Chapter 1: Rebirth

Tianling Dynasty.

The Royal Ancestral Hall.

Inside the solemn and majestic hall, a thick scent of blood permeated the air.

A silver cage stood in the center of the hall, trapping a woman inside.

She lay on the ground, curled into a ball, her body trembling slightly. Her magnificent palace attire had been soaked through with blood, and the end of her skirt was eerily hollow—her feet had been hacked off by someone!

The sound of footsteps approached, and Shangguan Yue struggled to lift her head to look.

A familiar face came into view!

Her heart shuddered violently: for the person arriving was her fiancé, whom she was to marry in a few days—Jiang Yucheng!

"Shangguan Yue, how does it feel to have your Origin Power dissipate and become a useless cripple?"

Shangguan Yue looked at him in disbelief

"It's... you!"

Jiang Yucheng smiled faintly

"Every day for the past three years, when I brewed Snow Tea for you, I added a bit of Essence Dissolving Powder. Did it taste good?"

Shangguan Yue froze for a moment, then let out a desolate laugh.

Ha, she had thought it was the sincere affection of a good man, but she never knew that from the very beginning, he wanted her life!

The expression on her face gradually turned cold

"Jiang Yucheng, do you know what crime it is to plot against an Imperial Princess!"

Jiang Yucheng smiled without speaking, and another female voice rang out in the hall.

"Sister, at a time like this, do you still think you are some high and mighty Imperial Princess?"

Shangguan Yue snapped her head around to look; a graceful woman was approaching.

It was her third sister, whom she had always doted on most—Shangguan Wan!

The face that usually carried a weak and timid expression was now filled with undisguised arrogance and triumph!

"A whole day and night, your blood is almost drained. Who else can come to save you? Your gravely ill Father, or your Thirteen Yue Guards far away at the border?"

Shangguan Yue's heart sank into an icy abyss

"Father's grave illness... was your doing!?"

She feared that even the Thirteen Yue Guards had been deliberately sent away by them!

Shangguan Wan blinked, lightly patted her chest, and looked at Jiang Yucheng with a coquettish air

"Yucheng, Sister is so fierce, Wan'er is so scared."

Jiang Yucheng smiled and gave her waist a squeeze.

"What is there to fear? She is nothing more than a cripple now. As long as we use her blood to nourish your Origin Veins, your talent will surely increase greatly in the future. When that time comes, won't everything belong to you?"

Shangguan Wan looked at her with jealousy and hatred

"Sister, you were born with the Heavenly Scripture Origin Veins, a noble Heavenly Mandate Imperial Princess. The best of everything was yours! But... on what grounds!? Is it just because your mother was the Empress, while my mother was merely a concubine!?"

She was unwilling! Therefore, she wanted to snatch everything belonging to Shangguan Yue!

"Don't worry, the man you love most, your future throne—your younger sister will take good care of them all for you!"

Shangguan Yue felt as if something were choking her chest; her entire being felt as if it were about to explode!

The two people she trusted most had betrayed her together!

Shangguan Wan admired her expression of agony, but as if it were still not enough, she said softly

"By the way, Sister, for the sake of how you've looked after me all these years, I will certainly send you on your way properly. I hope you can reunite with your short-lived Mother and younger brother soon~"

Every word was like a thunderclap, exploding in Shangguan Yue's ears!

Could it be that Mother and her young brother's deaths in the frozen lake years ago were not accidents?

"You don't know, when Seventh Brother died, he was still calling out for his sister..."

"Shangguan Wan!"

Shangguan Yue let out a fierce cry!

To strike at Father, to betray her, to hack off her feet, and to imprison her here—these were already deep grievances!

However, she never expected that her most beloved mother and most cherished brother had also died at their hands!

Her crimson eyes stared deathly at the two of them, like a vengeful ghost from hell! In the next moment, a frenzied crimson flame swept forth!

Shangguan Yue had actually triggered the self-combustion of her internal Heavenly Scripture Origin Veins!

