Chapter 2: The Modern Sect

Chapter 2: The Modern Sect

Yao Shen’s consciousness began to fade, but he did not cycle his cultivation in an attempt to resist it. No, he had expected this. A Soul Emperor was one who had full command over his soul. Each soul only received ten chances to reach Soul Emperor or ten full life cycles, before the soul is irreparably shattered. With every life cycle, the potential for ascension irrevocably diminished by a slight margin.

Thus, it was not a surprise to Yao Shen that he was only on his second cycle of reincarnation. As the memories started flooding back though, Yao Shen, who was in a dream-like state, felt chills crawl up his spine, feeling shock that could not be described by mere words alone.

He dreamt... of a world.

And at that moment, Yao Shen realized that the world he lived in was not his own. He was an otherworldly existence, a soul that had managed to sneak past the heavenly web guarding the planet of Eliria. An anomaly, an aberration, that snuck into the cycle of reincarnation.

Yao Shen felt like kneeling over and vomiting, his hands trembling in the astral state he found himself. A shadowed silhouette floating in the vast expanse of space, a concept he did not even know existed up until a few seconds ago.

He dreamt of a world... of mortals.

A world where the Heavenly Dao did not exist. A world where mortals were the weakest existence on their planet, yet managed to subdue all animal and plant life as they called it, weaker versions of spiritual plants and beasts, but even then, deadly enough to subdue mortals with ease.

A world that destroyed his conceptions, his understanding, and ironically, his very world view. Mortals were supposed to be weak, hapless existences that served cultivators. He had never thought of them like that, but most cultivators did. Yet these were same mortals were capable of using a Dao that required not murder and bloodshed, but understanding and rational thinking, to make the impossible, possible.

As a Soul Emperor, he could level an entire town, or even a large city or sect by himself alone. But the weapons these mortals had developed were potent enough to level their entire planet, leaving not even ash behind.

His death would serve no purpose, but to reinstate another despot like him, perhaps even more cruel.

His Dao Heart was shaken by these revelations, but it would not shatter. But even if he discounted the morality aspect of the moment, there was a question that had to be considered.

Was Eliria’s approach the correct one? Why then, did their food taste like rotten meat compared to the styles of cuisine he’d sampled on Earth? Why then were the only sources of entertainment they had access to tournaments, duels, and other competitions after competitions, much like their forefathers had? Why then were all cultivators mindless zombies, spending year after year, decade after decade, to become stronger, and then using that power to kill instead of build?

The answer was simple.

They were wrong, and their approach was flawed because they didn't know better.

“So be it,” Yao Shen muttered, and the illusion around him shattered, his Dao Heart reborn with a crystalline clear determination. He became the Sect Leader, not only out of a desire to repay the Sect and the efforts of his late teacher, but to transform his sect into a behemoth, one whose reputation was so hallowed that their name would even be known to foreign continents, so fearsome that nobody would dare to raise a hand on his disciples unless they were out to temper themselves.

Now, his determination was reborn anew, and this time there was no doubt in his heart. For this was the only correct path.

And he would start by renaming his sect. It was time to cause a storm in this bloodthirsty world, and this time his weapon would not be murder, but something even more potent — civilization.

It was time for the Modern Sect to make its debut.