The first breath he drew in this new world tasted of ash and old stone. Jiang Chen groaned, his muscles stiff as boards, every joint resisting motion. His body—no, this new body—felt foreign, battered, and so frail that even lifting his head sent spikes of pain through his neck.
He sat up slowly, his fingers pressing against the cracked slab of rock beneath him. Around him stretched the remnants of what looked like a ruined altar, circular and ancient, nestled within a forested gorge veiled in morning mist. Strange birds cried out in the distance, their calls unlike anything on Earth.
Jiang Chen's breathing quickened as fragments of memories not his own surged forward—flashes of betrayal, humiliation, and despair.
He saw himself—this body's former owner—kneeling before a crowd in ceremonial robes, his forehead pressed to the cold stone floor.
"By the decree of the Jiang Clan elders, you are stripped of your core, your status, and your rights. Be gone, disgrace of the bloodline!"
The memory ended in blinding pain as a palm strike shattered his meridians. Darkness followed.
Jiang Chen gritted his teeth, fury welling up like a tide.
"They tried to erase you," he whispered, "and now I carry both our names."
He forced himself to his feet, swaying. The world around him spun slightly, but he focused on breathing—deep, controlled. A cultivator's breathing.
But I'm not a cultivator… not yet.
He tried channeling energy as he had seen in countless memories—but nothing happened. The meridians in his body were fractured beyond normal healing. He could feel the blockage, like shattered tunnels beneath a city.
Then he heard it—a whisper inside his mind.
Astral Code detected.
Host: Jiang Chen.
Legacy access approved: Initiating Star Core Restoration Protocol.
A flash of light exploded behind his eyes. Jiang Chen collapsed to his knees as heat surged through his body, centering in his chest.
The star-shaped sigil from before reappeared—this time etched across his spiritual sea. A spiral of silver light began rotating around it.
Begin Reconstruction: Level One Cultivation Root.
Agony flared.
He bit down on his own tongue to keep from screaming. Energy poured through him like molten metal, burning a new path where none had existed. Every shattered meridian was mended, not with flesh, but with something far purer—light drawn from the stars themselves.
The process took hours—or seconds—he couldn't tell. When it ended, he collapsed face-first into the dust, panting.
[ Core Stabilized.]
[ Realm: Qi Condensation, First Layer.]
Jiang Chen's fingers clenched into fists.
He could feel it now.
Energy. Power. Flowing through his body like a rising tide.
"I can cultivate," he breathed, eyes wide. "I—I did it!"
But the celebration was brief. He turned his gaze to the sky, where three moons floated in eerie silence. This was not Earth. This was a place ruled by strength.
And he was still too weak.
He looked down at his trembling hands. "This power… it's not enough."
Branches rustled behind him.
He turned, on guard. A figure emerged from the mist—a girl, perhaps his age, dressed in robes shimmering with traces of starlight. Her hair flowed like midnight silk, and her eyes glowed faint violet.
They studied each other for a long moment.
Then she spoke, her voice clear as crystal.
"You've awakened the Sutra."
Jiang Chen tensed. "Who are you?"
"I am Yue Lian," she said. "A watcher. And perhaps… your only ally in this world."
"What do you want?"
She looked up at the sky.
"The heavens chose you. That means others will come to end you before you understand why."
Jiang Chen's fists clenched. "Then let them come."
A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Good. You'll need that fire. But remember, Starpiercer… even stars can die."
She turned and vanished into the mist.
Jiang Chen stood alone once more.
But he no longer felt alone.
The first step had been taken.
He would rebuild not only his strength, but the dignity stolen from this body. The name "Jiang Chen" would one day shake the heavens.
And the path had only just begun.