Yang Chuxue, you man-eating demon! If I survive this, I swear I'll... give you a million reasons to regret ever crossing paths with yours truly!" Ye Hao cursed bitterly as he plummeted into the inky depths of the Abyss of Doom, his flesh being shredded to ribbons by the howling winds.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the abyss, a breathtakingly beautiful woman in flowing white robes hovered in midair, her mere presence draining the color from the world around her.
"What a pity to lose half of the Heaven-Upholding Scripture," she sighed, her delicate brows furrowing in a way that could break the hearts of men across the realm. In the blink of an eye, she vanished into the horizon like a streak of white silk.
...
"You scoundrel! Prepare to meet your maker!" An enraged female voice rang out as a sword gleaming like autumn waters sliced through the air, its blade carrying a bone-chilling frost. It flew straight for the young man who stood frozen in shock just a short distance away.
It wasn't until the deadly blade was mere inches from his skin that the biting cold finally snapped the young man out of his daze.
"Oh, for the love of—" he cursed, his body suddenly moving in a series of bizarre, nimble dodges that made him look like a drunken butterfly trying to pollinate a cactus. But his victory was short-lived. A pained howl escaped his lips as blood sprayed from two deep gashes that appeared on his left shoulder and back.
"What kind of useless body is this?" he grumbled. "Can't even handle the basic 'Flirting with Flowers' footwork." He pressed two fingers that glowed with a jade-like light to his wounds, stemming the flow of blood.
Only then did the young man have a chance to get a good look at the girl who was so intent on turning him into a human pincushion. Or rather, the girl who was after the poor sap whose body he'd hijacked.
Ye Hao couldn't help but stare. In all his years of, ahem, "admiring" the fairer sex, he'd never seen anyone quite like her. Dressed in a flowing silver dress, she had the face of a porcelain doll atop the body of a... well, let's just say the combination of innocence and allure was doing funny things to his brain.
"Ice Sword Technique!" the girl cried out, her delicate finger pointing at the plain-looking sword in her hand. The weapon lifted into the air of its own accord, humming with power.
"Slice!" She formed a hand seal and pointed at Ye Hao.
The sword's glow intensified as it whistled through the air towards him.
"A measly sword-controlling trick? I... actually can't handle that right now," Ye Hao muttered, once again transforming into a hyper-caffeinated hummingbird as he desperately tried to avoid being turned into sashimi.
"Slice! And slice again!" Mo Qianqian gritted her teeth, bewildered by Ye Hao's sudden slipperiness. Hadn't he been on his last legs just moments ago?
Finally, a cold glint caught Ye Hao, sending him flying dozens of meters. He crashed to the ground, unable to rise again, his spiritual energy completely depleted.
Mo Qianqian, equally exhausted from wielding her sword technique, retrieved her weapon and approached Ye Hao, towering over him with a mixture of triumph and fatigue.
"Listen, gorgeous," Ye Hao wheezed, struggling to sit up despite the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "We've got no blood feud, no stolen wives between us. Can't we just call it a draw and go our separate ways?"
"You lecherous scum!" Mo Qianqian spat, her silver teeth clenched in fury. "Killing you would be a service to the entire cultivation world!" Her beautiful eyes reddened with unshed tears of frustration, but the murderous intent in them only grew stronger.
Ye Hao's eyes darted about frantically. He'd been hunted down the moment his soul took over this body, with no time to assimilate the original owner's memories. All he knew was that he needed to survive, and fast.
But Mo Qianqian gave him no chance to speak further. Her cold iron sword flashed towards his heart with lightning speed.
In that instant, Ye Hao's body lurched forward.
With a sickening "squelch," the sword pierced his chest, its icy energy spreading through his limbs. Almost simultaneously, Mo Qianqian let out a shrill scream, releasing her sword and clutching her chest protectively.
Ye Hao's hand slid down from Mo Qianqian's ample bosom, pressing several points on her abdomen in quick succession.
Mo Qianqian's body suddenly went limp, collapsing to the ground. She stared at Ye Hao in wide-eyed horror, unable to move a muscle.
Ye Hao staggered, his mouth twitching as if he wanted to smirk, but instead, he coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, splattering it all over Mo Qianqian's face and clothes. Then, with impeccable aim (or cosmic irony), he toppled forward, landing squarely on Mo Qianqian's soft body before losing consciousness.
