章節 1: Reincarnation Incident

In an unknown location inside of the infinite Chaotic Void is a peculiar universe — the "Astral Universe". Inside that specific universe within a particle world, far above the heavens, there exists nine galaxies of astral rivers. Each of these astral rivers is made up of the combination of countless constellations interwoven together. These nine galaxies can also be collectively known as the Nine Layers of Heaven.

Humans of this cultivation-oriented world advocate the importance of meditation as a method to sense the Yuan Qi of Heavens and Earth. From a young age, they would practice breathing techniques, to train the spiritual Qi in their bodies, and to increase their vitality – they would cultivate their martial techniques in order to eventually become a Martial Cultivator.

Those with exceedingly strong senses could, through mediation, sense the existences of the nine astral rivers. By absorbing the energy projected by the boundless array of stars, and after forming an innate link with any of the constellations, condense an Astral Soul, and become a revered Stellar Martial Cultivator.

But there were even stronger humans, whom after becoming a Stellar Martial Cultivator, continued to train and condense the Astral Qi absorbed from the constellations, unceasingly strengthening the toughness of their bodies, and broke away from the realm of a Stellar Martial Cultivator. They forcefully opened the astral gate within their bodies, enabling them to be able to link with even more constellations, and able to condense more types of different Astral Souls.

Legend has it that the strongest cultivators in the Province of the Nine Skies were beings that could open an astral gate every time they advanced into a new realm. Their talent in cultivation was such that they could even establish innate links with constellations that existed on a higher layer within the Nine Layers of Heaven, eventually transforming into the heaven-defying and earth-shattering powers known as the War Gods within the Nine Layers of Heaven.

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Immeasurably far from the Astral Universe within the Chaotic Void, there exists a relatively young and developing universe. On a blue planet within that universe, off the coast of an uninhabited island within the Southern Pacific Ocean, is a lone young man, he is carelessly lying down on the golden sand beach under the bright noon sun. This young man is a freshly graduated Physics major from some average university in the United Kingdom.

Isaac is an orphan who put himself into college, so average or not, this was an achievement in itself. He had decided to take a gap year after his graduation and was wandering aimlessly around the world to perhaps enjoy himself.

He had just finished re-reading some of his favourite chapters from one of his favourite books, Ancient Godly Monarch. As a great number of people within 2022, Isaac was fond of all sorts of literature but more specifically light novels, manga and the likes. Whilst no Chinese novel that he has read could rival "Desolate Era" in his heart, AGM was not that far off.

Little did he know that outside his universe, a supremely strong cultivator was being shredded apart in a chaotic spacetime which he entered by accident after fleeing from a pack of Chaotic Origin Beasts. The latter, knowing that he would die, had used his overwhelming strength to refine almost all of his soul into a jade token containing his legacy and threw it away in a space channel.

The very concept of sound could not exist in that chaotic spacetime but if any sentient creature was there with him they would have heard his last words; Words full of pride yet with an undertone of sadness.

"How funny that Monarch Yun, who achieved transcendence with the Spacetime Dao, would die here!!!!!!"

The token containing all of Monarch Yun's inheritance tears spacetime apart as it travels at an incomprehensible speed, it pierce right through the fragile membrane of the young developing universe where Isaac was and went right through Earth's atmosphere. A magical scene appeared where a shooting star headed straight on the sleeping Isaac. The story of AGM which was still opened on an app on his phone created a slight thread of causality between him and that universe.

With how powerful the crystalized soul of Monarch Yun was, a being who transcended his mortality by cultivation, that slight thread of causality was all that was needed to trace back the corresponding universe and thus transport Isaac's soul there. Isaac, who was sound asleep, could not even feel his "death" and knew nothing of the miraculous chance he had.

The reason the token transported Isaac soul was simply because Earth barely had any Heaven & Earth energy (Qi, Psionic Energy, mana or whatever it may be called in the endless different universes) to allow for cultivation.

Isaac's soul was absorbed and protected inside of the token as it travelled through the endless Chaotic Void. Meanwhile the young man of 23 was having a weird dream or so he thought.

