Reborn as an Immortal in a Martial World

Aetherion, the Celestial Realm, was swallowed by endless seas of mist and clouds. Black lightning split the heavens, coiling like ancient beasts with jaws stretched wide, hungry to devour everything beneath them.

Even the mightiest immortals of the age never dared to linger here.

Yet on the far edge of that boundless cloud sea, upon a lonely platform called Skyreach Terrace, a bloody storm was about to break.

"Aiden Blackwood, surrender the Primordial Chaos Emerald Bloom, or you will suffer for it!"

"Aiden Blackwood, you're a dead man! Hand it over and we may let you keep a whole corpse!"

"Your potential is spent, Blackwood! Even holding the Bloom, you can never ascend. Give it to us elders. That treasure is tangled in far too many fates for you to bear!"

The jeering voices rose from every direction.

At the center of the terrace stood Aiden, still clad in his crimson wedding robes, his hair wild, his body soaked in blood. His face was ice, and his eyes were as steady as stone.

Around his feet, across hundreds of feet of shattered cloud, lay a carpet of broken bodies and severed limbs.

The experts surrounding him shouted and threatened, yet not one dared to charge. Aiden's lips curled in a mocking smile. But his gaze never wavered from the woman in a bridal gown at the very back of the crowd.

Seraphina Vale. The most beautiful goddess in the immortal realm. Her grandfather, Lord Aldric Vale, was the reigning Immortal Venerable himself.

Today was meant to be their wedding feast. Instead, the moment the Bloom's secret was exposed, the guests had turned into hunters.

And it was Seraphina who had leaked it.

Aiden had always suspected she had her own reasons for coming close to him. He had never imagined her first move would be a trap meant to bury him.

There was no time to dwell on it.

The crowd had calculated well. Aiden was exhausted, but a cornered man would strike with everything he had, and whoever moved first would pay with their life. No one wished to be that fool. So they waited, weapons drawn, hoping someone else would be reckless enough to die first.

Aiden stood unmoving, like an immortal blade planted in the world. His face gave nothing away. Inside, his mind raced, searching for a way out.

Tap... tap...

Soft footsteps echoed through the mist. Every head turned. Seraphina was walking toward him, perfectly serene.

She had changed out of her bridal red. Now she wore a pale-blue gown with a long train sweeping behind her, and a mantle of white sky-bird feathers shimmered across her shoulders in soft, shifting colors. A ribbon of snow-white silk cinched her waist. She looked radiant and untouchable.

Her hair fell like black silk. Her skin was flawless, her lashes long, her lips rose-red. She had the face of a girl of seventeen or eighteen, and a presence no ordinary woman could match.

The crowd hurried aside to make way for her. Aiden did not so much as glance at them.

"Seraphina, you're a cunning one," he said, his eyes narrowing. His voice was so cold that the air around him seemed to frost over. "Did you come to me only for the Emerald Bloom?"

Seraphina smiled faintly. Her red lips parted, and she spoke so softly that only he could hear.

"You call me a schemer? Weren't you also using me, Aiden? You wanted my grandfather's resources. That's why you married into my family."

"And you're mistaken. The Bloom was never my goal. It was only an excuse to move these fools like pieces on a board. My true purpose? You don't need to know."

Aiden's expression shifted violently. He stared at the woman who was suddenly both familiar and a stranger to him.

Not the Bloom? Then what do I have that is worth more?

"A dying man has no need for answers," Seraphina said gently, her beauty more haunting than any exiled goddess. "I've gathered all these guests to see you off, my dear husband. I'll watch from afar. Go in peace."

A strange, meaningful light flickered in her lovely eyes. She turned her back to him, lifted her elegant face, and gazed at the golden sun hidden behind the clouds.

"Show no mercy. Whoever contributes most will be rewarded with a petal of the Primordial Chaos Emerald Bloom."

The instant her words fell, violet celestial light bloomed beneath her feet. She dissolved into a streak of radiance and vanished, leaving only the mournful hum of the Eternal Law, as if the heavens themselves were singing a dirge for Aiden.

"Everyone, attack together!" someone roared. "Carve him up! Besides the Bloom, every inch of him is a treasure! He became a Celestial King in only ten thousand years. He's hiding secrets! If we let him recover, we'll be the ones to suffer!"

The crowd howled in agreement. Swords flashed, and they surged inward.

Aiden stared after the path Seraphina had taken. His heart was calm, his eyes unclouded. Questions burned inside him, but he knew one truth. Only by surviving this could he uncover the answers.

Blood-matted hair whipped across his brow as blades glittered around him, dragging him back to the present. He swept his gaze over the twisted, greedy faces, and killing intent surged in his chest.

"I am an Immortal King!" he thundered at the heavens. "You dare try to kill me? You are not worthy!"

The power of a Great Perfection Immortal King erupted from him. Golden ripples burst outward and swept across the world.

BOOM!

Every enemy around him coughed blood and was hurled backward. All of them together were no match for him. His strength was terrifying.

But just as Aiden turned to break free, a colossal square seal crashed down from above, radiating bone-deep cold and crushing force.

His face hardened. He swung his immortal sword upward in a single blazing arc, as fast as lightning, and the blade light tore through space itself.

BOOM!

The clash hurled him back dozens of miles before he found his footing. He raised his head and spoke one name, slowly.

"Damien Frost."

As the words left his lips, a man in black robes stepped out of a rift in space. With a lazy grasp toward a point hundreds of miles away, he summoned the Frostsoul Sigil, and it flew obediently back to his hand.

"Aiden Blackwood," Damien said without emotion. "Today we settled our account."

Freezing air poured from him, and behind him an icy world stretching millions of miles unfolded. The Frostsoul Sigil hung in its sky like a pale, glittering sun.

Aiden gave a cold snort. He lifted his immortal sword, called upon the sword laws of heaven and earth, and swung.

That one strike made the starry sea boil.

All its power was compressed into a single, razor-thin line. With a sound like the world tearing, the vast frozen realm was split in two.

Damien was flung backward. Though both men stood at the Great Perfection of the Immortal King realm, he could not withstand even a single blow. And the two of them were known as the finest prodigies of their age.

Silence fell over the heavens.

If even Damien Frost could be defeated by one strike, who would not respect this man? Who would not fear him?