Chapter 1 – Reborn
Feeling a severe pain, Nie Feng suddenly awoke.
Where am I?
He struggled to open his eyes, wanting to take a closer look at his surroundings, only to see an ugly and ferocious face.
A pair of frog-like eyes and an upturned nose, a protruding forehead, lips that looked like two thick sausages, and dark skin filled with brown freckles. The man opened his mouth, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth and a putrid breath that gave Nie Feng a strong urge to throw up!
“You stinking brat, don’t pretend to be dead in front of me!”
The owner of this ugly face snarled, “How dare you not pay me back my money?! Today I’m going to beat you until you die! After that, I’ll sell your sister-in-law to a brothel, using that money to pay off your debt! I’ll sell those two little guys as well!”
The man clutched Nie Feng’s collar tightly with his left hand, then clenched his right fist tightly and raised it high into the air. He aimed his fist at Nie Feng’s left eye while grinning hideously, looking like he was about to strike.
Although Nie Feng wasn’t fully conscious yet and had no idea what was going on, due to his martial instincts he was able to quickly straighten his back and grab the ugly man’s wrist. At the same time, he raised his leg and delivered a kick containing all his strength to the ugly man’s knee.
Kacha!
The ugly man did not think that Nie Feng would fight back. He was caught by surprise as his knee was ferociously kicked, causing a bone-shattering sound to follow.
“Ahh!”
The ugly man immediately let out a shrill cry. He was unable to control his body and lost his balance. Nie Feng took advantage of the situation and twisted the man’s arm, producing another sharp and clear bone-shattering sound.
With this, the ugly man was unable to make any more noise. His face was completely pale as his body collapsed onto the ground, his body curled up like a cooked prawn and twitched. Sweat, tears, and mucus ran down his face; he looked extremely miserable.
Nie Feng let go of the man’s wrist and took a few steps back while keeping an eye on the other two men who stood next to the ugly man.
Although he was prepared to keep fighting, he felt that something was not right about this situation. It was as if something bizarre was happening to himself. His mind was still in a chaotic state.
Those two men were obviously in the same group as the ugly man. A moment ago they were watching how the ugly man was bullying Nie Feng with a smile. However, they never thought that Nie Feng, who was in a half dead state, could defeat the ugly man just like that.
And not only that, his approach was ferocious and incisive!
They were just some local thugs, and neither of them was good at fighting. When they found out that Nie Feng had suddenly become so strong, they became somewhat scared, and couldn’t help but take a few steps back to increase the distance between themselves and Nie Feng, fearing that he would suddenly throw himself at them like a fierce tiger.
Nie Feng stared at one of the men and asked with a cold voice, “Who are you?”
“Ahh!”
The thug felt like he was facing a ferocious and hungry monster as he saw Nie Feng’s cold gaze. For an unknown reason, his heart was filled with fear, causing him to let out a scream, then turn around and run away.
His friend didn’t want to be left behind, so he ran away even faster than the first thug, abandoning all thoughts of loyalty as he left their boss behind.
Nie Feng took no pride in scaring off two thugs. He took a deep breath; then his eyes exposed a perplexed look that soon after turned into shock.
This was because he had finally found out what wasn’t right!
Nie Feng was the successor of the Ultimate Martial Path, and he enjoyed traveling around and experiencing a variety of different adventures. He enjoyed sparring and studying martial arts with the various experts from all over the world, continually increasing his martial skill and strength.
Not long ago, he ventured deep into an uninhabited region in Miao Jiang and was suddenly attacked by a gigantic anaconda in a vast swamp. While in a desperate struggle, he was entangled by the anaconda and was dragged into a mire and was unable to escape.
Nie Feng could still clearly remember the moment before he lost his consciousness. That cold and slimy anaconda, that terrifying sensation of being suffocated!
After he woke up, not only did he find out he wasn’t dead, he also discovered he wasn’t in the mire. The fierce and gigantic anaconda was gone as well.
Now, Nie Feng stood in the middle of a worn-out street.
The ground was filled with potholes, and it didn’t seem like it had been maintained for years. There were puddles of water and garbage everywhere. Many wooden and stone houses were built along the street, and they looked just as old and worn out as the street itself.
Among these buildings, a few of them were shops with signboards hanging on top of them. Several employees and pedestrians who just happened to pass by stood in front of the doors, trying to look at what was going on. However, no one dared draw near. Most of them wore alert or indifferent expressions.
Nie Feng extended his vision; then he saw a tall and imposing city wall as well as the evening glow in the distant horizon.
