"Death!" a young man shouted from his bed. Pure anger and motivation surged through his veins, evident in the volume of his roar. Alas, it was only a dream.
When he opened his eyes to reality, he was shocked by the alien room that met his gaze.
"Where is this?" he asked aloud, his voice trembling with confusion. He looked around, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings.
The last memory he recalled was winning the war that had shaken the entire universe into chaos. He had fought with everything he had, unleashing powers beyond imagination.
The battlefield had been a desolate wasteland, the sky torn asunder by the fury of his attacks. He remembered the faces of his enemies, twisted in fear and agony as he struck them down one by one.
Though he had triumphed and slain all his enemies, the universe could not withstand the outpouring of power he released in the final battle. His original universe was destroyed, and he with it.
He sat up slowly, wincing at the unfamiliar aches in his body. "How did I survive?" he muttered to himself.
He tried to recall the final moments, the blinding light, the deafening roar as reality itself seemed to collapse around him. He remembered a sensation of being torn apart, and then... nothing.
He would have wanted to ask more questions, but then a flood of memories rushed into his mind. There was no pain whatsoever since this memory was only a meager 20 years.
And 20 years, compared to his own existence that spanned eras, epochs, and eons for countless trillions and trillions of years, was simply nothing in comparison.
"Flying Cloud City?" he murmured, the name echoing in his mind like a distant bell.
"I'm a useless trash son of the clan patriarch?" The absurdity of it almost made him laugh. The great immortal, reduced to a mere afterthought in a minor clan.
"Hmmm..." the young man mused at his new reality. He did not know whether this was a mere illusion or true reality, but above all, he needed strength to combat all adversities.
The weight of his new circumstances pressed down on him, but he had faced worse in his countless lifetimes. He sat in a lotus position and began cultivating.
The familiar warmth of energy began to flow through his meridians. The process was instinctual, as natural as breathing.
He felt the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth surge into him, filling him with power.
"BANG!"
"BANG!"
"BANG!" Within just 10 breaths of cultivation, he broke all shackles of mortality and passed through 10 realms in an instant.
The energy around him crackled and roared, reacting to his overwhelming presence. He arrived at the peak True Immortal realm, where he had been in his last life.
"How can this be?" he asked, shocked at how things turned out.
One should know that he had cultivated back then for trillions and trillions of years before he arrived at this state, and now that he took merely seconds to recultivate back to the top, anyone would be shocked.
His mind raced. The True Immortal realm was not something that could be achieved so easily. It required not just power, but an understanding of the very fabric of the universe.
He remembered the countless challenges, the near-death experiences, the endless nights of meditation. And yet, here he was, back at the pinnacle in a fraction of the time.
"Curious," the overpowered young man mused for a second or two, then used his divine sense to scour the entire universe.
He found no other True Immortal like him nor any traces of his enemies from the past. It was then that he realized this was truly an alien universe—one he did not remember nor belong to.
"What should I do now?" he asked himself.
For someone who had spent much of his existence cultivating to the peak and waging wars in the later stages, this sense of having no worthy quest left him in an interesting quandary.
He pondered the vast emptiness of his current situation.
His past was filled with epic battles, profound discoveries, and the pursuit of ultimate power. Yet now, he found himself in a universe devoid of familiar challenges and adversaries.
"SIGH!" In the end, he could only let life take its course. Perhaps he would find new inspirations in the future.
* * *
Morning arrived, and our op protagonist was stirred from his sleep by gentle knocks at his chamber door, the familiar touch of his maidservant's presence.
As he groggily opened his eyes, he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that something was amiss. The maidservant's face, usually a picture of calm, now bore an expression tinged with concern.
With a heavy heart, she delivered the news: his fiancee and her family had come to break off their engagement.
They had deemed him unworthy, referring to him as "trash" and declaring the marriage annulled before it could ever take place.
The gravity of their words struck him deeply, yet he could see through their carefully masked expressions of pity and restrained glee.
The clan members of his generation, who had once regarded him with a mixture of respect and envy, now viewed him with a blend of sympathy and concealed satisfaction.
In the world of xianxia, where the pursuit of power and cultivation resources was paramount, the downfall of the patriarch's son was more than just a personal tragedy; it was an opportunity.
The shift in the clan's power dynamics promised potential benefits for those eager to advance.
The top geniuses of the clan were awarded the lion's share of cultivation resources, and now, with his fall from grace, the stakes had changed.
For many in the clan, this was a chance to climb the ranks and gain a larger share of the coveted resources.
The shift in the power structure was not just about personal gain but also about securing a stronger position within the clan's hierarchy, where only the most exceptional could hope to thrive.
It was shortly after this event that our protagonist received a new quest. Reflecting on his past life, he mused, "I've spent my entire life cultivating but never had a woman to call my own."
He continued with a note of regret, "I haven't even experienced the pleasures of the flesh or lived a carefree, joyous life."
Determined to seize this new opportunity, he declared with renewed resolve, "Now that I've been given a second chance at life, I'm going to create my eternal harem!"