Dao of darkness

Entering a new face

In the next instant, Song Luoxu found himself in the heart of a dense jungle. Towering trees loomed above him, their ancient trunks twisted and gnarled, while relentless gusts of wind whipped through the underbrush.

As Song Luoxu surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings, a single thought weighed heavily on his mind—he could only hope that this timeline would be different. But when he looked down at himself, he was startled. His body… it was small, just like when he escaped his village. He realized with shock that he was in the body of his 11-year-old self.

"I hope the Time Bead worked as I intended," he muttered to himself. "It could have pushed me to the distant past or flung me into the far future… But I can't tell where—or when—I am."

At over a 1000 years old, Song Luoxu was a cultivator of the Martial King realm, a level few ever reached. Typically, someone at his level could only live up to a 500 years. But Song Luoxu had defied that limit, surviving an entire millennium thanks to the Time Bead he had stolen years ago. Using its power, he manipulated time, halting the aging of his body. Yet, with the bead's energy nearly depleted, he had one final use left—and he chose to move to a different timeline.

"In my past life, I could only grasp a fraction of what I was truly capable of," he reflected, his gaze hardening.
"But the Time Bead has given me a miraculous opportunity—a second chance. Why would I waste it? This time, I won't be bound by the same limitations. I won't walk the same path. I'll break through the abyssal mountain that once held me back."With that silent vow.

The next moment Song Luoxu opened his fists and placed them on his abdomen, sensing a faint presence of qi—the basic energy of Hengjie. "Even if the heavens are against me, I can still feel my qi. It's weak, but it's there. I still have something," he thought.

He stepped out of his meditation spot and into the dense forest, sensing the qi around him.

He touched his abdomen and he could feel that he has reached Qi concentration realm which was not a big deal , yet it is his first step into immortality again , it was refreshing feeling,by the end of it all  he walked, and he could feel a faint trail leading toward a larger source of qi, likely a nearby town. But after a few steps, he heard a sudden cracking sound. Listening more closely, he realized it wasn't just random noise in the forest-it was the sound of a fight.

With a surge of qi in his legs, Song ran toward the source. When he arrived, he saw a brutal scene: a child lay bloodied and beaten on the ground, while three others, wearing the same gray and white striped sect uniforms, continued to kick and stab him. The poor quality of their robes marked them as outer disciples of some small sect nearby.

Despite the brutality before him, Song was unfazed. This was just the law of nature-the weak are always preyed upon.

But as he watched the one-sided fight, another thought took root. Since he had no place to stay for the night and needed to gather information, joining a sect might be his best option.

"Young Master Li Zhen, shouldn't we head back? This guy stopped breathing a while ago," said a tall, well-built young man, his voice uneasy.

"Yes... yes, we should get away as soon as possible' " added a fat disciple with a crooked, pale nose.

Both of them looked at Li Zhen, the young master of a small martial family from a nearby town. Li Zhen glared at them, then yanked his sword out of the fallen boy, who was around his own age.

"This punk... threw him over those thick bushes. Make sure the wild beasts devour him. Leave no trace behind."

With that, Li Zhen turned and walked away, leaving his followers to drag the dead body. But suddenly, Song, who had been observing, sprang into action. With qi circulating in his hands, he struck both of  Li Zhen's followers.