Shackled In Mortal Chains

'Sometimes, you don't know when you lose it all. Your friends, family, peers, they will all turn on you if there is something to gain from it. Whether or not you deserve it isn't the question, but whether you will stand up to the torrent of negativity and prevail.' Thought Yuan Ling, as he was being beat for the thirteenth time that week.

Blood flew freely from Yuan Ling's nose as he was sent flying by a punch. "Tsk, I don't know why I dirty my hands touching a pervert." Yuan Ling's elder brother said, sneering in disdain.

"Punished for a crime I didn't commit, why must you all be so harsh?" Yuan Ling said, giving a weak, bloody smile. His face changed as another punch was sent at him. He was once again sent flying across an alleyway.

"If it weren't for the explicit fact that the family elder wishes for you to remain alive, I would've already have been disposed of your corpse. You're lucky that concubine Fei has decided to spare your miserable life, even after you dirtied her body." Yuan Ling's elder brother said, deepening his already deep frown.

Yuan Ling spat out a mouthful of blood. He became angry at everything. "Elder brother, does it not concern you that I do not fight back? Every day you come to my dwelling and beat me to a pulp, has it ever dawned on you that I do not fight back?" Yuan Ling's voice rose.

"Stupid dog, how dare you raise your voice to me!" Yuan Ling's elder brother sent a powerful slap towards him. The slap connected, flinging Yuan Ling into a group of garbage cans. "Haha, taking your rightful place among the trash, brother?" Yuan Ling's brother said, the word brother filled with venom.

"Do not show your face around the family, even father has limited patience with you." Yuan Ling's brother said, giving a shallow warning.

"You cannot change your emotions elder brother, you still care enough to warn me." Yuan Ling passed out slowly after mumbling this sentence.

Time slowly passed until Yuan Ling woke up in a cold sweat. His head spun from the multiple impacts he had received before he had fell to his wounds. Yuan Ling wiped the dried blood off of his lip and stood up slowly. His body felt weird. His movements seemed more, deft?

He looked down at his hands, they were a different shade than his actual skin. He looked down a this clothes and admired the blue robes that he was dressed in. Yuan Ling turned around quickly, surveying his surroundings. He suddenly grabbed his head in pain as a handful of memories that didn't belong to him flooded in.

'M-my name, Liu Ming?' Yuan Ming's vision swirled as he sat down. Cool dirt shocked his senses as he laid down and closed his eyes. A basic layout of the surrounding area popped up in his brain as he tried to recall where he was.

'Shallow forest in the Sky Kingdom Province. Where did I go? Why am I here? Why in the hell am I residing in another person's body!?' Yuan Ling, no, Liu Ming thought to himself. He looked around taking in the scenery. His breath caught in his throat when he walked the the edge of a small cliff and looked out at the plains below.

There were people fighting weird looking beasts down below. Their blows causing the earth itself to rumble, some even used the elements to fight. Their slashes caused deep grooves to be left on the earth, the beasts, however, seemed unaffected. Those things were absolute tanks.

The beasts began retreating into the lower portion of the Shallow Forest. Even with their high vitality they had been slain easily by some of the warriors. The beasts made the earth tremble as they ran off into the densely packed forest. Liu Ming watched as the warriors spent a small amount of time gathering up the corpses of the beasts. While they were as heavy as 3 tons, these people lifted them without so much as breaking a sweat.

'Can I gain such power?' Liu Ming thought to himself.

Liu Ming stood up from his position and went back into the forest and looked at where he woke up. There was a small patch of dried blood on the ground, most likely from his lip, however, it doesn't explain why my lip was busted open.

'Maybe this body's previous soul lived a life of pain as well. Don't worry, if I can gain power like those warriors down there, I promise to break these mortal shackles and help this body ascend!'

Liu Ming didn't know where to go, his new memories had no recollection of the previous bits of life from their previous owner, only basic information. His memories also mentioned something known as Gates. Giving power to those without, helping those without to ascend. Even a worthless person has opened at least one gate.

However, Liu Ming couldn't feel any of the energy in his body. Was his previous owner crippled? Or was his power sealed? Questions flooded Liu Ming's mind and he had to sit down. The forest had a calming effect to it. The birds chirped and the leaves shook in the wind.

"Whoo, I have no idea what's going on. But I do know that this is a second chance at life. I no longer have to live that dull life before I was transported into this body." Liu Ming said to himself, brimming with confidence.

'Well I suppose I should look at how to break through the gates. If I'm going to be here, I might as well get some more strength.' Liu Ming thought to himself, looking through the knowledge his old body possessed.

'Breaking through the first gate is relatively easy. I just have to meditate and kind of, suck in energy?' Liu Ming shook his head.

"I can't cultivate here. There's too many unknowns, especially if there are more of those strong beasts, who knew if they wouldn't attack me?' Liu Ming thought.

"Guess I'll look for somewhere to cultivate peacefully. Maybe I can find some of the tracks those warriors left and follow them." Liu Ming said determinedly. (1)

(1) : His map knowledge within his head only list the areas, not towns/cities.