In the darkness, there was only emptiness. But within that void, a consciousness—one that had once slaughtered gods and trampled worlds—began to reform.
Fang Zhou Ren opened his eyes.
The sky above him was not the demonic sky he once knew. The familiar scent of blood and sulfur was gone. In its place, a blue sky stretched above, and the distant sound of children practicing swordplay echoed in the air.
He looked up, his gaze indifferent. His body—light. His neck—easily moved. This body... young.
"Fifteen... years old?"
His hand trembled slightly. Beneath the pale blue robes of a new disciple of the Eastern Wind Sect, his skin was smooth again. No scars from eternal wars. No cursed Gu tattoos.
But when he closed his eyes, all the memories remained.
Ten thousand years of life. Thousands of worlds conquered. The Time Gu he planted in the heart of a primordial dragon. The Karma Gu he carved from the soul of a sacred king. The divine bodies he slew to forge the Endless Soul Gu.
They once called him:
The Eternal Gu Demon
Heaven's Bane
The Demon from the Far East
And now... he was once again a weak disciple in a forgotten sect.
Fang Zhou Ren stood slowly.
In the distance, disciples sat in lotus position, absorbing heavenly qi. He sneered.
Heaven Supreme?
You think that's the peak?
My Gu devoured the concept of time itself.
Suddenly, a sharp pain bloomed in his chest. He opened his robes—at the center of his chest, a small black Gu squirmed, like a nightmare insect. Its eyes glowed with ancient blood-red light, and illusionary mist of time swirled around it.
It was Chrono-Gu—his legendary Time Gu. It had returned with him. But weakened.
"Interesting..."
"So even time couldn't resist my will for vengeance."
Just then, the door burst open.
A smug-faced disciple barged in. "Fang Zhou Ren! It's your turn to clean the training hall today!"
Fang Zhou Ren didn't answer. He stared at the boy.
In the future... you will lead thirty sects to hunt me.
And I will kill every last one of you, sealing your wife within a cursed Gu.
He smiled faintly. "Sure, I'll clean the training hall…"
"But soon, I'll cleanse your soul from history."
The arrogant boy laughed, pleased that Fang Zhou Ren was following orders. "Hurry up! If an elder sees the floor still dirty, you're dead!"
In his past life, that boy was Qin Jie—future leader of the Heavenly Sword Sect, a man who once rallied a grand alliance to chase him into the spirit realm.
A future legend.
But now? He hadn't even reached Core Formation.
Fang Zhou Ren watched Qin Jie walk away with a faint smirk—not a warm smile, but the cold grin of an executioner sharpening his blade.
They think I'm dead.
But I've returned to where it all began.
This time, I won't be the one hunted...
The world will kneel.
He arrived at the training hall—an open space with a stone altar in the center, worn spiritual symbols fading into the ground. This was where lower-ranked disciples trained every morning.
He sat in the corner, touching the earth.
"This formation... weak. But repairable."
With a stroke of his finger, he etched a foreign pattern. The ancient formation flickered, reacting as if it recognized an old master.
Then, from behind the altar, a soft voice spoke.
"Who… who are you, really?"
Fang Zhou Ren didn't need to look. He knew the voice. Lin Yue—the only disciple who never belittled him. In the past, she died defending him when the world turned on him.
He paused, then spoke quietly:
"Just someone who doesn't like being bound by heaven."
Lin Yue's eyes narrowed. She felt it—something indescribable. An ancient power, older than the sect, older than the world itself, sleeping within Fang Zhou Ren.
"Your qi… it's strange," she whispered.
Fang Zhou Ren stood.
He gazed at the noon sky, as if piercing the clouds to glimpse ten thousand years of memories.
Then, in a calm voice, he said:
"Today I sweep the floor..."
"But tomorrow, I'll sweep away your history."
He walked slowly down a damp corridor toward the cleaning supply room. Moss clung to the walls. The sect wasn't grand, nor divine—a mere third-rate sect barely remembered in history.
Perfect, he thought.