As darkness enveloped him, ancient, ethereal voices echoed in the depths of his soul:
"From whence you came, to where you shall return. To stand tall and support the heavens, first die and be reborn, tempering the soul of destiny..."
"Where desire leads, the Way is born. Follow your nature, and all paths lead to the Dao..."
"Open the Celestial Meridian at the center of your being, draw upon the power of Heaven and Earth, nourishing both soul and spirit..."
In the vast emptiness, ethereal and ancient voices drifted from the void, slowly becoming clearer, like whispers from the soul. In Ye Hao's mind, a golden scroll was unfurling, the very half of the Heaven's Resolve manual that he had obtained.
In his previous life, Ye Hao was an orphan abandoned in the Vast Heaven Secret Realm, a place where countless descendants of immortals resided. These descendants, unable to achieve immortal status at birth, would enter the secret realm, facing nine heavenly tribulations to ascend. Yet, few succeeded. Generations of these descendants lived and hoped for the day one of their own might ascend to the immortal realm.
Ye Hao had miraculously survived, encountering numerous serendipities. He practiced the Idle Cloud Wild Crane Art, a technique left by an unknown predecessor, living freely and roaming amidst flowers. After narrowly surviving eight tribulations, he became one of the top powerhouses in the Vast Heaven Secret Realm.
However, after obtaining half of the unparalleled Heaven's Resolve manual, the other powerhouses in the realm banded together against him. Severely injured, he was ultimately forced into Deadman's Gorge by Yang Chuxue, the realm's number one beauty, meeting his demise.
Yet, fate had other plans. Although his body was destroyed, a wisp of his soul was whisked away by the Heaven's Resolve manual, merging with a notorious rascal in the cultivation world—another Ye Hao.
This rascal Ye Hao, originally a clever scion of the famous Ye family, wasted his talents on lecherous pursuits, preferring to harass innocent women, albeit without ever forcing himself upon them. Unfortunately, his luck ran out when he used underhanded methods to drug an extraordinarily beautiful girl. He merely intended to steal a few touches and indulge in some fantasies. However, this girl, having a unique constitution, awoke swiftly just as he reached for her face.
Trouble ensued as the girl turned out to be Xiao Qingluan, the beloved daughter of the powerful head of the Lotus Sect. The Ye family nearly faced annihilation, saved only by their ties with the allied Six Harmonies Sect. Ye Hao, however, was stripped of his cultivation and expelled from the family.
But Ye Hao's luck hadn't entirely run out. He stumbled upon a fortuitous encounter, regaining his cultivation and acquiring a disguise technique for survival. Fully embracing his rogue reputation, he harassed every female cultivator he fancied—groping, stealing kisses, pinching bottoms, and peeping on bathing or toilet visits.
This rascal didn't just misbehave; he flaunted it. Unlike sneaky peepers, he left a unique mark, ensuring the women knew who had been spying on them. Naturally, they never let him off the hook. Thus, he was either flirting with beauties or running for his life.
Ye Hao, now partially merged with the original rogue's consciousness, groaned and woke up. He pushed himself up, only to feel a firm, bountiful softness under his hands. Looking down, he saw Mo Qianqian, her face red with anger and humiliation, tears streaming down her cheeks, pinned beneath him. And his hands, oh dear, were firmly planted on her ample chest.
Ye Hao rolled off Mo Qianqian, wincing from the pain, and snarled at the poor, helpless girl, "Crying again, huh? Keep it up, and I'll strip you naked."
Mo Qianqian's pretty face turned deathly pale with fear, though the tears continued to flow uncontrollably. She was terrified, unable to stop crying, fearing that this rogue would indeed strip her bare.
Ye Hao reached towards Mo Qianqian's waist as if intending to undo her belt. Her lips trembled with fright, but her body felt weak and powerless, unable even to utter a sound.
Instead, Ye Hao yanked off her spatial bag, easily breaking its low-level protection spell. These were child's play to him; he could break a hundred of them in a minute.
Ye Hao shook the bag upside down, spilling a heap of random items onto the ground, with a few colorful pieces of fabric fluttering down. He caught one piece in his hand, noting its silky smoothness.
"Nice little undergarment you've got here. If you added a supportive formation, it'd be perfect," he mused, turning the fabric over in his hands like an expert. "Prevents sagging and all those pesky women's health issues."
