returned to the Earth, it would be more than a hundred years later in this current timeline, and by that time, he would already be a successful cultivator.
He ferried across billions of realms that separated him from the Earth in order to reach his home town, but he was disappointed in the end. The earth was no longer the same place as he remembered. The old national-state system had fallen apart, and the humans had formed the Earth Federation. After the humans colonized Mars, they stepped out of the solar system and entered the era of interstellar traveling.
Chen Fan had continued to live on the earth for another twenty years, and he did not sense the presence of any other cultivators.
"The Spirit Qi in this world right now was slightly more available than that of a hundred years later, but it was by no means abundant." He shook his head silently. "Even if there is a cultivator, they will be at level two at the most."
"I am afraid that I am still the only cultivator on earth."
Chen Fan knew very well what it meant. It meant that as long as he could regain a fraction of his power, he could lord over this world with ease. Chen Fan also knew that he didn't need advanced technology in order to reach his goals; he only needed to reach level two in his cultivation.
Without reaching level two, one can not even call himself a "cultivator."
With the wealth of knowledge he had accumulated over the five hundred years, Chen Fan wagered that it would take him only a few years to reach that stage.
"The Spirit Qi is quite inconsistent around here; I better find a place with a stronger presence of Qi to help my cultivation."
"If I can locate a numinous treasure, I will be sure to break through the second level in under three years."
The thought of acquiring a numinous treasure amused Chen Fan, "What am I thinking? With such a meager amount of Qi on the earth, there wouldn't be any herbs left for me, much less numinous treasures."
As Chen Fan mulled over his predicament, the vehicle had pulled over to Auntie Tang's house.
Chen Fan's accommodation was located at the edge of downtown. Facing the enormous Yangui Lake, it was considered a high-quality mid-range property in Chu Zhou City. On the other hand, the Tangs lived in a suburban development in Yunshan District, which was only a few minutes drive from Chen Fan's place.
The car followed a highway that hugged the lake, and it eventually led them to the foot of the Yunwu Mountain. Chen Fanyi saw the name of the suburb development:
Chen Fan recalled that the Dragon's View Garden was a high-end residential development in Chu Zhou City. A small bungalow in this area would cost as much as two million even before the real estate boom.
Auntie Tang lowered the rear view mirror and saw fascination in Chen Fan's eyes.
"The Yunwu mountain was the most famous landmark here in Chu Zhou City other than the Yangui Lake. The Dragon's View was only the mid-tier development around this area. Maybe later we will go further into the mountain, and I will show you some villas. They make our house look like a shed in their backyard. You should come to visit us early in the morning too; the entire mountain will be shrouded in mist, hence its name, 'Yun-wu': cloudy-mist."
There was a hint of envy in Auntie Tang's voice while she spoke about those villas high up in the mountains.
"Up there, the cheapest house cost more than ten million. It was developed by the richest man in Chu Zhou City and only his friends and the billionaires from the south could afford those properties. I could probably buy only a kitchenette even if I sold my company," Auntie Tang shook her head and then sighed.
"The richest man in Chu Zhou City… The Shen family?" Chen Fan thought.
"Your house looks very big in my opinion. Our family lived in a 100-square-meter home in our county; it was a government subsidized property."
Chen Fan paused and then said, "If auntie really likes those houses, I will buy you a few of them once I start to make money. I will make sure you can wake up every day to look down at the sea of cloudy mists beneath you."
What was a villa to someone who could have the entire universe? He would have whatever his heart desired as soon as he reached level two.
Auntie Tang was pleased by Chen Fan's words. She said, "Very well, I will take you up on it! Tell your mother to come live with me. To hell with her real estate company! Your mother and sister are two brave souls, trying to make a living in the metropolis where they have no one to turn to. If she retires now, we can go shopping together, or go to the spa if we really run out of things to do. What a life that will be, eh?"
Jiang Churan listened to the conversation, and she was not very impressed by what she heard.
Not even the richest classmate she knew could have promised to buy a villa up in the mountains as a gift. Everyone knew that only the richest of the rich could afford living up there.
"It seems that he is just like the others, full of empty talk and no real action."
She was slightly disappointed at Chen Fan. She had thought that this boy from the countryside would be different than city boys, but it seemed that she was wrong.
The decoration in Auntie Tang's home was elegant, in style, and exquisite in their craftsmanship. From the paintings on the wall to the blue-white porcelain vase on the table, it was evident that the Tang family was not only wealthy but also well-educated and had good taste in fine arts.
After entering the hall, Chen Fan saw a middle-aged man sitting on the sofa, wearing a pair of black rimmed glasses. He was watching the news on Tv.
He was Jiang Churan's father, Jiang Haishan!
He was the deputy director of Chu Zhou City. Although his rank was not high, he was close to Chu Zhou City's power center.
Chen Fan bowed to him, and Jiang Haishan nodded absently.
"Come and grab a seat. Ran-ran, why don't you go to the kitchen and make some tea for your dad and our guest? Can you guys wait a few minutes for dinner? I need to heat up some dishes." Auntie Tang spoke as she entered the kitchen.
Jiang Churan nodded and took out a box of a purple clay tea set made by a renowned artist from the Town of Yixin.
Chen Fan was pleasantly surprised by Jiang Churan's tea-making techniques; her movement was fluid and smooth like flowing water while her focus on the craft didn't allow a single drop to be spilled. It was evident that she had trained under a skilled teacher—a detail that Chen Fan did not notice in his previous life.
Jiang Haishan's eyes were glued to the TV, and he didn't turn around to face the guest until the news was over.
"How is your father, Reeve Chen doing? The last time I met him was at a government meeting six months ago."
"He is doing well. Thank you for asking." Chen Fan said politely.
Chen Fan's father was the deputy magistrate of the Si Shui County, and although his rank was similar to that of Jiang Haishan, his jurisdiction was a remote county instead of a bustling city.
Jiang Haishan nodded, "Your father is young and full of potential. His proposal, the "Sustainable Development of County Economy and the Selection and Application of Environmental Protection Policies," was praised by the mayor. The mayor said that your father has an international perspective, and he agreed with your father that the future economic development is inseparable from environmental protection."
