The Eternal Emperor: Reborn to Slaughter The Gods

"Look at you, Lu Tian," Mu Rong whispered, his voice cutting through the celestial wind. "You actually believed we would let you rule the heavens forever. You became too strong, brother. The celestial gods themselves decreed your end."

Lu Tian knelt on the golden tiles of the Divine Altar, divine chains binding his wrists. His imperial robes were soaked in warm crimson. Next to Mu Rong stood Shangguan Xue, his lover, her hand steady on the hilt of a poisoned dagger buried deep in his chest.

Spitting blood onto Mu Rong’s boots, Lu Tian glared with furious fire. "I gave you everything, Mu Rong. I built this empire with my own hands. Is this how you repay a brother?"

"A brother is just a stepping stone when the throne is this high," Mu Rong replied, drawing his sword back. "Sleep now, Eternal Emperor. Your era is finished."

Shangguan Xue twisted the dagger inside his heart, looking away. "Do not blame us, Lu Tian. You were a magnificent ruler, but you were too stubborn to bend to the celestial entities. We chose survival over your pride."

Lu Tian felt his cultivation core shatter, his soul fracturing into millions of glowing pieces. "I will return. If I have to crawl out of the underworld itself, I will paint these heavens red with your blood."

Mu Rong laughed, a cold, hollow sound. "There is no coming back from the celestial executioner's blade. Your soul is dust."

As darkness swallowed Lu Tian's vision, a blinding heat exploded in his chest. The Nine-Abyss Seal, a mysterious black stone artifact from the primordial void, vibrated violently. It unleashed a massive vortex of dark energy, grabbing his fading consciousness and dragging his mind into a bottomless void, far away from the divine altar.

"Hey, trash, are you deaf in there? Move your useless legs before I break them for you!" a loud, grating voice shouted from behind the flimsy wooden door.

Lu Tian opened his eyes in a dusty room, coughing up blood, as the mocking voice outside demanded he crawl out and accept his public whipping. He tumbled onto a hard floor, a heavy wheeze escaping his throat. Dust billowed around his face, smelling of rotting wood and stale sweat. He tried to circulate his inner energy, but sharp pain shot through his abdomen, causing him to double over.

"Where am I?" Lu Tian muttered, his voice sounding thin, weak, and unfamiliar.

He looked at his hands. They were small, pale, and covered in rough calluses. This was not his supreme divine body. His internal meridians were blocked, twisted, and utterly broken.

The door burst open with a loud bang, splinters flying across the cramped room. A young man wearing a fine silk robe stepped inside, holding a thick leather whip. Two stocky guards stood right behind him, grinning.

"There you are, crawling on the dirt like the dog you are," the young man said, sneering down at Lu Tian. "Did you think hiding in this dump would save you? The First Elder wants you in the main courtyard right now."

Lu Tian slowly stood up, balancing against the wall. He wiped the blood from his lips, his eyes narrowing into cold slits. "Who are you calling trash?"

The young man laughed loudly, turning to the guards. "Look at this idiot. Did the fever scramble his brain? He forgets his own cousin. I am Lu Jin, the one who is going to make you bleed today."

Lu Tian closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, letting foreign memories flood his mind. He was still named Lu Tian, but he was now the orphaned, ridiculed young master of a minor family in a remote border city. This body had been beaten and starved for years because its cultivation talent was nonexistent.

"Lu Jin," Lu Tian said, his voice dropping into a calm, icy tone. "If you take one more step toward me with that whip, I will make sure you never hold a weapon again."

"You dare threaten me, you crippled waste?" Lu Jin roared. "You are just a stray dog living on the charity of my father. Let see if your tongue stays this sharp after ten lashes."

Lu Jin swung the heavy leather whip forward, aiming directly for Lu Tian's face. To a normal person, the attack was lightning fast. But to Lu Tian, a man who had fought celestial generals, the movement was incredibly slow, clumsy, and full of openings.

Lu Tian stepped forward, sliding past the trajectory of the whip. Before Lu Jin could realize what was happening, Lu Tian reached out and grabbed Lu Jin's wrist with an iron grip.

"What the hell?" Lu Jin gasped, trying to pull back. "How do you have this much strength?"

"You rely too much on your weapon, and your stance is completely trash," Lu Tian whispered.

With a sudden twist, Lu Tian applied sharp, downward pressure. A loud, sickening crack echoed through the room as the bones in Lu Jin's wrist shattered. The whip dropped to the floor as Lu Jin let out a piercing scream of pure agony, falling to his knees.

