Rebirth

"Who was talking?"

Below the stage, Lin Feng kept feeling someone babbling in his ear, annoying him to no end. Someone was even shaking him hard.

Were they courting death?

Lin Feng abruptly opened his eyes, his gaze blazing with savage killing intent and madness.

But the next second, his entire body went rigid.

There was no choking gunpowder smoke, no roars of demonic beasts, no severed limbs or rivers of blood, no cries of agony. Everything was so different.

Brilliant sunlight shone upon him through Blue Moon's protection, filling his body with warmth...

This feeling was both familiar and strange.

"Is this River City's annual Awakening Day?" Lin Feng looked around, the shock in his eyes as if he had seen a ghost.

Hadn't River City become ruins?

"Brother Feng, the demon spirits are about to be released. Wake up already."

The chubby face before him gave Lin Feng a fright. This was a comical-looking fat boy, less than 1.7 meters tall but weighing over two hundred jin. Aside from being fat, the first impression he gave was that his head was truly huge!

Even with his hefty build, that head, a full size larger than an ordinary person's, still looked somewhat disproportionate.

Lin Feng was no stranger to this little fatty. He was his neighbor, classmate, and best brother, nicknamed Big Head. From his posture, it was obvious that he was the one who had been shaking him.

"Big Head, how are you..." Shock filled Lin Feng's eyes.

In his memories, Gao Hai had been admitted to the same university as him.

When they graduated from university, he and Lin Feng had left the city to hunt demonic beasts. They had only just ventured into the outskirts of Qingfeng Mountain Range when they were ambushed by a Third-Rank Fire Poison Lion. Gao Hai had unfortunately been injured while saving him and could only remain paralyzed in bed for the rest of his life.

Lin Feng still remembered that when he returned with money to see Gao Hai two years later, that fat youth, once innocent, cheerful, and loyal, had already wasted away to skin and bones. Though he had been thrilled to see Lin Feng, he had been so weak he could not even speak. Lin Feng would never forget that look, even in death.

"Brother Feng, what did you say?" Gao Hai asked in confusion.

"I came back to when I was sixteen?"

Lin Feng did not answer. He still could not quite believe everything before his eyes.

Lowering his head, he looked at his fair, slender hands. They had not yet been stained with blood. He clenched them, feeling their tangible reality.

All of it felt like a dream.

"Back to the past?"

"Was his ability to control time?"

At that moment, Lin Feng seemed to understand the ability possessed by that white-clothed young man!

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that demonic beast.

Humans might have powerful martial artists and Demon Spirit Masters, but they could never possess such an innate ability.

That white-clothed young man was clearly a demonic beast capable of taking human form.

No wonder every attack had been ineffective against him.

Controlling time...

What a rare and unimaginable ability. It was practically invincible.

Had his strength not run dry in the end, who could have killed him?

And Lin Feng's return to sixteen was clearly that young man's handiwork.

"Did he come back too? Or was he already dead?"

Lin Feng's body stiffened, and his expression turned ugly.

Since he could return to the past, there was no way that white-clothed young man had died.

Lin Feng's hands and feet went cold as those hellish scenes of misery surfaced in his mind once more.

If that young man had not died, then the slaughter twenty-one years later, as hellish as ever, would still come.

"Brother Feng, Brother Feng, why are you spacing out?"

"It's nothing, nothing."

The voice in his ear brought Lin Feng back to himself. Seeing Gao Hai's worried expression, Lin Feng reached out with both hands and, trembling slightly, pinched Gao Hai's chubby cheeks, suppressing the excitement and unease in his heart.

"Brother, I'm fine."

Lin Feng smiled, and he smiled happily.

Good brother, it was so good to see you again. At last, he could make up for the regrets of his previous life.

"Brother Feng, why do you seem a little strange?"

Gao Hai rubbed his chubby cheeks, which had been lightly pinched sore, surprise on his face.

He felt that after one nap, something seemed to have changed about Lin Feng.

"Lin Feng, what's wrong? Are you sick?"

At his side, a girl of around sixteen held Lin Feng's hand and asked with concern.

She wore a blue-and-white school uniform. Tall and graceful, she looked slightly taller than Lin Feng at first glance. Her snowy skin gleamed with an ivory sheen, and her small face was exquisite and beautiful, pure yet carrying a faint trace of charm.

That unique temperament was especially captivating.

From time to time, boys cast glances at her, their eyes full of admiration and heat. Whenever the girl noticed, she pretended not to see them or turned to look at Lin Feng instead.

