WITNESS ME, REASSURED THE REKINDLED EMBER

Long ago, space had mysteriously split open. A giant crack had stretched out in the sky and, from that crack, out had emerged an unconscious child. Underneath the heavy eyelids, were eyes, an ethereal blue, that housed a revolving starry sky.

Finding themselves close by, the two Kings and two Queens of Worldslord Flying Island -the four Divine Beasts- took him in and welcomed him as one of their own. The child, they named Xu Ling, and the five of them lived together as brothers and sisters.

The four friends tacitly agreed to keep the existence of the child a secret from the outside world.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be long before news of the mysterious child reached the ears of Tian, Heavenly Lord. Urged by a prophecy foretelling of his defeat at the hands of a "youth born not of the Underworld, nor Earth, or Heaven", Tian set off to Worldslords Island to nip the young Xu Ling at the bud.

Among the four Divine Beasts, Vermillion Bird Ren Hong had developed the closest relationship with the starry-eyed child. Even when faced with the Tyrant, she unhesitantly gave her life to ward off Tian and save Xu Ling's. Thanks to Ren Hong's sacrifice, Xu Ling survived his first encounter with Tian and escaped into the mortal world, where he would hide and live as a mortal youth.

Then there came the fateful day. He met with a gargantuan, golden dragon, whose body spanned countless mountain ranges: the mighty primordial dragon named Blindlight, revered as a Dragon King in the Olden Records.

With that chance encounter, Xu Ling gained a powerful ally. The Heaven Devouring Dragon would protect and guide him in the centuries to come.

Time passed, battles were fought, dynasties and clans uprooted, and empires felled.

In his quest to dethrone Tian and avenge the Vermillion Bird Ren Hong, Xu Ling had gathered a following of millions. Legions of humans and beasts so numerous their arrival could be discerned from the vibrations of the ground, even as they threaded on thin air. Regardless of commoner or emperor, mortal or Immortal, all had to bow before Xu Ling and the might of his army; the army with which Xu Ling would wage war against the Nine Heavens and carve a path towards the palace of Heavenly Lord Tian!

Ever since Ren Hong's death three hundred years ago, Xu Ling had been fighting to avenge her. During this time, his animosity towards the Nine Heavens had only ever increased. He came to know of Tian's questionable ways and oppressive actions: many had suffered at the Heavenly Lord's hands, so much so that Tian's title had long since changed from Lord to Tyrant.

Heaven's Tyrant, Tian.

And yet, all the oppressed could do had been to curse and condemn in their hearts. They couldn't dare even voice their true thoughts.

Alas!

With the starry-eyed youth at the helm, they could vent those bottled up feelings! Millions gathered under the banner of the Child of Prophecy, assembling the largest army the world had ever seen! They had suffered in silence for so long… Finally, under the banner of Xu Ling, they could rebel against Tian and his Nine Heavens.

Xu Ling of the starry eyes.

The Evil demon that razed the countless worlds under the Nine Heavens. The saviour Saint that warmly welcomed the oppressed under his wing and freed their voices. The Great Sage that revolutionized a cultivation world that had staled for far too long.

Eventually, all the people of the countless planes, a land stifled by the tyranny of the Nine Heavens, had come to look forward to their clash.

The conclusive, decisive battle between Heaven's Tyrant and the Evil Saint!

Centuries of nonstop war. And at the culmination of those three hundred years, Xu Ling had finally arrived. With firm steps, he entered the throne room atop Tian's celestial palace, determined to rid the countless worlds of the Tyrant.

There, Tian had been waiting for him. Determined, just as much, to accomplish what he had failed three centuries prior.

Three hundred years ago, the two had met for the first time.

They finally met for their second time, and to clash for their last.

The countless battles, schemes, plots, risks and sacrifices had all been for this one moment. For that cause, all to get him into that one Throne Room, way, way too many had died… As such, Xu Ling of the starry eyes had solemnly walked in, prepared for a fight to the death for the fate of the world!

And then, after nine days and nine nights of the countless lands experiencing the aftermaths of that clash, a victor was decided.