"My hand! He broke my hand! Kill him! Stand there and kill him right now!" Lu Jin screamed at the guards.

The two guards drew their short swords, lunging forward simultaneously.

"Idiots," Lu Tian muttered.

He swept his foot across the floor, kicking up a thick cloud of dust straight into the guards' eyes. Blinded, they swung into the air. Lu Tian easily dodged the clumsy blades, slamming his elbow into the first guard's throat and crushing his windpipe. He then grabbed the second guard's wrist, turning the sword against him and plunging it deep into the guard's thigh.

In less than ten seconds, both guards were writhing on the floor, while Lu Jin whimpered in the corner, wide-eyed with terror.

"You are not Lu Tian," Lu Jin stuttered, backing against the wall. "Lu Tian is a coward. Who the hell are you?"

"I am the man who is going to take back everything this family stole from me," Lu Tian said, stepping directly onto Lu Jin's chest, pinning him to the floor. "Tell your father that the next time he sends someone to whip me, he should come himself."

Lu Jin nodded frantically, pale from fear. "Yes, yes, just let me go! Please!"

"Get out of my sight before I decide to break your other hand," Lu Tian said, lifting his foot.

Lu Jin scrambled to his feet, grabbing his broken wrist, and sprinted out of the shattered door with the two wounded guards limping behind him.

Once the room was quiet, Lu Tian sank onto the floor, his chest heaving. The small exertion had completely drained this weak body, and his meridians felt like they were on fire. He closed his eyes and looked inward, searching his soul space. Deep inside his dark spiritual sea, the Nine-Abyss Seal floated. It was cracked, but it was alive, pulsing with a faint, ancient energy.

"So you saved me, old friend," Lu Tian whispered, touching his chest. "Ten thousand years have passed, my empire is gone, and the traitors are sitting on divine thrones. But I am still alive."

Suddenly, the black seal flashed with a bright, bloody light. A massive flood of dark, ancient runes erupted from the artifact, rushing straight into Lu Tian's brain. The sheer volume of information made his skull feel like it was splitting open, causing him to hiss in pain. When the burning subsided, a complete set of cultivation texts appeared in his memory, glowing with dark gold letters. It was the Forbidden Devouring Scripture.

Lu Tian let out a cold, dark laugh. "Mu Rong, Shangguan Xue, you thought you destroyed me. You thought you could control the heavens. You have no idea what you have just unleashed upon this world."

He sat cross-legged on the floor, ignoring the blood on his clothes. He began to chant the ancient words of the scripture, synchronizing his heartbeat with the pulsing rhythm of the Nine-Abyss Seal. Within minutes, the air inside the small room began to stir. The ambient spiritual energy of the border city began to rush toward his body, forming a small vortex around him. The dark runes acted like hungry beasts, tearing through his blocked meridians, breaking the old structures down, and rebuilding them with pure strength.

The pain was intense, like thousands of hot needles piercing his skin, but Lu Tian did not even blink. He had endured the celestial execution altar; this was nothing to his iron will. As the energy settled into his flesh, his cultivation level began to rise rapidly, breaking through the barriers of the lower realms one by one.

By the time the sun began to set, casting long, orange shadows across the room, Lu Tian opened his eyes. A powerful gust of wind exploded from his body, blowing the remaining dust out of the shattered doorway. His skin looked healthier, his eyes were bright with divine light, and the weakness was completely gone.

"Three stages of body refinement in a single afternoon," Lu Tian murmured, looking at his hands, which were now pulsing with a faint, dark energy. "Not bad for a starting point. This scripture is truly terrifying."

Suddenly, heavy, hurried footsteps echoed from the courtyard outside, accompanied by the loud clanking of iron armor. A voice full of deep, furious energy boomed through the estate, shaking the very foundations of the old house.

"Lu Tian, you worthless bastard! Get out here and face your judgment! You dared to cripple my son, and today, I will personally strip your skin and throw your corpse into the wild mountains!"

Lu Tian slowly stood up, a cold, ruthless smile spreading across his face as he adjusted his robes. He walked toward the shattered door, his eyes fixed on the massive crowd gathering in the courtyard. The acting head of the family had finally arrived, but Lu Tian no longer felt any fear.

"Let see who is going to be thrown to the beasts," Lu Tian whispered, stepping out into the light.