Chapter 2. A Hard Day (1)

The grand hall.

The darkness that dominated the entire hall was so intense that even the numerous lanterns hanging at regular intervals on the side walls could hardly dispel it.

Thud, thud.

Someone walked across the center of the grand hall. The footsteps were a blend of confidence and caution.

Swish.

The man stopped and slowly knelt down.

"Invincible Divine Sect, all demons bow in reverence. The Great Law Enforcer of the Divine Sect has come to pay respects to the Sect Leader."

A low voice cut through the darkness.

A moment later.

Rumble.

From the darkest corner of the grand hall, a pair of blue phosphorescent lights rose. The eerie glow was so bizarre that it could make a faint-hearted person have a seizure just by looking at it.

"What is it?"

Drip.

A cold sweat formed on the man's neck.

Just hearing the voice made his body tense. The presence exuded by the owner of those blue eyes was that formidable.

The man bowed his head even lower.

"I have something to report."

Sss.

A faint smoke rose from the floor of the dark corner. Even without words, it was clear that he was in a bad mood.

The man understood. No, he couldn't dare to understand a god, but he understood the situation he was in.

The undeniably strongest martial deity of the Divine Sect was about to ascend to another level. Being interrupted at such a crucial moment would naturally be frustrating.

"Speak."

The man inwardly sighed in relief.

"The Third Prince has awakened."

"The third one?"

"Yes, but... "

"..."

"All his martial arts have been lost due to excessive cultivation."

The silence that followed was brief.

"Great Law Enforcer."

"Speak, Sect Leader."

"Do not bring any more reports until three months after the seclusion ends."

"...Understood."

"Go."

"Yes. Before I go, what will you do with the Third Prince?"

The blue phosphorescent lights disappeared, and there was no response.

The man bowed his head.

"I earnestly wish for your great success."

With those words, the man withdrew. After some time had passed,

Flash!

The blue phosphorescent lights, which had dimmed, suddenly flared up like lightning.

* * *

Let's think about this.

Three slashes on the abdomen, four spear wounds on the back, and seven arrows in the thighs and buttocks.

My left arm was torn off by a social misfit's fingernails, and my right leg was severed by the Grand Elder of the Righteous Heaven Alliance, who joined the battle late.

The number of hidden weapons embedded in my body was too numerous to count, and my spine was broken by an unknown iron mace.

This is a fatal injury that even the Primordial Celestial would find hard to survive. It's the kind of injury that would immediately be declared dead by a Great Immortal.

Let alone me, a mere human. I should have died.

And I did die. I remember that crazy woman, Lady Biyao, pulling out my neck like a chicken leg.

Yes, I died.

But here's the thing.

"Prince, is the temperature comfortable?"

Pitter-patter.

"Prince, it's time for your herbal medicine."

Gulp, gulp.

"Prince, it's time for your massage."

Oh, how nice.

"Prince, it's time for your acupuncture."

...

"Prince... Prince..."

"...Enough."

"Huh?"

"Enough now."

"Huh?"

"Leave me alone."

"Huh?"

"Ugh."

"Prince?"

"...Please, just leave me alone!"

The startled maid prostrated herself.

"Forgive me! Please kill me!"

"Why would I kill you?! First of all..."

"Please kill me!"

"Ah, I won't kill you, so stop being so dramatic and get out! Get out!"

"Forgive me, Prince! I will serve you with all my heart, so please..."

"Ugh!"

"Sniff, sniff..."

"..."

"..."

"...I need to think. Can you give me some space?"

"Yes, yes!"

The maid hurriedly left the room.

Even in her haste, she didn't make a sound and even bowed before leaving, showing how much she feared him.

But Tian Xiazhen didn't feel the least bit sorry.

He was too confused and sensitive to care about the feelings of a maid whose name he didn't even know.

"Damn, what the hell is going on?"

After waking up in a new body, he was so confused that he just accepted the care. Well, he couldn't even stand up because his muscles and joints were all stiff.

But that's not the important thing.

"Am I really alive again?"

Tian Xiazhen looked at the large bronze mirror on one side of the room.

In it, a young man in his early twenties, emaciated to the extreme, sat on the bed.

'...Not bad.'

Overall, he had a delicate yet very distinct facial structure. His appearance was a blend of strength and gentleness.

Tian Xiazhen tried to contort his facial muscles, smiling and frowning.

'Hmm.'

No matter how much he distorted it, it was still better than his. That was one thing he liked... or not!

"Shit, is this the time to like it?!"

Calm down and think.

