Rebirth of Martial God

Violet Orchid Empire, Sun Mountain, Sun Sect.

The Sun Mountains were one of the main mountain ranges in the territory of the Violet Orchid Empire. The base of Sun Sect was located on the Sun Mountain as it was the highest peak.

At the foot of the Sun Mountain was a large area filled with terraced houses. These were scattered across the flatness of the terrain. This residential area was where the Sun Sect's grunt disciple lived.

It was a cool and pleasant morning. The sun had just begun to peek from behind the eastern horizon. The sky looked as fresh and clean as a rose that had blossomed after a whole night's rain. The soft, fragile rays of sunlight gleamed faintly and tenderly down on the terraced houses of the grunt disciples.

The mountains, the houses, and the looming trees were swathed in the light of the newborn sun and the cool, fresh morning air. A little away from the residential area of grunt disciples, in a secluded corner of the mountain foot, a small, shabby cottage was situated.

A stumpy young man walked toward a cottage from the forest. He looked about sixteen or seventeen years old. With the steamed buns in each of his hands that had by now turned cold and hard, he strode toward the cottage. When he reached it, he pushed open the door with his foot and stepped in.

The space inside the cottage was minimal. The room was almost empty as the young man owned very little.

A discolored table, a shaky and cracked wooden chair, and a bed were the only furniture in the room.

The sturdy young man put the buns on the table and walked to the bed.

An unconscious young man lay on the bed. His face was pale, his breath was deep and slow, and his clothes were torn and ragged.

His clothes were covered with blood spots from the many fights he had been in. He was also about sixteen or seventeen years old, but there was something about him that made it seem as though he were older. The smell of blood wafted in the air.

The sturdy young man's name was Evan. He was a grunt disciple of the Sun Sect.

"Tin? Tin?"

Evan shouted as he tried to wake the young man on the bed. However, the man did not respond. His eyes stayed closed as he remained lost in his unconscious world.

Evan was a rather coarse and vulgar fellow. He was the kind of person who would always follow his emotions and would never give any thought or consideration to his actions.

Seeing that his buddy was still not moving, he felt uneasy and worried. Agitated, Evan paced back and forth in the small space of the room. A few moments later, he returned to the bedside and tried to wake the other man once more.

"Tin, please wake up! You are scaring the hell out of me. Today is the third day, and you are still unconscious. Are you just going to die like this? At such a young age when you have so many things to see and when you haven't fulfilled your dream?

Were you ever worried about me? If you die, I will be all alone at Sun Sect. I won't have a single friend to talk to. You cannot be so selfish. Please wake up for my sake, as well as for your own, OK?"

Tears rushed out of his eyes like the surging water from an open sluice. Evan continued in this hoarse, broken voice," Tin, you used to protect me. With you by my side, no one dared to bully me or humiliate me. You were the one who would always stand up and teach those bastards lessons. I always wondered what good things I had done to earn an incredible friend like you.

But when others bullied you, I could do nothing. What a useless friend I am to you! I must have disappointed you so much. I am really sorry, buddy. Please don't die! Please don't leave me alone!"

As the sorrow in his heart intensified, Evan's reaction gradually changed from sobbing to wailing.

The sound of his cry was so loud in the small, confined space of the cottage that the straw ceiling seemed to tremble with his howl.

"Tin, I have no intention to live in this world if you die. It is all because of those bastards. Wait, buddy, I will go and kill them."

After saying that, Evan turned and rushed out to seek revenge.

He had always been like this. Driven by his feelings, Evan would do whatever came to his mind at once.

However, just as he was about to step out, his ears caught the sound of the other man grumbling in discontent.

"What is that noise? Oh, my ears! I feel I am going deaf!

Who is making that awful sound?" The man in the bed knitted his brows at the sound of Evan's cry.

Evan halted at once and turned.

He saw the man in the bed raising his arm faintly in the air and trying to clutch onto something. Evan rushed back to the wooden bed and clasped his raised hand into his own as he exclaimed in excitement," Tin! It is me, Evan. How are you feeling?"