Where is this place?
No matter how strong Nie Feng’s mind was, he still couldn’t help but be moved by what he saw.
He had been to South America, a land with its unique landscape. He had gone to the vast and magnificent Africa. He had once traveled to the Middle East while it was enveloped in the flames of war. He had roamed the large land of India all alone; he had visited countless places and met a lot of people.
However, Nie Feng had never seen anything like this before. This city, the people here; he felt like he had traveled back to an ancient era where civilization was much lacking compared to where he originally came from. He couldn’t find any hints of modern technology at all!
Nie Feng couldn’t help but lower his head and throw an examining look at his two hands. This look proved the premonition in his mind.
It was a pair of young hands with fair skin. They didn’t have any scars and calluses that would appear as a result of practicing martial arts for years; this pair of hands shouldn’t belong to him.
He was no longer the same self!
Crossed over? Reborn? Who am I? What era is this?
Countless questions popped up and troubled Nie Feng’s mind, causing his thoughts to become even more chaotic.
“Ugh…”
Right at this moment, the ugly man who was lying on the ground had finally woken up. He couldn’t help but let out a painful groan.
Nie Feng awoke from his thoughts, and his fierce gaze emerged once again.
After all, he was not an ordinary man. No matter how grand the incident was; nothing was able to make him lose his calm.
As long as he was still alive, there would be hope for everything!
Right now, Nie Feng only wanted to know what his current identity was.
And it seemed that the answer could easily be obtained from the ugly man in front of him.
The ugly man woke up in severe pain, and when his eyes met Nie Feng’s, he instantly became terrified. With a trembling voice, he said, “Er… Erwa’zi... no, little brother Er… master Er! Please spare me! I don’t want the money you owe me anymore!”
No expression could be found on Nie Feng’s face; he only continued staring at the ugly man.
This only caused the ugly man to feel even more anxious. His knee and right arm had been broken by Nie Feng, and he, at that moment was a disabled person. It could be said that his life currently rested on top of Nie Feng’s palm, so how could he dare make Nie Feng feel unsatisfied?
Although he couldn’t understand how the dumb and profligate youth Nie Erwa had suddenly become so strong, it didn’t stop him from making the most logical decision.
Using his still functioning left hand, although trembling, the ugly man fished out a yellow paper slip from his chest, as well as a dozen silver coins and copper coins, then reluctantly handed it over to Nie Feng with a flattering smile on his ugly face. “Here’s your debt bill, and here’s all my money…”
He stared at Nie Feng with a pitiful look, his appearance making him look somewhat amusing.
However, Nie Feng didn’t take the debt bill; he just let out a cold snort.
The ugly man felt like he was about to cry. He grit his teeth, then searched his body for a bit before taking out dark red crystal from somewhere.
“Here are all my belongings…”
He spoke this sentence in a sobbing tone. The pained expression on his face didn’t seem feigned.
Nie Feng’s lips curled up into a mocking smile. Finally, he stretched his hand forward and took everything the ugly man offered him.
When dealing with someone like this, the fiercer you acted, the better. He would more easily submit if you were fiercer than him and wouldn’t dare fight back or seek revenge later on.
Nie Feng took a look at the debt bill before tearing it into pieces.
It was actually very strange; regardless of the characters written in the bill or the language he and the ugly man communicated with, it seemed like Chinese, but it wasn’t. However, Nie Feng could easily read, speak and understand it without the slightest unfamiliarity.
The dozen silver coins and copper coins should be the local currency. They weighed quite a lot, and they were all finely crafted.
As for the dark red crystal the size of a human thumb, it felt very unusual to Nie Feng.
Suddenly, his mind was stirred, causing him to raise his head and look up into the sky.
“The Immortal Cloud merchant ship is here!”
Almost at the same time, the surroundings were filled with cheering and shouts. Many people ran out from their shops or houses and looked toward the sky in high spirits.
In the following moment, in the sky above, Nie Fang saw a huge earth-yellow colored ship emerging from behind the ocean of clouds. It first revealed its narrow and pointy nose, and after that, the body of the ship and the sail appeared one after the other. Soon after, it was adequately presented in front of everyone at the scene.
Wuu!
The ocean of clouds danced around the ship, and the sails fluttered in the wind. The horn issued its sound in all directions from the ship’s deck, proudly announcing the arrival of the ship!
This was an incredibly shocking scene, causing Nie Feng to be at a loss for words.
Countless memories that didn’t belong to him suddenly flowed into his brain, causing him to feel as if his head was about to explode.