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Inside of his dream, Isaac was standing on top of a mountain but the peculiar thing was that the mountain top was surprisingly levelled as if somebody had sliced it flat with a sword or an axe. There was even more to it as the mountain seemed to be floating in a magnificent nebulous void with countless shimmering lights which were obviously distant astral bodies such as stars.

In front of him was a middle aged man who looked incredibly stern. He had a lean physique, was dressed in dark armour with golden lines yet his most striking feature was his silver-white hair tied in a single ponytail. The man radiated an aura unique to the mighty. At last he opened his eyes and talked.

"To the fateful one, whether you acquired my legacy through absolute strength or pure luck — Congratulations! I use a special technique to refine my soul into this Jade Token which contains all of my knowledge in the form of countless cultivation techniques and secret arts. Nonetheless, I left absolutely no insight whatsoever that I cultivated during my life; it is my belief that a cultivator should go their own way to transcend their mortal status."

The voice of the man seemed to come from all directions, it was truly a mystical experience. Isaac was left flabbergasted by what the unidentified man was saying and thought that he had read too many Asian cultivation stories to dream of this. Oddly, he could not move or talk but only passively listened to what the man was saying.

"I was born in the Red Void Universe as a farmer's boy. Back then I only possessed below-average to borderline mediocre aptitude for cultivation yet I yearn for longevity with all my heart. I was able to enter a small sect as the lowest level kind of disciple through great luck, and I slowly rose to the peak after countless adventures. I had no talent so I was ruthless, immeasurably ruthless; I killed and killed again and again anyone who stood in my way. What allowed me to transcend the restraint of my world was my will and determination, so never forget that your mental fortitude is what will separate you from the masses. I defeated countless of those so-called geniuses and created a brand new era — I am the Void Paragon, Yun Tian."

The man barely looked Asian despite his Chinese name, he was a mixture of European and Korean in a 7 to 3 ratio but more importantly to Isaac, his story was straight out of a novel. It was the perfect protagonist's counterattack and this couldn't help but ignite Isaac's thirst for adventure.

"Remember that you will never truly be Yun Tian's legatee unless you are able to become a Chaotic Origin Lifeform by breaking free from the restraint of your natal universe. If you achieve that much then I, Yun Tian, may boast that I was truly the greatest even after my end. HA HA HA HA HA!!!!"

As soon as Isaac registered that last piece of information, he felt a strong discomfort around his head. It was as if somebody was pulling his head; it was incredibly unpleasant.

Suddenly his surroundings shattered and so the mountain disappeared leaving him into a pitch black darkness. It was then that he could hear some people speaking in an incomprehensible language, it sounded like a mixture of mandarin and Japanese. Isaac opened his eyes and swore he was surrounded by giants but immediately realised that he was the one who was abnormally tiny as he saw his small unresponsive limbs; the worst above all was that he was butt naked.

Abruptly, he felt a sharp pain onto his smooth left baby butt cheek and tears uncontrollably rushed out of his eyes. He unconsciously started to cry out loud and could not help but curse in his mind. Not long after that eventful reincarnation, the now nameless baby fell asleep beside his beautiful mother.

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Sky Pill World, Western Province, Ancient Territory, Bright Lotus City, Ji Clan

Twelve years have already gone by since the reincarnation of the boy and he is now a young vigorous child.

The young boy was born into the Sky Pill World, a relatively average particle world among the innumerable ones present in the Azure Mystic Immortal Realm. This particle world is ten times the size of Earth and yet was made up of only one supermassive continent which is perfectly round with a gargantuan sinkhole in the middle. The continent is said to cover half of the world with the rest being pure ocean.

The sinkhole within the Sky Pill continent is in fact filled up to half its depth with water and is commonly called the Inland Ocean Region, the legends say that it is the aftermath of a strike from an immortal; similarly the outside of the continent is a humongous water body called the Outerland Ocean Region. This area is predominantly the territory of demonic beasts under the rule of the Myriad Demon Palace.

The Sky Pill Continent is divided into Four Provinces (Northern, Eastern, Southern & Western) which themselves are subdivided into three territories and each one of those territories are single-handedly ruled by a superpower. The boy was born into the main branch of the Ji Aristocratic Clan, one of the top Five superpower of the Sky Pill World that is the strongest superpower within the Western Province.