Chen Fan nodded with a blank smile. Why would he think that a high school boy would be interested in boring politics? If Chen Fan could have understood half of what Jiang Haishan had just spilled out from his mouth, he wouldn't have bankrupted his mother's company.
Seeing that Chen Fan was not interested in what he said, Jiang Haishan frowned slightly and then changed the topic.
"I have heard from your auntie that your mother's real estate company in Zhong Hai City is developing very fast. Many experts are predicting that the country's property market will grow substantially next year. Your mother has chosen a good field."
Chen Fan smiled and said, "My mother's company was insignificant compared to that of Auntie Tang."
Jiang Haishan shook his head. "You think too highly of her. Her company hired only a dozen people, earning merely hundreds of thousands a year. How would that compare to your mother's corporation."
Chen Fan hurried a humble reply, "I am not being modest at all. My mother had only a few people working under her, and that's all the help she gets. She had to run between the contractors and the developers and deal with endless paperwork. It's a hard job with not that much money."
"Oh?" Jiang Haishan frowned.
What Chen Fan had told him was drastically different than what he had heard from his wife. Judging by his first impression of the boy, Jiang Haishan was convinced that Chen Fan was not lying. Therefore, he wagered that the rumors about Chen Fan's mother he had heard before were exaggerated.
Chen Fan's description of the company sounded more realistic, as well. It was started by a woman and her daughter in a place where they knew no one and had no connections. Building up a real estate empire so quickly seemed too good to be true regardless of how hard the mother-daughter pair had worked.
So thinking, the smile on Jiang Haishan's face faded away slowly.
"How are your grades?" Jiang Haishan asked.
Chen Fan smiled and said, "I was the top five hundred in our county, and I have heard that your daughter ranked in the top fifty at the school. I think I will need her help at school."
Si Shui County had the lowest education ranking among all counties under Chu Zhou City government. Without being in the top ten in the Si Shui County, Chen Fan had no chance in entering even a second-tier university, much less a top-tier.
Jiang Haishan's brow furrowed even deeper after hearing Chen Fan's answer; the remaining traces of a smile on his face evaporated completely.
"Your mother had sent you to Chu Zhou City to study, not for fun. Your family can only help you for a while, but not forever. If you want to be successful, you have to rely on yourself. Education is a stepping stone, no matter which field you are in."
Chen Fan was caught off guard by Jiang Haishan's sudden outburst. He erased the smile he was wearing and answered, "You are right, Uncle Jiang."
Although achieving high academic standing was not Chen Fan's highest priority, once he advanced in his cultivation, getting into a top-tier university should be a piece of cake.
After exchanging a few more words with Chen Fan, Jiang Haishan was disappointed by the boy's lack of knowledge and ambition. He could not help but secretly shake his head in disappointment. It was evident that what his wife had told him about the boy was simply not true.
He had also met the son of the deputy mayor and was very impressed by his appearance as well as his wealth of knowledge in economics and politics. Chen Fan failed to measure up to his most basic requirement for a future son in law.
It seems like I have a lot to talk about with my wife,Jiang Haishan lamented in his mind.
He knew his wife wanted to set up his daughter with the son of her best friend. He didn't protest her plan at first, but after meeting Chen Fan for the first time, he realized that he had to weigh-in.
My daughter would not fall for him anyway,Jiang Haishan thought. He was confident in his daughter's judgment..Chen Fan, the great cultivator, failed to transcend the Tribulation of Heaven: the final stage of his cultivation. Little did he know that this accident would bring him back to Earth and turn back time to five hundred years ago when he was just a teenager. 'I had once reached the precipice of power in the known universe and could look down on the ten thousand realms with pride; I was lonely nonetheless. I will not leave any regret nor anyone behind while I relive my past life this time around. ' Join Chen Fan as he relives his teenage years, righting the wrongs of the past as he punishes his unwitting old enemies.
In the summer of 2007, a bus operated by Golden Dragon Travel Service was heading towards the County of Si Shui near Chu Zhou, a city in the Hu Dong Province.
Si Shui was a backwater county in the middle of nowhere. In the heat of the summer, the passengers on the bus had mostly fallen asleep.
A five foot six, handsome boy with a smooth face and a sleek haircut suddenly jerked his head up as he woke up from a nightmare. He scanned the bus with a weary look.
As reality finally set in, his face suddenly hardened with a frown. He had been to another world and back, yet no one on the bus would have any idea of what he had just been through.
"This is the same bus as the one I took to Chu Zhou City for my last year of high school!"
"Why am I here? Am I no longer in the Tribulation?"
"Could it be that I am back in the mortal world again?" Disbelief flickered in Chen Fan's eyes as he thought to himself.
"How is it possible that I, Chen Beixuan, escaped the heavenly tribulation, and was reborn again as my former-self?"
Chen Fan, also known as "Chen Beixuan," was a cultivator. "Bei Xuan" was the cultivation name that his teacher had given him when he met his teacher for the first time.
He cultivated for five hundred years under one of the nine celestial sects in the universe: the True Martial Immortal Sect, and he was the disciple of the sect's Grand Elder: Cangqin, the immortal cultivator.
Thanks to Chen Fan's incredible talent, it only took him five hundred years to enter the last stage of his cultivation: The Tribulation. He was thought to be the most likely cultivator in centuries to successfully ascend beyond the current realm to that of the immortals.
Chen Fan lived in this universe for five hundred years, fighting and winning every battle against any sentient being across the universe that dared challenge him. His invincibility had earned him the title: The North Mystic Celestial Lord.
However powerful he had been, he had lost himself in the heavenly tribulation after all.
It was not until his doom was knocking on the door did he realize that the culprit of his failure was the hastened pace during his cultivation. Fast and furious was his motto, but it had also made his cultivation foundation riddled with weak points.
His resolution and dedication— the so-called "Dao-Heart"—crumbled when he had to face the mental demons that lurked in the darkest corners of his mind.
His eagerness to complete the cultivation had become his downfall. To advance as fast as he could, he had left many regrets and made countless mistakes. As guilt and self-resentment slowly eroded his mind, he became vulnerable to the mental demons' deceits and illusions.
