Xuanyuan Jiantian

"Dying sucks, doesn't it?"

The prospect opened his eyes to the same man he met with the last time he died, this time in a restaurant. They sat facing each other with a meatfeast pizza between them. Although he missed the dish, the prospect was too unsettled to eat.

"Was I... too impatient?"

"I don't know... were you? Fun fact: even if you lived out your entire life practising, you'd still be no match for the Phoenix Spirit." R.O.B shrugged. "Funny, you lived longer in your previous life despite having less talent."

"So what? You want me to sit idly while my wife's family is forced into the dirt?"

"Hahaha... my dear prospect, you are a fool but the one thing I admire about you is that you stand strong by your beliefs. You aren't a coward." He grabbed a slice of the pizza and had a bite. "That one time you said 'I'd rather die standing than live kneeling'? I swear, I almost fell in love."

"Can you tell me the aftermath?"

"Don't concern yourself with that anymore, you're past that."

"Shut up... I want to know!"

"Hahaha.... well, okay, boss man. I have a feeling that you'll be stuck at one certain bottleneck for a very, very, very, long time, courtesy of Yours Truly for sending you to dry planets. Well... I'll leave you to it until you're ready for the next step."

"...You piss-taking cunt.-"

He disappeared once more, leaving the prospect alone with the same tablet before him.

~~~~~~~

Mythical Expert Jun Zhi 'The Undying'

Known for being both a man of his word and the only person who stood against the Divine Phoenix Sect, Jun Zhi was certainly a controversial figure. He reformed the Divine Sword Sect in his own vision and successfully promoted a more positive relationship between its disciples, creating a safe haven even for the less talented. When he was offered to join a Sacred Ground, he rejected and stayed true to his homeland... which was a trend that led to his death at the hands of the Divine Phoenix Sect's experts. Yet, even after death, his name still dwells on the minds of the citizens of the Divine Phoenix Empire and the elders of the Divine Phoenix Sect.

His greatest accomplishment was completely erasing a Monarch while only being a 9th Stage Tyrant, although in an attack that sacrificed himself.

What he said was true... he was Undying, for his name would never fade.

Fame: Continent-wide

Notable skills earned: Formation Creation 1, Weapon Creation 1, Charisma 1

Merit points earned: 10,000

~~~~~~~

Fire Affinity: 10,000, 20,000, 40,000

Lightning Affinity: 1,000, 10,000

Wind Affinity: 10,000, 20,000, 40,000

Earth Affinity: 10,000, 20,000, 40,000

Water Affinity: 10,000, 20,000, 40,000

Light Affinity: Locked

Darkness Affinity: Locked

Space Affinity: Locked

Time Affinity: Locked

Nothingness Affinity: Locked

~~~~~~~

(Heaven's Child can only be earned through training in this section... a lot of it.)

Profound Art Creation: 500, 1000

Formation Creation: 1000

Medicine (Already achieved expert)

Weapon Creation: 1000

Combat Affinity: 1,000

Unarmed Combat: 500, 1000

Swordsmanship: 1000

Spearmanship: 500, 1000

Bowmanship: 500, 1000

Axemanship: 500, 1000

Macemanship: 500, 1000

~~~~~~~

(Heaven's Child can be bought, except for talent).

