Chapter 1: Return

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The Nine Heavens trembled, rainbow-colored lightning spreading, constantly attempting to destroy my body with each strike. Primordial Essence flowed through my body as I stared at the Cosmos that the Nine Heavens' colorful layer of clouds hid from all of us, even Immortals.

My Ascension was only halfway through, but I was already beginning to feel the accumulated damage. Heaven's Will was not happy with what I was trying to do. Its endless power surged across the Nine Heavens, constantly attempting to interrupt my transformation, my evolution, and the breaking of my chains.

The damned Chains of Fate that have kept me enclosed in this horrid world for thousands of years, where Might makes Right. People called it by many names, but the most common name its inhabitants gave it was "Murim," a World of Martial Arts, Immemorial Treasures, Myth and Legends, as well as a world of bloodshed, ruthlessness, and endless battles for supremacy.

RUMBLE!

More lighting strikes struck me; my Primordial Nine Heaven Protection was slowly beginning to weaken, a special Immortal Technique I refined using the Fragments that fell from the Nine Heavens in the Mythical Era of this world's creation.

Crack… CRACK!

The rainbow-colored barrier of light began to slowly gain cracks, slowly starting to shatter into pieces. My Primordial Essence was also dwindling. I'd been doing this for a year now, yet it felt like only minutes had passed.

"Not even with the Nine Heaven Protection will I be able to Ascend?! Heaven's Will! How many years will you have to torment me?!"

As if responding to my words, the Nine Heavens started to swirl around. The large crack in the Spatial Pillars I had made was beginning to slowly close. The Cosmic Energy coming from it, bathing my body and allowing me to slowly refine my Primordial Essence Core, was beginning to disappear. Without it, I won't be able to ascend into an Immemorial Void!

"STOP!"

With a mighty roar, I unleashed my techniques, which I've saved until this very moment. Countless colors appeared around me, dancing as beautiful butterflies reached the skies, immediately exploding into swirling storms of Primordial Essence. The Nine Heavens were affected, slowly beginning to weaken.

At the same time, I unsheathed my sword, one divided into black and white colors, glowing with the power of the Primordial Essence of Yin and Yang. This was a sword I forged using the body and soul of the Divine Harmony Venerable, whom I felled a hundred years ago. That damned old man was a tough nut to crack.

"Haah!"

With a roar that reverberated across the heavens and the entirety of Murim, I swung my sword with all my strength. A wave of black and white energy was unleashed, splitting the nine heavens again. An explosion of bright and tenebrous essences engulfed it all. The World's Will was furious, and I had finally attained the power to go against it.

"Ugh…!"

But even then, I vomited blood; my Dantians were struggling to keep up with all the energy I was forcing myself to absorb from the Cosmos above. I always knew this was going to be a painful and agonizing process, but it seems that even after all my calculations, it was still a gamble—a desperate gamble to escape from this world. In a world that had me trapped in an endless cycle of death, bloodshed, and destruction for over ten thousand years, I've lived so long that I can barely remember who I used to be before I landed in this world.

I don't even remember the face of my mother or of my little sister, not even the name of my father. All these memories that this world was slowly taking away from me made me so mad. I wasn't from here, and I tried so hard to fight and survive.

And even after reaching the pinnacle...

"You dare oppose me?! After everything I've done?! After all the things I've accomplished! Wasn't this what you wanted me to do?! Wasn't this the reason you dragged me here, Heaven's Will?! Show yourself! Speak to me!" Despite how old I was, I couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions, perhaps the first ones in thousands of years. Tears fell from my eyes.

"Very well…"

Suddenly, a heavenly voice spoke, a mix between a female and male voice, but not one; it felt like thousands or millions of people speaking at the same time. The Nine Heavens swirled together, their essences combining into a materialization of pure Primordial Essence of the highest and most refined grade, Heavenly Essence!

A humanoid figure appeared, resembling a god made of stars and rainbow light. It looked down on me with its bright, shining eyes. It had no mouth, no nose, or anything else but bright eyes that could see it all.

"So you finally show yourself." I smirked, blood still coming from my mouth. "The Legends of the Ancient Venerables describing the "Heaven's Will Embodiment" were true all along!"

