Chapter 1: Rebirth Awakening Day!

The Dead Cave was the first S-rank dungeon to appear on Blue Star after the arrival of Awakening Day.

It is also the oldest of all S-rank dungeons.

To this day, it has never been conquered!

Countless powerhouses have been buried within it.

"Su Ming, stop struggling in vain and hand over the divine artifact immediately!"

"God-Slayer, your time has run out!"

"Su Ming! Surrender now. You are a hero of the human race; I will grant you a quick death!"

"Tell us where you have hidden the divine artifact, and perhaps we can leave your corpse intact!"

……

Su Ming stood at the edge of the Dead Cave, wearing tattered black robes, his hair disheveled.

Behind him was a pitch-black cliff, where black mist drifted, bottomless, as if it could bury the entire world!

If one listened carefully, there were sounds like the wailing of vengeful ghosts within.

Su Ming was bathed in blood and covered in wounds, like a dying beast, yet his presence remained formidable!

He stared fixedly at the crowd with his eyes!

For a moment, no one dared to take a step forward.

He only needed to take one step back to enter the Dead Cave, the most terrifying S-rank dungeon in history!

The divine artifact would be buried with him!

But he himself... would also perish.

It was precisely this deterrent that kept him and the crowd in a stalemate for so long.

"Su Ming, hand over the divine artifact! I will remember our past brotherhood and spare your life!" Zhang Tang stepped forward.

He was also one of the ten strongest powerhouses in the Dragon Kingdom today, and Su Ming's former friend!

"In return... I will only cripple all your cultivation!"

A sinister sneer hung on his face, his eyes filled with mockery!

Su Ming's expression was icy, his teeth clenched, and his heart was filled with raging fury.

At the same time, there was hatred!

Since he was eighteen, he had treated him as a brother...

The two had fought side by side for many years!

In every battle, he had always stepped forward.

He had shared half of all the resources he obtained with him.

It could even be said that without Su Ming, there would be no Zhang Tang today!

Yet, today, Zhang Tang had secretly plotted and betrayed Su Ming!

All just to snatch the supreme divine artifact in his hand, the God-Defying Ring.

This was a trophy Su Ming had obtained only after venturing into the Dead Cave alone, risking his life, and even solo-killing the strongest god-level exotic beast that no one had ever managed to kill before!

It was said to be able to reverse the rules and even reshape the physical body!

Su Ming could never have imagined that the moment he stepped out of the Dead Cave with the divine artifact, he would fall into Zhang Tang's ambush and be severely wounded!

Zhang Tang had led the strongest experts of the Zhang family to strike simultaneously, heavily injuring Su Ming.

Several hero-level powerhouses were among them!

Even with the movement techniques of the world's number one assassin, he had no strength left to escape.

Su Ming could feel his life force rapidly fading at this very moment!

"Before I die, I have only one question."

Su Ming's gaze was sharp as he scanned his surroundings, his voice trembling.

"Who leaked the information!?"

He had clearly told no one about this, except for his girlfriend.

How did Zhang Tang know?

At this moment, a white-clad silhouette stepped out from the crowd.

"It was me."

She stood in a long robe, her posture elegant, and said indifferently.

Seeing her, Su Ming's gaze suddenly shook, and a stormy sea surged within him!

"Ren Xiaoman!?" he gasped, almost losing his voice.

His lover, the girlfriend who had accompanied him for over ten years!

For so many years, Su Ming had trusted her unconditionally, doting on her like a lapdog.

He had never been stingy, using all sorts of heavenly treasures to forcefully pile up her mediocre talent to her current level.

Unexpectedly, the person who betrayed him was actually her!?

During the earlier standoff, Su Ming had guessed this possibility, but he had dismissed it himself beforehand.

It shouldn't have been her—it could have been anyone, but how could it be her!?

In this instant, Su Ming felt cold and hopeless, his heart nearly shattering.

Under extreme rage and hatred, flames burned in his eyes.

Finally, he actually looked up and laughed bitterly.

"Hahahaha!!!"

Thinking about it now, he felt his years of devotion were as ridiculous as a clown's!

"Su Ming, it's not too late to turn back now. Hand over the God-Defying Ring."

She looked at Su Ming with her beautiful eyes and said calmly.

She seemed to be considering their old relationship.

But only Su Ming could see the disdain, mockery, and contempt in the depths of her eyes.

And... the satisfaction she finally stopped hiding after enduring for so many years!

"You... have you betrayed me for a long time?"

At this moment, Su Ming's heart was crystal clear, and he finally saw through this woman.

Ren Xiaoman smiled contemptuously upon hearing this.

"Heh, after all these years, you finally figured it out!"

As she spoke, she stopped pretending.

She walked toward Zhang Tang with a seductive gait and gave a charming smile.

