Jie Ming...

Jie Fu Lian took out a transportation talisman and got ready to use it but suddenly, he heard the voice of Hua Tianshu.

"Wait!"

Since he had revealed his identity as the demon king, it was only natural that Hua Tianshu would try to stop him, but for some reason, hearing the man calling out to him like that still made Jie Fu Lian instinctively stop.

"Are you really him...?" Hua Tianshu didn't move and simply looked at Jie Fu Lian with an indecipherable expression plastered on his face as he asked.

Jie Fu Lian softly laughed as he heard this question but instead of answering it, he replied with a simple, "I have a feeling that we'd meet again, TianTian."

And just like that, he burned the talisman and disappeared into thin air.

"It's really you..." Hua Tianshu slowly muttered as he kept staring at the spot where Jie Fu Lian had been standing at, "Jie Ming..."

Jie Fu Lian was in quite a good mood now that he had been reunited with his sword.

The sword, Changbo, also vibrated with excitement and let out a soft warm glow, glad to know that its original owner was still alive.

Jie Fu Lian didn't return to the demon realm, instead he went straight to the sect where he had been born and raised at.

The Yan sect.

It was his home and even his death couldn't change that fact. Now that he had been reunited with Changbo, his next step was to go back to the Yan Sect.

He had been away from home for so long so it was naturally time for him to go back.

He couldn't wait to meet his parents again and he looked forward to seeing how well his brothers and sisters had grown up.

There was so much about that place that he missed and just the thought of going back there, made his eyes twinkle with excitement.

However, when he reached there, the only thing that greeted him was a small shrine.

"Huh?" His smile faded away and for a second there, he felt his heart stop.

His eyebrows creased together in confusion and he looked around in a daze.

There was no way he had come to the wrong place so where exactly did the Yan Sect go...?

The shrine looked as if it had been built just a few years ago and as long as Jie Fu Lian remembered, there had been no such shrine here.

His mind suddenly went blank and he gulped. His body froze and it took a whole minute for him to snap out of the shock.

Inside the shrine, there was a stone tablet placed in the centre but it was covered with a thick layer of dust and because of the dust, one couldn't read anything written on it.

Jie Fu Lian's feet moved first and he instinctually raised his hand up. His fingertips touched the stone tablet and he hesitantly started wiping away the dust.

The engravings started becoming a little clear and as soon as he read the first word, he faltered a few steps back and fell down.

His eyes widened in horror and his heart dropped.

He kept staring at the stone tablet without blinking and slowly, his vision started getting blurry.

Before he knew it, he was already crying.

'This must not be real....' He tried to fool himself by believing that it was all a bad dream.

'It can't be real...'

'I refuse to accept this!'

He wanted to cry out in anger and pain, but no words left his mouth and it was as if he had suddenly turned mute.

His every memory related to the Yan sect started to flash by before his eyes. He wasn't just merely seeing them, he was feeling and living them.

He remembered the warm scoldings of his father and the pleasant laughter of his mother. He remembered how he trained together with his brothers and sisters. He remembered how they ate together everyday and joked around.

The love he received, the admiration he received and the connections he made here, he remembered it all.

By the time his mind started working again, he was already gasping for air and clutching tightly onto his chest in pain.

The name of his father was still engraved on the top of the stone tablet and his own name was just below it.

Reality slowly started to sink in and he realized that perhaps, he had been dead for longer than he had expected.

Time had passed and with time, his family had also passed away and the Yan Sect had been completely erased.

He didn't know what had happened nor did he know whom to blame.

All he knew was that everything had already been done and nothing could be changed anymore.

He was already too late.

With tears still hanging down on his eyelashes, he looked up at the sky with hatred.

He had died and now he was alive.

He thought the heaven's had taken pity on his soul but it seemed that the only reason why he was still alive was because the heavens wanted to torment him even more.

Perhaps his sufferings hadn't been enough.

This was probably karma.

This was the will of the heavens and for that, he hated the heavens.

He should have never lived again... If he hadn't been trapped inside the body of this demon king, he would have passed away just like everybody else and he would have remained oblivious to the shocking truth he had learnt today.

He wouldn't need to be in pain and he wouldn't need to feel so helpless.

He should've just died.

His soul should've just... Disappeared.

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[Thirteen years ago,

In a small city called 'Xiujiang']

The warm rays of the sun peeked through the clouds that decorated the sky. The cold breeze gently danced in the air, carrying with it, a hint of the lovely osmanthus flower fragrance.

The atmosphere was not too hot nor too cold.

It was the season of Spring in Xiujiang.

At this time of the year, the small city was always bustling with life. The city gate was decorated with vibrant flowers that were replaced each day with fresh ones and the poor vendors of the city finally had the chance to make some profit. There were a lot of cultivators and distinguished guests coming from afar just to enjoy the famous osmanthus wine and distinct osmanthus cakes that were only sold in this small city during spring.

Spring in Xiujiang was always peaceful like this

"Jie Ming, are you sure you should be sitting here like this?" A woman asked with a small smile that made it hard to guess whether she was asking out of courtesy or if she was scolding the boy.

"Senior sister Yin, once spring passes, we won't be able to buy these osmanthus cakes and wine. It's not like we travel this far everyday so how can I not take my time to enjoy today's visit."

Yin Ru rolled her eyes as she heard this excuse, "That's not what I'm talking about and you know it as well."

Jie Fu Lian frowned as he heard this but said nothing as a response.

"Jie Ming, Shizun said you were forging a new sword. A sword that can gather spiritual Qi from the surrounding without the need of its master. I was looking forward to seeing it. Have you finished working on it?"

Jie Fu Lian pursed his lips into a thin line and gulped as he shook his head.

"Then shouldn't you be working right now? If Shizun finds out that you are here, he would get angry at me."

"Don't worry about it, the sword is almost done. I just need to work on it a little bit more. I can get it done before our next mission," Jie Fu Lian beamed, "And father doesn't have to know that I was here."

Yin Ru sighed as she heard this but didn't bother continuing the topic as she felt that this boy was going to be stubborn till the end.

"Senior Sister Yin, leaving the sword aside, I had something else to ask you."

"What is it?"

Jie Fu Lian looked around and made sure that nobody was looking at them before he leaned in a little closer and asked, "Is the HuiXue sect entrance test really as hard as they say it is?"

Yin Ru suddenly laughed as she heard this question and replied, "Why don't you go take it if you want to know?"

Jie Fu Lian pouted, feeling dissatisfied with such a response. If he had wanted to take the test for himself, he wouldn't have asked this question in the first place itself.

"By the way, why are you asking? Do you plan to abandon our Yan sect?" Yin Ru asked with a small amused smirk.

Jie Fu Lian immediately looked away as he spoke, "I was just casually asking."

"Are you sure about that?" Yin Ru chuckled as she leaned in a bit closer and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, "Is it not because you're looking forward to meeting a certain disciple of the HuiXue sect."

"What are you trying to say," Jie Fu Lian lightly glared at the woman as he asked.

"I'm talking about Hua Tianshu, of course," Yin Ru laughed, teasing Jie Fu Lian.