As Chen Fan reflected his battle against the mental demons, he tried to tap into the energy within his system, to see if he was in another illusion. To his surprise, he found that not only was there no trace of his star-devouring Dharmic Power, but his boundless Primordial Essence had also disappeared.
"This is not the work of mental demons. I really am BACK!" Chen Fan furrowed his brows as realization finally dawned upon him.
Chen Fan knew that however real and vivid mental demons' illusions were, they could not mask all traces of a Celestial Lord's Primordial Essences.
"My powers are gone. There is not even a trace of Dharmic Power, Primordial Essence, Immortal Enlightenment in me, much less my precious Dharma Treasures. I am now no different than an ordinary man, and anyone could strike me down if they try hard enough."
Despite the huge setback in his cultivation, he did not seem to be too upset about it. Instead, he laughed at his defeat lightheartedly.
"So be it, my last life's cultivation was doomed from the beginning anyways.
"This time around, I will make sure that I take my cultivation one step at a time. I will not only complete but also perfect each and every level."
He cracked a smile as fire danced in his eyes.
"I will return the humiliation and contempt the world had given me in kind, and I will learn from my previous mistakes and leave no regrets as I progress."
There had been many regrets in his past life. Although his mind had always been preoccupied with cultivation, the regret and sorrow persisted.
"Mom, Dad, Sister-An, and Xiao-Qiong. I am BACK! This time I will not fail you."
Chen Fan lowered his head as resolution rose in his heart.
Chen Fan was born in an ordinary family in the Si Shui County. His father, Chen Gexin, was in the Jin City of the Hu Dong Province. His mother, on the other hand, hailed from a prominent household in the Yan Jin City.
The two met at college, and they quickly fell in love, despite the outcry from Wang Family. The overall sentiment of the society was hostile towards marriage without the parents' arrangement. It was particularly true in a prestigious old-money family such as the Wangs.
After failing to put a stop to the marriage, Chen Fan's grandfather went as far as denouncing his own daughter.
In a fit of anger, Wang Xiaoyun left her parents with her husband and settled in Hu Dong Province.
In order to prove to the Wang Family that he was worthy of their daughter's hand, Chen Gexin did not choose to stay in the populated cities where Wang Family's influence was strong; instead, he had moved to Si Shui County and started working as a low-ranking public servant.
Chen Gexin continued working for the county for a few decades, and never once had he tried to seek advantage using his connection with the mighty Wang Family. He had worked his way up from his first low-ranking position to the management level, but it was still a far cry from the expectation of the Wang family.
The tension between the two sides finally started to ease after Chen Fan was born. Chen Fan's grandfather granted the couple a visit during the Chinese New Year. However, unbeknownst to the young couple, what awaited them at Wang Family were cold sneers and lofty disdain.
The entire family had considered Chen Fan's parents a taint on the family's reputation. They had defied the will of the family patriarch and gave birth to a son who had brought no joy but only shame to the Wang family.
As for Chen Gexin's achievement in the county, it was laughable and pathetic in their eyes.
The thought brought a bitter taste to Chen Fan's mouth. He shook his head and smiled wryly.
"Wang Chen, I bet that you had never expected me to be back from the future!"
"My family had worked hard to catch up with you and your parents, but in the end, we are still worthless worms in your eyes."
"My mother was a proud person, and she could not stand being looked down upon. That was why she worked so hard, but what did she get in the end? Nothing!"
"I swore I would avenge my mother. Although I am an ordinary person right now, once I got my power back, I will be knocking on your door. I will show you what it is like to be looked down upon and to be crushed like a worthless worm."
Wang Chen was Chen Fan's cousin. He was the favorite child of the great house Wang. In Chen Fan's last life, he had tried for all his worth to catch up with Wang Chen but failed. The gap between Wang Chen and Chen Fan was unbridgeable.
The last time that Chen Fan saw any visitor from Wang Family was during his mother's funeral. As if the Wang Family thought the death of Chen Fan's mother was not tragic enough for the young man, they had to gloat over the tragedy and sent only three youngsters to attend the funeral. No one from the older generation of the Wang Family had come to pay tribute to their own blood; not his grandfather, uncle, or grandmother.
To rub salt into the wounds, one of the visitors was Wang Chen. Wang Chen acted as if he was walking the red carpet instead of attending his aunt's funeral. Surrounded by his sycophantic entourage, his steps carried such a haughty and proud quality that blatantly disrespected the dead.
He was the star, and wherever he went, he deserved attention and respect, regardless of the circumstances.
Although it had been five hundred years, the thought of the Wang family still lit up the knot of fire in Chen Fan's belly. This memory was toxic to a cultivator such as Chen Fan.
Without coming to terms with the past, the cultivator would be vulnerable to the attacks of the devious mental demons. A small mistake would lay waste to thousands of years of hard work.
"Anyways, I better not dwell on the past. I wager that Shen Junwen's family fortune has not reached Chu Zhou City at this point in time."
Looking out the window, the familiar scenery of Chu Zhou City filled Chen Fan's heart with nostalgia.
The thought of Shen Junwen also reminded him of Xiao Qiong.
He had loved that girl, and she loved him, but that was not how their love story ended. Later on, his love for her had turned into an obsession which ultimately ruined his cultivation.
The mental demons had used her image to weaken his mind during their battle. One look of her face was enough to render his defense useless.
"Shen Junwen! You had robbed me of my fortune and the love of my life! You forced me to return to the county where I came from. You sat on your throne while I licked my wounds like a street dog." The thought brought Chen Fan's blood to a boil, and his eyes glinted like sharp steels.
Shen Junwen was the director of the Wanrong Group, a magnate of the real estate industry, and he was the son of the richest man in the Hu Dong Province.
He was also Chen Fan's greatest rival in love. Not only had he stolen Fang Qiong from Chen Fan, but he had also contributed to the collapse of his mother's company: the Splendor Group.
"Xiao-Qiong and I had a crush on each other ever since we were little, and we hit it off when we met again at university after a long period of separation. However, it was you who came in and stole her from me. You had driven a wedge between her family and me and forced her to give up in the end."
