There once lived a young boy whose birth was a mystery. Nobody in his village would lay claim to the child, and his life aura didn't match anyone they knew either.
One day, he appeared as a mere baby, crying in the middle of the road. From that day forth, the people of the village raised him as one of their own.
Their village was particularly scorned by fate, with their women rarely being able to birth children and their men being born infertile. Even if his origins were unknown, the child was welcomed with open arms.
That child grew up slowly within that village, adapting to life and seeing its entire population as family. But he wasn't allowed to have such a happy life for long.
One day, while the boy was out hunting livestock, a storm of blood impacted their village, leaving none alive. By the time he returned, the only thing left was a sea of corpses.
The boy, who was now a teenager, cried and cried until he had no tears left and blood streamed from his eyes. He screamed at the heavens in disbelief and denial, but nothing would change what had happened.
On that day, the boy swore to become the strongest. The people in the village always told him about cultivators, but he never showed interest. He was content with the life he lived with them.
But with them gone, the only thing he wanted was to find the ones responsible and dye the world red with their blood.
And so, he began cultivating. As it turned out, he had immense talent for the art, breezing through the Warrior Realms in only a decade.
The man had never seen another cultivator before, so he assumed he had adequate strength. He said one last prayer for those who raised him before departing on a journey.
From that point, the man began building his legend. He fought many battles and acted as a hero of justice. He saw how unjustly his people had died, and he didn't want that to happen to anyone else.
Along his way, the man met many people who would become his friends and many who would be his enemies. He saw the rise and fall of kingdoms and the demolition of massive sects.
And at one point, the man found those responsible for the death of his people. He raged, and for the first time, the people witnessed what would happen to those who crossed the saint who had been saving them.
Despite the man's early success in cultivation, his path only became harder as he continued to climb. Unlike the 10 years it took him to complete the Warrior Realms, it took him hundreds to finish the Sage Realms.
From Earth Sage to Sky Sage and all the way through the Law Sea Realm, the man tirelessly cultivated.
But another tragedy struck. This time, it impacted the entire world.
The kingdoms and sects of the world became divided by the discovery of a certain cultivation technique. Those who were righteous scorned it, but those who let their greed overcome them pined for it.
This was the start of a Great War that became blown out of proportion. From a scuffle over a vile technique to a political scheme by those involved, the war continued to escalate.
And all throughout its course, the man continued to fight. He cared not for the schemes of others, he only cared for what he believed was right.
And so, for hundreds of years, the man fought for righteousness until all his enemies were defeated.
His presence on the battlefield was a beacon. He was a death god for those who opposed him. He spilled enough blood to form a river spanning from one end of the realm to the other.
He met more friends during this war, some becoming his closest companions. He became a legion commander with hundreds of thousands of subordinates, but he only considered one as his brother-in-arms.
He met a woman on the battlefield, a healer who, like him, wouldn't ignore the problems of the common people. And as hundreds of years passed with these two continuously interacting, they fell in love.
And by the end of the war, the man was titled as the Heavenly Emperor. Even though his power didn't match such a title, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would reach the apex.
Hundreds of years became thousands and the man stepped into the Emperor Realms. He completed his Realm Heart and formed his World Core, becoming an apex existence.
The friends he made along the way slowly vanished into the background as they began viewing him in worship rather than camaraderie, and only very few remained.
These few were the ones who ended up becoming existences such as himself who formed their World Cores.
Many thousands of years continued to pass as the man and his group of friends became the ruling class of the world. Although they didn't tend to interfere in mortal affairs, the people always looked to them for the final say in matters.
The man was content with his life. He had a loving wife who he would give anything for, he had brothers and sisters that he trusted with his life, and he had the power to move uninhibited in the world.
But one day, everything changed. A treasure appeared once again and invoked the greed of others. His life took a turn for the absolute worst.
The next few years of his life were a blur, but he remembered clearly the moment of his death.
"******, remember this! Remember me! Remember why I was titled the Heavenly Emperor!"
But why couldn't he remember the name of the one he hated so much? Why couldn't he remember the faces of those he loved? Who were the people he always surrounded himself with?
As he tried to recall those memories, he realized that it all felt like a blur. He knew they were there, yet he had no way to access them. He remembered how he cultivated tirelessly, he remembered how he fought valiantly, and he remembered how he died filled with hatred.
'Is that…me?'
Atlas looked down at his own body which was incorporeal at the moment, and he found that he looked like the Heavenly Emperor in the story.
'Atlas? Is that my name?'
The Heavenly Emperor realized that he now had a new set of memories in his mind. Memories of a life he didn't live.
'Who am I?'
The man had two identities, and although one was much more prominent, it couldn't take a firm hold of his mind. His ego was in disarray, unable to comprehend what was occurring.
Suddenly, he noticed an iridescent blue light faintly covering his body.
'It's that thing.' The man concluded. He had only seen this light twice before, but he would never forget it. It came from that thing that fused with his soul.
'I am the Heavenly Emperor, yet I am also Atlas Vaun. I have…reincarnated?'
The man had a stark realization. Even if it seemed incomprehensible, he knew it had to be the truth.
It was impossible for this to be some sort of possession or a battle between two souls, as that damn treasure could only ever belong to him.
It had fused with his very being, after all.
Slowly but surely, the blue starlight brightened until it was blinding, obstructing the man's eyesight. He could clearly feel that he was returning to consciousness. But still, his question hadn't been answered.
'Who am I, and what the hell is going on?'