"Hey… Si… Si!"
A distant voice rang in his head like a bell, echoing faintly yet persistently, leaving Si confused as his thoughts struggled to gather. Wasn't he dead? Wasn't his body torn apart and his soul ripped to shreds by his very own subordinates? The pain of that final moment was still vivid, still fresh, still clawing at his mind as if it had only just happened. Yet here he was, conscious, aware, and hearing a voice that did not belong to that battlefield.
Slowly, Si opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the scorching rays of the sun that forced him to raise his palm to shield his vision. The warmth felt strange, unfamiliar, almost unreal after the cold, suffocating embrace of death. Before he could process further, he felt a gentle hand grab his shoulder. That single touch carried life, warmth, and concern, something that should not exist if he were truly dead. Turning his head, his pupils shrank as his gaze locked onto a familiar face.
A sickly pale boy stood before him, his frail frame emphasizing his messy short hair and thin, gaunt face. His body looked weak, unhealthy, as though a strong wind could topple him over, yet there was a warmth to him that could not be hidden. His smile, soft and genuine, carried a comforting gentleness capable of melting even the stiffest of hearts.
"Bao?"
The name slipped out of Si's mouth before he could stop it, his voice uncertain and laced with disbelief.
His eyes darted around immediately after, widening as they took in the surroundings. The uneven ground, the scattered burial pits, the lingering scent of decay, and the distant carts carrying corpses all slammed into his senses at once.
'This is… the Bi family burial grounds!'
"How?" Si muttered under his breath, his voice fractured by disbelief.
His mind churned violently. The agony of his final moments had not faded, every tear of flesh and every invading soul still etched into his memory, so what was this? Si lowered his gaze to his hands. They were thin, fragile, unscarred, devoid of the countless marks that once told the story of three centuries of war and slaughter. His gaze shifted to the shovel lying on the ground beside him, then further outward toward the carts about a li away, stacked with the corpses of Bi family soldiers slain in battle.
'This scene feels familiar…'
Si frowned deeply. After living for three centuries and experiencing everything life had to offer, the memories of his childhood had long been buried under layers of blood and time, yet now they resurfaced with unsettling clarity.
"Si, you are scaring me. Are you alright?!" Bao's voice broke through his thoughts as the boy grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him lightly.
Si's distant gaze slowly focused, settling on Bao before shifting toward the others nearby. Familiar faces met his eyes, each one etched into his memory despite the passage of centuries. He remembered all of them.
After a long pause, Si nodded slowly. His strange behavior had already begun drawing the attention of some of the soldiers stationed nearby to oversee their work.
"Yeah… Yes, I am."
His voice steadied as he gently removed Bao's hands from his shoulders. Without further hesitation, he bent down and picked up his shovel. His gaze shifted toward the corpse laid out before him. The left eye had been cleanly pierced, most likely by a dagger, while another blade was lodged beneath the jaw.
'Not enough to kill him.'
Si's eyes moved methodically across the body. There were numerous bloodied wounds scattered across the corpse, but none that were immediately fatal. His mind pieced the truth together with ease.
'He fell in battle, heavily wounded but still alive, then bled out slowly.'
His expression remained unchanged.
'Not the best way to go, but I have seen worse.'
He resumed digging, his movements steady and controlled. The attention surrounding him gradually faded as the others returned to their tasks. Only when he was certain no one was paying close attention did he subtly signal Bao to come closer.
"Hey, Si, are you alright?" Bao asked again, this time in a hushed voice.
Si ignored the concern entirely and went straight to what mattered.
"What year is this?"
Bao blinked in confusion but answered nonetheless. "Nirvana Radiance, Year 25."
Buzz!
The shovel struck the ground and stopped as Si's grip tightened. His eyes narrowed sharply, a dangerous light flickering within them.
"Nirvana Radiance… Emperor Fengzu!" he hissed, his voice low and filled with killing intent.
To think he had returned to a time when that cunning bird still lived. What kind of joke was this? What kind of scheme was this?
Slowly, Si lifted his gaze toward the heavens, his expression turning complicated. The two moons were still there, looming over the world, while the ten million souls continued their endless orbit.
'Was I reborn?'
The thought surfaced clearly in his mind.
If so, then by whom? And for what purpose?
As a cultivator of the Supreme Art of Death, Si understood one truth better than anyone else. Nothing in this world was free. Everything came with a price, even if that price was not immediately apparent.
As if responding to his thoughts, a faint glow appeared before him. A strange translucent platform materialized, and unfamiliar symbols began to arrange themselves into words he could understand.
[After your demise, the weakened Central Plains was ravaged by the horde of the African barbarians. The calamity you created, you will stop it. The Divine General of Death shall rise again, but this time your undying army will serve to protect the people you destroyed. That is Heaven's will!]
Heaven's will.
Si's eyes tightened instantly, his grip on the shovel hardening as his knuckles turned pale. If it were merely an army of ten thousand, how could he, the Divine General of Death, have fallen?
The answer was obvious.
The ones who struck him first, weakening him and leaving him exposed, had been the heavens themselves.
"BI SI, THERE IS NO PLACE FOR YOU HERE!"
Those words echoed in his mind, as clear as the moment they were spoken. The sheer force behind them had ruptured his eardrums, and the tribulation lightning that followed had shattered his meridians, crippling his cultivation. Without that interference, he would never have fallen so easily.
Even without his undying horde, he would have carved a path through his enemies and escaped.
'You deny me my dreams and still demand atonement?'
The thought ignited something deep within him.
Fury surged violently through his chest, boiling over like a storm that refused to be contained. His vision blurred as tears welled up and streamed down his face, yet his hands did not stop moving. He dug with increasing force, each motion heavier, faster, driven by a rage that had nowhere else to go.
The others noticed.
They watched him with confusion, some with unease, but none approached.
It was not unusual.
Graveyard slaves like them worked under constant exposure to extreme yin qi, a force that slowly eroded the body and mind. Bao himself was proof. When he first arrived, he had been chubby and lively, yet after three years, his body had withered, his skin pale, his health deteriorating.
Many had died.
Many had gone mad.
Many had taken their own lives.
Even those who survived suffered. Their vitality drained, their meridians weakened, their ability to cultivate crippled. Over time, their organs would fail under the cold corruption of yin qi, leading to slow, inevitable death.
In five years, everyone here would be gone.
Replaced.
Forgotten.
Si knew this because he had lived through it.
Yet it was also here that his life had changed.
The memory surfaced clearly.
A corpse.
A piece of armor.
A hidden manual.
The Supreme Art of Death.
Without hesitation, Si tossed the shovel aside and crouched over the corpse. His hands moved swiftly, stripping away the armor piece by piece as his thoughts raced.
If this was Nirvana Radiance, Year 25, then this was the beginning. The year the Kingdom of Yunhe and the Kingdom of Jinshan began their conflict, a conflict that would erupt into a decade-long war known as the Strife of the Five Kingdoms.
An era of bloodshed.
An era of ambition.
An era that would reshape the entire continent.
And at the center of it all…
Him.
By the end of that era, he would seize the position of Bi family patriarch and become Bi Si.
Ruthless.
Feared.
Unstoppable.
And under his rule, the Bi family would rise once more into its golden age.