Red Wine Mountain—where even the wind dared not linger too long.
The summit was cloaked in crimson mist, as if soaked in the blood of history. Here, legends whispered of battles lost and sins too great to bury. And now, two figures stood at the peak, locked in a moment fate had carved with fire.
One of them, a white-haired man in flowing robes, exuded a cold, crushing aura. His sharp brown eyes scanned the stranger with suspicion. He was Yun Lin—the Red Wine Sage. Revered. Feared.
The other was younger. A black-haired swordsman, silent as stone. A crimson blade rested at his side. His eyes held no anger—only a quiet, smoldering rage that seemed older than his years.
"Who are you?" Yun Lin's voice was sharp. "How did you reach the peak of my mountain?"
The swordsman took a step forward.
"You don't remember me," he said, calm as a still lake. "But I remember everything."
He paused, the wind swirling around his dark silhouette.
"I was ten the day you slaughtered my clan. You murdered my father—Feng Lin, the Evil Swordsman—before my eyes."
Yun Lin's composure cracked. His brows furrowed. "You… You're Feng Lin's son?"
The swordsman smirked.
"My name is Feng Yun. And I've come to bury your legend."
His hand twitched. The crimson blade hissed from its sheath.
CLANG!
Yun Lin barely blocked in time. Sparks exploded. The shockwave cracked the stone beneath their feet.
BANG!
Both men were flung backward. Yun Lin regained balance, eyes narrowed. "How… How did you match me?"
Feng Yun rolled his shoulders, hiding the tremor in his arm. "Looks like legends are exaggerations after all."
Yun Lin noticed the tremble.
He vanished in a blur—
SWOOSH!
—reappearing behind Feng Yun, blade slicing toward his spine.
SLASH!
Feng Yun twisted. Too close. A few strands of hair floated to the ground.
"Predictable," he whispered.
Then, he vanished.
A cold voice whispered behind Yun Lin's ear:
"You never saw it coming."
BANG!
A burst of Sword Qi erupted from Feng Yun's fingertip, piercing straight through Yun Lin's chest.
The Red Wine Sage staggered back, clutching his wound as blood poured out. "Y-You… Sword Qi? Only Deity Transformation cultivators can—"
Feng Yun approached.
Yun Lin's mind raced.
And then he understood.
"The Bloody Pill… You took it…?"
Feng Yun's smirk faded.
"I did."
Yun Lin laughed—a bitter, broken sound. "You fool. You've traded your future for a corpse."
Feng Yun raised his blade.
"Then I'll drag you to hell with me."
SHINK.
The blade pierced Yun Lin's heart.
His body collapsed.
The legend was dead.
Feng Yun stood over the corpse. Breathing heavy. Empty.
It was over.
But not without cost.
Pain bloomed in his chest. His knees hit the stone. His vision blurred.
His fingers brushed his cheek.
Red.
Blood.
"So this is… the cost," he whispered.
The strength that fueled him burned out. His body gave way.
He collapsed beside the man he'd killed.
And the world went black.
A cold, soundless void.
Feng Yun lay motionless. He felt no heartbeat. No breath. No weight.
Just awareness in a place that should not allow it.
"I died," he whispered. The words felt distant. Hollow.
But then—why was he still here?
He sat up slowly. His limbs moved, but they weren't truly his. His Qi was gone. His sense of the world—a blank slate. No north, no ground, no sky.
He walked.
Each step echoed without sound.
Time passed—minutes, hours, eternities. He sat again. "Five hours? Or five centuries?"
Then a voice echoed through the void.
"Done wandering, little ghost?"
Feng Yun stood up at once, fists clenched. "Who are you?!"
The voice was deep. Mocking. Ancient. "No need to shout. I simply caught your soul before it scattered."
"You caught me?" Feng Yun frowned. "Why?"
"You intrigue me. That's all. But if you wish to leave, be my guest. I'll open the gate of the abyss. Step through—and your soul will cease to exist."
Feng Yun went still.
"So I'm dead. And this… this is mercy?"
"Of a sort," the voice said.
Silence fell again.
Feng Yun exhaled slowly. "What do you want?"
Laughter.
"Smart. Here's the offer—one task. Complete it, and you'll have a second life. A new body. In a new world."
Light bloomed.
A golden box floated before him.
"Inside is a seed," the voice continued. "Plant it in the central world I send you to. And your soul will be reborn."
Feng Yun narrowed his eyes. "I don't deal with shadows. Show yourself."
"You'll have proof," the voice said, amused.
A glowing scroll appeared before him, floating in midair.
"A contract. Binding by soul. If I break it, I die. If you fail your task—you die. Simple enough?"
Feng Yun read the terms carefully.
And signed.
"I accept."
The contract vanished in flame. The golden box landed in his hands.
He looked into the abyss one last time.
"This time," he whispered, "I won't live for vengeance."
His eyes burned.
"I'll walk the path of the seeker. The path of absolute domination."
Light swallowed him whole.
And his second life began.