"The last time I met Xiao-Qiong was at an alumni party where I heard about her engagement to none other than you. I do not expect you to understand how I felt back then, but I promise that I will give it back to you ten times worse!"
"If not for Cangqin's help, I would have already ended my miserable life after I jumped off from the roof of my apartment. " Chen Fan murmured.
It has been five hundred years, and he should have already come to terms with what had happened. However, every single word that came out from Chen Fan's mouth carried a bone-chilling intent that threatened to claim souls.
"I will never forget the moment right before I decided to let go of my life. From that moment on, the old Chen Fan was dead, and the new Chen Beixuan was born.
"Thanks to you, I was able to focus entirely on cultivation. I fed on the anger inside of me and advanced through my cultivation at an incredible rate. It only took me five hundred years to reach the final stage: Tribulation. I felt that I almost owe you my appreciation."
Chen Fan's lips curled into a smile.
While Chen Fan had lived as the loser, Shen Junwen was basking in the glory of his success.
The Shen family had contributed to the death of Chen Fan's mother as well as the collapse of the Splendor Group. In other words, Shen Junwen and his family were responsible for nearly all the miseries in Chen Fan's life.
In his last life, Chen Fan had lost everything to his opponent. These old wounds never healed, at least not until redemption was sought and completed. He grunted as anger flickered in his eyes.
"Shen Junwen, Fang Family, Wang Family, and Wang Cheng, I will return the humiliation and suffering back to you in kind."
After five hundred years of cultivation, he was finally ready to right the wrongs in the first thirty years of his life. As he looked outside the window, his mind sought only one thing: retribution..
Suddenly, a loud ringtone wrenched Chen Fan's mind out of his reverie.
He glanced at the caller ID which read: Mom!
"Is this Fan? Are you almost at Chu Zhou City? Auntie Tang should be waiting for you outside the bus station right now. I told her to find a place for you in Chu Zhou City and help me take care of you while you stay there. Do not blame me for being such a tiger mom and sending you away. You know how low your grades are right now. If you do not work hard, you could not even make it into a good university. So, I had to pull some strings to send you to the best school in the city. You listen to Auntie Tang while you are in Chu Zhou City, you hear me? She was one of my business partners while I worked in Chu Zhou City. Really nice people!"
Hearing his mother's harsh voice for the first time after hundreds of years sent a warm current through Chen Fan's body; tears welled at the corner of his eye.
"Mom, I get it. I will study hard, I promise," despite the tears, he replied with a bright smile.
This was the first time he had heard his mother's voice ever since she passed away five hundred years ago, or a few years later, depending on which time-line Chen Fan looked at.
Mother had always been a distant and fuzzy concept to Chen Fan since they did not have many opportunities to meet each other.
His mother, Wang Xiaoyun, was the very definition of a willful woman. After having been held up as the object of ridicule by her own family, she had sworn to prove them wrong. In a fit of anger, she took Chen Fan's sister, An Ya, to the international metropolis of Zhong Hai, and created the Splendor Real Estate Group. By the time Chen Fan went to college, the Splendor Group had grown into one of the largest companies in Zhong Hai, and Wang Xiaoyun was known as the Queen of Real Estate.
Therefore, Chen Fan could not have remembered much about her, at this point in time in his past life. It was not until she died in a car accident did Chen Fan finally realize how much his mother meant to him.
She had always been the backbone of the family. Chen Fan remembered that his father's hairs turned gray overnight after her accident. It was as if the tragedy had sucked his father's soul out of him, rendering him into an empty husk.
"Ah! I almost forgot to tell you. The Tang family has a daughter, and her name is Jiang Churan. Unlike you, she is a straight-A student. Your Auntie is very keen on setting you two up, but I had to warn you that studying is your priority right now!" Wang Xiaoyun said.
Chen Fan laughed in his mind.What kind of Asian mother would allow her daughter to date in high school?
Chen Fan paused a second and then said, "Mom, do not worry, I will study hard. Promise me that you will pay more attention to your health and safety while you are in Zhong Hai, particularly when you are driving. Is Sister going to get her driver's license soon? When she does, you better let her drive. I do not trust your driving skills, Mom. Sooner or later you will have an accident! "
"Okay, okay, since when did you learn to preach to your mother? Anyways, I have to go. I have already wired some money to your account but try not to waste it!" Wang Xiaoyun hung up the phone.
Chen Fan knew that although his mother was a resourceful and talented businesswoman, she was not the most detailed and meticulous person. Without the help of his sister An Ya, her company would be plagued by minor mishaps and mistakes.
The thought of his sister An Ya brought another bout of pain to his heart.
Aside from Xiao Qiong, his sister and his mother were the two other greatest regrets of his previous life.
"I owe her a big one, and I don't even know how to make it up to her." Chen Fan kept his silence; after all, how could he assign a value to familial ties.
As Chen Fan was engrossed in his reflection of his past life, the bus arrived at the destination.
Looking at the flood of people passing by him at the bus terminal, reality finally hit him. He was back; he was seventeen years old, younger, and better than he ever had been.
"Another life, another story." Chen Fan cracked a smile, and then he followed the crowd to the exit.
Meanwhile, outside of Chu Zhou City bus terminal, something had caught the crowd's attention: an imported red Audi-A6.
This car's worth was seven hundred thousand yuan in 2007. It was no doubt a rare sight of luxury in the street of Chu Zhou City. However, the car was not what the public was gawking at; it was the two women standing right in front of it.
The older one looked like she was in her thirties; she had a beautiful face and was wearing a black dress tailored to her curves, a formal white shirt, and a pair of high heels. No doubt she was an elite-class woman with a white-collar job.
The younger one was no older than 16; she was tall and was as beautiful as the older woman if not more so.
They were Auntie Tang and her daughter, Jiang Churan. Jiang Churan surveyed the exit of the bus terminal with a frown.
"Mom, when will he be here, do you want to call him?" Jiang Churan asked impatiently.
"We have only been waiting for ten minutes." Auntie Tang refuted.
Chen Fan's mother had been her best friend in Chu Zhou City, and she could not let her down. Wang Xiaoyun trusted her, and naturally, she had to do her best to look after the child.