"Bing Xue, or should I call you Katherine?" The Heaven's Will Embodiment spoke. "You have indeed worked hard. You're the first person in this entire world to reach the pinnacle of pinnacles. Yet you still desire more. I've offered you a life full of excitement and power, yet you desire to leave me now."

What is this bastard talking about? Leave them?

"You…" I muttered with a disgusted face. "What are you?"

"I am Heaven's Will, and I am also someone who has fallen for you, my dear Bing Xue." The entity muttered. "I don't want you to go. You're my everything—powerful, mighty, domineering, yet full of beautiful, delicate emotions inside! A beautiful rose that protects her beautiful interior with sharp thorns. What is there not to love here? Since you were dragged here by a Spatial Disturbance, that I've been observing you all this time. I've gained a greater consciousness by comprehending the struggles and emotions of someone. I might no longer be just the embodiment of the world's will. All thanks to you."

"You sick fucking thing..." I spoke with disgust. "I'm not into primordial cosmic monsters. I like girls, you know?"

"I can be a girl; I can be anything you want. So please, Bing Xue. The very reason I have not killed you yet is because you're precious to me. Come to me; let us assimilate one another. I will give you the privilege of ascending into a Heavenly Will! We will be together forever—no more struggles, no more pain for you! Isn't that what you desire the most?!" The Heaven's Will asked, spreading their bulky arms.

So this whole time... The Heavenly Will was in love with me! What sort of sick fucking plot twist is this? All my efforts, all the fights, and all the friends I've lost All because of some sick bastard that loved me.

I won't accept this!

"No… I reject your offer, Heaven's Will." I spoke, channeling all my power at once, as I directed my eyes into the crack in the Spatial Pillars. "I won't let anybody chain me down anymore. I am free, and I will die with my freedom! I always hated you; do you truly believe I will ever accept you?! I would rather die!"

"So that is your decision." The Heaven's Will Embodiment nodded. "Then I will simply have to forcefully extract your Immortal Soul and devour it. You will become one with me, like many others."

So the reason they have so many voices is because of their souls?! This monster… This isn't the will of heaven; this is just an aberrant monstrosity!

"I won't let you!"

I flew towards them with all my strength and power. My Primordial Essence rapidly coursed through every Immortal Dantian of my body. My Primordial Core shone brightly with gold light. My Primordial Nine Heaven Technique encompassed my body into a rainbow-colored dragon armor as I swung my sword.

A storm of attacks was unleashed, and the Heaven's Will Embodiment was cut down to pieces in an instant. Exploding with rainbow flames, I quickly flew upwards, only to see one, two, three, four, and five more of them!

"You can't escape!"

"I won't let you escape."

"Come back, my precious Bing Xue!"

"NO!"

I spun in midair. Waves of rainbow divine essence were unleashed, explosions of colorful flames engulfing them as the heavens reverberated more. The skies cracked; the Cosmic Gate I had opened to absorb Cosmic Energy was my only way out. I had not used it before because I knew I would definitely die. But now, I had to gamble and see if that was really true. Even if it is minuscule, there could be a chance to get me out of here alive. And even then, I would rather die trying than stay with this creep.

"You're not going anywhere, Bing Xue! You're mine!"

Gigantic hands made of rainbow clouds caught me in midair, dragging me down. Beams of light rushed down towards me, piercing through my armor and shattering it with each impact. I gritted my teeth as I forced my way upward, kicking the sky below me until cracks appeared in space and time.

"I don't belong to anybody!" I slashed my way through. Heaven's Will tore apart my armor and then grabbed my legs, which, as I flew upwards, were quickly torn from my own body. The pain was the least of my worries. I kept flying upwards, faster, and faster!

"DON'T GO!"

The cries of Heaven's Will continued reverberating as I stretched my arms upward. His countless hands tore my body to shreds, yet my torso and my head managed to reach the portal, a sea of stars greeting me. I triggered a Martial Dao Technique left in my heart as my body slowly regenerated.

"Goodbye, motherfucker."

With my newly regenerated legs, I kicked his face and then leaped into the unknown. I could hear his screams filled with frustration; his power could no longer extend out of Murim. I couldn't breathe now, and only an endless, encompassing coldness started covering my body. I floated in an endless sea of stars, my energy slowly decreasing.