A fireball the size of a dragon's eye instantly flew out, piercing directly through Shangguan Wan's dantian!

Shangguan Wan immediately felt her own Origin Veins beginning to burn! She screamed in panic—

"My Origin Veins!"

Although Jiang Yucheng narrowly avoided it, half of his right arm was sliced straight off!

"If there is a next life... this grudge—shall be repaid!"

Every word was like a curse!

No one saw that upon the bloodstains on the table, a strange rune suddenly surfaced and vanished in an instant!

...

In the 1,653rd year of the Tianling Dynasty, the Imperial Princess Shangguan Yue passed away due to cultivation deviation.

...

Pain!

Bone-deep pain!

Flesh was being torn, and scorching flames were burning!

A blurred voice suddenly entered her ears.

"Hehe, Big Brother, although this little girl is skin and bones, her face is a true beauty. It would be a bit of a waste to just kill her like this, wouldn't it?"

"Exactly! Big Brother, she is the Eldest Miss of the Chu family after all. If we play with her... it'll definitely be different!"

"Tch, what Eldest Miss?! A cripple with even incomplete Origin Veins? The entire Chu family considers her a stain!"

"Big Brother, anyway the Third Miss only said to make her disappear forever. Once we've finished our business, we can just set a fire, right? Can anyone from the Chu family come looking for her?"

Fire?

Fire!

A sharp pain shot through Shangguan Yue's brain, and she snapped her eyes open!

Under the piercing sunlight, a man with a vulgar face was reaching his hand toward her chest!

"You seek death!"

Shangguan Yue let out a fierce cry, but suddenly realized that her voice was completely different from before!

Her throat was hoarse, as if she hadn't had water for a long time, but it wasn't hard to tell that this sounded like the voice of a girl no more than twelve or thirteen!

But she had no time to think deeply; she immediately grabbed the man's wrist! She snapped it violently! At the same time, she delivered a kick!

"Ah—"

A shrill scream rang out in the forest!

The man was caught off guard and was instantly kicked back, and his hand was held in a bizarre position—his wrist had been snapped clean off!

"Big Brother!"

The two men behind him were startled and rushed to support him. Seeing that he was actually injured, they were shocked and turned to look at the young girl.

What happened?!

Chu Liuyue was the famously useless trash of the Chu family, possessing no combat ability whatsoever; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to knock her unconscious and bring her to this Misty Forest so easily!

But now—she had actually broken Big Brother's hand!

"You little bitch, you dare lay a hand on me, Song Lian!? I think you're the one seeking death! Second, Third, go grab her for me!"

"Yes!"

Despite their confusion, they didn't think much and rushed forward—

All three of them were Second-order Martial Artists. How could a mere Chu Liuyue be their match? They must have seen a ghost just now!

Watching the two men surrounding her, Shangguan Yue's eyes narrowed slightly, a dark light flashing in her pupils.

Then, she actually charged straight toward the two of them!

Just as the three were about to clash head-on, the two men swung their blades simultaneously!

Shangguan Yue seemed to have anticipated this; she suddenly bent down, shifted her footing, and rushed right in front of one of the men!

At point-blank range!

Then, she easily seized the man's wrist and pressed down hard on a certain spot!

A sudden sense of weakness surged from his wrist, and the man's blade stopped dead right above the girl's head!

Shangguan Yue's eyes were cold as she pivoted! The blade turned in reverse, directly slicing off the man's head!

Warm, stinking blood splashed across her face! She didn't even blink!

Thud!

She released her hand expressionlessly, and the decapitated man crashed to the ground!

A cold wind swept in from behind!

Without even turning her head, she swung her blade backward!

The man who had intended to sneak attack widened his eyes; before his blade could fall, he had already been cut in half at the waist!

Thud!

The clean cut at the waist was bone-chilling!

Song Lian looked at everything happening before him in shock, his heart filled with terror—

What was happening?