"Chen Fan is a very good child. Be nice to him! You two are going to be schoolmates, so I hope you will get along. This is the first time he's leaving his county, so he is not familiar with life in the city. You need to take care of him." Auntie Tang said.
"I know… I know, Mom! This is the thirteenth time you have told me the exact same thing!" Jiang Churan complained.
Because of the stupid country boy, she thought she had to waste her entire afternoon outside of this stupid bus station under the stupid sun. She could have been spending time with her friends at the Starbucks with a cup of pumpkin spice latte in her hand right now; but no, she had to be here and be miserable.
What's worse; she had noticed the way her mother had mentioned his name to her: she was trying to set her up with that boy. "Well, over my dead body!" Jian Churan thought to herself.
Suddenly, she heard a voice calling out to her mother.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Auntie Tang." The boy politely greeted her mother with a gentle smile.
"Is this Chen Fan?" Jian Churan quietly regarded the boy from head to toe while standing behind her mother.
He was of average height, 5'7" if not less, the same height as she was in her flats.
His look was…. pedestrian at best, and his taste in fashion was definitely questionable.
She shook her head slightly. "He is overrated, not nearly as cool as Li Yichen."
Li Yichen was her classmate, president of the school's student council and the son of the deputy mayor of Chu Zhou City.
Li Yichen got both the good looks and a good family. He was one of the pursuers of Jiang Churan, one that Jiang Churan actually liked. The two were already regarded as a couple on campus.
Auntie Tang smiled at Chen Fan. She was very pleased with Chen Fan's courtesy.
"Xiao Fan, this is my daughter Jiang Churan."
"She will start her last year of high school next semester, and you will be schoolmates. She is three months younger than you. You can call her Ran-ran, make sure that you look after her for me at school, will you?"
Chen Fan nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, Auntie Tang, I will treat her like my own sister."
Afterward, he turned around to look at the girl who he had liked, hated, and eventually forgotten about in his past life.
Her name was Jiang Churan.
She was not only Auntie Tang's daughter, but also his high school classmate and the first girl that he had liked.
Chen Fan reminded himself that the year was 2007, before the real-estate boom and her mother's sudden rise to power. Therefore, in the eyes of the mother-daughter pair, he was just a country boy.
"That was the first time I left the backwater county to a prosperous city. I was young and foolish. How could I not fall for an upper-class beauty such as Jiang Churan?"
The flashback made Chen Fan lighthearted. What a foolish boy he had been!
He should have known better. There was no way that Jian Churan, the princess who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth would have had any feelings for him. Chen Fan shook his head.
"I remembered that she eventually fell in love with the most popular boy at that time, Li Yichen, the son of the deputy mayor of Chu Zhou City. Later, the two of them went to Zhong Hai University together and started officially dating each other. I had been quite devastated by that development."
Chen Fan was no longer the boy he had been five hundred years ago. What would he do this time? Would he make a proper closure to this secret infatuation?
Chen Fan took the initiative and reached out a hand. "Hello, my name is Chen Fan, from Si Shui County. We will be classmates in the future. Let me know if you ever need any help!"
Although Jiang Churan had hurt him once, he had made a promise to Auntie Tang that he would protect her.
Jiang Churan had to admit that although the boy was not handsome by a long chalk, he was not entirely an eyesore. The features on his face could even be pleasing to her eyes, depending on the angle she looked at them.
"Unfortunately, his family was too poor; we could be friends at best." Jiang Churan lamented in her mind as she shook Chen Fan's hand.
"Very well; I will take you up on it." Jiang Churan said, and then her lips thinned into a smile.
Her father was a high-ranking government official, and her mother ran a million-yuan company. She had never thought that she would ever need any help from Chen Fan.
Auntie Tang put in, "Get into the car, we will go to your new place and drop off the luggage first. Then we will go to my house for lunch. Where I will introduce you to your uncle."
"Okay." Chen Fan nodded with a smile.
After getting into the vehicle, they headed toward Chen Fan's new house in the Lakeside Community.
This was a mid-range residential property in Chu Zhou City. The scenery was beautiful as it was surrounded by trees and was right next to Yangui Lake. It was also not far from the Ivy League High School where Chen Fan would be studying. Chen Fan was led to a large furnished one bedroom suite. It came with air conditioning, hot water, bathtub, TV, sofa, and a refrigerator. It was evident that Auntie Tang had spent a lot of time preparing for his stay in the city.
"Thank you, Auntie Tang, for all of this," Chen Fan said sincerely. Auntie Tang was one of the few people who had been genuinely nice to him.
She was a business partner of his mother, Wang Xiaoyun. She ran an architectural design company and was considered a successful woman.
Worried about her son's low grades, Chen Fan's mother sent him to the best private high school in the City of Chu Zhou: the Ivy League High School and Auntie Tang had been taking care of him ever since. Not only had she helped him with accommodations, but she had also packed him lunch from time to time.
Looking back on his past life, Auntie Tang had always been there looking out for him.
"You are too polite. Your mother has entrusted you to me so that I will take good care of you. Plus, I had always wanted a son," Auntie Tang said with a smile.
"Thank you." Chen Fan nodded, and he was ready to repay Auntie Tang's loving care in his past life.
Auntie Tang felt the sincerity in his words, and she was even more impressed by the boy. Compared to that cocky city boy, Li Yichen, Auntie Tang preferred Chen Fan as a son-in-law. Money and power were not the key to a happy marriage; honesty and integrity were.
After a while, they drove out of the Lakeside Community, and towards the Tang family residence.
Jiang Churan and Chen Fan were sitting side by side in the back seat. They only exchanged a few words before the girl completely lost interest in Chen Fan. She was out of his league. None of them spoke a word to each other, dragging out the silence. Chen Fan eventually put on a tired look and rested his head against the window and pretended to be sleeping.
Although Chen Fan had given her a good impression during their first meeting, she didn't like to talk to people who were less popular than her, especially when the boy was ignoring her in the first place.
She knew the likes of him: pretending he was not interested, thinking that he could make her feel jealous. She had seen too many boys play that trick on her, but none had succeeded.
However, Chen Fan was not even remotely interested in her, much less in the mood of playing tricks. His mind was occupied by his cultivation..
