The Land of Zhu, a large and prosperous expanse of greenery, mountains, swamps, deserts and plains.
That great land also housed what was known as the Vermillion Continent, the house of many sects and families, dozens of kingdoms and even one great empire.
All of them were living in relative peace, only disturbed occasionally by the usual small strife.
But they all unified against one main threat... The many Demon Beasts that housed the oceans surrounding their Grand Continent.
The nests that constantly appeared within their forests and mountains also didn't help, so the interference of cultivators, and bloodshed was a daily occurrence.
But it was exactly thanks to the Demonic Beasts that the Vermillion Continent was as peaceful as it was.
The many forces of that plane couldn't even afford to start wars with each other because of the constant threat of Demonic Invasion.
It was in that grand continent, and in one of the smaller kingdoms within it, that the Mo Family sprouted from the earth.
A noble family that started purely thanks to the achievements of its ancestor.
A great man who was said to have repelled an army of beasts from their small Guozhi Kingdom around 1000 years in the past.
In his later years, he was touted to have assisted the royal line found the Kingdom in the first place, and he had pledged his loyalty to it as well.
He paved the foundation for a great family to sprout within that small Kingdom, providing them with powerful Martial Arts and techniques gained from a lucky encounter in his youth.
But even the strongest foundation could crack with time.
The glory of the family was waning, as their current heir and oldest son, Mo Yongliang, was considered nothing more than a waste of food and air.
But it wasn't a waste due to lack of talent or because he treated others badly. It was rather the opposite, he treated everyone relatively well.
But he seemed to have a deep distaste for exercise and cultivation in general.
And in a world where being a mortal was a sin, being born into a prestigious cultivation family and choosing to be a mortal was considered a sin deserving of death.
But Yongliang's father, Mo Weisheng, was the current Head of the family, so he was able to protect his oldest son from harm for the longest of time.
Mo Yongliang was known for his strikingly handsome appearance, often seen in elegant attire with his long hair styled in a top bun and a braided ponytail cascading down his back.
He enjoyed wearing jewellery and shied away from building muscle, as he preferred to maintain his delicate and attractive appearance.
He also was said to love flaunting his wealth. But it wasn't in an impertinent way, his parents had at least raised him better than that.
No, he flaunted his wealth by constantly giving tips to every restaurant he went to. The other mortals loved him dearly, his presence bringing them both profits and a good atmosphere.
But at the end of the day, he was still a mortal, so those who had stepped into the path of immortality all despised him for wasting his talents and choosing to just play around.
One such immortal was his Fiancee. The most beautiful young girl in the entire Guozhi Kingdom, and the Third Princess, Guo Cuifen.
She was also a talented cultivator and she despised the idea of having to marry an unworthy mortal.
Eventually, after they both reached 16, she broke the engagement as he had shown absolutely no progress in his cultivation.
She also didn't wish to get married anytime soon, as she wanted to pursue cultivation earnestly instead, so it was a rather easy decision for her.
The Mo family tried to dispute it, but they were unable to keep the engagement as even the King, Guo Zhu, agreed to break it up.
In the end, Mo Weisheng had no choice but to accept that the engagement was not going to happen.
This was what led to the entire Mo family eventually denouncing Yangling and throwing him to the curb.
His Father was locked in a struggle for power with all of the other Elders, and he ended up unable to save his oldest son.
Mo Yangling was banished from the family, the elders all citing that he was nothing more than a waste of resources and that a mere mortal didn't deserve to stand in the same courtyard as them.
The young teen fled through the forests, a backpack slung over his shoulder, tears in his eyes and jewellery dangling from his neck.
One would be able to guess that such an inexperienced and naive young man carrying expensive clothing and accessories would quickly become a target for bandits.
And that was exactly what happened in the end.
Mo Yangling's frail body was left with nothing more than his underwear, stabbed through the heart in the middle of the woods.
Anything he had was stolen except for a small knife, which was only stripped of whatever gemstones were on it and thrown into his head.
"Hmm..." That was when 'He' woke up.
He felt pain all over his body, he felt weakened, as if he didn't even have the strength to lift his own body from the cold earth beneath him.
He grunted a bit, only to realize that even his voice felt... Weaker? Certainly less manly, almost like he had returned to his teenage years...
His eyes trailed upwards, only to widen slightly when noticing the knife that was sticking out of his skull.