Lin Feng glanced at the girl. Faced with her concern, he could only sigh inwardly. "What a pity!"

Under the girl's astonished gaze, Lin Feng quietly withdrew his hand. He did not feel much nostalgia for this girl who had once been his childhood sweetheart.

He clearly remembered that today, she would successfully refine a Seventh-Rank Ice Egret. When she learned that he could not refine a demon spirit, the disappointment on her face had been entirely undisguised.

Three months later, during the college entrance examinations, she would be admitted to one of the Nine Elite Joint Schools while he, still unable to become a Demon Spirit Master, could only choose an elite academy. Then she would break up with him.

"Lin Feng, what's wrong with you?"

Yage was startled by Lin Feng's action, her hands stiffening slightly.

Having grown up together, they had been the perfect match in the eyes of relatives and neighbors. Lin Feng had always doted on her and had never treated her so coldly.

She lowered her head slightly, looking delicate and pitiable as a flower heavy with dew, enough to make anyone's heart ache.

Some boys had already gathered their courage and begun glaring angrily at Lin Feng.

Lin Feng swept his gaze across the surrounding students. That calm yet indifferent look sent chills through the boys' bodies, as though they had been watched by a demonic beast.

Lin Feng ignored the threatening looks around him. These innocent children could never imagine that the goddess in their eyes was extremely pragmatic—pragmatic to the point of cruelty.

This girl was not bad by nature. She had simply been born ordinary, yet her heart soared higher than the heavens. She was not someone an ordinary person could tame.

Putting those thoughts aside, though he still had doubts about why he had been reborn, this was a critical moment, and he could not spare attention for so much else.

In his previous life, because of his talent, he had not fused with a demon spirit and could not enter one of the Nine Elite Joint Schools. His path had been exceedingly arduous.

Even though he had survived nine deaths and one life to finally become an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist, he had lost far too much. Moreover, Demon Spirit Masters stood above martial artists; there was still a vast gap between them.

So this time, he had to change his fate.

Though he bore a blood-deep hatred for that white-clothed young man, being reborn on Awakening Day made Lin Feng admit that the fellow had really chosen the day well.

If he had missed today, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"Something's wrong!"

Just as Lin Feng rejoiced at having the chance to change his fate, his expression suddenly changed.

There was no doubt that the white-clothed young man's innate ability was to control time, and his return to today was that young man's doing.

But why had he returned precisely today?

Why not tomorrow?

Or the day after tomorrow?

Why the annual Awakening Day?

Unease and suspicion inevitably rose in Lin Feng's heart.

He did not believe it was a coincidence!

Nor did he believe his luck had suddenly exploded. Since childhood, his luck had never been very good. He had no resources and no talent. He had become an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist through effort and madness.

There had to be a reason he did not know.

Was today's Awakening Day also important to that demonic beast?

Was that why it had returned?

"Could it be nearby?"

At the thought, Lin Feng swept his gaze around. His sharp eyes carried an icy, bone-piercing killing intent.

Everyone around him was a classmate, while the stage held River City's important figures. There was no sign of that white-clothed young man.

Demonic beasts were different from humans. Their lifespans were all long, and the stronger the demonic beast, the more so. In merely twenty-one years, even if that white-clothed young man looked somewhat younger, his appearance should not have changed much!

He searched for a long time but found nothing.

"Brother Feng, what's wrong?"

Gao Hai's voice came with hesitation and fear, and Yage was the same. Clearly, Lin Feng's gaze had frightened them.

They had never seen Lin Feng reveal such a terrifying look, as if he wanted to swallow people whole and skin them alive. It was far too frightening!

"It's fine. I just had a nightmare. My head is still a little foggy."

Lin Feng shook his head and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had already regained his calm.

Since he could not find the white-clothed young man, Lin Feng did not dwell on it. More important matters awaited him.

Lin Feng raised his head toward the stage. In the afternoon, River City's guardian Jiang Chu glanced up at the sky. The blazing sun hung overhead, and the sky was blue like a still lake, smooth as a mirror, without a single cloud.

"Begin."

Jiang Chu waved an arm. The people waiting at the altar quickly opened the round bottles, and fist-sized demon spirits in every color poured out. Looking closely, they resembled miniature, insubstantial demonic beasts. Terror filled their faces as they tried to flee, but a mysterious force drew them upward into the Blue Moon Divine Artifact in the sky.