No one could bring themselves to believe it at first, but as the days passed in mourning would turn into months and then years, they could only acknowledge it.

Their messiah, their beloved Xu Ling…

He had fallen.

…

And like so, a thousand more years passed. Xu Ling's story was buried by the sands of time and by the pressure of Tian. Slowly but surely, the Evil Saint and the three centuries of wiped records slowly grew to be forgotten. To those who didn't personally take part in them, he became the umpteenth fool to have died at the hands of the Heavenly Tyrant…

Only Xu Ling's old companions, those few who had been by Xu Ling's side at that time and survived, would occasionally reminisce. They'd recollect a smiling, starry-eyed youth, and a yearning for a free Land of Countless Planes, and the myriad worlds rid of Tian…

Ahhh, they would sigh: the times of those grand blue eyes, of that confident smile, of their fixation with Tian's head, of their dream of freedom… those times had all died together with him.

Xu Ling… had died that day, one thousand years ago-

"YAMA! YOU DESPICABLE CRAVEN, YOU ACTUALLY DARE SEAL ME HERE?"

-or so the world had been led to believe.

For you see, there was a closely kept secret to the Evil Saint. And that was...

Xu Ling could not "die".

Scratches? A ton. Dreadful wounds? Aplenty. But even as he stood at the very frontline, not even the mightiest of Heaven could take his head! It couldn't be described any other way other than as if a mysterious law had dictated that Xu Ling could not be killed.

At the moment of his triumphant victory, Tian had also been stumped by this when the time came to finish his defeated opponent. Heaven's Tyrant found out, to his dismay, that no matter how much he tried… he just could never land that finishing blow!

Weapons from the treasury of the Heavenly Realm? They would crack from a slight breeze blowing past.

Magical abilities? They would turn onto themselves and dissipate!

Step on that unkillable cockroach of a man until he died? The almighty Heavenly Lord would slip and stomp his own foot instead!

Just how on earth was he, the Sky above the sky, supposed to kill off the annoying bastard???

The answer to that dilemma had come in the form of Yama, King of Hell. Yama urged Tian, and personally separated Xu Ling's soul from his body and sealed it at the entrance of the Yellow Springs: that way, although the Evil Saint would not die in the truest sense of the word, he also would never be able to wake up and return into the world of the living. As time passed, the connection between the undying body and the remnant soul would weather away. At that time, in a few tens of thousands of years perhaps, a proper execution could be carried out.

With no other option and realizing that such arrangement should have been enough, Tian left the matter over to Yama: disgruntled, but satisfied.

But then, barely a thousand years after that seal had been put in place, something unbelievable happened.

A mysterious amalgamation, a Spark of hope, had cracked the Yellow Springs in the Underworld open, freed the trapped Evil Saint of his shackles, restored his consciousness, and assimilated into his soul.

Currently, a ghostly, starry-eyed youth was standing on top of a vast, dark plateau.

That plateau was none other than the top frame of a pair of massive black gates. The Gates were those to the Underworld, signalling the entrance to Hell.

Below him and the gargantuan door was an expanse of black­­­­ coal dirt traversed by massive, ethereal rivers. These were incessant streams of none other than the decaying, yellow souls of the dead.

The ghostly, starry-eyed youth looked around, witnessing as the yellow rivers flowed past him, beyond the black gates: there, those yellow rivers would converge into the Yellow Springs and head towards the reincarnation altars. Here Yama's split clones, his Judges, and "old lady" Meng (#1 Miss Hell for three aeons straight) would supposedly take care of the cleansing and reincarnation processes.

But now…

"YAMA! YOU DESPICABLE CRAVEN, YOU ACTUALLY DARE SEAL ME HERE…"

"YAMA! YOU DESPICABLE CRAVEN, YOU ACTUALLY DARE SEAL ME HERE…"

"YAMA! YOU DESPICABLE CRAVEN, YOU ACTUALLY DARE SEAL ME HERE…"

The outcry had been so loud it echoed from one corner of the underworld to the other!