'Tin? It has been so long since anyone called me by that name.'

The name brought back memories of his past life. 'Yes, it was them. Only buddies who played Basketball with me when I was at school knew and called me by this name.'

Austin gradually pulled himself from his memories and focused on the present. He felt a sharp, shooting pain streak across his forehead as he tried to move. He didn't dare to think harder.

He opened his eyes slowly. The sunlight penetrated through the cracks in the straw ceiling and scattered on his face. Austin narrowed his eyes and tried to recall where he was. He looked around the small, shabby room.

Austin was taken aback with surprise. 'Where am I?

How did I end up in such an old cottage? Who brought me here? Am I dreaming? What is this place?' Austin's mind earnestly sought answers to his questions. He winced as the effort worsened the headache.

Austin was an ordinary employee of a company in the beautiful, prosperous, coastal S city, which belonged to Cathay Nation.

After graduating from college, Austin came to S city with his girlfriend. They wished to pursue their careers and start their life together in S city as a new chapter.

After a few years of dedicated work, Austin was promoted from his worker position to Deputy Director of the Sales department. The promotion was a joyous event as it inevitably brought hope and more enthusiasm to his spirit. He worked harder than ever.

However, things were not as smooth as he expected. A sudden, horrible incident struck his soaring career.

Being outstanding at work would always invite others' envy and jealousy, especially when people competed for a position that meant greater authority and wealth. And Austin, much as he was remarkable and hardworking, was still not experienced enough to sense that something ominous was about to happen. At a competition against the other Deputy Director for the position of Executive Director, he was framed and brought significant losses to the company.

As a consequence, he not only failed in the competition, but he had been terminated from the company as well.

His bad luck did not stop there. Shortly after, his girlfriend dumped him. Unable to resist the temptation of money, she started to neglect Austin and became acquainted with some wealthy people.

At length, when a rich man offered to move her to the US and promised to get her a green card, she broke up with Austin and became that man's mistress.

Failing in both his career and love, Austin changed overnight. He completely lost his passion for life and sought comfort in alcohol every day. Sometimes, when he was sober, the pain would be so immense that he would crouch in the corner of his room and sob all night.

Something terrible would inevitably happen to him if this wretched state continued. One night, completely inebriated, he left a bar and crossed the road on shaky legs.

A car hit him. All he could remember before he lost consciousness was a shrill sound as the driver hit the brakes and the feeling of his body soaring through the air after the car crashed into him.

He had no idea how much time had elapsed before he woke up. In a daze, Austin heard someone calling him Tin. When he opened his eyes, Austin found himself lying in a bed in a shabby cottage.

All the things in front of Austin seemed like a dream to him. Studying the vulgar man from his head to feet, Austin asked in wonder," Did you just speak to me?" He had a vague feeling that the man looked familiar, though he could not recall where he had met him.

Evan rejoiced when he saw that Austin had woken and was energetic enough to ask him questions. He nodded his head gaily and cried, "Who else would it be? You finally woke up, Tin. I thought you were going to die..." Thinking of death, tears began to trickle down Evan's face again.

Puzzled, Austin rubbed his aching head and asked awkwardly," Who are you? I don't seem to know you.

Ouch! My back!" Austin felt a stream of electrical pricks flowing through his body. His eyes fell on the arm that he tried to stretch and relax after three days of being motionless.

To his astonishment, he felt as though he was looking at a stranger's arm and hand. Startled, he lowered his eyes to study the rest of his body. The clothes he was dressed in were not the clothes he had worn the night of the car accident. And his legs seemed longer while his chest was more muscular.

He held out his hands to feel his face and found that it was more angular and shapelier.

It was clearly the body of a young man, aged fifteen or sixteen years old. But Austin was almost thirty years old. 'How the hell did I change into this? Was I reborn after the car accident?'