Talent level: LOCKED

Charisma: 3,000, 5,000

Appearance: 1,000, 2,000, 5,000

Perception: 2,000, 5,000, 10,000

Constitution: 2,000, 5,000, 10,000

Profound Energy Capacity: 2,000, 5,000, 10,000

Profound Energy Strength: 2,000, 5,000, 10,000

~~~~~~~

The prospect decided to improve his Constitution, Profound Energy (Quantity) and Profound Energy (Strength) to 1. That left him with 4,000 which he spent on Swordsmanship 2, Lightning Affinity 2, Combat Affinity 2 and Formation Creation 2.

...

'Is this the Divine Origin Realm... at last?-'

The prospect tried to grasp it in his last moments, only to miss the mark... but he had come so so so very close.

...

Countless reincarnations of reaching the Peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm had passed.

The prospect had lived many lives, almost losing himself in the process. His personality had become unpredictable and he had grown to become a 'trickster' of sorts. His care for the worlds he reincarnated in became minimal as he would find himself in a different one after each death. For example, he had robbed the ten wealthiest sects in a world clean within only a single night (without being caught)... for a good laugh.

In all those lives, he created countless Profound Arts and practised them to the absolute peak. A Profound Skill for going completely invisible? He created and mastered it. One for teleporting long distances or even to specific objects/people? He created and master it. A Profound Skill for creating many perfect replications of himself (and others)? He... well, you get the idea.

One could dare say that he was the perfect cultivator skill-wise with not a single weakness in his wide arsenal.

"You insane bastard... you actually raised everything available to the peak stage and in good time, too. I expected you to take far longer." R.O.B commended smiled, pleased with the result. "Oh, so close to the Divine Origin Realm... yet so far."

"I'm tired of this game... why don't you just let me die. I have nothing to live for. It's the same shit over and over again. I reach the peak, practice my skills and die... nothing more."

"Nothing to live for... why is that? Because you decided so?" R.O.B laughed. "Where did all your motivation go? I mean, you have lived for many, many, years. Do you need a motivational speech?" R.O.B pulled out his smartphone and scrolled in google images before the prospect could even answer. "Found one... oh damn, this one fits quite well. *Ahem*."

"It's called the Prison of the Mind."

"Oh, I don't need your lame-ass motivational speech-."

R.O.B completely ignored him and recited the speech. "Negativity keeps you BLIND to opportunities. It keeps you BLIND to the good in the world. It holds you HOSTAGE to your true potential. Negative people will always remain in the PRISON of their SELF-IMPOSED LIMITS. Sometimes it's a life sentence... because they've CONVINCED themselves there is no way out."

Words were just words... but the way R.O.B said them, well, it could possibly even bring life to a corpse.

"Remember when you said you'd change the world? Where did that Jun Zhi go?"

"I was naive..."

"Also, you've closed your heart to the point of almost becoming a statue. My dear prospect, where are the harems I've been waiting for??"

"Harems? Do I look like I give a shit?"

"You really are a hopeless case." R.O.B shook his head. "Then again, all the women you've met were relatively average. Oh and I don't give 'a shit' either if you want to truly die or not... you're going to live again either way!"

"So fix your 'dodgy' mentality and live your best life(s)!"

...

The prospect was reborn as a baby Xuanyuan Jiantian who was the third son of the Sword Master. His most distinct feature was his sharp, glowing, dark-blue eyes which were both beautiful and threatening at times. When he realised he was back in Blue Pole Star, the prospect was quite thrilled... more thrilled than he had been in a very long time.

Growing up, he grew close to his older brothers. At first, he ignored them but later spent time with them because he had nothing better to do. One time, they went to the northern-most reaches of the Profound Sky Continent and caught an absolutely massive Tyrant Profound Realm shark from the ocean. The eldest brother was the one who carried it to the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, presenting it as a trophy.

In his spare time, Xuanyuan Jiantian would research what was written about his past two lives on the planet and how long ago those events were. Li Chen was the most distant, having lived four thousand years ago while Jun Zhi lived slightly less than two thousand years ago. This meant that everyone he knew had already died... making him quite unsatisfied.

He couldn't see his son, wife or avenge his death on those Divine Phoenix elders. He could only see their descendants.

Using all of his experience, Xuanyuan Jiantian put forth 200% of his efforts into finally reaching divinity. He created countless invisible chain formations which absorbed profound energy from high-density locations. Once enough profound energy was accumulated, he would come once in a while to refine all of this profound energy into heavenly pellets.

Being a young master of a Sacred Ground meant that there was little to no conflict from both the inside and the outside. Sure, the Sacred Grounds were competitive but they never fought against each other as it would only lead to a stalemate.

