Preface: Past Lives and Present Lives

In the darkness, Wang Yue slowly opened his eyes, looking at the electronic calendar in the bedroom that was glowing faintly, and his mind was a little confused for a moment.

Was I truly reborn, or was I just having an incredibly long dream?

This is a world where spiritual energy has been revived and amplified a thousandfold. However, after the revival of spiritual energy hundreds of years ago, it was not only the human race that benefited.

Birds and beasts, and even aquatic creatures in rivers, lakes and seas, benefit more from being closer to nature.

Fortunately, in addition to the martial arts research that humanity began after the revival of spiritual energy, it also has powerful technological means as a backing, which is why it can barely stand on equal footing with the beastmen and divide its territory.

Jinling is a large city located on the outer edge of the human territory, where three major families—the Wang family, the Su family, and the Chen family—are the most respected.

Wang Yue is one of the grandsons of the current head of the Wang family, and the only boy in the second branch of the main line of the Wang family.

Three years before Wang Yue’s current time, a secret realm appeared near Jinling.

Secret realms are things that only appeared after the revival of spiritual energy. Their origins are unknown, and their locations are completely random.

These secret realms have played a crucial role in enabling humans to stand shoulder to shoulder with the naturally powerful beast race.

This is because it contains not only a large number of rare and precious natural treasures, but also many martial arts traditions.

The reason why the top cities and even martial arts holy lands in the human territory are so prosperous is because they have obtained complete or relatively complete secret realm inheritances. The martial artists in other cities like Jinling only get some scraps passed down from those martial arts holy lands or top families.

Unfortunately, secret realms are extremely rare; fewer than a thousand have appeared in the last few hundred years, and less than half of them have fallen into human hands.

Therefore, the appearance of that secret realm immediately caused a frenzy among the three major families of Jinling City. On the one hand, they tightly sealed off the news, and on the other hand, they sent out all their elites, gathering almost all the male members over the age of ten from the three families to explore it. It was not that the three families favored men over women, but that the three clan leaders at the time were very chauvinistic. In their view, exploration and physical labor were things that men should do, and women only needed to stabilize the rear.

As a result, they never heard from them again. Not only did no one return, but the secret realm itself also vanished.

Wang Yue, who was twelve years old at the time, was also on the list of explorers, but he was fortunate enough to stay because he fell seriously ill.

Among the three major families in Jinling, Wang Yue’s generation was already dominated by women, and there were no men younger than him. As a result, apart from him, all the men of the three families were wiped out by that “secret realm”.

After all the male members disappeared, the three major families were no longer as powerful as before. Fortunately, each family still had a Heavenly Origin Realm expert in charge (Body Tempering – Qi Refining – Spirit Condensation – Earthly Palace – Heavenly Origin – Return to Truth – Mortal Transformation – Surpassing…). In addition, they had intricate connections with a certain martial arts holy land, which prevented the outer city forces from annexing them and allowed them to barely continue to control Jinling City.

However, misfortunes never come singly.

If Wang Yue wasn’t dreaming, then three years later, Jinling City would face annihilation.

It was a massive beast tide, not only in countless numbers, but also including at least a dozen ferocious beasts at the True Realm.

With the strength of Jinling City and the three major families, they naturally could not withstand such a beast tide, so they sought help from Tianhai, the nearest top-tier city.

As a result, the people from Tianhai did come, but they made a very rude request—Jinling is a place that produces beautiful women, especially the three major families, where beauties are as numerous as clouds.

The demand made by the powerful Tianhai was that after helping Jinling repel the beast tide, the three major families must submit to him, and as slaves.

Its purpose is self-evident.

As a result, the beauties from the three families chose to perish together with some of the beasts, rather than submit to death.

That time, Wang Yue also did not die. Just as he rushed towards the beast horde with his grandmother, mother and sisters, an indescribable force suddenly pulled him away.

Then, he began a life of utter darkness.