'First, where am I? It seems to be a high-ranking family.'

Was the son of a decent family suffering from a serious illness?

Tian Xiazhen closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly opened them and sighed deeply.

"A martial family."

His meridians were all tangled, his blood vessels were weak, and his dantian was shriveled like a pig's bladder.

But all these elements proved that this body had cultivated inner energy.

Ordinary civilians wouldn't have had access to martial arts, so it was clearly a martial family.

'Well, damn, it's impressive that I'm still alive.'

This body was in a state comparable to an eighty-year-old woman. It wouldn't be strange if he died soon.

"Even if I had been reborn as the child of a peasant, my mind would have been at ease."

Tian Xiazhen muttered, then paused.

"No, it's good enough that I'm alive. I'm grateful that I didn't reincarnate as a woman."

If his soul was male but his body was female, it would have been quite awkward. He might have had to seriously consider his gender identity.

Tian Xiazhen clenched his fist.

Yes, be grateful for the reality and accept the situation. They say the worst waste is the waste of time.

"The important thing is that I can live again."

Even though this body is in such a state and I still don't know where I am.

Still, I can live. I can draw my own future.

This is the moment when I can make a choice for the first time in my life.

Thump, thump.

His heart beat.

The air was cool, but his neck was damp. It felt like his blood was flowing twice as fast.

'Now...'

The long-standing wish and desire that kept him going in hell.

'Can I really live freely now?'

Receiving unwanted training, committing unwanted murders, and being under unwanted control.

I spent my whole life under the command of the Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader, that old man who couldn't be more hateful.

So what if he made me strong? So what if I became one of the Ten Great Martial Experts? Is that something to be proud of just because I was born into the martial world and reached that level?

What a disappointing load of crap.

Even when my limbs were broken, they didn't give me any support.

Before I was fully healed, they sent me on another assassination mission. I don't even know how many times I've faced death. I stopped counting after ninety-nine.

When I tried to meet a woman, every woman I saw was a crazy killer, and the only alcohol I found to ease my loneliness was cheap white liquor.

Did they even give me a regular salary?

The Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader, that miser, said this:

- Since we provide everything, why should we give you money? Do you even know how to spend it?

Bastard. A despicable bastard.

It was a truly miserable life. No matter how grand the titles like "One of the Ten Great Martial Experts" or "King of Assassins" were, I was ultimately just a tool.

"...Good."

Tian Xiazhen's face gradually turned red with excitement.

Now, I can say goodbye to that past. No matter where I am, no matter what this body's status is, and no matter if I have a family or not, none of it matters.

I will find freedom. I will live like a human being.

A human's desire burst out of his clenched fist without restraint.

* * *

It had been ten days since he woke up in a new body.

"Hmm."

Tian Xiazhen tapped his toes on the ground.

His balance didn't waver. His atrophied muscles had regained some control, and his stiff joints had regained some flexibility.

'Good.'

He inwardly rejoiced.

This body wasn't going to improve just from a few massages and acupuncture. The insides were all rotten; how could it be properly treated?

One must be in a healthy body to enjoy freedom or anything else. So he made a decisive decision.

To destroy the dantian.

Even if it was twisted and deformed, it was still a dantian. But if left as it was, he would have to live like a cripple.

And even if he didn't, the turbid energy surging from the rotten dantian would kill him soon.

If it couldn't be used and would only hinder him, it was better to remove it.

"Congratulations, Prince!"

The maid, who had been watching him closely, prostrated herself.

"Since your condition has improved, I should quickly inform the doctor..."

"Wait a moment."

"Yes!"

The maid hurriedly left the room.

Alone, Tian Xiazhen lay on the bed. He couldn't sit in a lotus position yet because his joints weren't flexible enough.

But there was no need to worry. This body, though worthless, had the reputation—or infamy—of the King of Assassins, which he earned through his own efforts.

He closed his eyes and moved his lips.

'Jiuyi Jiuyan, Fenkong Suizhen, Yanbo Zheduo, Yuyu Xiangmen...'

Sss.

A faint mist began to rise from his body.

The temperature in the room rose instantly. There was no particular foul smell, but the air became very stuffy.

It was turbid energy.

The large amount of turbid energy that had infiltrated Tian Xiazhen's body was being expelled.

'Good. Now it will take care of itself.'

The cultivation technique he was using was called Wu'ai Gong (Impervious Technique).

It was a technique he created by referencing several martial arts from the Nine Sects and One School, and it was excellent for removing turbid energy from the body and maintaining internal stability.

