The heavens showed a deep rift.
A young man knelt on the destroyed battlefield against the backdrop of both howling winds and swirling clouds. Tattered, blood-soaked azure robes hung limply from his weakened body as he knelt on the battlefield. A colossal serpent-like body rested next to him while venom continued to leak from its severed head.
Lin Xuan gasped for breath as his exhausted hands started to shake. A once-unbreakable relic became a dying relic when his sword broke and its light started to fade.
His enemies were dead.
Yet, he was dying too.
The deep, excruciating pain in his chest continued silently as his ragged wound remained unhealed. His Qi was nearly depleted, and the realm around him was already rejecting his existence. The moment he had killed the last guardian of this world, the Rouages of Ascension had begun to turn.
The gears of fate rumbled in the sky.
This was the price of power.
Every cultivator who outgrew their realm faced this moment the moment where existence itself cast them out. This world could no longer contain him.
"Not yet."
Lin Xuan pressed his palm against the cold, blood-soaked ground, forcing himself to remain conscious. The air trembled. The golden sigil of the Rouages burned beneath his feet, spinning with mechanical precision.
"It is time."
A voice cold, ancient, merciless—echoed across the heavens.
"You have surpassed the limits of this world. The next awaits."
Lin Xuan gritted his teeth. His vision blurred. His soul felt as if it was unraveling, pulled toward an unseen force.
He had to act now.
If he allowed the cycle to take him without resistance, he would lose everything. Just like the last time. Just like every time before that.
He would not let it happen again.
Lin Xuan reached into his torn robes and pulled out a small jade fragment, its surface engraved with forgotten runes. A forbidden technique.
A method to negotiate with the Rouages before reincarnation.
The air grew still. The golden gears stuttered, their movement faltering for the first time.
A deep, grinding sound echoed through the realm. It was not meant to be done. No cultivator had ever dared to bargain with the cosmic laws themselves.
But Lin Xuan was not just any cultivator.
"Listen to me," he whispered, forcing his Qi into the jade. "I will not let my power be wasted. I refuse to start as a mortal again."
The Rouage slowed, its golden light flickering, as if intrigued.
Then, the voice spoke again.
"State your terms, Ascendant."
Lin Xuan exhaled sharply. His fingers dug into the dirt. He felt his soul wavering, his connection to this world fading. He had mere seconds before the process became irreversible.
"I wish to carry over my cultivation into the next life," he declared.
The gears creaked. The golden light dimmed, and for the first time, Lin Xuan felt something terrifying.
Hesitation.
The Rouages the unyielding laws of ascension were considering his words.
"This is beyond the natural order," the voice intoned.
Lin Xuan laughed weakly, his breath ragged. "So is my existence."
Silence.
The weight of reality itself pressed down on him, suffocating, demanding his surrender.
But then
"A pact will be made."
Lin Xuan's chest tightened. He had won the right to bargain. But at what cost?
"You will keep your cultivation."
"But."
"You will forget why you desire power."
Lin Xuan's breath caught.
"You will fight. You will ascend. But the reason that fuels your ambition… the purpose that drives you… will be erased."
A heavy choice.
A cruel trade.
The memories of countless past lives flashed before his eyes. The pain. The struggle. The betrayals. The reason he fought why had he started walking this path in the first place?
Would he risk losing that?
Or was power itself enough?
Lin Xuan's grip tightened around the jade. His decision had already been made.
"Do it," he whispered.
The Rouage turned. The golden sigil beneath him glowed brighter, wrapping him in an otherworldly light. His body, his thoughts, his very essence all were unraveled and reforged.
The deal was struck.
The battlefield disappeared.
The blood, the corpses, the sky of shattered stars—all was consumed by light.
And then
He was gone.
A New Beginning
When Lin Xuan opened his eyes, he was somewhere else.
A darkened cave. The scent of damp earth and burning incense filled the air. His body felt differentyounger, weaker, yet still humming with Qi.
He looked down at his hands. They were clean, unscarred. A new body. A new life.
Yet, something was missing.
His mind was hazy. He could feel the immense power running through his veins, yet he could not remember why he wanted it.
"What was my goal?"
"What was my reason for cultivating?"
His head throbbed. His past self felt like a distant dream, fragmented and incomplete.
But none of that mattered now.
In the distance, Lin Xuan could hear voices approaching.
"He's awake."
"His soul should have been destroyed… how is he still alive?"
Lin Xuan closed his eyes. His memories were gone.
But his power remained.
And no matter what…
He would rise again.