Chapter 1: Return To Youth
Words : 2893
Updated : May 22nd, 2025
In the summer of 2007, a bus from Seapolis, Cadell City, Jenos Province, was heading toward the city.
Seapolis was a long way from the city center, and with the summer heat, most bus passengers were half-asleep.
Suddenly, a slender, fair-skinned teenager, about 5'7" with messy short hair, jolted awake from a nightmare. He looked around, dazed, then his expression changed drastically as something clicked in his mind.
No one could have guessed the storm of emotions inside him.
"Isn't this the bus I took from Seapolis to Cadell City for my senior year in 2007?" he thought in disbelief.
"How am I here? Wasn't I in the middle of my Tribulation Crossing?" His heart pounded as a wild thought hit him.
"No way. Did I travel back in time?"
Liam Casson stared in disbelief.
"I, Immortal Venerable, didn't die during my tribulation? I came back to my teenage years on Earth?"
Liam was a core disciple of Verdant from the True Martial Immortal Sect.
At around thirty, Verdant took him off Earth, and he spent the next five hundred years cultivating across the universe.
He was a rare genius, reaching the Tribulation Crossing stage in just five hundred years. He was said to be the most likely in millennia to make it through and ascend to the Immortal Realm.
For five centuries, Liam traveled the stars, undefeated in countless battles against all kinds of cosmic races, and was honored by all as the Immortal Venerable.
Only when the celestial tribulation struck did Liam realize that the foundation core he thought was unbreakable was full of flaws.
He'd advanced too fast, and his roots weren't solid.
His rock-solid foundation core collapsed during the Heart Tribulation.
Years of regret and unfulfilled wishes he'd buried deep all came flooding out, and there was nowhere to hide.
Liam tried to sense his body, only to find that all his once-immense power, enough to shatter stars, was gone without a trace.
Even his supposedly indestructible primordial spirit was gone.
"This isn't the Heart Tribulation. I did come back," Liam thought, frowning slightly.
With his knowledge about Tribulation Crossing, he knew that no matter how real a Heart Tribulation illusion felt, it could never erase five hundred years of cultivation.
"Now my body's empty, no power, no abilities, no primordial spirit, not even a foundation core or any magic weapons. All belonged to my future self. It couldn't come back with me. Right now, I'm just a regular guy, even a single bullet could kill me."
Even though Liam had lost all the cultivation he'd spent centuries building, he didn't feel down. Instead, he smiled.
"That's for the best. Last time, I rushed my cultivation, and my foundation was shaky. This time, I'll take it slow, master every stage, and build a strong foundation core."
His eyes grew sharp as he grinned, a fire burning in them. "And those people who hurt me before? This time, I'll make them pay. And the things I regretted last time, I won't let them happen again."
"Mom, Dad, Anya, Cass, I'm back. This time, I won't back down. I won't let anyone hurt or look down on you!" he swore, clenching his jaw.
Liam was born in Seapolis.
His father, Alistair Casson, was from Ninno City, the provincial capital, while his mom, Jorja Houston, came from one of the top families in Beckin, Chiton.
Even in Beckin, the Houston family was big-time.
They were college sweethearts, but back then, parents called the shots on marriage, especially in powerful families like the Houstons.
the Houston family was against it. Jorja's father even threatened to disown her.
Frustrated, Jorja broke ties with her family and left Beckin with Alistair, returning to Jenos Province.
Alistair didn't stay in Ninno City to prove he was good enough for Jorja. He worked at the county office in Seapolis, starting from nothing.
Over the years, he worked his way up to deputy county chief, all on his own. But compared to the Houston family, he was still a world apart.
Things cooled off a bit after Liam was born, and Jorja's father finally let her bring her husband and son back to Beckin for the New Year.
The family went, excited, only to be met with cold shoulders and snide remarks from the relatives.
To the Houstons, Jorja and Alistair had embarrassed Jorja's father, making the Houston family a laughingstock among Beckin's elite.
To the Houstons, Alistair's accomplishments were a joke.
