Liu Chen didn't think about his job, the salary padded with zeroes, or the glittering skyline outside his penthouse office in Shanghai.
He thought about how utterly meaningless it had all been.
Endless nights at the office, sleepless nights soaked in whiskey, and fake smiles plastered on his tired face. He had clawed his way up the corporate ladder by kissing every ass and licking every boot that got in his way.
He hadn't even had time to start a family but he didn't necessarily want one either. He had been too busy chasing after power... and the newest intern.
And ironically, she was what caused his downfall.
The girl had been warming the CEO's bed before Liu Chen even knew her name. Once he had found out Liu Chen, his assistant, had spent a heavenly night with her, it was over.
One whisper into the wrong ear, and everything unraveled. He was fired and blacklisted. No other place of employment so much as even held an interview with him after that.
So Liu Chen had decided to get drunk that night—angry, pathetic, soaked in beer and regret. And of course, he crashed. His car ended up swerving off of a railed road on a turn, and he drove right into several trees - causing everything to burn up in a fiery explosion.
He doesn't remember anything happening after that, just a quick reel of his sad life and how most of it was spent pleasing others, himself, or working.
He had always wanted to be rich since he was a little kid, dreaming of fancy sport cars, nice mansions, and beautiful girls. Liu Chen had successfully achieved all of that and more, but in all honesty - it was overrated.
He now just wished for one thing in life if he ever got the chance.
"If I ever get another chance... I just want to live freely."
And finally darkness swallowed up his entire consciousness.
...
August 4th, Season Of Leo. The year 1035 in The Imperial Province Of Jiang.
"At long last, That freak will finally rid this family of his presence."
"Master, your plan was so smart! I would have never thought to switch out his qi pills with medicine pills, which caused an adverse effect in his body"
"You know what they say; medicine is three fourths poison. Now let us quickly leave before anybody realizes that the bastard is dead."
Liu Chen awoke to hear two incoherent voices speaking vague ramblings that he could not understand.
As he tried to blink his eyes open, he realized that for some reason his body was not responding to him. And he was unusually hot!
If he had to make an estimate, he would assume that his temperature right now was over 150 degrees! But that couldn't be possible since your death is practically guaranteed at 105 degrees.
'I think I'm about to die! No, I'm already dead. Wait... I'm in Hell!'
The only conclusion he could reach was that he was sent to the worst of the two after-lifes.
As he began to inwardly freak out, his body slowly started to release a gentle supply of steam into the air.
'I can't be dead, much less in Hell! Dear God, I'm sorry for hooking up with random girls in the building. I'm sorry for forging my tax documents. I'm sorry for putting laxatives into my bosses coffee.'
Liu Chen did not believe in a heaven or Hell during any of his life, and he was not taught as a child to. But because of his predicament right now, he was very willing to repent from his wicked ways.
'I swear on my name, Liu Chen, that if you give me another chance I will spend it helping people and not committing any sins or atrocities whatsoever! Please God!'
Inside the room, the steam started to slowly come to a stop, and a brownish and black liquid started to steadily ooze out of his pores instead, giving off a cooling sensation.
When Liu Chen finally felt his body temperature going down, he inwardly said a quick prayer of thanks for giving him a second chance at life, and once again tried to open his eyes.
This time at his second attempt, he was successful! But when he opened them, he saw a huge room with sliding wooden doors with different floral and tree patterns on them. It was the kind of room you would see in a martial arts film.
He was firmly positioned all the way in the farthest back corner, so he was able to quickly scan the whole room without moving.
As he looked around this unfamiliar place he was now in, he took a quick guess to realize the deity he had prayed to, sent his soul into another body - like what happens in most Wuxia novels.
Transmigration is usually hard to believe and accept, but Liu Chen preferred this over Hell any day of the week.
The feeling of awkwardness in his body had finally disappeared along with the heat. He moved his head to look around and saw that there was a dark slime coming out of his body.
'What The F*ck is this?'
It came with a putrid smell that reminded him of wet gym socks, vomit, and feces all in one. Just from the smell he almost puked everywhere.
After getting over the rancid liquid that he was riddled with, he continued his gaze and train of thought on the rest of his body.
He was seated cross-legged, arms resting on his knees. Except… his hands were also on his thighs. And his stomach. And—
'Wait.'
He looked down.
'What the hell?!'
He had Six arms.
One pair coming out of the sides of his lower back. Another pair coming out of the regular place for arms. And the last pair protruding from the top of his back.