As for the person in question, how could he possibly not have heard it?

Spurt!

How could the poor split body of the Fifth have ever imagined that someone would ever dare challenge his authority and even outright curse at him in his very realm? Here, wasn't he supposed to be a deity, an almighty God?

And yet, the all-powerful him had just been scared shitless, so much so he had spat out a mouthful of tea. Yama's clone looked around to see the other judges and a youthful lady, the beautiful Miss Meng that especially favoured gothic apparel, looking back at him, just as confused as he was.

He gave the lot of them a bitter smile and wiped his mouth with a black napkin. He somehow was able to keep a straight face as he tried to dismiss the happenings with a composed facade, "If you all could excuse my esteemed self, it seems someone is calling for This Seat…"

[Note scribbled on the bottom of the paragraph by an anonymous daydreamer: just to clarify for those new to this kind of novel, 'This Seat' is a noble/being of great status referring to himself in the third person, as a seat of power.]

Meanwhile, having heard no reply to his outcry, the ghostly youth had already shouted once more, "Yama! Come out here, or don't blame me for being impolite! Send me back out there RIGHT NOW, YOU BLOATED KING OF YELLOW TRANSPARENT PEOPLE!"

B-Bloated king of…

The brows of Yama's clone couldn't help but twitch aggressively as he noticed a few judges were struggling to keep a straight face. Little Fangguan, their cute little newest member, had even begun crying due to how painful it was to hold himself back from laughing.

As for 'old lady' Meng… Yama's clone inwardly let out a sigh of relief when he noticed her expression looked normal.

Of course, as soon as he turned around, the rather attractive girl that was just his type collapsed on the floor, wheezing loudly.

...couldn't you at least keep it up until This Seat could no longer hear you? As your superior, doesn't This Seat deserve at least that much?

Feeling pained yet not daring to give voice to his true thoughts, the Fifth's split body could only act as if he hadn't seen or heard anything and walked straight towards the ghostly figure atop Hell's Gate.

"It's about time, Yama, you miserable, unbearable cockblocker. Quick, get me back out there so I can continue my final battle with that other unassuming bastard you hang out with-"

"ESTEEMED Evil Saint Xu Ling..." Yama's clone spat through gritted teeth as he struggled to keep his decorum, "If I may differ, that so-called 'final battle' of yours lasted ten seconds. This Seat is not sure whether you might be recalling wrongly, but rather than an opponent, it would be far more accurate to describe your role back then as Tian's punching bag!"

"And did the wise you perhaps forget already? After he spent more than ten days trying to figure out a way to kill you, the Sky called This Seat over to put an end to your misery... This Seat's main body, the grand Fifth, took pity on you and, to prevent the Heavenly Lord from beating you up any further, 'He' personally acted and-"

"Ah, so that's where the misunderstanding lies… Punching bag? How close-minded. Naturally, I was not simply getting beaten up. Rather, it was an extremely well-thought-out tactic! I was slowly tiring him out! I am unkillable, for crying out loud! Get hit, hit him… Rinse and repeat and, no matter how many lives the bastard could have had left, then I would have been done in just a month or two!" The starry-eyed youth looked at the King of Hell in contempt and derision. "Eh! Then again, I wouldn't expect a mere Fifth to figure out the hidden genius of my ways, let alone a split soul of his. Fine! I'll forgive you this once because of your good intentions, but you should really not interfere in the affairs of schemers on the world stage…"

Like so, he generously waved the King of Hell off, kindly pardoning him of his wrongs.

The Lord of the Underworld felt his pressure rising as he held himself back from strangling the ghostly youth right there and then.

A few moments of strained silence passed as the judges held their breath while expecting the two "living" legends to start squaring off at any moment.

Surprisingly, however…

"...Tch! Alright!" Yama had finally yelled back, "This Seat will send you back out! However, This Seat can't choose whose corpse you'll inhabit in your next life… At most, This Seat can influence it a little, but it most likely won't be your old, unkillable body of back then… Therefore, This Seat suggests you brace yourself-"

"Eh, as expected of some backwater lord," the ghostly youth interrupted the King of Hell, not hiding the look of disdain in his eyes, "Not even capable of doing his one job properly after all the positive Karma I've built up and get me a suitable body… Eh. Typical Yama."