It was truly a place where he never saw the light of day—he was imprisoned in a place filled with intense yang energy, and was instilled with an extremely powerful and mysterious cultivation technique. He could do nothing but practice the technique every day.

Moreover, the mysterious man wouldn’t give them food; if they didn’t cultivate, they would die soon.

Wang Yue, who carried the hopes of his family, was naturally unwilling to die like this, so he began to cultivate diligently, hoping to be able to leave one day.

That set of techniques allows for extremely rapid progress, but it also has significant side effects.

When you first start practicing, only a certain part of your body will grow bigger and stronger. But as time goes on, your body will get hotter and hotter, almost burning you up.

Whenever this happens, he will faint. When he wakes up, all the pure yang energy he has cultivated will have disappeared, and he will have to start cultivating all over again.

This cycle repeated itself endlessly, seemingly lasting only a few decades or centuries, yet also seemingly thousands or tens of thousands of years; Wang Yue had no way of knowing for sure.

Unwilling to remain in this state, he constantly pondered and experimented every day, in addition to his daily cultivation.

Wang Yue naturally knew the principle that yin cannot produce life, and yang cannot grow. However, knowing it was one thing, but understanding all its mysteries was something no one could achieve.

Until one day, he had a sudden epiphany, and then he was struck by lightning.

In the instant the chaotic heavenly lightning struck, he realized that what he had comprehended was the Great Dao of Yin and Yang.

This is one of the most fundamental principles of heaven and earth, and it is almost impossible for any living being to possess it, especially someone like him with a solitary yang body. That is why the laws of the universe sent down heavenly lightning to strike him.

Then he returned to the present.

Rebirth, or the end of a dream?

Wang Yue was still somewhat confused, but the habit he had developed over countless years made him subconsciously sit cross-legged and begin practicing that set of techniques.

In an instant, the pure yang energy that was floating in the world suddenly gathered into a vortex like a tornado, desperately trying to penetrate his body.

Wang Yue, who was originally only at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Realm, began to break through rapidly as he absorbed the pure Yang Qi.

Qi Refining Realm Level 6

Qi Refining Realm, Level 7

…

As his cultivation level increased, Wang Yue’s manhood also grew erect like a pillar, and it grew larger and larger until it was much thicker and longer than that of an adult, before it stopped changing.

At this time, Wang Yue’s cultivation had reached the peak of the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm, and he was only one step away from entering the Condensation Realm.

Wang Yue immediately stopped. Although he could enter the Concentration Realm without any hindrance if he continued to cultivate, he knew from his countless experiences that once he entered the Concentration Realm, his manhood would not go soft, and how could he go out then?

He is now certain that he has truly been reborn, and that it wasn’t just a dream.

But more problems followed.

First of all, although Jinling is located on the periphery of human territory, it is not the very edge. How could a beast tide suddenly appear three years later?

Secondly, the three major families of Jinling are clearly related to a martial arts holy land, so how come the family from Tianhai still dares to covet Jinling? Moreover, when Jinling was in trouble, why did that martial arts holy land not make a move at all?

Of course, these questions can be answered gradually in the future. The most urgent task now is to deal with the beast tide three years from now.

Following the family’s cultivation methods step by step is clearly not enough. Even if Wang’s current pillar, his grandmother Liu Ruoshi, were to break through to the next level at all costs, she would at most reach the early stage of the Returning to Truth Realm in three years. That would be far from enough to deal with a dozen or so ferocious beasts at the Returning to Truth Realm.

If Wang Yue were to force himself to cultivate this Pure Yang Technique, there would be no problem. Although the Pure Yang Qi here is tens of millions of times sparser than in the dark place, with the strength of this technique, let alone three years, even just half a year of cultivation would be enough for him to easily crush a mere dozen or so Returning to Truth Realm ferocious beasts.

However, the side effects of this exercise are too great, and a solution must be found first.