Chapter 1

Ling Tian finally awoke from his deep slumber.

His eyes however remain closed. The instincts from a pinnacle assassin told him to leave the place this moment itself. Slightly opening his eyes, observing the surroundings, his instincts screaming danger.

He faintly placed his body unto a comfortable position. Ling Tian's body position right now could be described as weird, the upper torso slightly opening to the left and his hands placed on front.

'If there was an enemy hiding in the dark, ready to pounce then this would be the best opportunity to strike.' thought Ling Tian.

Focused in observing the surroundings, after a few minutes there's still no movement!

Ling Tian began to rise with the support of his arm. Suddenly, he realize his arm was too weak to support his body's weight. Bang! He fell back.

He was shocked. A thousand thoughts started to race through his mind. 'Where was he? What's going on? How did he end up being here?'

He became aware that he was lying next to a soft bed. He looked around and discovered that he was in a nicely adorned room. The room, however, was empty except for a set of square tables and a bed. He was lying next to a bed that could easily fit seven or eight people.

'What happened? How did I get here? Wasn't I supposed to be in the middle of an intense gunfight? Or is this a part of my afterlife?' A surge of thoughts filled Ling Tian's mind as he tried to recall the last memories of his past life.

------------------------------

Ling Tian was a killer, but he chose to be one rather than being forced to become one; he was an accomplished pinnacle assassin by profession. He first appeared on the scene two years ago. He could get into any location. He was a super assassin with a 100% success rate. None of his predecessors had accomplished such a feat because he is nurtured by the twin system.

He was ranked number one in the ranking list of assassins. The gap between him and the top 2 assassin was huge. Ling Tian or the "Monarch" had also risen to the first spot of the underworld's top-ranked experts. Therefore, it was natural that the bounty offered for his head was the highest. In fact, the bounty offered for his head had been the highest for the last three years.

However, no one was willing to go near him since he was the top-ranked assassin; let alone killing him.

Many first-rate assassins had daringly accepted the job of putting the "Monarch" to sleep in the past; they had obviously hoped to get the huge bounty. But, the only reward that they received was death. The "Monarch" couldn't be touched; let alone be hurt or assassinated.

A wealthy person from Country 'U' had once offered an exorbitant reward of $100 Million for the head of the "Monarch". Two assassins had accepted the job. They were as infamous as the 'Evil Monarch', and were among the top-ranked assassins. They were found dead three days later.

No one had dared to take-up the job since then; even though the reward was increased several times.

It was a suicide mission. And, the money was of no good use for a dead person. So, the name "Monarch" had become a taboo in the underworld's bounty list.

The name "Monarch" had become a symbol of fear for the people of underworld in every country. Many people knew about his existence, but no one knew how he looked.

Ling Tian had friends before however he always worked alone. He was extremely fussy while accepting his missions; not only towards his clients… but also towards his targets.

He would never kill a harmless person such as a defenseless beggar; no matter how much money was paid as the reward. However, he would voluntarily step-up to assassinate a harmful person. These hapless people had no history of hiring him. In fact, some of them had never even heard of him.

It was said that he had intended to kill a human trafficker once. However, he had given the little girl he saved an opportunity. Ling Tian gave a minor assassination technique to the little girl saying that if you want to kill those kind of people then I am willing to give this to you. The little girl, after three years, became famous in the underworld as the "Justice Killer" as a reminder for her friends and family who was tortured, raped, and trafficked.

Even his master and division members – who understood him well – were often left speechless owing to his character and way of conduct.

Ling Tian believed that his biggest weakness was that he was an extremely loving person. This statement often made people puke since his identity had been established as that of a super assassin.

However, his claim wasn't completely baseless.

He detested the poor being oppressed by the rich in his home country; especially the officials using their powers against the common people. Besides, he detested seeing his own people getting oppressed in foreign countries. This 'patriotic' behavior of his had stirred quite a number of frightful disasters.

However, the clients still craved for his services since he had exceptional skills in fist-fighting and sword-fighting. Moreover, he possessed superior marksmanship, eyesight, and immeasurable martial arts prowess. All this had contributed to his hundred percent success rate. His achievements were truly unprecedented.

