Chapter 1 – The 99th Awakening

The air was heavy with the scent of dust and decay. Kael gasped as he awoke, his body aching from the transition. The stone beneath him was cold, cracked with age. He had landed in another world again.

His hands trembled as he pushed himself up, his mind already processing the same grim reality. It happened again.

This was the 99th time he had traveled across dimensions. Each time, he gained knowledge, power, and experience—only to have his cultivation reset the moment he entered a new world.

Kael exhaled, steadying himself. His system interface flickered in his mind’s eye. Inventory, intact. Items, secured. Energy, depleted. Just as expected.

But this world felt different. The air pulsed with something ancient. Magic and cultivation energy intertwined, heavier than in any realm he had visited before.

He looked around. He was in the ruins of a temple, its walls lined with faded carvings of warriors bowing to a dark figure. At the center of the room stood a massive black stone tablet, its surface covered in glowing inscriptions. Kael’s sharp eyes scanned the text, his knowledge from previous travels piecing together the meaning.

The Stone of Souls.

His breath caught. He had read about artifacts like this before. They connected to the souls of the dead, revealing names when someone passed. A powerful tool—one that could confirm if someone had truly died.

Something tugged at his chest. A name.

He turned his gaze toward the tablet. Slowly, he stepped forward. The air around it was thick, almost suffocating. He traced the ancient text until he found the newest engraving.

His hands clenched. Raius Vermillion.

His mind reeled. No. That’s not possible.

Raius had been his closest friend since childhood. They had dreamed of conquering worlds together, of traveling beyond the limits of their realm. But now, his name was here—etched into the Stone of Souls.

Kael’s pulse pounded in his ears. What happened to him?

Before he could process it, the ground trembled. A sharp, cold energy filled the air. Something was coming.

Kael spun around just as shadows pooled at the temple’s entrance. A tall figure stepped forward, silver hair reflecting the moonlight. His eyes—once warm and golden—now burned with an eerie glow. His black robes were lined with blood-red runes, their energy pulsing in the darkness.

Kael’s breath hitched. No. It can’t be.

"Kael," the figure spoke. His voice was familiar, yet twisted.

Kael took a step back. "Raius?"

A smirk played on Raius’s lips, but it wasn’t his. Something else lurked beneath his expression.

"You should not have come here," Raius said. His voice carried an unnatural echo, layered with a presence Kael recognized all too well.

The Demon God.

Realization crashed over him like a storm. Raius… had died. But he hadn’t simply vanished—he had been taken. Possessed.

Kael’s grip tightened. He had lost everything before—his power, his allies, entire lifetimes spent fighting wars that reset with each new world. But this?

This was personal.

Raius raised his hand, and black chains erupted from the ground. “I’ll give you a choice, Kael. Kneel… or die.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. He had nothing—no cultivation, no energy, nothing that could match an Immortal 5-Star cultivator.

But he had one advantage.

He had experience.

He reached into his inventory. If he played his cards right, he might survive long enough to figure out how to free Raius.

His eyes locked onto his former friend’s.

“I don’t kneel.”

The battle had begun.

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