The boy's name after his reincarnation is Ji Bolin.

"To think I would encounter the infamous reincarnation incident and still be transported into one of my favourite verses. I would have loved to go into the Desolate Universe but beggars can't be choosers after all. Even now Twelve years later, I still have a hard time believing this." thought young Bolin as he walked happily through his family mansion.

Ji Bolin was walking around aimlessly as he hummed some familiar tune from his previous life. Any servant or clan member that sees him would gaze at him with weird eyes. The reason for these gazes was that the young master of the Ji clan was in fact a 'cripple'.

All of this started on the night of Ji Bolin's third anniversary when the Spacetime Token activated for the first and last time. The token had previously completely fused with Ji Bolin and was always present with him in the form of a circular birthmark on his chest; it was emerald green in colour and heavily resembled a tattoo.

On that fateful night the token activated for the first time and sent an imperceptible yet unfathomable divine sense which scanned the entirety of the "Astral Universe" with its Nine Heavenly Layer, 33 immortal realms and endless particle worlds. Even that unimaginable existence within the Heavenly Dao Sacred Academy was not spared but of course, his secrets could not be pried on that easily. Then using all the information collected about the Astral Universe cultivation system, the token transformed all of its contents appropriately.

The simplicity and ease with which such a heaven-defying act was performed speaks volume about how horrifying those existences that had transcended their natal universes were.

All of this occurred without the young Bolin's knowledge or involvement and then only after this was his consciousness miraculously summoned inside of the token.

The interior of the token was a vast and seemingly endless nebulous with a single circular stone platform at the centre, a pure white mat was placed at its centre where young Bolin spiritual body was seated cross-legged. The token had summoned Ji Bolin to give him the first piece of inheritance; it had communicated its intent with him and asked him to choose a technique.

This is where Ji Bolin's knowledge about the original work allowed him to choose the most appropriate one, an acupuncture technique. As soon as he made his choice, countless light in the nebulous vanished and only a relatively few ones (still thousands) remained then he thought again about the specifics of the acupuncture techniques and the various light diminished once more.

At last nine lights stood out of the remaining multitude and among them young Bolin chose a purple coloured one. The reason behind this choice was simply that he loved that specific colour. The acupuncture technique was directly imprinted into his mind and it would never disappear. The Stellar Forge Acupuncture Art did not disappoint in the slightest as it could perform several heaven-defying feats which would be useful for his entry in stellar cultivation.

The young Ji Bolin would then start his planning for the several years to come.

Ji Bolin being a cautious individual would then start to go out in the city market once in a while and buy several cultivation techniques haphazardly so as to fool his family and clan. Finally, years later when he was about to turn eight year old, young Bolin brought back the Stellar Forge Acupuncture Art to his clan and told his father about it. The latter thought it as only another inconspicuous cultivation technique that little Bolin brought back but he was left shocked when he peered at it.

The technique contained several shocking truths; absorbing the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth was detrimental.

The energy channels and meridians in one's body would inadvertently be filled with the Yuan Qi one absorbed, which would in turn cause one sensory ability to diminish greatly, which would eventually end up severely diminishing one chance of condensing an Astral Soul.

Only by starting with broken meridians would one be able to reconstruct and transform them into a flawless set of Stellar Meridians! This concept consisted of destroying first, the imperfect foundation, before re-establishing second, the flawless one!

Of course his father did not immediately trust the technique but made several volunteers try what was recorded. Then following the results young Bolin had his meridians crippled in the greatest secrecy. Ji Bolin had always maintained a very serious dedication at tempering his body and was way ahead of his peers, that is if they had not absorbed Yuan Qi from Heaven and Earth. Even so the act of destroying his meridians nearly killed him but the high quality medicinal solution bath provided by his father was enough to save him.

At eight years old, young Bolin became a famous cripple.

This left the whole Sky Pill World thinking that the only child of the ruthless 4th Elder of the Ji Clan was a pitiful cripple. But to the surprised of the world despite this the young Bolin was never seen sad or dejected but always with a confident smirk on his face. He continued with his body tempering albeit at a milder intensity in conjunction with exercising his sensory abilities as if nothing ever happened.