Zhang Tang let out a sinister laugh and took the opportunity to pull her into his arms.

"To tell you the truth, my initial willingness to be with you was just a mission from Brother Zhang!"

"If it weren't for seeing that you had awakened a nine-star talent back then and had a limitless future, I wouldn't have let you have that cheap kid!"

Ren Xiaoman curled her lips in Zhang Tang's arms and smiled faintly.

Su Ming watched this scene, his heart torn to pieces.

His former brother and the woman he loved most were together behind his back, betraying him!

For any man, this was a devastating blow that crushed his dignity!

Seeing this scene of collusion, Su Ming was so enraged that his heart burned, and blood spilled from the corners of his mouth.

He said, word by word.

"Even if I, Su Ming, die today, you will never get this divine artifact!"

After speaking, he prepared to step back into the Death Cave.

He would rather be buried with the supreme divine artifact than let these villains benefit.

The Death Cave was filled with death mist; apart from him, the God of Slaughter Su Ming, no one dared to step inside.

At this moment, Zhang Tang smiled indifferently.

"Haha, we let you live until now just to stall for time and set up the Imprisonment Array!"

"Everyone, do it!"

He gave the order.

Several top-tier mages cast the array together.

In an instant, they locked Su Ming’s entire body, rendering him unable to move at all!

He couldn't even retreat back into the Death Cave!

Subsequently, the group activated various skills and attacked Su Ming!

For a moment, the sky flashed with colorful lights.

Su Ming was powerless to resist, his heart filled with despair.

At this instant, a figure was seen charging out from behind the crowd!

Going against the world!

It was a girl with bright, starry eyes.

She held a massive scythe, dressed in a white robe as pure as snow.

"Su Ming, don't give up!!"

She shouted, swinging her scythe to form a gray, skull-shaped protective barrier, shielding Su Ming within it.

But that barrier could not withstand the powerful killing blows filling the sky, and it collapsed in an instant.

She was resolute, without a hint of hesitation.

She actually stepped forward, arms spread, using her own body to block in front of Su Ming!

The next instant, her body was shattered by thousands of beams of light.

A spray of blood bloomed like flowers, scattering across the sky.

The scalding blood splattered onto Su Ming’s face.

His eyes were dazed, staring at the girl before him.

She... was Su Ming’s former desk-mate and a comrade of several years.

Her name was Ji Yao; during their school days, she had expressed her true feelings to Su Ming many times.

But the one Su Ming loved was always Ren Xiaoman, and he had rejected her repeatedly.

The gap between their cultivation realms gradually widened, and eventually, they parted ways.

Who would have thought that at the end of his life, the person protecting him would be her?

In the whole world, she was the only one.

"Hmph, just a piece of trash, coming here to die too!"

Zhang Tang sneered, gripping his weapon and swinging it in one strike.

The sky collapsed and the earth cracked; even space shattered.

How could she possibly block an attack from one of the ten strongest experts in the Dragon Kingdom?

But in this instant, Su Ming gained precious time, activating his god-level movement technique, Hidden God Step, to break free from the Imprisonment Array.

He held her and took a step back into the Death Cave.

Although he died, he did not let these bastards get the divine artifact!

The thick death mist wrapped and swallowed them from all directions.

At this moment, the world lost its color, and the thick death mist enveloped them both.

The world had completely changed!

"Ji Yao, why did you come!?"

Su Ming looked at the girl in his arms, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

At the moment of death, her eyes were filled with a satisfied smile.

"Su Ming... I have always..."

The next instant, her body was swallowed by the black mist and dissipated from the world.

She didn't even finish her last words.

At this moment, Su Ming’s eyes went blank.

So, she was the only one who had loved him from beginning to end, even willing to give her life for him, without complaint or regret.

It took his entire life to finally understand who the person he should have cherished really was!

In this instant, infinite regret, anger, and hatred surged within his heart!

"Ren Xiaoman!!! Zhang Tang!!!"

The two names were bitten out from his mouth, almost jumping out.

"If I am reborn as a human in another life, I will surely tear you to pieces!!"

He gritted his teeth and said.

Subsequently, Su Ming’s consciousness... gradually disappeared.

He fell completely into darkness.

His body was corroded by the death mist, gradually rotting away.

The fact that he could explore the Death Cave earlier was a miracle achieved only by exhausting all of Su Ming’s trump cards and methods.

Now that he was at the end of his rope, he could not replicate it.

The world's number one assassin, the God of Slaughter Su Ming.

Today, he was buried in the Death Cave.

But no one noticed.

At this instant, a faint blue light flickered from his palm.

That was an ethereal ring.

When Su Ming’s consciousness grew hazy and he woke up again, he was shocked to find himself in a high school campus.

He had returned to... the Awakening Day at eighteen!