As Austin fought to figure things out, the sturdy young man continued," I... I am your friend, Evan. Don't you remember me, Tin? They seem to have hit your head hard. You sound even sillier."

Evan lifted his arm and brushed his ruffled, askew hair with his fingers. He wondered why Tin who was now awake, seemed to be speaking so oddly.

'Unwise as he was, at least Tin had never forgotten me. But now, he doesn't seem to recognize me.

Looking at his reaction, he doesn't seem to recognize himself either. Matias, you bastard! How much harm did you cause Tin?' Evan felt a twist of sorrow and fury in his heart at the thought.

Suddenly, an intolerable pain coursed through Austin's head again. He could not help but hold his head tightly in his hands and scream. The pain was so severe that Austin felt as though his head would explode any minute.

While struggling with the pain, Austin had a distinct, clear view of what was happening in his mind.

He could see that eighteen shiny, glowing balls were battling against each other in his head.

Among them, ten were bigger, and the others were smaller. It was as if two opposing armies that were struggling with each other. The fight between the big and small balls was so fierce that neither side seemed to give up until their opponents were swallowed.

At a subconscious level, Austin felt that the ten larger balls represented his life force.

He felt no particular attachment to the remaining eight smaller balls. They seemed to be despicable intruders, and he felt a certain eagerness to eliminate them.

A thought struck him. Perhaps if the ten bigger balls won, then he would be safe, and his memories would survive and endure.

On the contrary, if the eight smaller balls won, then his spirit would be lost, and he would lose his conviction to live.

After some moments of fierce fighting, the difference in the strength and the weakness of the balls became clearer.

Inferior in both, number and size, the eight smaller balls gradually ran out of power and retreated into a corner.

Huddled firmly with one another, the small balls trembled violently and whined in fear.

Showing no mercy, the ten bigger balls swooped in and swallowed them all in an instant!

The way they conquered the small balls made it seem like the bigger balls were fierce, ruthless predators that were enjoying their victory over their prey.

After devouring the eight smaller balls, the bodies of the ten bigger balls grew. They were about five times bigger than their original sizes now, and they looked even more dazzling and bright.

Sparkling in strong light, they looked like warriors that had returned victorious from their battle.

Relief spread through Austin's heart. It was as if he had just been rescued from a horrible disaster. He drew a deep, luxurious breath of the cool, fresh air of the forest.

Probably because of the battle that had just happened in his mind, in which the bigger balls devoured the smaller balls, Austin began to recall memories of incidents that he had not experienced before.

Through these memories, he learned what had happened to him.

The collision with the car detached Austin's spirit from his body. The accident coincided with another incident where a man was beaten severely by others and rendered unconscious. Somehow, Austin's spirit passed through the tunnel of time and space and drifted into this younger body. The ten bigger balls were Austin's spirit that was trying to occupy that young man's body against his spirit.

As for his whereabouts, Austin was no longer on Earth. This place was called Prime Martial World, and unlike on Earth, the people here had not made scientific and technological advancements.

The civilization this world had was more like the times of Cathay Nation on Earth several thousand years ago.

People in the Prime Martial World had a great appreciation of vital energy cultivation, honoring a fighter, and respecting strong, powerful fighters.

So being the vital element of cultivation in this world, the air of the vital energy was dense throughout this world.

Many talented people exceeded the limits of their physical strength by cultivating vital energy. This was how they were able to achieve the highest level of cultivation base.

People with a strong cultivation base had supernatural powers. Not only could they cut hard stones and cleave mountains, but they could also change the direction of a river.

The supernatural and amazing scenario that Austin had seen in movies was no longer a fake, illusionary thing in this world.

When Austin's mind gradually recollected and put together the scattered memories of the young man he possessed, he began to understand the young man and the experiences he had had in his life.

To Austin's wonder, the young man he had possessed had the same name as his, Austin.

And to his pity, Austin of Prime Martial World lived a life of poverty and hardships.