"Hahaha… So this is freedom!"

My life force began to dwindle as I tried to resist my attempts to cultivate the cosmic energy here, but it didn't work properly, only destroying my internal organs in the process of assimilation. I had not reached the Immemorial Void Realm, so surviving in the Cosmos was impossible.

I was going to die. Yet, I couldn't help but feel so happy. I was finally free—free from all the bloodshed, from all the pain, from that monster. From everything…

Although I was dying happily, I still wished for one thing.

"I wish I could see my family again."

RUMBLE!

As my eyes were slowly closing, I noticed something within the endless cosmos—a spiraling mass of chaos. Slowly, my body was dragged inside, twisting and trespassing through countless dimensional membranes. I fell unconscious before I could even comprehend what was happening.

…

I dreamed of coming back with my family and finally meeting them again. I couldn't remember their faces, so they were faceless. But they were there; they greeted me with hugs and kisses. And I hugged them back. I thought I could finally go back to those times, but I knew deep down that I was dreaming, perhaps the last dream before my death.

Yet, I wish it could last a bit longer.

"Hey, miss! Are you alright?"

Voices started speaking to me. Perhaps I was hallucinating, remembering my past when I was weak and pathetic, running away from danger while hiding like a rat. It took me ten whole years to finally begin cultivating when I appeared in Murim out of nowhere. Most of the first ten years were spent trying to live normally, yet I was always caught in danger.

"It's dangerous to sleep in the middle of the streets, you know?"

It was a harsh life, but I never gave up. I tried to sell all kinds of things; I even started a small farm of Mystic Grass that could recover some Ki Energy when processed into pills—anything to get by. I never sold my body, and I always kept fighting, even against a world mostly dominated by men.

"This is bad... Should I call the ambulance?"

That damned voice, can't it let me have my monologue in peace?!

"What do you want?! Leave me alone already!"

"Uaagh!"

Suddenly, as I opened my eyes, I found myself in an alleyway. Right in front of me, there was an old, homeless-looking man who had fallen to the floor in shock as I screamed at him.

Huh.

"Hm?" I looked at myself. I was alive and fine. My clothes were slightly torn down but were beginning to regenerate thanks to their natural self-repair abilities. "What happened? Is this another dream? Hey, you, the mortal over there. What's your name? I don't remember ever meeting you."

"Huh? Eh?! I-I am Jose... I was just looking at the trash, like every day, and you appeared out of nowhere. I was shocked! So I tried to help. Sorry! I didn't intend anything else; I swear!" He cried. "Don't call the cops on me, please."

"Hmph…" I looked into his eyes.

My eyes shone with some Immortal Essence as I activated the Nine-Colored All-Seeing Eyes. It could detect lies and see through all the information. And indeed, he was telling the truth; he was an honest man.

"I see. Well, sorry for startling you. Can you stand up?" I offered him my hand. I wasn't going to hurt an innocent mortal; I wasn't a Demonic Cultivator. In fact, I killed most of them.

"Y-Yes, thank you. Damn, you sure are tall, Missy." He looked up at me. "You're like… over two meters?"

"Hm? Ah, well, it comes with Cultivating my Physique for the Immortal Realm. I used to be a rather small girl. Wait a moment." I quickly grabbed the man's clothes, lifting him. "Are you some sort of Nightmare Demon that trapped me inside his Domain?!"

"What?! No, I'm not that!" The man cried. "Are you an Awakened Person, miss?! You're so strong- Ugh!"

"Ah…" I let him go once I realized he was telling the truth. "So this is reality? This is not a dream…"

I looked around in utter disbelief, my eyes detecting everything as the truth—it was reality; it existed, after dreaming of these streets, of these blue skies, of these tall buildings, and of these cars for thousands of years.

I was finally back?!

"I'm back…? I'm back…" I muttered in disbelief, tears flowing from my eyes. "I'm finally back… I'M BACK!"

As I cried and laughed, I lifted little Jose with my arms and celebrated. He was shocked and crying out of horror, but I ignored that.