When he was thirty, the Five Sacred Grounds hosted a tournament to decide which of them had the best upcoming talent. As expected, the Eternal Night Royal Family did not participate but the other four Sacred Grounds did. Instead of doing a whole tournament, Xuanyuan Jiantian arrogantly challenged the top five talents from the other Sacred Grounds who were all forty to fifty years old. They gave in to his taunts, looking to wipe the smirk off his face...

"Fifteen of you weaklings against me... that'll still be too easy."

One after the other, they fell from the sky like flies. He did not even use a single weapon or Profound Art, just brute strength and fighting technique.

"..." The rulers of every Sacred Ground looked at Xuanyuan Jiantian with supreme disbelief, shock and awe. Then they looked towards his father with jealousy. "You never mentioned the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region had a little monster hidden in its halls."

"Ahahaha... what can I say? He's just like me when I was younger!" Xuanyuan Jiantian's father laughed.

At that point, Xuanyuan Jiantian's strength had surpassed even the rulers of the Sacred Grounds, though he didn't tell anyone about that.

Some years later.

Although it was not his wish to become Sword Master at first, his elder brothers entrusted that position to him after their father retired. It was also his father's wish... so he took upon the duty of the ruling Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. That era was one of prosperity as the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region shot over the other Sacred Grounds in terms of strength, wealth, resources and influence in the Profound Sky Continent. This bred some jealousy but there was still no sizeable conflict.

Upon reaching the very Peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm at just the age of fifty, he explored opportunities to ascend to divinity rather than just cultivating until his lifespan reached its end again. Maybe, just maybe, this world had such an opportunity...

His first stop was the Divine Phoenix Empire...

He crippled a few people he didn't have a good first impression of. In the middle of it all, he had to face off the Phoenix Spirit which he also beat up. As its profound energy seemed quite beneficial for his evolution to the Divine Origin Realm, he absorbed part of the Phoenix Spirit and refined it into pure divine energy.

He left the Divine Phoenix Empire in a very shaky state, to say the least.

Next stop, the Supreme Ocean Palace. Or more specifically, the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. It was unknown whether or not the devil inside was dead but Xuanyuan Jiantian was going to make sure and refine all of its cultivation strength while he was at it. This was a beast who, despite being weakened, had to be sealed away by the Supreme Ocean Palace, which had a peak Sovereign and countless other mighty monarchs.

Certainly, it had to have something worth taking.

"Excuse me, what are you-"

Xuanyuan Jiantian revealed his presence before the Supreme Ocean Seal which was guarded by a few second thoughts. Xuanyuan Jiantian practically blinked and the guards lost consciousness. Moving on from them, he looked towards the seal. It was relatively strong but not something a being of his level couldn't shatter. However, instead of breaking it straight away, he simply used his vast knowledge of Formations to bypass the seal.

"This Sword Master has come knocking."

Xuanyuan Jiantian moved further into the Nest after hearing no response. "Don't tell me I frightened a beast called the 'Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign'."

"Mate, you might want to show your face. Unless it's too ugly and you're insecure about it..."

'Still silent, huh?'

He began to explore the Moon Slaughter Devil's Nest and the very first thing that caught his eye was a massive three-meter tall flower that had a sinister aura to go with it. According to its appearance, he deduced that it was a Netherworld Udumbara Flower... a prize worth taking home. Fortunately, it was due to bloom shortly as well.

Though, such a flower withers in only three days so he would have to find a purpose for it quickly.

"Still hiding... you know, nothing can escape my perception." Xuanyuan Jiantian scanned across the Moon Slaughter Devil's Nest fully, stopping when he found the aura of the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign.

'There...'

He created a spear out of pure lightning and launched it towards his general location. Darkness profound energy gathered around that area before being released in a wave, completely devouring his spear.

"Hahahahaha... that puny Profound Art. Did you truly believe that such a thing could harm this King?-"

Xuanyuan Jiantian appeared behind him, his sword glowing blue with highly condensed lightning.

With one fluent vertical slash, he cut him in half... clean.

"I'm sure you had sooo much more to say." Xuanyuan Jiantian shrugged, putting away his sword and observing what he had gained... or could gain, more accurately.

The Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign's cultivation strength seemed to have traits of being divine yet it was shrouded in darkness, making it hard for him to refine without being tainted by its darkness. But not impossible... so he took the challenge.

Days... weeks... months... had passed.

But, once he saw the light of day again, Xuanyuan Jiantian was a divine being.