To him, this sect was an ant atop the mountain of corpses he once climbed. But he knew… it was always from forgotten corners that great destruction began.
As he passed, a senior disciple, Lu Xiang, stuck out a leg, nearly tripping him.
"Still blind, you worthless bug?" Lu Xiang sneered, laughing with three other disciples.
To them, Fang Zhou Ren was weak, talentless, a burden on the sect.
And in his youth… he had been.
But now? They were mocking the demon who once tore the heavens apart.
Fang Zhou Ren didn't retaliate. He simply looked at them with a deadpan gaze and whispered:
"I'll clean the ground you walk on… just not yet."
Lu Xiang's laughter faltered. Something in that voice—cold, dry, like metal scraping bone—unnerved him. But before he could respond, Fang Zhou Ren had already vanished down the hall.
The Gu Storage Room
Inside the storage room, dust and mildew greeted him. He locked the door, sat in a corner, and lifted his robe.
Beneath his left chest, a small bluish-black Gu stirred. Unlike any ordinary Gu, this was an immortal creation: Chrono-Gu—legendary, forbidden, and terrifying.
No one in this world remembered his Gu.
But he remembered them all:
Chrono-Gu—to fold time.
Soul-Eater Gu—to devour souls and strengthen his own.
Blood Echo Gu—to store and reflect enemy power.
And the most feared: Sky-Defier Gu—Gu that nullified the laws of heaven.
He had sealed them all within his body before breaching time itself.
Now, as he summoned each with sacred hand signs, he realized—they were dormant.
"Of course... Time has disrupted the synchronization. This body is too weak."
Currently, he was at Qi Condensation—far from forming a proper Gu Core. He needed energy. He needed fuel.
He needed… soul and blood.
From his side pouch, he pulled a ragged bag containing a spare Bone Gu—a Gu used to store simple spiritual formations.
Placing it on the floor, he activated a Low-Grade Soul Refinement Formation.
"With this, I can absorb lingering soul remnants from disciples who died during past trials."
The room trembled faintly. The Bone Gu glowed. A gray mist swirled in the air. Fang Zhou Ren closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
Slowly, his body absorbed soul fog.
"Little by little… all my Gu will awaken."
Return to the Training Hall
By the time he returned, the hall buzzed with activity. Disciples gathered to await Elder Wang—the sect's discipline enforcer.
Fang Zhou Ren stood in the back, scanning the crowd. Everything was as he remembered. The second stage of the entrance trial would begin soon. A time when disciples challenged each other to reach Core Formation.
In the past, he failed here—his soul too weak, his spiritual core shattered.
Now? His soul and core were the least of his concerns.
Elder Wang appeared in flowing robes, formation staff in hand. "In three days, the advancement trial will begin. Those who fail will be expelled."
The crowd stirred with anxiety—many had failed for years.
"If you're not ready… don't waste my time."
His gaze swept the crowd, landing on Fang Zhou Ren.
"You included, Fang Zhou Ren. If you fail this time, you're out. No exceptions."
A few snickers rose from the crowd. Fang Zhou Ren just smiled.
"In my past life… you died trying to kill me in secret."
"This time, I'll break you slowly."
Nightfall: A Whisper from Chrono-Gu
That night, while others slept, Fang Zhou Ren sat cross-legged in his room. He opened his chest again. Chrono-Gu stirred.
For the first time since his return, a faint voice echoed in his mind.
[Master… time moves again. Fresh blood is required.]
"Yes. In three days, I'll feed you."
Chrono-Gu buzzed—like a cracked clock ready to burst.
"And after that… history will change."
A Glimpse of the Future (10,000 Years Ahead)
On a battlefield littered with the corpses of gods and demons, Fang Zhou Ren stood atop a mountain of skulls.
"Heaven rejected my Gu… But what is heaven, if I can kill time itself?"
He drove the Chrono-Gu into his own heart.
"Take me back. I will destroy the world... from the very beginning."
Back to the Present
Three days until the trial.
Three days until rebirth.
And an unsuspecting world… unaware that its greatest demon had returned as a useless boy.