To begin with the introduction of Austin of Prime Martial World, he became an orphan when he was merely ten years old. As an orphan, he traveled around the world begging for food and shelter wherever he went.

One day, by chance, as he was begging on the street as usual, Martial World Austin ran into an acclaimed steward of Sun Sect who was responsible for seeking talented people and recruiting promising disciples.

At the steward's request, Austin showed him what he had learned. Experiencing so many hardships and encountering various kinds of people while begging, he had acquired some level of capability to protect himself and keep himself from harm's way. The acclaimed steward was very impressed by his performance. He brought him to Sun Sect, and from that day, he formally became an outer disciple of Sun Sect.

After three years of systematical training, Austin's talent in martial arts was gradually being recognized by all.

In these three years, he had succeeded to climb up to grade nine of the Energy Gathering Realm.

Reaching grade six of the Energy Gathering Realm had been an accomplishment for Austin. And yet, with enough practice he had scaled to grade nine in a short time. He earned a broad range of compliments and was reputed among the top disciples throughout the sect.

In the Prime Martial World, there were five realms in the cultivation base. From lowest to highest, they were the Energy Gathering Realm, Vital Energy Earth Realm, Vital Energy Mysterious Realm, Vital Energy Sky Realm, and Vital Energy Imperial Realm.

Although no one had witnessed it, there was a rumor that there were more realms beyond the Vital Energy Imperial Realm.

At the sect, an annual ranking exam was held for the disciples. The disciples who had won in the exam would be promoted to the next realm.

Austin was quite certain of his success considering his remarkable performance. He did not expect that others were plotting against him. In the end, he was severely beaten and had lost all of the cultivation bases he had accumulated so far.

Along with his severe injury, his mind gradually entered into a deranged state, which was in some way, similar to how Austin of the Earth acted when he lost both his job and his girlfriend. Seeing no hope in Martial World Austin, the sect's management team decided to abolish his position as an outer disciple and demoted him. This was how he became a grunt disciple.

Now, returning back to the reality, after awaking from the three day's unconsciousness and after the battle of those ten larger balls against the eight smaller balls, the body of Austin of Prime Martial World had been occupied by Austin of the Earth. With the mix of the two different memories pouring into his mind like a torrent, the man's head felt like it was being hammered and that it was going to explode. On the one hand, he knew that he was Austin of the Earth, but on the other, he also had the memory of Austin of Prime Martial World.

It was like a person who had the memories of two lifetimes, the memory of his current life and the memory of his past life, which was so weird that it left Austin perplexed.

Knowing the state he was in, and as much as he needed time to adjust, Austin understood that he had to accept the life he was thrown into. So, without fighting it, he decided to look at the whole incident from a positive perspective and tried to steady himself. This decision eased Austin's headache. He gradually felt himself accommodating to this new body.

'Well, it seems impossible to return to Earth for the time being. In that case, I might as well live here as Austin of Prime Martial World.

How unlucky is it that Austin of Prime Martial World and I had been cruelly treated? Now that God has given me another chance, I will grasp it and seize this opportunity.

I will exploit the cultivation talent that this body had achieved in the past to make a better and more wonderful life in Prime Martial World.' Austin studied his body as he reached a decision.

"Tin, you have slept for three whole days. You must be starving. Here! I brought you two steamed buns. They got a little cold on my way here. They might even be a little stale, but it's better than starving. Try and have one of these at least."

After saying that, Evan held out his hands. In each, he held a steamed bun for Austin to take. His request drew Austin back from his trance-like state.

It wasn't until Evan mentioned food that Austin realized how hungry he was. His stomach rumbled at the sight of the steamed buns.

Gingerly, Austin leaned forward and took the buns from Evan's hands. Then, he stuffed one into his mouth and almost gulped it down in one breath. He did not even taste the food.

"Evan, you have been so nice to me. You are the best friend I have. I will never forget your kindness," Austin said as he gazed into Evan's eyes with sincere gratitude.