He was the only person amongst the peak-level assassins who had an unblemished record. He was indeed the super assassin in the realm of assassins.

Ling Tian had another weakness – he was a typical youth.

He was just like any ordinary person, had felt love, the embrace and the warmth given by his ordinary family.

His last mission had been another 'volunteer' job. He had heard that the secret organization of Country 'R' had quietly unearthed an invaluable treasure from the Mountains of Country 'C'. Then, they had smuggled this treasure to their own country before Country Z came to know about it. Being an ordinary youth… Ling Tian was interested.

Ling Tian had singlehandedly managed to massacre his way towards the treasure by employing sneak tricks, traps, and efficient killing skills. He had proudly faced nearly two-hundred secret special forces of Country 'R' at once. He had killed a hundred and seventy special forces before laying his hands on the treasure. The courage of the secret special forces had been shattered to pieces by then. Ling Tian was even confident that he could waltz out of the area without incurring any harm.

But then, something unexpected had happened.

A supernatural incident had occurred as soon as he had touched a palm-sized heretical-looking twin tower in the treasure – his entire body had become paralyzed. He couldn't even blink; let alone move his body. He hadn't noticed the blood that had gushed out from one of his wounds into the small, delicate, and exquisite pagoda.

Ling Tian's last memory comprised of looking at about fifty 'grenades' flying towards him and around twenty firearms shooting towards him. He couldn't do anything about it even though he was capable of wiping out all his enemies in one fell swoop with his strength and skills.

This feeling was truly infuriating.

"I had never imagined that I would fall today… in such an absurd manner. But, I've lived a good life. I've killed at least a thousand corrupt officials, local tyrants, and bullies directly or indirectly. My life was worth something. I have no regrets."

"Others would smile as they enter the Heavens… I smile as I enter the depths of Hell."

"I've killed countless people. But, they were scum; they deserved it. It was fair. So, why should I be fearful? I don't care even if this act drags me down to Hell."

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Exterminate the dirty scum! End the life of every criminal! I don't care even if the world condemns me as a murderer."

"Is there anyone else in this world who has lived as I did? What a delightfully unrestrained life I've lived."

Ling Tian let out a loud laughter as these thoughts crossed his mind, "Hahahaha…"

---------------------------

"Young Master, you… are you all right?" a timid voice was heard from beside him. The voice sounded as if someone was about to cry. Then, a cold hand was placed on his forehead.

"Young Master? This isn't a dream… This isn't hell either!" Ling Tian woke-up, and opened his eyes. Suddenly, he was hit by a wave of unfamiliar memories. He felt as if he was struck by lightning.

Was he inside someone else's body? Had he already been reincarnated? But, how could he remember his past life so clearly? 'Can it be that I didn't drink Old Lady Meng's soup… or did I end-up in someone else's body?'

'Did I move to some other body… or is this a rebirth?'

Ling Tian lay motionless, and continue to stare coldly. However, he couldn't understand what had happened.

Suddenly, he laughed out loud, 'Son of a bi*ch! Good deeds do fetch a good reward. I had never hoped for such a good thing to happen to me; I had never expected to survive like this. It seems that my great deeds in the past life had accumulated immeasurable amounts of merits. Wahahahaha…'

The ten-year-old girl beside him had been stroking her hand over his forehead. She trembled in fear as she heard him shout. She then ran to hide in a corner. She stared at the 'Young Master' with confusion and fear in her eyes. Her face was pale; like a frightened quail.

Ling Tian let out another scream; but it was a wretched one. It sounded like a girl's scream. 'Can it be that a 'part' of me is gone? Nooooo!' Ling Tian hurriedly grabbed his crotch even though there was a little girl in front of him.

He heaved a sigh of relief as he realized that no part of him was missing. 'The Heaven didn't mistreat me. I can still have children.'

'That really scared me. I thought that I've moved into a girl's body.' Ling Tian wiped away the cold sweat.

Then, he began to inspect his new body.

Stagnant Meridians, atrophied muscles, joint stiffness….

'What kind of a person is this? The body is too fragile. It's such a crappy one!'

Ling Tian secretly whispered, 'Doesn't matter! I would only take three to seven years to be back at the top as long as the meridians haven't been destroyed…'

Suddenly, Ling Tian realized something – he was in a completely different world!