"The Blue Moon Divine Artifact is beginning to work. The real show is about to start."

The crowd immediately grew excited, voices buzzing with discussion.

Bang.

With a massive explosion, the three hundred thousand spectators shuddered and instantly turned toward River City's tallest building, Zhongyue Tower.

At the center of Zhongyue Tower, a gigantic light screen was playing a video.

Everyone stared fixedly at the scene. The heated discussion abruptly fell silent, and the youths who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground to maintain their condition rose to their feet in unison.

Everyone stood straight, their eyes resolute and their expressions solemn. Their left hands pressed against their chests in respect.

The light screen displayed one brutal scene after another.

Figures in army green moved through dense forests. Armed with guns, war sabers, or longswords, they hunted demonic beasts and harvested demon spirits.

Among them, a middle-aged man gripped a massive cleaver tightly in both hands. As his body spun, his eyes shone with the ferocity of one prepared to face death.

Around him, three Iron Scale Wolves—small in build but covered in brown scales—circled as they ran, howling without cease before finally lunging at him.

"Iron Scale Wolves."

Though Iron Scale Wolves were only First-Rank demonic beasts, the lowest rank, they were pack animals, exceedingly cunning and skilled at surrounding their prey.

They were extremely dangerous for ordinary martial artists.

"Ah..."

Amid his screams, one Iron Scale Wolf clamped down on the middle-aged man's left arm, tearing flesh until even white bone could be seen. The agonizing pain did not make him retreat in the slightest. He roared, his eyes blood-red, ignoring the Iron Scale Wolf hanging from his left arm as he swung both hands fiercely and cleaved the Iron Scale Wolf before him in two. As it died, a pale yellow phantom emerged from its head—the Iron Scale Wolf's demon spirit.

The demon spirit tried to escape the moment it appeared, but before it could fly far, someone caught it and stuffed it into a transparent bottle, then turned to rescue the middle-aged man.

But by then, the middle-aged man's left arm had been completely torn off, blood gushing from the stump. Another Iron Scale Wolf had bitten into his right leg. The battle grew ever more brutal, severed limbs and agonized cries displayed without concealment on the light screen.

This was not a movie. It was a live broadcast from the real battlefield.

Even children who had been laughing and playing without understanding now felt the gravity of the atmosphere. Some even trembled all over, crying as they shut their eyes, too afraid to watch any longer.

And this was only one scene shown on the light screen. The broadcast lasted nearly half an hour. There was no narration and no music, yet it let people understand what true brutality was.

More importantly, it made the students present understand that the demon spirits they would refine today had been obtained at the cost of countless soldiers' lives.

"Everything for humanity!"

On the stage, the middle-aged man—River City's guardian—spoke softly.

His voice was not loud, as though the wind could scatter it, yet it rang exceptionally clearly in everyone's ears.

"For humanity!"

Then the crowd erupted in a wild roar.

As that roar began, it instantly spread throughout the city. Everyone working, attending class, or watching before their televisions stood straight, pressed their left hands to their chests, and shouted.

Even Lin Feng was no exception.

The words "for humanity" were too vast, but soldiers who gave their lives for their country deserved respect.

Because no matter when it was, soldiers were always the ones charging at the very front.

The hunt for demon spirits continued. It did not stop because anyone was injured or killed. The army advanced outward from the heart of the forest in an arc, forcing the demonic beasts toward the forest's edge. Their final destination was River City.

As demonic beasts surged in like waves, everyone's body tensed slightly. The hunt was only truly beginning now.

Before long, the once-clear sky suddenly darkened.

"Awwooo..."

"Roar..."

Piercing howls spread throughout River City.

"The demon spirits are attacking the city!"

With that cry of alarm, a scene like the end of the world appeared before everyone's eyes.

Bird-like demonic beasts of every color, covered in either feathers or scales, beat their wings as they flew rapidly toward River City. There were so many that they blotted out the sky and obscured the sun.

At the same time, the earth shook violently. Even from so far away, Lin Feng could clearly feel the tremors. The transparent glass high above made cracking sounds, and quite a few panes fell directly from the heights. Fortunately, everyone had gathered in the square, so no one was injured.

At that moment, everyone's faces flushed red. On the screen, countless demonic beasts, dense as clouds and covering heaven and earth, surged toward River City.

Under the soldiers' slaughter, these demonic beasts were finally driven outside River City.

What came next was the most blood-stirring, heart-pounding battle.