Chapter3Levels of Cultivation
For Chen Fan, the most important thing at the moment was to regain his power.
The progression of cultivation was divided into eight levels:
Qi Refinement, Connate, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, Void, Reunion, and Tribulation.
Although his teacher, Cangqin the Immortal Cultivator had lived for eight hundred and forty thousand years, he had just reached the seventh level. Once the cultivator reached the seventh level, he was granted the title "True Immortal" and could live up to a hundred thousand years.
In this universe, a seventh level "True Immortal" would be revered as the embodiment of power and invincibility. Their powers would allow them to crush the stars, swallow the sun, and even create another dimension beyond space and time.
In the past five hundred years, Chen Fan had reached the eighth level: Tribulation, surpassing his teacher and earned the title of the: "Celestial Lord."
However, Tribulation was too far away and too much for Chen Fan to worry about right now.
"I came back to the Earth once during my cultivation. At that time, the Earth's Spirit Qi was completely exhausted, and it was no longer suitable for the cultivators to live." Compared to the earth, the realm of "Cangming"—an alternative universe created by his teacher Cangqin—was a much better place for cultivators to harness energy. Chen Fan reflected on his last visit to Earth as he started to sense the Qi surrounding him right now.
The last time he returned to the Earth, it would be more than a hundred years later in this current timeline, and by that time, he would already be a successful cultivator.
He ferried across billions of realms that separated him from the Earth in order to reach his home town, but he was disappointed in the end. The earth was no longer the same place as he remembered. The old national-state system had fallen apart, and the humans had formed the Earth Federation. After the humans colonized Mars, they stepped out of the solar system and entered the era of interstellar traveling.
Chen Fan had continued to live on the earth for another twenty years, and he did not sense the presence of any other cultivators.
"The Spirit Qi in this world right now was slightly more available than that of a hundred years later, but it was by no means abundant." He shook his head silently. "Even if there is a cultivator, they will be at level two at the most."
"I am afraid that I am still the only cultivator on earth."
Chen Fan knew very well what it meant. It meant that as long as he could regain a fraction of his power, he could lord over this world with ease. Chen Fan also knew that he didn't need advanced technology in order to reach his goals; he only needed to reach level two in his cultivation.
Without reaching level two, one can not even call himself a "cultivator."
With the wealth of knowledge he had accumulated over the five hundred years, Chen Fan wagered that it would take him only a few years to reach that stage.
"The Spirit Qi is quite inconsistent around here; I better find a place with a stronger presence of Qi to help my cultivation."
"If I can locate a numinous treasure, I will be sure to break through the second level in under three years."
The thought of acquiring a numinous treasure amused Chen Fan, "What am I thinking? With such a meager amount of Qi on the earth, there wouldn't be any herbs left for me, much less numinous treasures."
As Chen Fan mulled over his predicament, the vehicle had pulled over to Auntie Tang's house.
Chen Fan's accommodation was located at the edge of downtown. Facing the enormous Yangui Lake, it was considered a high-quality mid-range property in Chu Zhou City. On the other hand, the Tangs lived in a suburban development in Yunshan District, which was only a few minutes drive from Chen Fan's place.
The car followed a highway that hugged the lake, and it eventually led them to the foot of the Yunwu Mountain. Chen Fanyi saw the name of the suburb development:
Chen Fan recalled that the Dragon's View Garden was a high-end residential development in Chu Zhou City. A small bungalow in this area would cost as much as two million even before the real estate boom.
Auntie Tang lowered the rear view mirror and saw fascination in Chen Fan's eyes.
"The Yunwu mountain was the most famous landmark here in Chu Zhou City other than the Yangui Lake. The Dragon's View was only the mid-tier development around this area. Maybe later we will go further into the mountain, and I will show you some villas. They make our house look like a shed in their backyard. You should come to visit us early in the morning too; the entire mountain will be shrouded in mist, hence its name, 'Yun-wu': cloudy-mist."
There was a hint of envy in Auntie Tang's voice while she spoke about those villas high up in the mountains.
"Up there, the cheapest house cost more than ten million. It was developed by the richest man in Chu Zhou City and only his friends and the billionaires from the south could afford those properties. I could probably buy only a kitchenette even if I sold my company," Auntie Tang shook her head and then sighed.
"The richest man in Chu Zhou City… The Shen family?" Chen Fan thought.
"Your house looks very big in my opinion. Our family lived in a 100-square-meter home in our county; it was a government subsidized property."
Chen Fan paused and then said, "If auntie really likes those houses, I will buy you a few of them once I start to make money. I will make sure you can wake up every day to look down at the sea of cloudy mists beneath you."
What was a villa to someone who could have the entire universe? He would have whatever his heart desired as soon as he reached level two.
Auntie Tang was pleased by Chen Fan's words. She said, "Very well, I will take you up on it! Tell your mother to come live with me. To hell with her real estate company! Your mother and sister are two brave souls, trying to make a living in the metropolis where they have no one to turn to. If she retires now, we can go shopping together, or go to the spa if we really run out of things to do. What a life that will be, eh?"
Jiang Churan listened to the conversation, and she was not very impressed by what she heard.
Not even the richest classmate she knew could have promised to buy a villa up in the mountains as a gift. Everyone knew that only the richest of the rich could afford living up there.
"It seems that he is just like the others, full of empty talk and no real action."
She was slightly disappointed at Chen Fan. She had thought that this boy from the countryside would be different than city boys, but it seemed that she was wrong.
The decoration in Auntie Tang's home was elegant, in style, and exquisite in their craftsmanship. From the paintings on the wall to the blue-white porcelain vase on the table, it was evident that the Tang family was not only wealthy but also well-educated and had good taste in fine arts.
After entering the hall, Chen Fan saw a middle-aged man sitting on the sofa, wearing a pair of black rimmed glasses. He was watching the news on Tv.
He was Jiang Churan's father, Jiang Haishan!
He was the deputy director of Chu Zhou City. Although his rank was not high, he was close to Chu Zhou City's power center.
Chen Fan bowed to him, and Jiang Haishan nodded absently.