The place didn't seem like the Earth he was familiar with. He seemed to be alone in this world. He neither knew nor understood the rules and regulations of this new world.

This feeling made even a cold-blooded assassin like Ling Tian feel frustration.

He observed his clothes and the furniture. He realized that they were completely different from his times'. The joy of being alive began to subside as this realization dawned upon him. Instead, he started to feel confused.

'It seems that I've indeed been granted a second chance.'

Ling Tian should've been happy with this prospect. However, he was filled with a feeling of extreme loss and pain. He had never felt like this before. His nose started to turn sour, his eyes started to turn watery, and his heart became suffocated. His mouth started to become self-deprecating as he began to cry for the first time.

'It's not easy to give-up on my homeland and planet. I believed in my last moments… that I could let it go. But now, I've realized that I can't let go; I really can't!'

'I thought that I didn't care for anything in this world. But now… I know that I care about a lot of things. In fact, I can't even count them.'

'Moreover, I don't belong to this foreign land. I can't have a sense of belonging to this place.'

'My soul will always be an outsider…'

Ling Tian inclined his head to one side. A tear escaped his eye once he was sure that no one could see him.

This was the first tear of a man from two worlds.

Never belittle a man who cries; everyone has to endure sadness at some point in one's life.

---------------------

Ling Tian stared into the bronze mirror, and saw a young and childish-looking face. His face was slim with thin lips, and long eyebrows slanting upwards towards his temples. A set of fine eyes added a sharp feeling to his face. He laughed and mumbled, 'The kid's got some good looks. He's rather handsome. But, he looks like a 'flower' boy… and his voice sounds like a sissy's.'

His new body was drastically different from his last body. He recalled that his previous body was full of killing vigor. His looks hadn't been of the popular type back then. His eyes had been a bit small and thin, and his nose had been a point lower. Overall, he had average looks. But still, he had looked like a standard male. He had always looked down upon flower-boys even though he knew that there were some real men amongst them. He had never thought that he would end-up transmigrating into a flower boy's body; and that too a handsome one's!

Ling Tian noticed that there was a tattoo of a twin tower on his left wrist. He stroked it, and asked in a gentle tone, 'Are you the one who brought me over, mate?' There was a trace of pride on his face, 'I managed to complete the mission. I kept this item safe… and I didn't allow it to fall into the hands of those foreigners… even though I transmigrated.'

The pagoda-shaped pattern was none other than the exquisite twin towers that Ling Tian had traded his life for! He was sure that it was the same pagoda even though it had transformed into a small tattoo on his hand. He couldn't explain how he knew this. But, his heart told him that it was so. It was a real and mysterious feeling.

The familiar pagoda pattern brought him a sense of comfort even though he was in a foreign land. However, he was still in a state of confusion as to what had exactly happened. He couldn't ascertain what kind of a feeling it was. But, he tried to remain calm and collected. His face didn't show any tension that went through his mind. This was one of the skills he had acquired as an pinnacle assassin.

He was still in a quiet and indifferent mood.

He was still stroking the small pagoda pattern on his hand. Suddenly, the pattern started to emit a burst of foggy yellow light. Then, it disappeared. Ling Tian started to feel lightheaded, and sensed as if something had entered his mind.

'Strange!' Ling Tian shook his head. He was amazed. The pagoda had initially appeared as a small palm-sized tower. Then, it had transformed into a tattoo on his hand. And after that, it had disappeared. Could it be that it was actually a legendary treasure?

Suddenly, a voice resounded, "Young Master, the Old Master is asking for you." Ling Tian was about to investigate what he had felt earlier in his mind when his chain of thoughts was broken by a voice.

'For me? Why?' Ling Tian raised his eyebrows and asked. 'What qualifications does this old geezer have to command me to go meet him? Does he think that I'm his grandson or something?' However, he swallowed these words since he realized that the old master may be his grandfather… or at least his present body's grandfather.

The little girl looked at him with a terrified expression on her face, "I don't know why he's calling you." The young girl lowered her head, and blinked in panic. One of her legs was positioned before the other. Her body was slightly tilted. She seemed ready to run away from the room.