There would never be people who called me a hero.
They would never call me a righteous man.
Neither would it affect my cultivation journey.
Then so be it.
Mingyin looked up. His body was overloaded with a massive amount of blood. Death was approaching, yet within him burned a hatred he should never have possessed.
This being before him was centuries old, perhaps the only true cultivator who truly understood the essence of the mortal world.
And yet… Mingyin still felt hatred beyond explanation.
He longed for revenge.
For vengeance.
He was not perfect.
He was merely broken, clinging to a belief that had shaped his entire existence.
Mingyin smiled faintly.
"If I were given another chance to awaken… I would not follow my heart."
His eyes darkened.
"I would walk the fallen path… but this time, on my own terms."
His vision blurred.
Then he heard footsteps behind him.
…
"Where the hell am I?"
Mingyin frowned in confusion. He turned his head cautiously, only to realize that his eyes were covered by a blindfold.
Suddenly, he froze.
The floor beneath him felt cold and strangely comforting.
But another presence filled the room—an icy pressure that made his skin crawl.
He stood up instantly.
A hand seized his throat.
"Stay still, lad," a cold voice muttered. "And don't try anything foolish."
The grip loosened.
Standing before him was a middle-aged man with dragon-like features.
The man walked past Mingyin casually before slamming his foot into a massive jade stone nearby.
BOOM!
The stone shattered into pieces.
Behind the broken surface of glass lay the corpse of the same woman who once dreamed of becoming a Dragon Warrior.
Now, half her body had become a rotten dragon skeleton.
She was dead.
The dragon-featured man grabbed the broken chamber and tossed it toward a mountain of corpses.
Every single one of them was dead.
The man narrowed his eyes and spoke coldly:
"Shibai Yun… perhaps we should use this boy for our plan."
A dragon made entirely of smoke drifted nearby.
It laughed.
"Stupid human. You're probably wondering why you were the only one allowed to enter this mountain."
Mingyin forced himself to remain calm. On the outside, he showed only a faint, fearful smile.
"What do you mean… I was chosen?"
The smoke dragon lunged closer.
"Because your soul was chosen by an ancient monster who requires a new body in order to enter the Unknown Realm."
A cold glint appeared within Mingyin's eyes.
So that's it…
The artifact I stole from that man… it was all part of someone else's plan.
His expression darkened.
"And who exactly might that be?"
The dragon-featured man stepped forward slowly.
"Do you remember the man you killed inside the tree house?"
Mingyin's eyes widened.
His mouth slowly opened in shock.
Then a softer voice echoed through the chamber:
"You thought you tricked him into dying… but in truth, everything happened according to plan."
Mingyin's breathing became rough.
His memories of countless regressions trembled violently.
They began collapsing.
Thirty thousand years of experience remained… while the rest vanished into darkness.
Even after a billion regressions… I still fell into such a stupid trap.
Mingyin lowered his head bitterly.
"So even now… I'm still the same foolish, kind-hearted Mingyin."
"…Still crawling beneath the mortal world."
Meanwhile…
Tensei Jin, the Sage Artist, and the leader of the Second Group of the Lien Tribe Inheritance walked through a narrow tunnel made entirely of glass.
Fog drifted endlessly behind the transparent walls.
The staircase beneath them was made of ancient cobblestone covered in dust.
Rou Wei turned around with a grin.
"My ugly old geezer, how is the situation in Renewal City?"
The old man in the purple robe smiled faintly.
"Currently, Yao Ming has made a foolish decision. He has allied himself with Renewal and is attempting to awaken the ancestor of Region Continent… all to raise Renewal to the Apex Rank."
He sighed.
"But doing so will trigger a terrifying world tribulation."
Rou Wei laughed comfortably.
"Haha! That fool is as stupid as ever. Even I'm smarter—and far more handsome."
The immortals nearby exchanged strange looks.
One among them stood out the most.
He possessed long raven-black hair and wore a dark purple silk tunic with a leather sash around his waist.
Five green jade stones floated silently over his shoulder.
His hand rested inside his pocket.
Unlike the others, he never laughed.
The rest of the immortals crowded around Tensei Jin, fascinated by him.
Tensei Jin himself acted carefree, constantly making the group laugh.
Only this man remained silent.
His name was Shinin Sask.
Shinin Sask lowered his gaze quietly.
Then he crossed his arms.
"Tensei Jin…"
"So my father was right. The Half Spirit of the Blood Lord truly is the enemy of my ancestors."
…
Mingyin stood silently.
Even though he could not see, he felt an unbearable coldness surrounding him.
A coldness that could not be explained.
He laughed bitterly.
Then he sighed and bit his lip before slowly letting go.
And in that moment, he realized something.
He was not merely letting go of the pain in his lips.
He was letting go of his suffering.
His self-hatred.
His rejection of himself.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"After my final regression… I spent so long drowning myself in negativity.
As he look up his smile appearing "
"I obsessed over my family… over emotions… over betrayal."
"I was once just an ordinary person from Earth."
"I experienced greed, hatred, lust, selfishness… everything humanity could offer."
"But I never understood what it truly meant to be a cultivator."
He looked upward calmly.
"It doesn't matter if yesterday still haunts me."
"It doesn't matter how many times I was betrayed."
"What matters… is that I am still myself."
"And I can still change."
Mingyin slowly stood up.
Instead of hatred, his expression became calm.
"For the first time… I will truly love myself."
"I cultivated for billions of years because some part of me always wanted to survive."
"Only those who value themselves can continue walking through endless pain."
He clenched his fist gently.
"It doesn't matter what people think of me."
"It doesn't matter how foolish I once was."
"All that matters is improvement."
"My will shall become steel."
"And my soul will burn like the sun itself. Casting it shadow without any regard "
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"And if I die after failing…"
"…then it is what it is."
This was mingiyn true nature