"Come and grab a seat. Ran-ran, why don't you go to the kitchen and make some tea for your dad and our guest? Can you guys wait a few minutes for dinner? I need to heat up some dishes." Auntie Tang spoke as she entered the kitchen.
Jiang Churan nodded and took out a box of a purple clay tea set made by a renowned artist from the Town of Yixin.
Chen Fan was pleasantly surprised by Jiang Churan's tea-making techniques; her movement was fluid and smooth like flowing water while her focus on the craft didn't allow a single drop to be spilled. It was evident that she had trained under a skilled teacher—a detail that Chen Fan did not notice in his previous life.
Jiang Haishan's eyes were glued to the TV, and he didn't turn around to face the guest until the news was over.
"How is your father, Reeve Chen doing? The last time I met him was at a government meeting six months ago."
"He is doing well. Thank you for asking." Chen Fan said politely.
Chen Fan's father was the deputy magistrate of the Si Shui County, and although his rank was similar to that of Jiang Haishan, his jurisdiction was a remote county instead of a bustling city.
Jiang Haishan nodded, "Your father is young and full of potential. His proposal, the "Sustainable Development of County Economy and the Selection and Application of Environmental Protection Policies," was praised by the mayor. The mayor said that your father has an international perspective, and he agreed with your father that the future economic development is inseparable from environmental protection."
Chen Fan nodded with a blank smile. Why would he think that a high school boy would be interested in boring politics? If Chen Fan could have understood half of what Jiang Haishan had just spilled out from his mouth, he wouldn't have bankrupted his mother's company.
Seeing that Chen Fan was not interested in what he said, Jiang Haishan frowned slightly and then changed the topic.
"I have heard from your auntie that your mother's real estate company in Zhong Hai City is developing very fast. Many experts are predicting that the country's property market will grow substantially next year. Your mother has chosen a good field."
Chen Fan smiled and said, "My mother's company was insignificant compared to that of Auntie Tang."
Jiang Haishan shook his head. "You think too highly of her. Her company hired only a dozen people, earning merely hundreds of thousands a year. How would that compare to your mother's corporation."
Chen Fan hurried a humble reply, "I am not being modest at all. My mother had only a few people working under her, and that's all the help she gets. She had to run between the contractors and the developers and deal with endless paperwork. It's a hard job with not that much money."
"Oh?" Jiang Haishan frowned.
What Chen Fan had told him was drastically different than what he had heard from his wife. Judging by his first impression of the boy, Jiang Haishan was convinced that Chen Fan was not lying. Therefore, he wagered that the rumors about Chen Fan's mother he had heard before were exaggerated.
Chen Fan's description of the company sounded more realistic, as well. It was started by a woman and her daughter in a place where they knew no one and had no connections. Building up a real estate empire so quickly seemed too good to be true regardless of how hard the mother-daughter pair had worked.
So thinking, the smile on Jiang Haishan's face faded away slowly.
"How are your grades?" Jiang Haishan asked.
Chen Fan smiled and said, "I was the top five hundred in our county, and I have heard that your daughter ranked in the top fifty at the school. I think I will need her help at school."
Si Shui County had the lowest education ranking among all counties under Chu Zhou City government. Without being in the top ten in the Si Shui County, Chen Fan had no chance in entering even a second-tier university, much less a top-tier.
Jiang Haishan's brow furrowed even deeper after hearing Chen Fan's answer; the remaining traces of a smile on his face evaporated completely.
"Your mother had sent you to Chu Zhou City to study, not for fun. Your family can only help you for a while, but not forever. If you want to be successful, you have to rely on yourself. Education is a stepping stone, no matter which field you are in."
Chen Fan was caught off guard by Jiang Haishan's sudden outburst. He erased the smile he was wearing and answered, "You are right, Uncle Jiang."
Although achieving high academic standing was not Chen Fan's highest priority, once he advanced in his cultivation, getting into a top-tier university should be a piece of cake.
After exchanging a few more words with Chen Fan, Jiang Haishan was disappointed by the boy's lack of knowledge and ambition. He could not help but secretly shake his head in disappointment. It was evident that what his wife had told him about the boy was simply not true.
He had also met the son of the deputy mayor and was very impressed by his appearance as well as his wealth of knowledge in economics and politics. Chen Fan failed to measure up to his most basic requirement for a future son in law.
It seems like I have a lot to talk about with my wife,Jiang Haishan lamented in his mind.
He knew his wife wanted to set up his daughter with the son of her best friend. He didn't protest her plan at first, but after meeting Chen Fan for the first time, he realized that he had to weigh-in.
My daughter would not fall for him anyway,Jiang Haishan thought. He was confident in his daughter's judgment..Chen Fan, the great cultivator, failed to transcend the Tribulation of Heaven: the final stage of his cultivation. Little did he know that this accident would bring him back to Earth and turn back time to five hundred years ago when he was just a teenager. 'I had once reached the precipice of power in the known universe and could look down on the ten thousand realms with pride; I was lonely nonetheless. I will not leave any regret nor anyone behind while I relive my past life this time around. ' Join Chen Fan as he relives his teenage years, righting the wrongs of the past as he punishes his unwitting old enemies.
In the summer of 2007, a bus operated by Golden Dragon Travel Service was heading towards the County of Si Shui near Chu Zhou, a city in the Hu Dong Province.
Si Shui was a backwater county in the middle of nowhere. In the heat of the summer, the passengers on the bus had mostly fallen asleep.
A five foot six, handsome boy with a smooth face and a sleek haircut suddenly jerked his head up as he woke up from a nightmare. He scanned the bus with a weary look.
As reality finally set in, his face suddenly hardened with a frown. He had been to another world and back, yet no one on the bus would have any idea of what he had just been through.
"This is the same bus as the one I took to Chu Zhou City for my last year of high school!"
"Why am I here? Am I no longer in the Tribulation?"
"Could it be that I am back in the mortal world again?" Disbelief flickered in Chen Fan's eyes as he thought to himself.
"How is it possible that I, Chen Beixuan, escaped the heavenly tribulation, and was reborn again as my former-self?"
Chen Fan, also known as "Chen Beixuan," was a cultivator. "Bei Xuan" was the cultivation name that his teacher had given him when he met his teacher for the first time.
