"Who am I?"
Lin Ge, who was lying on a worn-out wooden bed, woke up feeling an immense pain in his brain.
He didn't know whether he was Lin Ge, a servant disciple of the Celestial Cloud Sect, or the Emperor of the Three Thousand Avenues.
Two sets of memories flooded his mind, driving him to the brink of madness and leaving him unable to discern who he truly was.
Rising from the bed, he sat cross-legged and began breathing deeply, trying to calm himself. After a long time, he formed a hypothesis: could it be that he was both? A kind of reincarnation? But why regain the memories now? He couldn't understand.
Taking another deep breath, he put the thought aside. Thanks to his memory as an ancient being who had lived for a long time, he knew better than anyone: worrying too much about things that made no sense or whose origins were incomprehensible would only delay his progress.
The best way to uncover this mystery was to become strong. With enough strength, everything would be revealed.
Organizing his thoughts, he looked at his body and sighed.
"This body is trash. Its veins are extremely low-grade. If I relied solely on Lin Ge's memory, this life would be destined to remain mortal...
But now that I have the memories of the Emperor of the Three Thousand Avenues, I can rebuild these veins."
He thought, and then immediately felt another headache.
"Where am I going to find a talented woman to practice Dual Cultivation?"
He murmured. After searching his memories, he discovered that the Emperor of the Three Thousand Avenues didn't hold that title for nothing. He had a special method: by practicing Dual Cultivation with a woman, he could extract the yin energy from his partner and use it to improve his veins.
This wasn't an evil technique, nor the common Dual Cultivation. Instead of merely enhancing his cultivation, the Emperor had evolved the practice to use yin as a material for evolution.
Sighing, he got out of bed and headed for the door, determined to find a suitable woman. Outside his small cabin, his vision was filled with massive trees, and the sky held something unusual: the clouds, instead of their usual white, were bluish.
"The universe is fascinating. There are so many mysteries in it... Even I wouldn't dare to claim I know everything. This world seems quite different from what I'm used to... This is getting interesting."
Lin Ge smiled. Nothing was more fun than exploring the unknown. However, he suddenly stopped, sensing a hidden presence in a tree.
"Come out!" he ordered in an indifferent voice that carried an authority few mortals could ignore.
The figure hidden in the tree immediately jumped down without delay, revealing her appearance.
She was a beautiful woman, with hair as black as the night and eyes pink like cherry blossoms. Her face was covered by a black mask, yet it couldn't hide her beauty. She wore a purple silk dress, indicating she was of noble origin.
Looking at Lin Ge, she was shocked. This young man, whom she had saved earlier, exuded the aura of an elder who had lived for decades—an incredibly shocking presence for someone only sixteen years old.
"Are you from the Ninja Department?" Lin Ge asked.
In the Celestial Cloud Sect, there were seven peaks: Dawn Sun Peak, Frozen Snow Peak, Elixir Peak, Grand Shroud Peak, Beastial Peak, Purple Moonlight Peak, and the Master Forge Peak. In addition to the peaks, there were two departments: the Ninja Department, responsible for sect maintenance and investigation, and the Law Department, in charge of punishments and rules.
Lin Ge deduced that this woman belonged to the Ninja Department because of the mask, as all disciples of that department wore one.
"Yes," she replied, hiding nothing. In Lin Ge's presence, she felt vulnerable.
"What is your name? And why are you watching me? Did I do something wrong?"
"No... I'm watching you because I saved you earlier when you were drowning in the river. I stayed to check if you were okay."
Hearing this, Lin Ge placed his hand on his chin and tried to recall what had happened hours ago. After remembering, he sighed. The "him" from before was indeed reckless. Even knowing he lacked talent, he had entered a waterfall with overwhelming pressure, attempting to break through his limits. In the end, he couldn't endure it and ended up drowning in the river.
"Such recklessness and stupidity... This is nothing but seeking death. Even with strong determination, what's the point? Dying foolishly? If it weren't for this ninja, I would have died. Children are so troublesome."
He thought and touched the woman's head, saying:
"Thank you. I owe you one. Is there something you want? If it's within my reach, I'll repay you, but don't ask for something excessive."
The woman didn't respond immediately. She simply looked at him and asked:
"Are you the boy who was drowning?"
"Yes, I was, but at the same time, I'm not anymore."
Lin Ge knew what the woman was thinking. As an observer, she likely had information about him. This was troublesome because if they discovered he had changed personalities overnight, they might treat him as a demon possessing souls or worse. He didn't fear being treated as such. As an Emperor, he had numerous techniques that would make him invincible for a time, but all had side effects he preferred to avoid.
"I don't understand..." the woman replied, slightly fearful.
Lin Ge said no more. He simply touched her head and placed a restriction to prevent her from speaking about what he had said there.
"I am not a demon. I am simply someone who regained his memories. Who I am? Don't ask. Knowing will have consequences. I don't know how things work in this world, but in the past, merely mentioning my name made all the laws of the universe tremble."
He wasn't lying. His title could be used, but his real name was a taboo in the universe. Even after reincarnation, he couldn't speak it without bringing great misfortune.
"Okay," the woman replied, shocked but quickly calming herself. As a ninja, she had been trained from a young age to adapt to various situations.
"Well, as I was saying earlier: what do you want as repayment?"
"Since you're a powerful cultivator, tell me a story."
"What kind of story do you want?"
"A love story. Has a powerful cultivator ever loved someone?"
Hearing this question, he asked himself the same. In his past life, he had always focused on cultivation. He never forced his will on a woman and always satisfied his partners, but... had he ever truly loved someone? He remembered that after completing the Three Thousand Avenues, he had stopped Dual Cultivation altogether.
"My approach was completely wrong. My way of thinking was antiquated. Since I've been reincarnated, this time I'll do everything right. My goal won't just be to find partners but wives who will stay with me until the end of the road."