'What is this and what happened to me?'
A cold chill ran up his back and his head began to spin. It was as if the whole world was moving faster than what he could process.
Then a sharp sense of pain came and was accompanied by a violet dot fell onto the floor in front of him. His mind went into a state of total distortion.
And a flood of fragmented memories quickly entered into it.
The body's original owner was seven years old. Born in the Eastern Frontier of the Great Yu Empire, in Jiang Province. The third son of a wealthy farming household that was on the brink of reaching noblemanship. Born a freak with extra arms, he was scorned by the world and considered a curse.
But with that 'curse' he was also blessed by the heavens. He had meridians so wide and deep that they could perfectly move primal qi.
Bones fully tempered from birth that gave a physique one could only obtain after a few years of body tempering. And a sea of qi that was vast enough to stir envy in seasoned cultivators.
He was currently in the second stage of qi refinement and was on the verge of a breakthrough. But then...
As the flood of foreign memories momentarily abated, the pounding in Liu Chen's skull began to subside. The world, once spinning like a drunken wheel, gradually returned to stillness. His breath slowed, his limbs loosened, and just as a fleeting sense of calm dared to settle in, another violent surge of memories pierced through his mind like a thousand needles.
He clenched his teeth, but a ragged cry escaped his lips nonetheless."Aaack…"
By the age of seven, the body's original owner had already tempered his body and opened all of his meridians, yet for some reason, he became stagnant in his cultivation progress. He couldn't break through to the next stage, and his qi accumulation began to slow down. Still, he kept this to himself and didn't tell anyone.
Each day, he continued his work on the farm and followed his usual cultivation routine without complaint. He had been cultivating one of the family's personal methods. These methods were just to enhance your vitality and give you a little longevity of over one-hundred years.
Once you got past the qi refinement stage you wouldn't be able to continue.
He kept this up daily until one day, a maidservant had given him a qi pill and said it was a gift from one of his siblings in hopes that he would reach new 'unfathomable' heights the continent had never seen before. He had planned to eat it the next day when he was doing his cultivation routine.
The boy's mother and father were named Wang Zhennan and Wang Mei respectively.
Wang Zhennan was the family's patriarch and was in the fourth stage of Qi refinement. He was seventy-four years old with a lean physique and had long flowing black hair with a trimmed mustache and a nicely kept beard. His eyes were a deep and profound brown, and he held the air of an intelligent scholar. He would be considered the most handsomest elder back on Earth.
The boy's mother, Wang Mei was not a cultivator as she had no talent for cultivation whatsoever. And, she chose to focus on more maternal tasks like taking care of the house, her son, and most of the plants.
She had a slim yet voluptuous physique that would make any man lust after her. Her hair was pure white like falling snow, and her gentle red eyes reflected her nurturing nature. Her looks were other-worldly so many either lusted, envied, or hated her.
She was twenty-one and the youngest and newest of Wang Zhennan's four concubines. Yet Wang Zhennan did seem to show as much affection and did not give as much attention to her as his other wives. Even during her pregnancy he did not come once. So, her son of course got the same exact treatment.
The name the Patriarch bestowed upon him bore no sense of familiarity and had no surname upon it.
But that was to be expected since he had been born an abomination - a hideous freak of nature. If his father had tied his name to the family's, then ruin would surely befall them. It was considered a mercy that he hadn't been thrown out of the compound and lived as a beggar.
Yet, the treatment he gave was better than everybody else's mockery and constant belittling. He had even received beatings from his siblings and the servants just for taking a small glance at them.
Instead of saying any insults or giving looks of disdain, the patriarch simply just ignored his entire existence.
This had been the life of this cursed boy.
The life of Asura.
...
The load of memories stopped there and the sharp pain and dizziness that plagued Liu Chen's mind instantly dispersed. Yet, his eyes remained closed for a few seconds to take it all in.
When Liu Chen opened his red eyes, they were clear - abnormally clear.
"I'm sorry for taking over your body, but from the looks of things you probably didn't want to stay in this world for long anyways. But I vow on my name, Liu Chen, that I will make sure you get the vengeance you rightfully deserve!"
After he proclaimed this, he sat in silence as a drop of water fell from his right eye onto the ground. But it wasn't from Liu Chen's emotions though. It came from the body itself.
It was as if that one tear contained the gratitude, sorrows, hopes, and dreams of the young boy all in one.