Chu Liuyue had actually killed two Second-order Martial Artists in the blink of an eye!

"Chu... Chu Liuyue!? Are you crazy!?"

Because of fear, Song Lian's voice became much shriller.

Shangguan Yue turned around to look at the man who had originally intended to kill her, her brow furrowing slightly.

She didn't know these three, and furthermore, they were too weak.

To kill her, they would need to send at least an Eighth-order Martial Artist. But now...

Wait!

Wasn't she already dead?

In the Royal Ancestral Hall, murdered by the joint efforts of Jiang Yucheng and Shangguan Wan!

Then now—

She suddenly looked down at the hand holding the blade.

These were small, slender hands, but because of years of manual labor, they were covered in many calluses.

These were not her hands!

And that man just called her... Chu Liuyue!?

Her gaze shifted as she quickly connected the preceding events.

"Did the Third Miss send you to kill me?"

Song Lian wanted to seize an opportunity to kill Chu Liuyue, but seeing the two previous men die miserably, although he didn't know what kind of evil had possessed Chu Liuyue, he didn't dare to act rashly for the moment.

With a shift in thought, his expression changed, and he actually knelt down, wailing

"Yes! Yes! It was all ordered by the Third Miss! She told us to kidnap you while you were out shopping! She said as long as we made you disappear without a trace, she would give us six hundred taels of silver! Eldest Miss, please spare me! I was just confused for a moment, Eldest Miss!"

Eldest Miss?

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Yue suddenly felt a headache, as if something was churning wildly inside her!

The intense pain caused her to stumble back a step, her face turning deathly pale.

Song Lian glanced at her, his eyes turning vicious.

Might as well go all the way! Now is the time!

"Die!"

With a fierce shout, he suddenly stood up and rushed toward Shangguan Yue!

The strength in his body also suddenly became stronger than before!

—It turned out he had already advanced to a Third-order Martial Artist!

However, just as he was about to reach Shangguan Yue, a blade pierced through his chest first!

It was the blade in Shangguan Yue's hand!

Song Lian looked down in disbelief.

How could... Chu Liuyue... become so strong so suddenly?

He would never know the answer.

Bang!

The last one was also slain!

Silence fell upon the forest.

If not for the three corpses on the ground, no one would have thought that a girl with such a frail frame could possess such terrifying strength!

Shangguan Yue leaned against a tree. Only after the intense pain gradually subsided did she realize that another person's memories had appeared in her mind.

After sorting everything out, she slowly opened her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

It turned out she had been reborn into the body of this girl named Chu Liuyue.

Chu Liuyue, the Eldest Miss of the Chu family—one of the four great families of the Yaochen Kingdom.

Calling her the Eldest Miss was a stretch; in reality, her life was worse than that of a servant. Because her Origin Veins were naturally incomplete and she could not cultivate, she was regarded as the disgrace of the Chu family.

Chu Liuyue's mother had died when she was very young. Her father, Chu Ning, was originally the best candidate to be the next head of the Chu family, but after being seriously injured a few years ago, his status in the family had plummeted.

Thus, it was not hard to imagine how much bullying Chu Liuyue had endured since childhood.

The so-called Third Miss of the Chu family who wanted to kill her was the daughter of her second uncle, Chu Yao—Chu Xianmin.

And the reason she wanted to wipe Chu Liuyue out was—Chu Liuyue held an engagement!

An engagement with the current Crown Prince of the Yaochen Kingdom—Rong Jin!

Chu Liuyue would be fourteen in another month, and the formal engagement ceremony was to be held then!

In fact, it wasn't just Chu Xianmin; there were countless others secretly wanting her life!

Shangguan Yue stood up, and a slow smile curled onto her pale lips.

If she remembered correctly, the Yaochen Kingdom was one of the vassal states of the Tianling Dynasty!

Heaven had not abandoned her!

From this moment on, she was Chu Liuyue!

The debts of her past life, in this life, shall be repaid a hundredfold!