Chapter 1-An end and beginning?

At a desolate land in heaps of burning rubble stood a man, his face thin and laced slick with sweat as light shone a heavenly sheen reflected from his wrought face. The gentleman's face contorted as he grasped his side, the man paled as a warm feeling poured out from his side. "'sigh' is this really the end for me, Alaec, one of the few who had achieved martial prowess closest to godhood. Is this heavenly karma for the sins I committed in this long life of mine?" Martial art has been a rather large part of human history after year 2345 the hierarchy had once again resorted to an ancient style era, martial art had somehow gained a new league of life, and which was once something only the people southeast of the world practiced and this was only the minority of them that had even remembered the old traditions. This was the main fact until 2073 when the spirituality of the world had increased by a large margin approximately by 350% of how it was in the past.

I had only learned of martial arts in my late 30s, although, I was hardworking my talent being on the poorer side lead many to pass me, but I had matured faster to the worlds changes and had killed my way to the top. This thin faced man had a grim look about him as if the life had drained from his body. Although I was one of the peak level martial lord realm fighters, each realm has ten minor realms these being from one to nine and the tenth being known as peak level but is still within the confines of the ninth minor realm, above the martial lord realm was the martial king realm, this was the dream and goal of every able child and adult.

"So…, is this how it ends? My life taken by you lot. How distasteful". This was the conscious reverb against my assailants, the perpetrators with their icy cold stares that make you feel as though you've stood upon a rigid bed of flaky ice, as if who they have went against wasn't any significant powerhouse in which I was, alas they looked at me as if I was but a flee that was to be stepped on. As I continued keeping a strong aura although it was less than 60% of my remaining Qi and was still rapidly declining. A woman in a silk robe with lightweight armour stood forward ahead of her fellow betrayers, "why must you persisted so? You already know your end is coming so is there a need to resist, just hand over your scriptures and we'll leave you with a whole body". Although this woman said this with a calm voice the greed instilled in her eyes was bursting forward shrouded in a thick layer of rustic bloodlust that seemed to corrode the very air around her, giving her an aura of majesty.

Alaec simply wore a glazed look of frenzy, as if he would give up his worldly possessions to these hungry hound-like wretches! he'd soon rather destroy his own path first." If you want my scriptures and treasures, you'll need to follow me to the lowest level of hell!!" and with that said I reversed my own Qi flow forcing my remaining power to surge and increase into a more volatile power, doing this would cause me to implode. The woman's eyes shone in a worrying manner bursting forth attempting to cut off Qi veins preventing the explosion from setting off, however she was only seconds too late. Her whole body was in the radius of the power surge thus ending her with me. To Alaec this felt like a suitable end for someone like himself, he walked a long path of loss and slaughter, having many masters fall beneath his prowess. Alaec was only at a tenth of his life span, this being around 300+ years, each major realm a person had overcome the minimum number of years that got extended was between 150 years to 200 years, and only really was a chance of finding rare artifacts or fruits that could increase a martial artists life. Alaec may have been one of the strongest if not the strongest of his realm he himself still had a long line of regrets from his entirety of his life as each regret accumulated in his mind the heart demon would increase in strength making it harder to past the heavenly trials one must face to achieve a higher major realm. For Alaec who was half-step into the martial king realm this would be a major setback for him, resulting in in a pleasant case severe injuries possibly leaving him half-dead, or in a worst-case scenario a regressing in his realm, which was the same as dying to someone who's goal is the moon's reach. Having died upon the qi reversing even if he survived the explosion he would be crippled never to step upon his honed path, this is how he resolved himself, he set his emotions aside and dealt himself his final card laced with blood. For what seemed like a thousand lifetimes within a single condensed moment, and as if the long years I've lived hadn't mattered, "where….am I? this place feels familiar, shouldn't I have died?". Alaec looked around the scenery which looked home-like yet so distant a memory, as time passed Alaec had slowly adjusted to his surroundings. "I-is this Graven hold? Didn't this place become dust centuries ago when I was in my teens?". As Alaec was reforming his memories to grasp what's happened to him, the lush greenery that shined as if in a land of fairies, a feeling of surreal calmness overcame those who embraced the soft rays of the sun. then it struck him like a bolt of lightning fresh from the eerie storms. "Is this the doing of the heavenly turtle embodiment scripture, it's said that if all 30 chapters of the martial technique are mastered then that practitioner would attain strength out of the ordinary among those of the same realm and even one minor realm peak strength. But I don't remember completing all 30 chapters, I was at the 23rd chapter this being the 'slaughtering divine blade' a technique with four movements to initiate in order to fire of a perfect volt of energy that felt as if the oppressive feeling akin to the mythical turtle lion 'Zuan Wu' the guardian of the north, one of the four heavenly kings from the past times". To Alaec this was his peak, as all chapter required a separate understanding to perform and was impermeable for those to handle on the same realm as each realm is akin to heaven and earth. What he didn't know was that a secret was held within the deepest depths of the martial art, after the long years of being the owner of this art it's as though they became one, this was what the first wielder of the turtle art intended for the next generations of practitioners. Alaec's heart was blazing with a passion he had lost upon the path he crossed so long ago, the passion of a dream and an underlying thirst for vengeance. "so, I've been somehow brought back to my teenage years, so this was… 2045? More than three hundred years had been reversed as if it hadn't even lapsed by a second, is this a god given chance for me, my chance at taking revenge on those that wronged me in the past all and to keep all those that meant something to me safe. All those geniuses will kneel before me, I swear to the heavens that I will carry out this pledge, lest I be struck down once and for all.