"Hahahaha! I'm back! Thank you so much, mortal! I will never forget your act of kindness! I owe you a favor." I smiled at him, offering him a gold coin. "This is an Immemorial Gold Coin! It probably costs something, right? Buy yourself some food with it."

"Is this a gold coin? T-Thanks!" He almost stole it off my hands; he seemed quite desperate.

I left the old man behind as I leaped onto the nearest building's rooftop, admiring the city around me. It was not just a simple city; this enormous, slightly ugly city was full of shitty people. This was in New York. I was back home.

"Did I somehow get teleported back to Earth through that black hole that swallowed me?" I wondered to myself, admiring the modern city and the bright sun bathing my body. "My power… It has certainly weakened after that fight against Heaven's Will, and then going through that Black Hole. Maybe I lost around… thirty percent of my total strength? And almost all my Primordial Essence. I will need to recover more- Wait, no! That doesn't matter right now! I need to see what year it is!"

I quickly leaped back to Jose, who was ruminating through the trash.

"Jose!" I called him.

"Uwaagh!The crazy woman again—I mean, yes?!" He cried.

"I will ignore that remark for now," I said with a stern voice. "Tell me, what year is it? I remember leaving when it was roughly... 2013?"

"It is the year 2024; why?" He wondered.

"So I've been away for eleven years only? But it was... almost eleven thousand years in Murim!" I gasped. "So that world had such a huge time difference with Earth. No, wait, it's still a lot! Over a decade has passed! My little sister must be an adult now, and my mother... I need to go back home! Thank you, mortal Jose. I will be leaving now. If you ever want your favor repaid, just call me and I will come to your aid."

"A-Ah, yes…" The gray-bearded old man stared in disbelief as I stepped into midair and ran through the skies at lightning speed. Even without any Primordial Essence, I still had Immortal Essence and Ki Energy in near-infinite quantities. I simply had to refine it back into Primordial Essence later!

If I remember correctly, my house was a department we were paying for together with mom, around York Avenue, a white building! I looked around as I reached York Avenue, noticing that most old buildings were gone; new ones had been built. I also noticed that there was a huge building called "Hunters Association" for some reason, but I decided to ignore that for now.

"Ah, there it is! Thanks to the heavens! No, wait, I shouldn't say that anymore. Thank God it's not gone!"

I flew into the white building, noticing most of the surrounding ones had been rebuilt. There was some sort of catastrophe here in the past... Something must have happened. Does it have anything to do with the strange Hunter Association and the walls surrounding New York?

"Apartment number... 16, right?"

As I flew around, old memories started blossoming in my mind. My smile only got wider as I reached apartment 16 and knocked on the door gently. Someone slowly came to open it—a young man! Who is this guy?!

"Huh? A cosplayer? Yes, do you need something?" He wondered, looking at my attire with strange looks and raising an eyebrow.

"Cosplayer?! How dare a mortal call me that? These clothes have been made by sewing the Immemorial Heavenly Dew Silk extracted from the Moonless Heavenly Void Silkworm!" I roared. "Who are you, though? Are you related to my mother and my little sister? Do the names "Ruby" and "Elena", ring any bells?"

"Ruby's my girlfriend- Wait, are you one of her freak friends?" He wondered. "She's home… Let me call for her."

"I'm not her freak friend; I am her damned older sister! Move aside; I've had enough of you. Mortals should simply bow down to immortals the moment they see them." I slammed the man away as he fell to the floor and groaned in pain. He was fine, just a drama queen. "Stop crying; I am fairly sure I broke no bones. I am a gentle lady." I smiled back at him.

"Wait, where are you going?! You said you're Ruby's sister? There's no way; her sister died in an accident like ten years ago!"

I ignored him; I was clearly alive. I opened the door to my sister's room, finding her awake, her eyes widening in shock. Her long black hair, her cute blue eyes, and her baby face—she had grown and developed more, but it was still my little sister Ruby! The last time I saw her, she was barely 14, but now she must be around 25, right?

"Ruby! Your big sister is finally back home." I spread my arms, waiting for her hug. "Come to big sis!"

"Uwaaaah! Get away from here, you thief! Juan?! JUAN, CALL THE POLICE!"

I guess it's fair she didn't recognize me at first; I've gone through almost eleven thousand years' worth of aging, de-aging, and body transformation.

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