Now five years has since gone by and Ji Bolin was now ready to reconstruct his meridians and leap out of the abyss like a Dragon soaring towards the heaven.

Throughout these years Ji Bolin had not been slacking in the slightest with his training despite his conditions.

During the night as always, young Bolin had started his meditation despite his crippled meridians. He used several acupuncture needles on the numerous acupoints around his head and forced himself into a trance, a meditative state. He then began attracting the energy of the constellations, circulating them fully around his body through the broken pathways of his meridians. The explosive strength of the energy from the constellations constantly bumped and crashed through the broken pathways threatening to grind his broken set of meridians into dust.

The pain experienced during those instances never seemed to decrease and a hideous expression of pain and suffering appeared on the face of young Bolin. Ji Bolin used that pain for five years to temper his will and strengthen his mental fortitude; every time he would think of giving up he would remember the prideful words of Void Paragon Yun.

The energy channels and meridians are the pathways that connect the energy flow in a human body and thus once the meridians are damaged, one can only be considered a cripple. Cultivators, other than expanding their energy channels and meridians – after the Body Refinement Realm – had to reconstruct their energy channels, recast their nine great meridians, connecting through to all of the seven main orifices, and refine their internal organs, four limbs, and even their bone structure. Only then would they be able to fully unleash their true potential!

The night was an uneventful but gruesome one.

As always Ji Bolin, after meditating through the night, felt refreshingly clear-headed and invigorated. As a result of not absorbing the Yuan Qi from Heavens and Earth, his body could not undergo vicious training. Hence, he could only go for a run as training, using the oldest and most primal method of body tempering technique in order to strengthen his body. Young Bolin would climb the hundred of thousands of stairs that spread throughout the Bright Lotus Mountain belonging to the Ji Clan.

With his broken meridians, it was impossible for the Young Bolin to cultivate even the most basic forms of martial cultivation arts, so this was the only method to temper his body. This appeared to be nothing but a fool's dream, and as a result, everyone in the clan who was in the unknown either pitied or despised the young Bolin.

But little did they know that today, the beast would start to show his claws and fangs.

"Little Bolin, Today you will enter the secret realm of the clan and reconstruct your meridian. Follow me and let's go." the calm voice of his father Ji Yi echoed through his room.

The young Bolin had just finished his shower after his morning training and immediately followed his loving yet strict father.

Despite being the youngest among his four siblings, Ji Yi was already at the 8th level of the celestial Phenomenon realm and with his spatial attribute astral soul could disregard distance to an extent and move at astounding speed. He grabbed his son and swiftly teleported thousands of miles with him to the entrance of the Ji Clan ancestral secret realm.

"Take this talisman. It will teleport you into the Ancestral Palace deep within the secret realm. The heavenly manor is protected by a formation that will hide the disturbances as you connect with an astral constellation. Now go!" said Ji Yi with his calm voice.

Ji Bolin used the talisman, then was instantly transported into an ancient palace and his first thought was to explore the palace. As he wandered around and looked at the outside, he discovered that the palace was atop a mystical mountain surrounded by a luxuriant eerie forest. Even the sky inside the secret realm was different with a weird red hue. No longer curious, the young Bolin went inside the largest hall in the manor at its centre.

Ji Bolin sat down cross-legged and unfold all of his preparations for his breakthrough.

Young Bolin took out the nine platinum needles, and pierced them through the acupoints located on his head. He was instantaneously put in a trancelike meditative state; deep within his meditation, he envisioned himself as a sturdy vessel.

Immediately, he managed to sense the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth, as well as the existence of Astral Energy. This was the effect of meditation — as for how strong or weak the sensation was, it all depended on the power of one's sensory abilities.

The sensory abilities of Ji Bolin were truly exceedingly strong. This type of strength, other than his own innate talent, was also the combined result of his powerful soul of two lifetimes as well as him incessantly practising meditation every night. Silently and surely young Bolin rapidly entered the necessary state, and attracted the Astral Energy towards his body, before circulating it around the pathway of his meridians.