In his past life, Tian Xiazhen had invested a tremendous amount of time in Wu'ai Gong.

It was only natural, as he had no support at all.

No one to detoxify him, no one to heal him, not even someone to give him a piece of dried meat.

For him, who had to handle everything on his own, Wu'ai Gong was his lifeline. His enlightenment was bound to be profound.

The reason he could practice lying down was also due to this.

'You silly thing. Thanks to you, I'm still alive.'

His body felt itchy all over. The injured blood vessels were gradually, very gradually, returning to normal.

Pss.

At some point, his skin turned pale. The turbid energy that hadn't completely left his body was circulating inside.

'Is this as far as it goes?'

Tian Xiazhen smacked his lips and opened his eyes.

"It's still at a low level. I can't help it, though."

Well, this much was enough to achieve his goal.

Stretching his limbs, Tian Xiazhen sat up.

"I can move a bit now..."

Tian Xiazhen, who was gently turning his head from side to side, suddenly frowned.

"Still, where the hell am I?"

There was a maid, and she called him "Prince," indicating he had a high status.

But in the past ten days, no one except the doctor had visited.

He could have asked the maid something, but he didn't. After all, if he couldn't fix his body, it wouldn't matter if this place was paradise.

But now, he needed to know where he was.

"Are you there?"

There was no response from outside the door.

"Not there? Where did she go?"

Still no response.

"Damn, where did she go?"

Given his condition, the time he spent cultivating Wu'ai Gong was quite long.

The maid is human too; she might have needed to use the bathroom or get a drink of water.

...Damn, I could have at least asked for some basic information. I really only think about the present.

Tian Xiazhen inwardly clicked his tongue and closed his eyes to observe his internal state.

'No, I can't. I'm not in a state to enhance my senses yet.'

A strong warrior who combined the strengths of assassins and martial artists, creating his own unique martial art.

What set him apart from other experts was his superhuman senses.

While other experts of the Ten Great Martial Experts level could sense things up to ten zhang away, he could sense things up to thirty zhang away.

While they could sense the presence of dozens of people, he could sense the presence of hundreds.

This was the key reason he could penetrate the dense networks of the Righteous Heaven Alliance and the Iron Blood City.

By targeting the weakest points, he drove them to the brink of madness.

He couldn't manifest that remarkable skill now.

"I can't just rush out either."

There's a time to boldly charge forward and a time to be cautious. Let's wait for that girl to come back.

Tian Xiazhen glanced around the room.

'It's incredibly luxurious.'

The room was adorned with paintings, ceramics, and various artworks. The bedding was made of high-quality silk.

'This must be a truly prestigious family... huh?'

He rubbed the quilt between his thumb and index finger.

'This isn't ordinary silk.'

The texture was much softer, and the patterns embroidered on it were different from those in the central or northern parts of the continent. He only noticed it now because he was so distracted.

'The dye is also a very vivid red.'

He had seen red silk countless times, but this deep shade was...

Huh?

'Hmm. I've seen this before, I think.'

Ah, right.

"One of the Seven Demon Families, I think?"

Yes, when he killed a high-ranking official from one of them, the bedding in that guy's room was like this.

Tian Xiazhen nodded.

"Was it the Red Serpent Family? Yes, it was the Red Serpent Family. I remember. When I beat him up, I wrapped him in the quilt and beat him even more."

Ah, that was a tough time. To catch me, those snake-headed bastards climbed over the mountains...

"Huh?"

Tian Xiazhen flinched.

No way?

"...It can't be, right?"

He forced a smile on his stiff face.

"No, it can't be that place. No, it can't be."

The southern part of the Central Plains is where the worst demons live in groups.

So in the martial world, "southern Central Plains" is practically synonymous with "gate of hell."

I don't want to think that such an impurity has mixed into this great fortune of reincarnation.

No, that's not just an impurity; it's a curse. It's like being thrown into a living hell when death wasn't enough.

"It can't be. It can't be."

The creeping unease and foreboding.

Unable to contain his anxiety, Tian Xiazhen finally opened the door.

Creak!

"Hmm?"

"Huh?"

As he stepped out, Tian Xiazhen saw three people approaching.

The maid he had seen every day, the doctor he had seen occasionally.

And a man in his thirties whom he had never seen before.

"..."

An awkward silence.

The man in his thirties knelt down and broke the silence with a stern voice.

"Invincible Divine Sect, all demons bow in reverence. I congratulate the Third Prince on your recovery."

Tian Xiazhen blinked.

"Divine what?"