Dao Tian sat cross-legged, his gaze listless as he stared at the sky. His hair was a brittle, frost-white mess, and his breathing was so faint it seemed he might depart this world at any moment.
"Why didn't I leave back then?" Dao Tian narrowed his eyes at the artificial sky and let out a soft sigh.
Long ago, there was a poor youth who sought a chance to become one of those lofty, exalted immortals.
He braved countless hardships, approaching sect after sect, yet none would take him in because of his inferior aptitude.
Decades passed. The youth from back then was now in his fifties, but nothing could halt his footsteps.
He refused to be discouraged by the words of others. Even if it killed him, he would never stop.
He caught whispers about the existence of elixirs. He believed that if he could just create one, he could finally cultivate.
On a nameless mountain, he accidentally stumbled into a strange dimension.
A massive stone stele stood there, inscribed with lines of glowing golden text: "Reach the pinnacle, if you are willing to pay the price."
For the Dao Tian of that time, simply being able to cultivate would have been the greatest joy of his life, let alone aspiring to the summit.
Inside this space, the spiritual energy was exceptionally dense. A mediocrity like him could cultivate here as efficiently as the most gifted genius outside.
Moreover, there were countless ancient manuals, alchemy methods, and cultivation techniques… enough resources, it seemed, to propel him to the very peak.
But as the years flowed by, when he finally touched that supposed peak, he realized it was as fake as the sky above his head.
He was just one step short. Yet that single step felt wider than all the effort of his entire life. He was powerless, utterly alone. The freedom he had once taken for granted was now gone, trapped as he was in this place.
All of it, exchanged for a false summit. He… could not accept it.
"Though this was my choice back then… Damn it, where is this 'pinnacle' you promised? I'm clearly just one step away! None of the ancient records here mention a tenth realm, yet I can feel it, right there before me!" Dao Tian gritted his teeth, the weakness in his eyes now consumed by raging flames.
But after just a few breaths, he sighed again. There was no one here to answer him. The endless, solitary passage of time had made him lose track of the years and months altogether.
"Whatever. I'm going to die anyway. Might as well try one last time."
Dao Tian slowly rose to his feet, his gaze resolute, deciding that this would be the final moment of his life.
Crackle, crackle, CRACKLE!
Bolts of lightning erupted from all over his body, growing increasingly powerful until they coalesced into a majestic lightning dragon.
From his glabella, an electric cudgel materialized in his hand.
He swung the cudgel through the air a few times, the colossal thunder dragon coiling around it, forming black lightning arcs brimming with destructive power.
The surrounding space trembled, and a spiderweb of cracks appeared. However, the outermost barrier didn't show a single scratch.
"Ah, I've clearly become this strong, yet it still feels like a grasshopper trying to shake a tree," Dao Tian let out a sigh, feeling somewhat ridiculous about his current situation.
Contrary to his words, his hand still gripped the cudgel tightly, not loosening for a second. This was his final act of defiance against the goal that had defined his life.
Judgment of the Lightning Monarch!
Dao Tian clenched the cudgel with both hands and swung it fiercely. The mighty thunder dragon shot straight towards the sky.
The annihilating black lightning, accompanied by an ear-splitting roar, shattered the space around it. The impenetrable barrier that had stood firm for countless years now began to show a network of fissures.
His eyes widened in disbelief at the bizarre scene unfolding before him. He had tried countless times—thousands, tens of thousands, so many he'd lost count—but never once had he caused any damage.
"Haha! Let me go crazy one last time! I will shatter this damned barrier!" Dao Tian screamed through gritted teeth. Torrents of spiritual power surged forth from him endlessly.
A smile, unseen for who knows how many years, finally reappeared on his face.
This time, he would succeed. He had to smash this place that had imprisoned him for so long and finally vent this pent-up fury!
CRACK... CRACK!
The fissures spread rapidly, and then the entire barrier shattered. The already devastated surrounding space could no longer hold on and completely collapsed.
In such a terrifying environment, forget about life, even any form of matter that fell into it would be torn apart into its most minute components.
"Hahahaha! I smashed it! I finally smashed that damned barrier!" Dao Tian laughed heartily, his arms now hanging limply at his sides.
His body, which didn't have long to live anyway, had been pushed to its absolute limit this time, causing the little time he had left to drain away even faster.
'If only I could have another chance at life...' This final thought flashed through his mind. In this life, he still had regrets.
His consciousness faded, and his gaze quickly turned vacant. His already weakened body was torn apart by the violent aftermath of the explosion and vanished into the void.
...
"Hahaha, hurry up and beat this trash up for me! Anyone who dares to get close to my goddess must pay the price!"
A grating voice, sounding like some arrogant thug, rang in Dao Tian's ears. Moreover, he had the distinct feeling that his whole body was aching slightly.
He opened his eyes. In front of him were several youths wearing uniforms. They were just of a very strange style, unlike the robes of the cultivation sect disciples he had seen in the past.
Before he could utter a single word, those young men raised their feet and started relentlessly kicking him in the face.
Even though his eyes' reflexes were inexplicably slow now, Dao Tian believed he could still quickly deal with this bunch.
He flicked two fingers...
???
'Where is my lightning? Where is my world-destroying thunder?'
Dao Tian's eyes widened in shock, unable to process this bizarre situation.
A foot planted itself firmly on his face, leaving a large imprint. Blood gushed from his nose. His mind, which hadn't been clear to begin with, was now even more dazed and ringing.
'Damn it, which bastard is kicking me?' Dao Tian roared inwardly before everything went black and he lost consciousness.