He cultivated for five hundred years under one of the nine celestial sects in the universe: the True Martial Immortal Sect, and he was the disciple of the sect's Grand Elder: Cangqin, the immortal cultivator.
Thanks to Chen Fan's incredible talent, it only took him five hundred years to enter the last stage of his cultivation: The Tribulation. He was thought to be the most likely cultivator in centuries to successfully ascend beyond the current realm to that of the immortals.
Chen Fan lived in this universe for five hundred years, fighting and winning every battle against any sentient being across the universe that dared challenge him. His invincibility had earned him the title: The North Mystic Celestial Lord.
However powerful he had been, he had lost himself in the heavenly tribulation after all.
It was not until his doom was knocking on the door did he realize that the culprit of his failure was the hastened pace during his cultivation. Fast and furious was his motto, but it had also made his cultivation foundation riddled with weak points.
His resolution and dedication— the so-called "Dao-Heart"—crumbled when he had to face the mental demons that lurked in the darkest corners of his mind.
His eagerness to complete the cultivation had become his downfall. To advance as fast as he could, he had left many regrets and made countless mistakes. As guilt and self-resentment slowly eroded his mind, he became vulnerable to the mental demons' deceits and illusions.
As Chen Fan reflected his battle against the mental demons, he tried to tap into the energy within his system, to see if he was in another illusion. To his surprise, he found that not only was there no trace of his star-devouring Dharmic Power, but his boundless Primordial Essence had also disappeared.
"This is not the work of mental demons. I really am BACK!" Chen Fan furrowed his brows as realization finally dawned upon him.
Chen Fan knew that however real and vivid mental demons' illusions were, they could not mask all traces of a Celestial Lord's Primordial Essences.
"My powers are gone. There is not even a trace of Dharmic Power, Primordial Essence, Immortal Enlightenment in me, much less my precious Dharma Treasures. I am now no different than an ordinary man, and anyone could strike me down if they try hard enough."
Despite the huge setback in his cultivation, he did not seem to be too upset about it. Instead, he laughed at his defeat lightheartedly.
"So be it, my last life's cultivation was doomed from the beginning anyways.
"This time around, I will make sure that I take my cultivation one step at a time. I will not only complete but also perfect each and every level."
He cracked a smile as fire danced in his eyes.
"I will return the humiliation and contempt the world had given me in kind, and I will learn from my previous mistakes and leave no regrets as I progress."
There had been many regrets in his past life. Although his mind had always been preoccupied with cultivation, the regret and sorrow persisted.
"Mom, Dad, Sister-An, and Xiao-Qiong. I am BACK! This time I will not fail you."
Chen Fan lowered his head as resolution rose in his heart.
Chen Fan was born in an ordinary family in the Si Shui County. His father, Chen Gexin, was in the Jin City of the Hu Dong Province. His mother, on the other hand, hailed from a prominent household in the Yan Jin City.
The two met at college, and they quickly fell in love, despite the outcry from Wang Family. The overall sentiment of the society was hostile towards marriage without the parents' arrangement. It was particularly true in a prestigious old-money family such as the Wangs.
After failing to put a stop to the marriage, Chen Fan's grandfather went as far as denouncing his own daughter.
In a fit of anger, Wang Xiaoyun left her parents with her husband and settled in Hu Dong Province.
In order to prove to the Wang Family that he was worthy of their daughter's hand, Chen Gexin did not choose to stay in the populated cities where Wang Family's influence was strong; instead, he had moved to Si Shui County and started working as a low-ranking public servant.
Chen Gexin continued working for the county for a few decades, and never once had he tried to seek advantage using his connection with the mighty Wang Family. He had worked his way up from his first low-ranking position to the management level, but it was still a far cry from the expectation of the Wang family.
The tension between the two sides finally started to ease after Chen Fan was born. Chen Fan's grandfather granted the couple a visit during the Chinese New Year. However, unbeknownst to the young couple, what awaited them at Wang Family were cold sneers and lofty disdain.
The entire family had considered Chen Fan's parents a taint on the family's reputation. They had defied the will of the family patriarch and gave birth to a son who had brought no joy but only shame to the Wang family.
As for Chen Gexin's achievement in the county, it was laughable and pathetic in their eyes.
The thought brought a bitter taste to Chen Fan's mouth. He shook his head and smiled wryly.
"Wang Chen, I bet that you had never expected me to be back from the future!"
"My family had worked hard to catch up with you and your parents, but in the end, we are still worthless worms in your eyes."
"My mother was a proud person, and she could not stand being looked down upon. That was why she worked so hard, but what did she get in the end? Nothing!"
"I swore I would avenge my mother. Although I am an ordinary person right now, once I got my power back, I will be knocking on your door. I will show you what it is like to be looked down upon and to be crushed like a worthless worm."
Wang Chen was Chen Fan's cousin. He was the favorite child of the great house Wang. In Chen Fan's last life, he had tried for all his worth to catch up with Wang Chen but failed. The gap between Wang Chen and Chen Fan was unbridgeable.
The last time that Chen Fan saw any visitor from Wang Family was during his mother's funeral. As if the Wang Family thought the death of Chen Fan's mother was not tragic enough for the young man, they had to gloat over the tragedy and sent only three youngsters to attend the funeral. No one from the older generation of the Wang Family had come to pay tribute to their own blood; not his grandfather, uncle, or grandmother.
To rub salt into the wounds, one of the visitors was Wang Chen. Wang Chen acted as if he was walking the red carpet instead of attending his aunt's funeral. Surrounded by his sycophantic entourage, his steps carried such a haughty and proud quality that blatantly disrespected the dead.
He was the star, and wherever he went, he deserved attention and respect, regardless of the circumstances.
Although it had been five hundred years, the thought of the Wang family still lit up the knot of fire in Chen Fan's belly. This memory was toxic to a cultivator such as Chen Fan.
Without coming to terms with the past, the cultivator would be vulnerable to the attacks of the devious mental demons. A small mistake would lay waste to thousands of years of hard work.
"Anyways, I better not dwell on the past. I wager that Shen Junwen's family fortune has not reached Chu Zhou City at this point in time."
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