For my past and for the me now, I will be the strongest, for now I need to get my bearings… I seem to be in the forest area nearby my community the 'landlocked shells', I was here to hunt the animals for food, as I was part of the poorer part of the country, these rabbits and foxes kept me alive. This was rather rare currently of technology advancement, however in all eras there will be the poor and the rich with some in between both categories. I had come from a family of hunters that survived by selling 'game' they caught from forest outings, the reason why my family couldn't survive through the countless years was because as time passed only the most dangerous forests or un-inhabitable zone were left. These zones mostly contained the 'beasts' as they were called, these species could like the humans cultivate the martial power, in these lines although they could further advance like we could they had a slower rate of collecting the natural energies, this had something to do with how their bodies were 'incomplete vessels' while we were vessels capable of making our bodies more acceptable for the power we possessed after much training.

Alaec's family were mere mortals, incapable of collecting these energies, they are the less fortunate, on the upside to this Alaec had found a fruit that was both the colour of raging flames that felt as if just gazing upon it would cause his soul to be erased from the world, the other side was a pale blue like the purest ice frozen like jewels of the heavens had dropped their essence. This rose like fruit had an aura of utter freshness that the likes of I couldn't resist even if I had to eat a lion's heart and a snake's gall-bladder, this magical fruit had given me a spirit root that even if I was favoured by the gods who would not have been recognised by the masses, I had an irregular root, one that had yet to be recorded, this could have been a blessing or a curse in disguise, however to me this was as if I had been given a chance, a chance to rewrite my destiny.

Knowing this my first task was to obtain this fruit, although it had been many decades since I had been to where I've had this encounter before, it was like looking upon the back of one's hand I knew, I had practiced at the same spot for his first 100 years before my realm came to a halt. I went through the forest's rough terrain and passed all the familiar bearings he was passing, and after five minutes of constant running, I returned to a place I had once called my home, "After all this time…. Almost 236 years have passed, I ventured through the most blood-soaked lands and overcame all those who offended me all because this fruit gave me, my chance, the chance at a life now I have lived and died in, yet I'm still alive and back to the beginning, I will return to the top and go even higher and control the fate that fled from my grasp.