"Is he dead?"
"Looks like it. I checked his pulse—it's gone."
Two voices spoke about death. Who were they talking about? It should be a 14-year-old boy lying on the bed. That child had been in a coma for two years, his body showing no signs of waking up. His pulse had still been there—until just a few minutes ago.
That's what one of the servants felt two minutes earlier. However, without the servant realizing it, the boy had woken up. He sat up with a confused expression.
"What happened to me?" he said.
The two servants immediately turned around. The moment they saw the boy, their eyes widened and they ran out in panic.
"Ghost!" one of them screamed.
The boy tilted his head, confused. He raised his hands, looking at them. Nothing seemed strange. That confused him—why did they call him a ghost? He pulled away the blanket covering his legs. They looked normal. Just a little thin and pale.
He still looked like a human. At least he should. He also felt his head—maybe he had horns growing or something. But no, nothing. It made no sense that he was called a "ghost."
"Who am I?" the boy wondered.
As he tried to remember, a sudden sharp pain hit his head. "Aaarrrgh!" he screamed.
A flood of information rushed into his mind. It felt like his head was being stabbed by dozens of needles. The boy pulled his hair and hit his head repeatedly, hoping it would ease the pain.
After quite a while, the pain finally subsided and... he knew who he was now.
"My name is Lou Quan. Son of elder Lou Guangji and grandson of Lou Cheng," he said, stating his identity. But that wasn't all he remembered. "I'm the child whose dantian was destroyed two years ago for breaking sect rules."
After his dantian was destroyed, he was attacked by bandits and ended up in a coma. That was the short version of why he ended up here. But to Lou Quan, that wasn't the strange part.
What was strange was, "why do I have two different sets of memories?"
The other memory was of the strongest man who had journeyed through countless worlds. He had nearly reached the peak of cultivation, but was killed by four beings who called themselves the "Four Guardians of the Universe." They killed him because he had wreaked havoc in many worlds—disturbing reality and time. That was the reason given for his death.
With two completely different memories, he was now confused. Which one was his real identity? Or perhaps he was neither. Maybe he was another soul altogether that accidentally gained these memories and this new body.
He got out of bed and stood up, walking toward the mirror in the room. At first, he almost fell. But after a few tries, he adapted. Everything became normal. He stood before the mirror and looked at himself.
He was a 14-year-old boy with a thin, pale body, long messy hair, and tired eyes like a dead fish. Just like in his memories as Lou Quan. Now he knew for sure—this body belonged to Lou Quan.
"Whoever I truly am, it doesn't matter. I'm in the body of a boy named Lou Quan, so that means Lou Quan is me. That means I have to live as Lou Quan," he said while staring at his skinny reflection dressed in ragged clothes.
Lou Quan opened a wardrobe and took out some clothes. He went out back to bathe, cleaning himself to look fresher. After that, he changed into something that looked a bit better. He also tied his long hair back.
Once done, he opened the door and stepped outside. Beyond the door was an empty courtyard. Lou Quan looked around and saw that he was quite far from the other houses. It was like he had been exiled. Even though he had been in a coma and was the son of an elder, he was still treated this poorly.
"Does Father really hate me that much?" Lou Quan thought. He couldn't believe he had been cast aside like this. "Looks like he changed after my dantian was destroyed. If that's the case, I'll live on my own terms, without relying on that old man."
Lou Quan picked up a tree branch and held it like a sword. He began practicing to get used to his body. At first, his movements were stiff. But after ten minutes, everything felt normal. He could move freely.
His movements became more graceful and fluid after that. Lou Quan had always been a gifted child—he had mastered the sword by the age of twelve. He had even reached the sword expert level at that age, a level normally achieved by sword cultivators at age twenty-five.
The levels of sword cultivation were divided into six: Beginner, Sword Intent, Sword Expert, Sword Soul, Heaven Sword, and lastly, Sword Deity. Lou Quan had reached Sword Expert at a very young age. He was a blessed talent. He could have been the greatest Sword Cultivator of his time, but fate had other plans. His dantian was destroyed by his own father.
With such great talent, but no dantian, it was all meaningless. A cultivator who couldn't cultivate was trash. That was Lou Quan's current state. Now he was called "a diamond turned to trash." A truly tragic fate.
"I must find a way to restore my dantian," Lou Quan thought.
If he wanted life to be easier, of course he had to do that. Otherwise, he would just be trash and looked down upon by everyone. Lou Quan didn't want that. He had resolved to restore his dantian. He didn't know how yet, but he would find a way.
"There has to be a way."
Lou Quan slashed forward while slowly exhaling. The leaves before him rustled. Then, he stopped training. He felt that today's practice was enough. He just wanted to get used to the body again.
After this, he wanted to rest. But unfortunately, something unexpected happened. Lou Quan let out a breath. He turned around because he felt several people walking toward him.
"Ah, so the trash of the Sky Sword Sect has woken up and started training." The boy clapped his hands, not in praise—but mockery. "Trash is training. That's the joke of the day."
Lou Quan knew exactly who this was. The boy's name was Yu Hong—son of another elder of the Sky Sword Sect. He was considered one of the gifted youths, blessed by the heavens. That's what people said, though before Lou Quan's dantian was destroyed, Yu Hong had always lived in Lou Quan's shadow.
Now, he had grown bold and arrogant. He even dared to call Lou Quan trash.
"Why are you here?" Lou Quan asked.
Yu Hong laughed, "To put you back in a coma."
A second later, he moved his hand. The cultivators who had come with him surrounded Lou Quan. They weren't joking—each of them held real weapons. They truly meant to kill Lou Quan.
"If you do this, my father will retaliate," Lou Quan warned. He tried to intimidate Yu Hong. "You'd better leave with your hired thugs! I'll forget all of this."
But it didn't work. "That would only happen if he finds out. Everything will be fine as long as no one knows. We can make up whatever story we want and he'll believe it. Elder Guangji doesn't care about you. You're a disgrace to the Lou family. Didn't you know he's the one who moved you to this remote place?" he said with a wide smile.
"Ah, so that's how it is." His expression was blank.
Seeing Lou Quan's face made Yu Hong irritated. He immediately raised his hand. "Kill him!" he ordered, pointing at Lou Quan.