Rebirth of the Urban Supreme

As the world spun and plunged into chaos, Mu Li's eyes flew open to a mind emptied of thought, staring blankly at his surroundings. He found himself beside a small man-made lake, where early summer vibrancy filled the air, and a light floral scent mingled with the greenery. Under the willow branches, students were absorbed in their studies. Sitting dazedly on a lakeside bench, Mu Li's eyes gradually regained their luster. He looked at his hands, emotions surging within him, causing his body to tremble slightly. Approaching the water's edge, he saw the reflection of a young, handsome face. "I... I'm back..." he murmured, his voice shaking. "I did it, I really did it..." Overcome, he covered his face with his hands, crouching and weeping by the lake. His sudden tears startled the nearby students, who cast surprised glances his way. After a moment, Mu Li composed himself and stood up. It had been five thousand years—all for this moment. He was the eldest son of a single-parent family in Beizhou City, Jinhu Province of Huaxia, and also the famed Wuji Celestial of Ziwei Star. His five thousand years of effort had finally paid off, allowing him to travel through millennia and return to his twentieth year. Only a step away from transcending to immortality after thousands of years of cultivation, he had unhesitatingly chosen to be reborn. Born into a renowned family in Huaxia, he should have enjoyed a life of luxury. However, during his childhood, he was labeled as a calamity by his family and expelled. His parents took him to settle in Beizhou City, living an ordinary life. But tragedy struck soon after, with his father's untimely death and his mother, Chen Yuan, struggling to raise him and his sister alone. Mu Li's troubled childhood and his father's passing led him to a life of rebellion. He fought, skipped school, and kept bad company, causing his mother endless worry. Proud yet impoverished, he often demanded money from home, never considering his mother's struggles. In his youth, Mu Li was a failure, a burden to his family. Had he not provoked the haughty young master of Dijing, he might have continued as a scourge, aimlessly dragging his family down. That year, Mu Li and his so-called friends ventured into a luxurious dance hall in Dijing. There, they encountered Zhou Shiheng, the powerful young master of Dijing, to whom many flocked, seeking favor. A few dancers near Mu Li were summoned to entertain Zhou. In a fit of naive rage, Mu Li hurled a beer bottle at Zhou, scarring his face. This act unleashed a storm of vengeance upon Mu Li. Zhou Shiheng tortured him mercilessly, rendering him barely human. Unsatisfied, Zhou turned his malevolence towards Mu Li's family. He brutally murdered Mu Li's mother right before his eyes and drove his sister, Mu Xin, to suicide. The sorrowful, blameless gaze of his dying mother and his sister's despairing screams as she jumped from a building haunted Mu Li for life. He saw himself as a wretch, responsible for the deaths of his loved ones. Zhou had him watched day and night, preventing his suicide, forcing him to live like a beggar on the streets, barely clinging to life amidst guilt and self-loathing. At the age of thirty-five, Mu Li found himself near Huaxia's ancient Fenghuang Mountain, where somehow the seal of the mountain was broken, opening a path between Earth and Ziwei Star. By a twist of fate, Mu Li reached Ziwei Star and embarked on the path of cultivation, driven by his burning hatred. When Mu Li finally had the chance to return to Earth, Zhou had already died of old age. For over five thousand years, Mu Li lived with guilt, unable to avenge his family. A line from the highest scriptures of his sect became his motivation. Reaching the ultimate realm of ascension could potentially reverse time. Mu Li became an obsessed cultivator, growing more renowned on Ziwei Star. In just over five thousand years, he reached the verge of ascending to immortality. On the brink of transcending, Mu Li chose not to take the final step. Instead, he risked his entire cultivation to reverse the Ascension Decree. And he succeeded. Everything around him was incredibly real, far from an illusion. The legends were true. "I've really come back..." Mu Li looked around, taking in the familiar sights of his past. Here he was, back at Longshan Polytechnic University, where he had once studied. By risking the results of his long cultivation and braving death itself, Mu Li had returned to his twentieth year. Now, his mother was still alive, and his sister was attending another university in the city. The tragedy had not yet occurred; his only two relatives were safe and well. "Mom, little sister, I'm sorry... It was me, a wretch, who dragged you down, even caused your deaths. But not in this life," he resolved internally. "Zhou Shiheng, you may be the powerful young master of a major family in Dijing, but I have returned as the Wuji Celestial of Ziwei Star. Your family’s influence is but a worldly power. What can you do to me now?" Hatred flickered in Mu Li's eyes. Cultivators seek immortality, and as the ages pass, worldly affairs fade like clouds. Memories, once vivid, blur and eventually dissipate over time. But Mu Li was different. His path of cultivation was fueled by his fixation. On the first page of the Ascension Decree, a line left by an unknown predecessor read: "After reaching the highest realm of ascension, reversing it is akin to Nirvana, possibly breaking free from time." No sage had ever confirmed the truth of these words, but Mu Li chose to believe. He cultivated desperately, ascending step by step to the pinnacle. In five thousand years, he reached the stage of transcending to immortality, surpassing generations of predecessors on Ziwei Star, becoming a cultivation legend. Fortunately, he succeeded, and the predecessor's speculation was correct. Relieved, Mu Li felt that his five millennia of sins could finally be redeemed. In this life, he vowed to protect everything he held dear. From this day forward, the old Mu Li was dead, and a new Mu Li reborn. "Zhou Shiheng, and that heartless family of mine, you are not even worthy to look up to me." "Dear, let's get away from this crazy guy," a couple nearby whispered, moving away with weird looks on their faces. Mu Li had suddenly jumped up from his seat, crying and covering his face, then clenching his teeth and muttering to himself, making frightening faces as if he was deeply wronged and angry. It was indeed a scary sight. Mu Li glanced at them, understanding yet detached from their judgment. The faint buzz of a phone vibrating echoed from Mu Li's pocket. Pulling out his phone, he saw a message from his mother: "Xiao Li, give me a few more days, I will gather the 5,000 yuan for you. Please don't do anything foolish... I'll get the money for you." Reading this, Mu Li felt a pang of pain. During his school days, he was vain and competitive, always reaching into his family's limited funds. His mother, a mere factory worker at a cotton mill, earned a modest salary. Raising two children alone was hard enough for Chen Yuan, let alone dealing with Mu Li’s demanding nature, making their family life extremely difficult. Once, she had been a well-off, pampered lady, enjoying luxuries envied by many. But Mu Li, labeled a calamity star by a fortune-teller in his youth and associated with numerous misfortunes in the family, was shunned by everyone except his parents. The Mu family wanted to expel him, but his parents, unwilling to abandon their child, left the family, taking nothing with them. After moving to Beizhou City, his father died in an accident, leaving his mother to shoulder the family's burdens. Once a lady of high society, she humbly took on hard work, raising her children without complaint. "Five thousand yuan... five thousand yuan..." Mu Li murmured, recalling the past. Despite the passage of time, he hadn't forgotten those early years. This particular instance involved a high school classmate, a rich girl who was organizing a class reunion for her birthday party. She was beautiful and the crush of many boys in the class, including Mu Li. Driven by vanity, he asked his mother for 5,000 yuan to buy a decent gift. He even threatened to drop out and leave home if she didn't give him the money. "I was truly despicable..." Mu Li detested his former self. To a poor family like his, 5,000 yuan was a significant sum, and his mother would have had to beg many people to borrow it. "Mom, it's not necessary anymore." Mu Li had so much he wanted to say, a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, but when it came to speaking, only this simple sentence managed to escape his lips. In this moment, he felt a profound shift within himself—a blend of remorse, gratitude, and a newfound determination to make things right in this second chance at life.