At this moment, despite the fact that the entirety of Ji Bolin's energy channels and meridians had long been crippled, he didn't care, and continued to circulate the Astral Energy around his body. He remained in this state all the way until the reddish sky turned dark, and until the light from the constellations had started cascading down towards his body, enveloping him in a layer of starlight.

Ji Bolin, using his vivid imagination, envisioned himself as a huge needle flying straight to Nine Layers of Heaven. His sensory abilities aided by this transformation tore a pathway, reaching higher and higher in an attempt to sense the Astral Rivers from the Nine Layers of Heaven. The Stellar Forge Acupuncture Art was truly heaven-defying.

Along with the rising reach of his sensory abilities, young Bolin began to feel a slightest amount of discomfort as his sensory abilities reached higher and higher. Nevertheless, this was very far from being able to even hinder him. Suddenly, Ji Bolin could feel himself standing right in the middle of the boundless starry space — he had arrived at the 1st Astral River!

Every time he was here, Ji Bolin would feel his soul being oppressed by the majesty of the boundless space. Standing alongside the innumerous constellations within the Nine Heavenly Astral Rivers, he felt as insignificant as a microbe, like a grain of sand in the desert, or like a droplet of water in a rainstorm!

"Staff Constellation." Young Bolin could sense the first constellation in his surroundings as the constellation took the shape of a long wooden pole — it was the staff Constellation.

"The Drooping Willow Constellation! if one condenses their Astral Soul after forming an innate link with it, their body will take on the properties of being soft and flexible, akin to a willow tree."

"Wind Eagle Constellation, Heavenly Zither Constellation." Ji Bolin calmly wandered around watching all types of constellations.

In this 1st astral river as long as he was willing, he could form an innate link with any of the constellations in his surrounding — even those constellations that were deemed as supreme by the Stellar Martial Cultivators. However, this was far too low for him and so young Bolin allowed his senses to soar to the next astral river, passing the 1st Layer of Heaven, and going all the way up before stepping into the 5th Layer of Heaven.

The discomfort had now been transformed into pressure and the amount of pressure he felt got more and more intense. Whilst young Bolin could no longer be as carefree and relaxed as when he was in the 1st Layer of Heaven, he still could remain there for a hefty amount of time. This could only mean that he could go even higher.

From the perspective of other Stellar Martial Cultivators, Young Bolin was truly a little monster in human skin.

Ji Bolin himself didn't know how strong his new sensory abilities were but he knew that it was partly because of his acupuncture technique as he previously never was able to go beyond the 5th layer by his lone self. A truly fearsome genius was about to be born.

"The level of power an Astral Soul condensed after forming an innate link with a constellation from the 5th Heavenly Layer is simply, incomparably, stronger than those of the lower Layers. However the Layers of Heaven above are still within my capabilities."

As young Bolin's sensory abilities continued soaring upwards, the pressure he felt also tremendously increased in intensity. The pressure was trying to force him to stop and his mind fell as if a chisel was repeatedly pecking at his brain. Despite all of this, he continued by clenching his fist with his nails digging into his flesh.

Ji Bolin had arrived at the 6th Layer of Heaven, where all the constellations were emanating a fearsome energy as if to tempt him to scramble to form an innate link with them. He knew that, as long as he was willing, he could immediately become a true genius of the Azure Mystics Immortal Realms.

"I can still go further. No, I want to go further. I want to forge my own unique path above the masses." Ji Bolin silently swore to himself, as he pushed his senses beyond their limit, attempting to continue upwards to the 7th Layer of Heaven.

"Establishing an innate link and condensing an Astral Soul is extraordinarily difficult. Other than talent, one mental fortitude is key." Ji Bolin told himself that he bore the increasingly painful waves of stabbing sensations in his mind, as he continued upwards. Finally, he stepped past the 6th Astral River, and arrived at the 7th Layer of Heaven!

In front of him, there was a constellation in the shape of a giant with his body being shrouded in an ethereal mist, only its bright eyes could be perceived as it illuminates its surroundings. It appeared to be casting a phantasmal mirage.

"Ethereal Giant Monarch Constellation." Ji Bolin averted his Astral Body, as he shifted his senses away to prevent any forceful linkage between him and the constellation. Unlike his experiences in the lower Heavenly Layers, he no longer had the ability to sense several of the constellations in one go. He could only do each constellation one by one.