They rubbed elbows with bigwigs. A deputy county chief was nothing.
Liam shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. "Ace Houston, no matter how hard my folks and I tried, we could only look up to you and the Houston family. Even when Splendor Group was falling apart and I went to beg for help, you guys just looked down on us like beggars."
In his past life, Jorja was tough as nails. After being humiliated by her family, she took Anya, Liam’s sister, and moved to Shanton, starting Splendor Group from the ground up.
By the time Liam went off to college, Splendor Group had gone public and become a real estate powerhouse in Shanton. Jorja was called the "Queen of Real Estate" and was worth billions.
But after years of overwork and betrayal, she got sick and passed away, leaving Liam with regrets.
Ace Houston, his cousin, was the Houston family's golden boy. No matter how hard Liam tried to catch up, the gap kept getting bigger, and it crushed him.
Liam last saw the Houston family at his mom's funeral. All they did was send Ace.
Not even his grandparents or uncles and aunts showed up, even though Jorja was their daughter and sister.
Ace, tall, good-looking, and full of himself, was the star of the show, surrounded by people Liam could only dream of meeting.
"Not only did the Houston family turn their backs on us, they made fun of us, too. My mom worked herself to death, and they just stood by and watched. They didn't even bother coming to her funeral."
"All my mom wanted was for the Houston family to see what she could do, but look how it ended. This time, even if I'm just a regular guy, once I get my strength back, I'll go to Beckin and show you all what real power looks like!"
Without realizing it, Liam had balled his hands into fists.
Even after centuries, the humiliation from the Houston family still stung.
Cultivation was about staying true to yourself, living free, not bottling things up, or turning the other cheek.
If you let grudges pile up, they'd eat away at you, and when the Heart Tribulation came, all your years of training would mean nothing.
Liam looked out the window at the scenery, his hometown, a view he hadn't seen in hundreds of years.
"I'm almost in Cadell City. How long has it been since I was last here?" he thought.
"After high school, I went to college in Ninno City, then moved to Shanton. When Splendor Group went bankrupt, I slunk back to Cadell City and took a job as a low-level civil servant, just drifting through life."
This city was full of memories, friends, and enemies.
"By now, the Snowden family should be the richest folks in Cadell City," Liam remembered.
Back then, the Snowdens hadn't become the top dogs in Jenos Province yet.
Jayce Snowden, Liam's biggest rival in love, was the son of Prospero Group's chairman, the top real estate owner in Chiton, and the wealthiest guy in Jenos.
He snatched Cassidy Farrell from Liam, and his family helped bring down Splendor Group.
Liam and Cassidy were childhood sweethearts. They lost touch, then met again in college and thought they'd be together forever. But Jayce butted in, and with Cassidy's family dead set against it, Liam was forced to walk away.
The last time he saw Cassidy, he heard she was getting engaged. He got drunk and thought about suicide, only to get picked up by Verdant and taken down the path of cultivation.
Losing Cassidy was one of the biggest regrets of his life.
If Liam's last life was all failure, Jayce's was a total win.
The Snowdens and Farrells did business together and wanted to seal the deal with a marriage.
When Cassidy turned eighteen, they tried to engage her, but she resisted.
In college, Jayce kept messing with Liam, even framing him a few times, which only made Cassidy's mom hate him more. Later, Jayce even chased Cassidy overseas for grad school.
The Snowden family was also Liam's main business rival.
His mom's death, his career tanking, and years of struggle were all thanks to their scheming.
In his last life, Jayce beat Liam at everything. Thinking about it now, Liam's eyes turned icy.
"Jayce Snowden, the Farrells, the Houstons, and Ace, you never thought I'd be back, did you? This time, I'll take everything from you and make you pay for every humiliation!"
Last time, Liam spent his first thirty years broke and beaten down, taking crap from everyone around him. But now, with five hundred years of memories, he was back and ready to settle the score.
Suddenly, his phone rang, snapping him out of it. He looked at the caller ID: "Mom."
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