"..."

...oh, it absolutely won't be your unkillable body.

It most certainly, surely, definitely WON'T be your body, you massive dick!

If only This Seat could get you reincarnated into a mosquito and have you squashed to death already!!!

The poor Yama gritted his teeth and waved his sleeve, "Just go already you huge nuisance! Do you have any idea how much overtime This Seat had to do because of your stupid quest? The number of average deaths quintupled by the week! QUINTUPLED, This Seat says!"

"Mmm, yes, that would sound about right." Feeling a strong suction force affecting his existence as an effect of Yama's actions, the ghostly youth did not resist it and instead allowed himself to be carried by it. Just as he was about to be brought away, Xu Ling looked at Yama in genuine confusion, "But sending me back there I will resume my grand quest and even more people will die… yet you would still agree to do it? Are you really as idiotic as I make you out to be or are you just a masochist?"

"..."

There was indeed a reason. However, at that moment, more than anything...

It's because This Seat'd rather have to manage ten times the souls every day than hear a single more word coming out of your mouth!

Fuck off already!

Of course, the above words couldn't be spoken since, as King of Hell, he still had a reputation to maintain-

"Pfff-!"

Still, Yama's split body almost shed tears as he noticed his hot-and-goth co-worker Meng had long since stopped pretending any different and was laughing nonstop, going as far as slapping her thighs repeatedly. As for the other judges, they were not desirable by any standards, so they could only bite their lips shut some way or another and hope their boss wouldn't reduce their already criminally low wages…

Like so, the stage moved back to the world of the living.

Whoosh!

In no time, the soul of Xu Ling had bound itself onto an unfamiliar body lying supine on the ground.

Through his corporeal body's five senses, the reborn soul excitedly witnessed as;

The coal-black soil beneath him turned into fresh dirt.

The air, so stale in the underworld, he could feel occasionally brush in waves against his exposed skin.

The sky, pitch black in the land of the dead. He was dazed as he looked at that empty canopy slowly get dotted with countless gleaming stars.

The sky... The wind... The fixed lights... They were there.

They were all there!

Xu Ling sent a command to his new body and a small hand entered his field of view. At first, he was taken aback: the hand was really small, and the skin covering it looked so soft it was as if water could be squeezed out with but a light pinch. He frowned. Such a hand had clearly never held a farming tool, let alone a weapon: it was simply that smooth.

In the end, however, his brows relaxed contentedly: he had never shied away from a challenge. Especially since, this time around, his starting point would be much higher. Training a new body to desirable standards from scratch would take an acceptable amount of time.

As he inhaled and exhaled contentedly, the golden Spark that had freed him of the clutches of the underworld and had entered his body let out a warm current. It spread from his chest and then traversed his whole body, soothing his soul that had yet to completely settle.

Then, as he concentrated on breathing in what should have been the cold air of the night, he felt pain in his chest and even the back of his throat stung...

Xu Ling turned his head and, sure enough, off in the distance, he could discern the vague outline of a burning village. Although he felt a slight pain as he inhaled and his eyes had reddened from the smoke, he still let out a light chuckle.

He sat up, and black strands of hair fluttered in the night wind before his eyes. Slowly, the gaze of the child turned upwards, focusing on the beautiful starry sky above him. Finally, Xu Ling forced himself to stand up. Being able to walk again, feeling the world through his own body, a small pair of golden eyes blinked ecstatically as a hint of reminiscence flashed by the pitch-black pupils.

In the night lit up by the flames and the starry sky, a small mouth opened and he passionately sang:

As I awake after my longest Mile, my eyes meet a blazing night,

Oh, many stars, your lights remain lovely.

Witness me, fallen friends who now brighten the sphere,

A flame just like this shall one day cinder the Highest.

"Blindlight, Xiao Lan, Master..."

"Ren Hong…"

"I'm back."