A short moment later, he came across a constellation that seemed to be filled with a volatile abrupt aura.

"This is.. This is the Thunder Behemoth Constellation! If I formed an innate link with it, I would gain the ability to control the power of thunder and lightning at a terrifying level! The power I would wield then would be extremely tyrannical and every of my move would be akin to a heavenly disaster! Furthermore It is perfect for tempering my body but I cannot be hasty.." Ji Bolin stopped for a few moments, but eventually decided not to make any hasty decision as he still wanted to explore the starry horizons in order to sense other constellations.

Ji Bolin sped up his search as the ambient pressure was oppressing him to an unprecedented degree.

After which, he sensed several other constellations nearby until he found one which had taken on the shape of a towering humanoid — it was the Archaic Demon Sovereign Constellation!

The constellation was humongous, at least as huge as Mount Everest; the humanoid had a pair of ram-like curved horns coming out of the back of its head which then went forward atop its bald head, its skin was dark red as well as cracked and it torso was cloth-less. The most noticeable feature was its voluptuous moustache. It sat cross legged in the void with its eyes closed and had several true dragons made up of Demonic Qi ferociously circling around it. It felt as if he was the rightful ruler of all demonic beasts since the creation of the world. (A/N: Imagine Sajin Komamura true Bankai from bleach with red skin and no ropes)

No other constellation was allowed near it, this was proof of its tyranny. Ji Bolin decided to connect with it and as soon as he approached, the humanoid opened his eyes and one of his orbiting true dragons made up of Demonic attribute Astral Qi swallowed young Bolin with its gigantic maw.

Involuntarily, Ji Bolin was submerged into an ocean of wrathful Demonic Qi as his senses rushed to form an innate link with the Archaic Demon Sovereign Constellation. In the body of the demonic dragon, his astral body was flung into all directions but he continued to absorb the astral energy from the Archaic Demon Sovereign Constellation, forming an unbreakable innate bond between them.

The young Bolin did not lose his cool but imagined himself as a willing vessel, as he slowly integrated with the Astral Energy from the Archaic Demon Sovereign Constellation, while the stabbing pains in his mind intensified.

Columns of starlight began cascading down from Heaven, shooting past the various Astral Rivers, before shining down upon the currently cultivating body of Ji Bolin, shrouding his body in a sombre radiance. The Astral Energy began to meld with his body, as some of the starlight was absorbed by the jade tattoo on his chest.

After a few moments, the columns of starlight finally fully concentrate and shine on Bolin's body. Converging onto many points, the immense amount of dark coloured Astral Energy tinged with demonic qi was incomparably tyrannical.

A faint shadow with the shape of the Towering humanoid began to coalesce around Ji Bolin's body, while the pain in his mind intensified even further. However, how could young Bolin give up at this point after going that far! He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, he had no intention of giving up!

He let all of the Astral Qi circulate through the pathways of his broken meridians, gradually forming into the shape of a Qi spiral and then slowly helped to complete the condensation of his Astral Soul. For only after that, could he have truly stepped into the ranks of the Stellar Martial Cultivators.

"Dong dong dong!" Sounds of rumbling rang out from within Ji Bolin's body, as the tyrannical Astral Qi dashed chaotically about in the pathways of his broken energy channels and meridians, following the direction dictated by the Qi Spiral, frenziedly revolving about, circulating through his entire body.

The extraordinary pain was incomparably tough to bear, but what was even more horrifying was the stubborn Bolin who still needed to split his mind to focus on completing the two tasks; both the condensation of his Astral Soul, and the reconstruction of his entire meridian and energy channel's structure throughout his body.

"Ji Bolin will never fail!" His heart was filled with an unreal determination, as the tyrannical energy Qi Spiral in his body opened up an Astral Energy pathway, connecting it throughout his body, and successfully forming the legendary unique set of Stellar Meridians.

At the same time in his sea of consciousness, the Archaic Demon Sovereign gradually took shape within his first astral gate, while blood seeped out the several orifices of his body. Finally, Ji Bolin spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, before falling on his side too weak to even remain conscious.

A monster was born.