Prologue: The Opportunity of 10 Lifetimes

My name is August Lancaster and I’m a self-cultivator who is known as the ‘Lone Traveler’, although it’s the modern times. I’ve travelled all across the land, cultivating and learning so many new things. I have also met so many different people and beasts. People of various clans, spirit beasts, demon beasts, you name it, I’ve probably met it or seen it. My prized possession is a divine soul artifact, an artifact of the highest level (that I made myself, if I can add), and it is a journal that has an infinite number of pages and is immune to the elements. Along with the journal comes a tool that can turn into any writing utensil I wish it to be. Within this journal, I’ve stored all of the knowledge I’ve gained within my decade of travel and cultivation. This includes various martial arts and methods (even those of spirit and demon beasts), information on various herbs and alchemy methods, weapons, materials, music, art, and more. I’ve learned enough things to fill 5 lifetimes, yet I’m only 25.

Unlike many other strong martial artists, I’ve never had a master to teach me anything, rather my travels have taught me all that I know. In this way, I have learned the arts of forging and alchemy, along with the knowledge of how to paint, draw, and play various instruments. In my travels, I had found many high quality elements that I used to upgrade the set of magical soul weapons that I had forged long ago. My soul weapons went from heavenly rank to divine rank immediately after reforging them, however this also alerted many other cultivators of the weapons’ existence.

I’m an extremely strong cultivator, but I’ve been outnumbered. . . the sheer amount of people who are after me, in order to get the weapons that I have forged, is overwhelming. I can’t let the set fall into the wrong hands. I’ve been backed into the edge of a cliff. My black cloak waves in the wind and I take off my hood. My jet black hair is pulled back into two dutch braids that reach my thighs. My emerald green eyes stare as more cultivators emerge from the forest, in pursuit of my weapons. I summon my twin swords and then my bow and quiver of infinite arrows. “You want these!?!” I shout at the top of my lungs. Their eyes grow wide. “I forged these myself! What right do you have to own my stuff?” I scream again.

“What little girl can forge divine soul artifacts, and weapons at that!?!” Someone yells in the crowd.

“Ha! I guess you don’t know who I am, then? Well let me tell you! I am the ‘Lone Traveler’ and I could crush every one of you with my cultivation.”

“Pah!” Another man says from the crowd “You, the Lone Traveler? That’s nonsense. If you were him, you’d be able to take us all down.”

“Forging a divine soul artifact takes a lot of time and energy, therefore I have no more energy left to play with you.” I mumble. “But let me tell you, you’re going to have to go over my dead body to get my weapons!” I yell as I jump backwards and fall into the endless chasm as people scream in rage at my actions. All is black, quiet, and serene.

I open my eyes to a starry space and hear the sound of sobbing. I thought I was supposed to go to hell and meet Yama for my judgement by now. I float towards the sound of sobbing and find another soul, one of a girl who looks to be about nine or ten years old. “Hey,” I begin to ask the poor soul, “Why are you crying?”

“Everyone calls me, Olivia Yun, a jinx.” She says as she sniffles. “They — they want to send me into the Forest of Infinite Beasts, as punishment for bringing bad luck to my clan.” She continues. “I’m so scared because I don’t know what I did to be a jinx. I haven’t even begun my cultivation because my parents gave all my cultivation resources to my twin brother and forbade me from cultivating.”

“Hey, look at me.” I tip her head up, revealing her big, sky blue eyes. “You are not a jinx, no matter what they say, for I don’t believe in luck. And let me tell you, living in a forest with beasts and demons isn’t all that bad.”

“Really, how do you know?” She replies, curious.

“Well, I’ve been a self-cultivator since I was 15, and since then I’ve travelled through and lived in big forests filled with all types of beasts.”

“Even so, I wish I could just die, for I hate being in a family who doesn’t care for me. Maybe then Yama will let me reincarnate into a loving family.” Suddenly a figure appears. It looks a lot like Yama. I think he’s looking for me.

“Hello, August Lancaster and Olivia Yun.” The figure speaks. “I am Yama and I am here to offer you an opportunity.”

“What kind of opportunity?” I ask.

“If you both are willing, I will allow Olivia Yun’s soul to pass on, receive judgement and reincarnate, as long as the soul of August Lancaster resides in her body and continues living her life.” Yama says.

“Yes! Yes, I agree!” Olivia quickly shouts.

“Wait,” I begin, “Yama, doesn’t what you’re proposing break the laws of hell? I haven’t even gone there and received my judgment.”

“You’ve heard of transmigration, correct?” Yama asks. I nod. “Well, think of this as voluntary transmigration, which would then be considered as your reincarnation for your soul. As for your judgement, you had done no major wrongs in your past life, rather you contributed a lot to society. This is why I, and the Council of Hell, have given you this opportunity.”

“Is there any catch to this offer of yours?” I ask, suspicious.

“Well, you will lose all of your cultivation. In soul cultivation, in body cultivation, and in genuine qi cultivation. But, the council will allow you to keep 4 sets of items you made with your own hands, in your previous life: The legend rank space ring that you made with a spirit vein then giving it infinite storage space, the elegant instruments you had crafted to play music during your travels, the divine rank soul journal and writing tool you had used to record all of your knowledge, and lastly the divine rank set of soul weapons you had forged. On top of that, you will retain your memory.”

“This sounds too good to be true! I agree to the proposal, as well, Yama.” I say, elated.

“However the council won’t allow you to keep 2 sets of divine rank soul artifacts, so you’ll have to choose.” Of course there had to be a catch, I thought. “Would you rather keep both of the soul artifacts at the divine rank, but have all of the information in the journal erased? Or, would you rather keep the soul journal at the divine rank, with all of the content within, intact, and have the set of soul weapons returned to the state in which you had first forged them, at heaven rank.”

“That’s easy.” I say. “I choose the second option because the knowledge within my journal is priceless, whereas I can have more opportunities to upgrade my soul weapons.”

“Well then,” Yama begins, “Olivia Yun, come with me. August Lancaster, enjoy your new life.” Olivia follows Yama, who then turns his head and says one last thing: “August, the eyes are the pathway to the soul, so I’ve put an illusionary spell on you, that will break once you enter the Forest of Infinite Beasts. Once the spell is broken, Olivia’s sky blue eyes will become your emerald green ones.” He lifts his arm towards me as a magical gold dust flies from his hand towards me. “These are Olivia’s memories, good luck on your journey.”

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***