In his previous life, Shen Cijiu's spiritual root was destroyed, turning him into an unwanted outcast in the eyes of his entire family.
His father said coldly, "Cijiu, you've been crippled. The clan's resources must go to children with more potential. Be patient."
His mother's words were just as heartless. "Your younger brother is extraordinarily gifted. It's only right that you give way to him, isn't it?"
His fiancee rejected him with a flick of her sleeve, tossing down a letter breaking off their engagement.
For the sake of family ties, Shen Cijiu endured it all his life. In the end, his father struck him into a pill furnace, refining him alive into the medicinal catalyst his younger brother needed to advance.
Reborn, Shen Cijiu returned to the day he lost all his cultivation. He no longer wanted to be held back by these pointless attachments.
He held a sword to his universally adored younger brother's neck. "From this day on, Shen Cijiu has no father, no mother, no elder brother, and no younger brother."
The entire Shen clan burst into laughter.
"A useless cripple with no spiritual root dares to make such claims?"
"Once he leaves the Shen family, he'll be no more than an ant at the bottom of the world. Without the Shen family's protection, he'll be lucky to survive two days."
Surrounded by rumors and insults, with no one trying to stop him, they all watched coldly, waiting for him to meet a miserable end.
No one knew that when he stepped through the gates of the Shen estate, the vast, gentle power of Heaven's Dao descended upon him and took root in his soul.
He still had the mortal body of someone whose cultivation had been completely destroyed, without the slightest trace of spiritual energy, yet he had unexpectedly gained command of Heaven's Dao's power of punishment.
The rules of Heaven's Dao were clear: punish the wicked throughout the world, and build up the foundation of Heaven's Dao, making divine power ever more vast and mighty.
Shen Cijiu immediately set out to find evildoers and accumulate the power of Heaven's Dao.
But he hadn't gone far before the revered Emperor of the Three Realms intercepted him.
The man was serene and noble, his bearing otherworldly and detached. "The road ahead is dangerous. I'll keep you safe."
He didn't know Shen Cijiu bore Heaven's Dao within him and needed to punish evildoers with his own hands. He thought Shen Cijiu was simply a pitiable man whose spiritual root had been destroyed.
And so...
When Shen Cijiu went to kill an evil cultivator, the Emperor got there first and killed him.
When Shen Cijiu chased a demon for hundreds of miles and finally cornered him, the Emperor sealed the demon away.
When Shen Cijiu changed his target to a sect notorious for its crimes, the Emperor simply brought down a law of Heaven and destroyed every spiritual root in the entire sect.
Shen Cijiu held back time and again, until at last he could take no more. "Get lost."
*
Recently, a shocking piece of news swept through the Three Realms.
The eternally aloof Emperor had been following an ordinary mortal everywhere, yielding to him and doing whatever he said.
No one knew Shen Cijiu's origins. At first, quite a few self-important cultivators were indignant, convinced that a mere mortal didn't deserve the Emperor's favor. They went out of their way to provoke him.
None of them even touched the hem of Shen Cijiu's robe before the sky suddenly filled with roiling clouds. Heavenly lightning crashed down and struck the provocateurs.
At last, the immortals and Buddhas of the heavens realized the truth: a reincarnated Heaven's Dao was hidden in the mortal world.
From then on,
An Immortal Venerable from the Immortal Realm arrived bearing ten thousand years' worth of rare treasures. "Exalted Lord of Heaven's Dao, we offer you every treasure in the Immortal Realm. All we ask is for your protection and the safety of our immortal sects."
The Demon Realm shed its hostility and bowed in service. "Everything in the Three Realms belongs to Heaven's Dao. The countless lives of the Demon Realm are willing to bow before you for all eternity. We will follow your lead alone."
The mortal clans and the Netherworld came in their entirety, presenting their most precious treasures and resources, each afraid to arrive a moment too late and miss the chance to serve Heaven's Dao.
Theme: May Heaven's Dao deign to look my way today, too.
