Chapter 2: The Sovereign Traded a Millennium for Amnesia

Pain exploded through every nerve.

Kai Tianxie — or whatever name this broken shell now carried — woke screaming beside a jagged mountain cliff. Twenty-one fractured bones ground against each other with every shallow breath. The world spun in a red haze. His previous life? Gone. Wiped clean like ink under rain. Only fragments remained: falling, impact, darkness.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The scream echoed off the rocks. Breaths came ragged, unequal. The previous owner of this body must have tumbled down the slope — a drunkard's clumsy end, suicide, or murder. It didn't matter. The body was dying.

Then—

Ding dong.

A blue interface shimmered into existence before his blurring eyes. No fanfare. Just cold text.

[Strongest Sovereign System – Trade Successful {1000 Years from Previous Life}]

Voice control. Mind command. It responded to thought.

The title pulsed once.

Would you like to activate tutorial and receive the traded items?

Yes / No

Kai's lips trembled. "Ye—ye—yes… uf…"

Golden rays erupted from the panel, pouring into his body like molten sunlight. Bones snapped back into place with sickening cracks. Flesh knit. Pain vanished as if it had never existed. He flexed his fingers — whole. Stronger, even. Evolved.

Starter Pack Received:

Strongest Sovereign System

Power of Sect Members — Can borrow and use any sect member's abilities without their knowledge or consent

Eye of Wisdom — Understand anything down to the molecular level with a single glance (minor mode active; full scan costs Insight Points)

Trade Established.

Ding dong.

The interface refreshed.

Lifelong Mission:

Create the strongest sect of all time — 500,000 sect members within 300 years.

Success: Wish come true

Penalty: Failure means your origin will be destroyed.

A chill raced down Kai's spine. He didn't remember the trade. Didn't remember offering a thousand years of his old life. But the penalty burned in his soul like a brand. Eye of Wisdom activated instinctively — suppressing the panic, feeding him cold data.

He was Kai Tianxie now. Sect Leader of the Crimson Ember Sect… in name only. The sect was a ruin. A joke. And yet the mission loomed.

A weak scream cut through the wind.

Down the path, a woman staggered. Beautiful even in ruin — pale skin, torn robes, hair like spilled ink. She hadn't drunk water in days. Starvation and qi depletion had pushed her to the edge of collapse.

Five men surrounded her. Azure Peak Sect outer disciples. Grinning. Hands reaching.

Eye of Wisdom analyzed in an instant:

Cultivation: Peak Foundation Establishment (suppressed to Qi Condensation from injuries)Vitality: 18% — critical dehydration, meridian damage

Threat if recovered: Could slaughter these five in seven seconds

Current state: Rage barely contained beneath exhaustion

Kai rose. His body still ached with phantom echoes, but he moved.

"Oye! What are you doing?"

The disciples turned. The leader — Li Yun — sneered like he'd found an ant under his boot.

"Look who crawled out of the grave. Kai Tianxie, biggest scumbag in the Eastern Wilds. Your last sect leader — Woyn Sin — died drunk in a prostitute den. Pants down. Public execution. Fitting for Crimson Ember trash. And now another piece of trash shows up."

Kai's mind flashed. They were right. The memories of humiliation flickered — not his, but the previous sect leader's. Panic rose… then Eye of Wisdom crushed it flat.

The system hummed.

Available Powers:

Strongest Sovereign System — Locked (no stats/points yet)Eye of Wisdom — Active (minor details visible; full molecular scan: 1 Insight Point — you have 0)Sect Member Power Borrow — 0/1 (self excluded)

Kai focused. Eye of Wisdom.

Nothing visible changed. But data flooded him: heart rates spiking, sweat composition laced with fear, fingerprint residue on the woman's robes — Azure Peak standard grease mixed with lust and cheap pills.

He smiled. Thin. Cold.

"If you leave her alone," Kai said quietly, "I won't tell your elder what those filthy fingers were doing to her clothes. Molecule by molecule."

Li Yun's grin faltered. "You won't live long enough to tell anyone."

They reached for swords.

A flash of movement. Elder Yan Hu appeared like thunder — Foundation Establishment late-stage aura pressing down.

Eye of Wisdom tracked every micro-expression.

"What is happening here?" Yan Hu demanded.

Li Yun swallowed. Tch. We were so close. Fingerprints already on her. This cripple ruined it.

"Nothing, Elder," Li Yun lied smoothly. "We were just… checking if the lady was alright."

Yan Hu glanced at the woman. She looked weak, but her eyes burned like coals. "She seems fine. Just needs water." His gaze lingered on her. "Even in her weakened state, she still has the power to kill all of you outer disciples if she truly acted. Let's go. No need for unnecessary trouble."

He flicked his sleeve. The group retreated — fast. Li Yun shot a venomous glare back: This isn't over.

They vanished.

Silence. Wind. Distant demonic chicken clucks from the sect ruins below.

The woman — Lan Mei — swayed. One knee buckled. She caught herself on spite alone.

"You're… the same drunkard piece-of-shit disciple from the rumors," she rasped.

Kai shrugged. "Memories are overrated. Name's Kai Tianxie now, I guess. You?"

She wiped blood from her lips. "Lan Mei. Rogue cultivator. Broke. And apparently in debt to a sect leader who looks like he was ready to get beaten to a pulp just to save me."

Eye of Wisdom pinged:

Potential sect member detected.

Loyalty chance if saved: 68% → 92% if you act decisively.

First side-quest unlocked: "Damsel in Distress… But Make It Count"

Objective: Bring Lan Mei to safety / recruit her to Crimson Ember.

Reward: +1 sect member (power borrow unlocked) | 50 Cost Points | Possible Insight Point

Fail: She dies = dignity penalty (and worse)

Kai looked at her — swaying, defiant, half-dead but unbroken. Then at the ruined sect gates in the distance.

"Water first. Then we see if you're worth the trouble."

Lan Mei smirked through cracked lips.