Mo Qianqian nearly fainted. These were her intimate garments, and this scoundrel was handling them like a connoisseur. Though she begrudgingly admitted he had a point, her mind reeled at the thought. Was she losing her sanity from anger?
Ye Hao rummaged through the pile, finding several bottles of pills. He opened each one, taking a sniff.
"Please, dear gods, let him pick the purple one—the highly toxic Blood Dissolving Pill. Turn him into a puddle!" Mo Qianqian prayed silently.
But Ye Hao chose a red bottle instead, discarding the rest. He swallowed a few pills and crushed some into powder, applying it to his chest and back wounds. "Just my luck, a disciple from the grand Yanxia Sect carrying such lousy healing pills. Aren't you embarrassed?"
"Lousy?" Mo Qianqian glared at Ye Hao. Her Yanling Pills were renowned throughout the cultivation world as top-tier healing medicine, unique to her sect. She had painstakingly saved up for that bottle.
Ye Hao sat cross-legged, channeling his energy to absorb the pills' effects.
Mo Qianqian tried to rise, but whatever spell Ye Hao cast on her left her immobile. She despaired, realizing that once he recovered, he'd likely violate her. Tears streamed down her face again.
"Father, Mother, please come save your precious daughter," she cried silently, filled with regret. Running away from the sect on a whim had landed her in this predicament with the infamous rogue.
Half an hour later, Ye Hao's injuries were mostly healed. He opened his eyes, a strange expression on his face, ignoring the frightened beauty beside him as his mind wandered.
"Heaven's Resolve... Who would've thought?" Ye Hao murmured. Despite having only half the manual in the Vast Heaven Secret Realm, he had never deciphered its secrets. Yet, now, after reincarnation, a glimmer of understanding dawned.
The Heaven's Resolve required a break-and-rebuild approach, a cycle of death and rebirth to purify the soul, forming an immaculate soul. This was essential for cultivating the Heaven's Resolve. Without it, even a hundred thousand years of study would yield nothing.
After forming an immaculate soul, the next step was to open the Heaven Vein at the center of the chest. There were various mystical veins like the Nine Yin Vein, Nine Yang Vein, and others, known as Immortal Veins. Cultivators with these veins progressed much faster than others.
However, the Heaven Vein was unheard of, and unlike innate veins, it could be cultivated. This alone proved the Heaven's Resolve's worth, despite only possessing half the manual, it had attracted nearly every powerhouse in the Vast Heaven Secret Realm, eventually leading to his desperate leap into Deadman's Gorge.
Opening the Heaven Vein was not difficult; as long as the fetal phase began, spiritual energy could open the Heaven Vein in the chest.
The problem was that Ye Hao, upon examining his body while channeling the pills' energy, realized starting the Heaven's Resolve wasn't so simple.
The cultivation world had levels: Fetal Breath, Foundation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Separation, Great Ascension, Tribulation Crossing, with nine sub-levels each. After the ninth tribulation, one could ascend.
Ye Hao, at the second level of the Fetal Breath stage, could theoretically open the Heaven Vein. However, his previous destruction of cultivation had left his body veins shattered. Though he regained his cultivation with extreme methods, his body veins couldn't be restored.
In the Vast Heaven Secret Realm, Ye Hao was an elite who had passed the eighth tribulation. He recognized that such extreme methods, while powerful initially, destroyed the foundation, preventing entry into the true cultivation realm—Foundation Stage.
Even if he opened the Heaven Vein, enhancing spiritual absorption, he couldn't cultivate the Heaven's Resolve, remaining a failure.
Unless he destroyed his cultivation again, reconstructing his body veins before starting anew.
Ye Hao knew the method to rebuild his body veins, but gathering the necessary spiritual herbs would take a long time, and without cultivation, he'd be defenseless in the cutthroat cultivation world.
After a moment's hesitation, Ye Hao decided. He would destroy his cultivation, rebuild his body veins, and rely on the Heaven's Resolve to rise again.
"Yang Chuxue, the vow I made when jumping into Deadman's Gorge, I'll never forget. When I cross the ninth tribulation and ascend, I bet you're already living it up in the immortal realm. I will fulfill my vow," Ye Hao's handsome face twisted with a fierce expression.
Mo Qianqian, observing Ye Hao, was terrified by his menacing look, thinking he was about to assault her.
Ye Hao's gaze shifted to the frightened Mo Qianqian, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
"Hey, girl, how about we make a deal?"