Pain. Excruciating pain!
In the bathroom, Gu Chen curled up, the pain searing into his bones. His body was hollow and empty, all its power gone!
Once upon a time, he could shake mountains and rivers and topple the stars and moon with a wave of his hand. Now, the once incomparably powerful immortal energy had vanished like smoke, and there was no trace of his immortal arts, emperor weapons, divine abilities, or dharma manifestations.
Yet a faint smile curved his lips.
He had been reborn! He had succeeded!
Gu Chen let out a long breath. Through three thousand years of trials, he had risen from a mortal to the supreme God Emperor of the Heavenly Nether Star. He had founded the Heavenly Pivot Sect, swept across the four seas and eight wildernesses, opened up vast new territories, and laid an eternal foundation.
At the Ascension Ceremony, with countless eyes upon him, Gu Chen had resolutely chosen to confront the tribulation clouds and heavenly lightning, hoping to use the immense power of the lightning tribulation to tear open space and time and return to the past!
"Becoming an immortal is hard; reversing space and time is even harder. When you fight heaven with your life on the line, one mistake will destroy both body and soul!"
But his conviction had been firm, and he had feared nothing, vowing to return to the turning point of his fate and change the things he once regretted. The lightning tribulation had struck again and again. Though his body had trembled violently and neared collapse, his gaze had only grown more resolute. Space and time had warped, and like a lone boat, he had fought his way through the raging energy toward that sliver of a chance to turn it all back.
Standing before the mirror and looking at his slightly youthful face, Gu Chen silently vowed, In this life, I will make up for my regrets and turn heaven and earth around!
In his previous life, Gu Chen would never forget that day-his father had been framed and driven out of the Gu Family in Shangjing, stripped of all his former glory and reduced to a laughingstock. The whole family had moved to Zhou City in search of a sliver of hope, but after a local prominent family with whom they had a marriage agreement learned of his father's downfall, they had tried every possible way to break off the engagement...
Memories flooded back like the tide!
Gu Chen thought of Zhuxin, that gentle yet resilient woman. Despite the Xiao Family's opposition, she had always stayed by his side, without complaint or regret. Yet even when Gu Chen left Earth to cultivate on the Heavenly Nether Star, he had never been able to give her a proper place at his side. It had become a pain in his heart forever.
And he could never forget Gu Changfeng! That vicious, twisted face. "Gu Changfeng! What you did to my father and me ultimately drove him to his death. I truly hate that I couldn't kill you with my own hands back then!"
But all of that was in the past, because he, Gu Chen, had been reborn!
His regrets-he would make up for them!
His grudges-he would settle them!
"Ah!"
A scream suddenly rang out. Gu Chen paused, dried his wet hair, and walked out of the bathroom.
Inside the luxury suite, a woman who looked to be in her early twenties stared with wide eyes, utterly terrified. Like a startled fawn, she clutched the quilt around herself, leaving only her frightened little face exposed.
Su Qingqing was the class beauty in Gu Chen's class. The two had gotten along fairly well in their previous lives, but what happened today had completely ruptured their relationship.
"Gu Chen?" Su Qingqing asked in a trembling voice. "How... how did we end up in the same room? What did you do to me?"
Gu Chen remained calm, unlike his flustered self in his previous life. "Miss Su, take a look at yourself first. You should be able to judge for yourself."
Su Qingqing looked down and checked her clothes. Seeing that they were intact, she glared at Gu Chen, then recalled what had happened. "Yesterday was Song Chu's birthday, and we drank too much... Then Jiang Yu, his face completely red, shouted for everyone to go sing... After that, I blacked out... Gu Chen, were you trying to take advantage of me while I was drunk?"
Gu Chen glanced at her. "Don't get any ideas. I don't have the slightest interest in you."
"You!" Su Qingqing shouted angrily. "Yesterday you got drunk and made a scene at the table. Zhou Xue'er ignored you, so you cried your eyes out. I was the one who tried to comfort you..."
Zhou Xue'er!
The moment Gu Chen heard the name, he looked at the calendar on the hotel wall.
April eleventh!
Memories came flooding back. Gu Chen's expression changed abruptly, his brows knitting tightly and his gaze dimming.
"That's right, it's today!" he murmured.
He would remember this day forever, the beginning of all his misfortunes. He had been framed and leaped from the fourth floor, shattering the bones in his legs. The Zhou Family had come knocking, demanding that the engagement be broken off, and everything his father had painstakingly built in Zhou City had been left hanging by a thread.
His father had been forced to swallow his pride and go to Shangjing for help, suffering every humiliation before finally being driven to his death!
In just two months, his family had been destroyed and his loved ones lost!
If his master had not rescued him when he jumped off a cliff and taken him far away from Earth, he too would have died!
"I'm talking to you!" Su Qingqing shouted in displeasure, but Gu Chen stood there silently.
"How did we end up staying in the same room? Did you bring me here?" she demanded.
Gu Chen smiled and glanced at his watch. "Wait a moment. The answer will be revealed soon."
"What do you mean?" Su Qingqing was stunned.
Outside the door, footsteps drew near.
Knock, knock, knock-the sound of knocking suddenly rang out.
Su Qingqing grew nervous. "Who is it?"
"It won't be a waiter, anyway." Gu Chen's gaze turned cold as he looked toward the door.
The knocking grew louder, rapid and forceful.
"Gu Chen, open the door! I know you're in there!" a voice shouted.
"Xu Mo!" Su Qingqing's face changed.
That was right, Xu Mo had brought people to catch them in the act!