"So I'm back again.."
Lucien looked around and saw that he was in his familiar yet unfamiliar room.
This is his third life, and right now he regressed and returned to when he was just 20 years old.
He finally confirmed now that he really had the power to regress upon his death.
Then, as he remembered something, Lucien quickly hid his qi energy, suppressing it to just Qi Gathering Stage 4.
Upon dying, all his power would go to his next life. In his last life, he reached the Peak Golden Core Realm.
So right now, he is a Peak Golden Core Expert.
The sect where he is right now is called Red Tiger Sect.
It was one of the top 3 strongest sects in the Mist Island, located in the Southern Region of Salamander Continent.
The strongest person in the sect right now is Lucien himself. The sect leader is merely at the Peak of Foundation Establishment Realm, while the ancestor of the Red Tiger Sect is at the Early Stage of Golden Core Realm.
Lucien pondered for a moment on what he was going to do now.
It seems he would not truly die.
Maybe he would just regress infinitely upon his death.
This path is lonely, albeit empty, as every connection and relationship that he will make in this life is only temporary.
In his first life, he was originally from a planet called Earth. While hiking in the mountains, he accidentally fell, and for some unknown reason, he found himself in this world.
He was accepted into the Red Tiger Sect as an outer disciple.
He worked his way up. With the mentality of a person from the modern world, he didn't dare to slack off. He cultivated diligently, made friends, and built connections.
When he became 50 years old, he was appointed as an Elder, with his realm at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
But then, a great war among the strongest sects in the Mist Island broke out after they discovered a Tier 3 Spirit Vein.
To fight for that vein and decide who would control it, a war broke out, causing many lives to be lost because of human greed. Lucien was among those who perished.
That's how his 1st life ended.
His second life was much more interesting. He didn't just stay in one place; he left the Red Tiger Sect and traveled throughout the Southern Region.
The Southern Region was basically just large open seas, with countless island–millions of islands, basically.
He faced many dangers, gained many opportunities, and elevated his realm up to the Peak Golden Core Stage!
It was a really fun journey. Sadly, at the age of 300, he decided to break through to Nascent Soul, but it failed.
It resulted in a fatal backlash, leading to his death.
Lucien sighed and decided to make some tea. He pondered for a moment and thought about what to do next.
By dying so many times now, death and pain are something that he doesn't fear anymore.
After thinking for a moment, he decided that in this life, he will stay hidden in the Mist Island.
He already knew how things would unfold in the Mist Island and perhaps the whole Southern Region in the upcoming 300 years.
His goal in this life is first to increase his realm, and second is just to enjoy life.
Maybe he should build a family? Build a clan? Become a sect leader? What roleplay would be good?
Hah.. He would think about it later on.
"Regression, huh.." Is it really a blessing or a curse?
For him, of course, it's either; it all depends on how a person defines it by their personality, values, and more.
For him, it was probably a blessing. He treated it as his cheat.
Remembering his past life experiences, he couldn't help but say that this world was truly vast and big.
In his 300 years, he didn't even fully visit the entirety of the Southern Region.
Then it was said that the Southern Region was the smallest because it was just scattered islands.
There were still the Eastern, Western, Northern, and the Central Region of the Salamander Continent.
That land was still a mystery to him. It was also said that the Southern Region was considered the backwater of the continent, as it was the place with the most scarce amount of qi.
And all of that was just the icing on the cake of the mystery of this world. According to books he reads, that millions of years ago, before cultivation even existed in this world,
the world was just full of mortals. Kingdoms and empires existed, but there were no magical powers.
Then an Immortal named Lu Chen came to this world, and he taught the cultivation system.
Lu Chen was an Immortal that traveled from world to world across the starry skies to introduce the cultivation path.
After that, he recruited disciples, and he created an Upper Realm above the Salamander Continent, where all talented individuals ascended.
Lucien doesn't know how true these stories are, but he was excited if that realm really exists.
His feeling was like having much, much more content in a video game that he could play for thousands of years.
A few hours later, some friends called him out from outside.
It was Jack and Thomas. They were also fellow outer disciples and had a cultivation of Qi Gathering Stage 3.
He almost forgot about them. Well, it's been hundreds of years since the last time he saw them.
He also doesn't know what their fate is. They probably just remained as low-level cultivators until their death.
Also, they are not really some close friends–just fellow disciples with same fate for having weak talents.
"Lucien, do you want to go with us? We need one more member. We took a mission to go to the Mist Forest to get certain herbs. If successful, we will get 100 merit points!"
Jack said and explained their motives right away.
"No, I have something else to do. Next month will hold the yearly Outer Disciple Tournament, and I will participate in it."
Upon hearing what Lucien had said, the two were shocked and puzzled at the same time.
Because in their minds, Lucien was just Qi Gathering Stage 3, just like them.
How could he have a chance to compete in the Yearly Outer Disciple Tournament?
The total number of outer disciples was about 30,000, and in the tournament, the top 100 would be promoted and become Inner Sect Disciples.
Without saying a word, Lucien showed Qi Gathering Stage 4 energy from his body.
"Y-you! You broke through to the Middle Stage!" Thomas said in shock.
"But even so.. Qi Gathering is still nothing in that tournament, especially as a newly promoted!"
Lucien just clicked his tongue.
"Oh, come on, guys. At least show some support. Well, this is my choice. There's still a month to prepare, and I don't have time to do a mission, so just good luck to you too."
After that, Jack and Thomas said their good luck words to Lucien and left.
They didn't further pursue him to not join, as he is their senior now.
Lucien went back to his room and then began to meditate.
Now, in this month before the tournament, he already had many plans in his mind.
That is to plunder all opportunities around the whole Mist Island, as he already knew the locations of the treasures, and also, as a Peak Golden Core, everything was going to be easy.