White.
There was nothing else.
Kael couldn't feel his body.
Couldn't hear the wind.
Couldn't even tell if he was standing or falling.
Then—
Drip.
A drop of blood struck the ground.
Kael looked down.
He was standing in a battlefield.
Thousands of bodies surrounded him.
The sky above was crimson.
Mountains burned in the distance.
Kael's breathing stopped.
He knew this place.
Not because he had been here before.
Because some part of him remembered it.
A sword was in his hand.
Blood covered the blade.
Someone stood in front of him.
A young man wearing white armor.
His face was hidden beneath a broken mask.
“You failed again.”
Kael stared at him.
“Who are you?”
The man laughed.
“You always ask that.”
Kael's heart tightened.
“Always?”
The man raised his sword.
“You never remember.”
He charged.
Kael raised his own sword.
The two blades collided.
CLANG!
The impact shook the battlefield.
Kael moved.
His body knew techniques he had never learned.
One strike.
Two.
Three.
The masked warrior was pushed backward.
Kael's eyes widened.
I can fight like this?
Then the warrior whispered something.
“Seven lives.”
Kael froze.
“What?”
The warrior's sword pierced his chest.
Pain exploded through him.
Kael looked down.
Blood.
His blood.
He fell to his knees.
The warrior leaned closer.
“You'll remember eventually.”
Everything went black.
Kael's eyes opened.
He was back in the valley.
His knees were buried in the snow.
His chest rose and fell violently.
The young cultivator stood several meters away.
“What's wrong?”
Kael didn't answer.
He was staring at his hands.
They were shaking.
He had felt the sword.
He had felt the pain.
It hadn't been a dream.
It had been a memory.
A memory of his own death.
The young cultivator raised his sword.
“Enough.”
He stepped forward.
Kael looked up.
Something inside him had changed.
Fear was still there.
But beneath it was something stronger.
Recognition.
He suddenly knew how the man would attack.
Not because of his enhanced senses.
Because he had seen the movement before.
In another life.
Kael moved.
The sword passed beside his face.
He grabbed the young man's wrist.
The cultivator's eyes widened.
“You—”
Kael twisted.
The sword fell.
Clang!
Kael drove his fist into the man's stomach.
BOOM!
The young cultivator flew backward.
He crashed into a tree.
Kael stood frozen.
He stared at his fist.
That technique...
It wasn't his.
It belonged to someone he had been.
The cultivator slowly stood.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
“You're only at the first layer of Body Tempering.”
His expression became vicious.
“How did you predict my movement?”
Kael looked at him.
“I don't know.”
And for once—
it was the truth.
The young man charged again.
Kael stepped backward.
He didn't try to overpower him.
He watched.
The man's shoulder moved first.
Then his wrist.
Then the sword.
Kael remembered the battlefield.
The masked warrior had attacked the same way.
His body reacted.
He stepped aside.
The sword missed.
Kael struck the man's elbow.
Crack!
The sword dropped.
The young cultivator screamed.
Kael immediately kicked him away.
The man fell into the snow.
He stared at Kael with disbelief.
“What are you?”
Kael didn't answer.
He didn't know.
A sword suddenly flew through the air.
Whoosh!
The young cultivator's expression changed.
The sword pierced his shoulder.
He fell.
Kael spun around.
Jian stood at the entrance of the valley.
Blood covered his robe.
But his sword was still steady.
“Master!”
Jian walked toward them.
His eyes immediately went to Kael.
Then to the unconscious cultivator.
“You remembered.”
Kael froze.
“You knew this would happen?”
Jian didn't answer immediately.
Kael stepped closer.
“You knew!”
Jian sighed.
“I suspected.”
“Who was I?”
Jian's expression darkened.
“I don't know.”
Kael stared at him.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Jian looked toward the unconscious cultivator.
“Come.”
Kael followed.
After a few steps, he stopped.
“Master.”
Jian turned.
“I saw myself die.”
Jian's expression became serious.
“How many times?”
Kael swallowed.
“I don't know.”
He looked at the golden mark on his palm.
“But someone said seven.”
Jian's eyes narrowed.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in them.
“Then it's starting earlier than I thought.”
Kael stepped closer.
“What is starting?”
Jian looked toward the dark mountains.
“The cycle.”
“What cycle?”
Jian was silent.
Kael's patience broke.
“You keep telling me to run. You keep hiding things from me. Everyone seems to know something about me except me!”
His voice echoed through the valley.
“I want answers!”
Jian stared at him.
Then he finally spoke.
“Your father came to me seventeen years ago.”
Kael's anger disappeared.
“He was badly injured.”
“He carried you in his arms.”
Kael listened.
“He told me to raise you somewhere no one would find you.”
“Why?”
“Because people were hunting him.”
Jian's eyes lowered.
“And he knew they would eventually come for you.”
Kael's voice became quiet.
“Did he know about the seven lives?”
Jian shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who does?”
Jian looked at Kael.
“That's what we're going to find out.”
He reached into his robe and removed an old map.
A red mark had been drawn deep within the northern mountains.
Kael looked at it.
“What is that?”
“The Ruined Moon Sect.”
Jian folded the map.
“Tomorrow, we go there.”
Kael nodded.
But before they could leave—
the unconscious cultivator suddenly laughed.
Both turned.
The young man opened his eyes.
Blood stained his teeth.
“You're too late.”
Jian's expression changed.
“For what?”
The cultivator looked at Kael.
“They've already arrived.”
Kael frowned.
“Who?”
The man's smile widened.
“The people who remember your previous lives.”
The golden mark on Kael's palm suddenly burned.
Then—
A voice echoed from the mountain.
“Kael Ren.”
Kael looked up.
A figure stood on the distant cliff.
Black robes.
Silver mask.
The same symbol as the warriors who attacked the village.
The figure raised one hand.
Behind him—
dozens of black-robed cultivators appeared.
Jian slowly drew his sword.
Kael clenched his fists.
The masked figure spoke again.
“Your eighth life has begun.”
His eyes locked onto Kael.
“Let's see how long it lasts this time.”