'Now, that's a new one...'
But he was no stranger to pain, it was rather the opposite, he didn't panic at all.
He then looked down at his body, only to notice a... Bleeding scar?
It didn't seem quite right, but it was what looked like a gaping hole in his chest, which was closed up but still had blood around it. Fresh and wet to the touch.
That gave him a rather reckless idea, he moved his arm, which he noted looked like a twig compared to his previous stature, and pulled out the knife that was stuck in his forehead.
With a sickening crunch, the blade of the knife slid out of his skull, he felt the wound open and his skull crack a bit.
"Hmm..." He hummed as he felt his entire head burning, he grit his teeth as he grasped the handle of the knife.
He then placed his other palm on his forehead, and he felt that the wound had already closed.
'Is this... Enlightenment? Why am I alive?'
Luke, or Monk Niu, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain his bearings and understand his current situation better.
That was when it happened.
A head-splitting pain completely burned at his mind, it was as if his brain was bouncing around in his skull.
Even with his resistance, the Monk couldn't help but scowl and pant as he grasped at his head for a few minutes, rolling around in the dirt.
And it was during that pain that they rushed in... Memories of a life he hadn't even known he had lived.
The knowledge of Mo Yangling, his desires, his aspirations, his wishes and dreams.
And most importantly... His emotions.
Anguish, hatred, fear.
All feelings that had been on the mind of Mo Yangling during his last moments. They were so strong that they left the Monk rather stunned.
'How could the emotions of someone so young be so intense?'
But he didn't allow himself to be led or changed by those emotions, he didn't allow them to affect his thoughts.
It didn't take long for the Monk to put everything together. And only then did he also understand more about the land he was on.
'I'm in a different world, a world where cultivation is real, where the energy of the world and cosmos can be observed and understood!'
It was a thrilling thought, so mesmerizing that he even forgot where he physically was.
Emanciated and weak, in the middle of the wilds. Wilds that were populated mainly by Demonic Beasts.
One such Demonic Beast was the Green-Headed Snake, a small and agile creature that managed to catch a glimpse of the fallen Monk/Young Master.
It immediately rushed to take a bite out of him, to paralyse him with its venom and slowly feed on him, as its species was prone to doing.
But the second it got close enough the Monk, still in a cheerful daze, just laughed. His pupils dilated and immediately shifted towards the snake's eyes.
Working on pure instinct from the depths of his soul, he extended his palm and grabbed the snake by the head just as it was about to bite into him.
He then immediately bit into its head, his clean teeth crushing its skull and going through its brain in seconds.
His lips turned upwards as he continued chewing on the snake, which still wriggled in his grasp grasping his skinny forearm with its body, a rigour mortis reaction as its head was crushed between the teeth of the reborn monk.
'Ah, meat! Nutrition! One of the few principles of the monks I could never follow was their strict diet. It's been a while since I've hunted my own meat...'
The Monk then spat out the skull of the snake, before slowly starting to get up.
His body seemed to have regained some of its strength, and the Monk was finally able to stretch his legs a bit.
'Hmm, training this body and bringing it up to my standards will take a while... But I have a lot of time now!'
The Monk slowly waddled into the forest, the body of the snake still in his hand kept as a snack for later.
He regained his youth, and now he had a chance for a different life. A chance to finally see his previous life's conviction through to the end.
And he was going to take it.
But before he left that small patch of forest, the Monk blinked a few times, remembering the many emotions that had entered his mind just a few minutes earlier.
Mo Yangling clearly wanted revenge, he wanted to prove himself to his family, to regain his lover's attention. He was even willing to start cultivation in order to achieve that.
But it was already too late by the time he decided to do such a thing. It was a tragic end.
The Monk couldn't help but turn around, towards the bloodstained tree he had been left to rot under.
He brought his hands together and bowed slightly.
"I pray that you are now in a better place Mo Yangling, I'll borrow your name from now on, and I'll make sure to live a great life in your stead."
He wasn't one to pursue revenge, he had his fair share of it in his past life. But he would do something even better.
In that small patch of forest, he vowed to live a life so great that it would strike jealousy in the hearts of the misguided 'immortals' that had wronged Mo Yangling.
To make the name 'Mo Yangling' so great that it would resound in all places underneath the heavens, and above it too.
After making that vow, the monk offered one last prayer for the young man's soul, whose body he hijacked before finally taking his leave.