Cultivator Apocalypse

Chapter 1

Regression.

 

It was a word that held a lot of weight. In the world of Manhua Men, it was a belief that held just as much power as any religion. To some, it was a sign of hope – to return back to the past with everything you knew. To others, it was seen as a curse – to return knowing the cruel reality ahead of you. A doomed destiny, like ant struggling against a giant. Some could never overcome the gaps of reality. A talentless loser would always remain a talentless loser.

For Zhang Xuan, it was a hope that kept him moving. He dreamed endlessly of returning back to the past one day. One day, a miracle would set him free from the hell that had become his life. If he could just be like the protagonists of the online Manhuas he used to read. A burning, evergrowing hope that he could remake himself as someone better, someone smarter or richer.

Someone Superior.

 

"Yeah one day...One day I'll go back and show them all!"

 

Several months ago, he was still a stay at home loser. Living an uneventful life in his family home. Every other sibling he had went on to achieve great things, except for Zhang. Zhang was the bottomfeeder of the family in their eyes. The "bug" of the family",  a loser nobody wanted to share the same space with.

 

While his siblings went on to get doctorates and fancy jobs, Zhang only rotted at home in his fantasies. He was a large fan of Manhuas, wishing he could be like the cultivators he saw in them. It was a comfortable, albeit meager life. He never felt confident to do anything else with himself. Zhang Xuan was a young man afraid of taking risks, his every day past school life consisting of bullying and harassment.

 

Each day his eyes were glued to the glowing screens of his computer.  Zhang would spend countless hours immersed in the adventurous worlds of his favorite Manhuas. He would marvel at the tales of heroes who traversed through treacherous lands and battled fearsome monsters with their incredible abilities. "If only I were just like them! One day I'll awaken to my SSS-Rank system!" Zhang Xuan would tell himself every day.

 

Nothing else mattered.

 

In his dreams, he was just as agile and brave as these mythical characters. But reality was far less glamorous – Zhang lived in a tiny apartment in South Carolina with his family, hidden away from the real world. He barely scraped by on the meager salary from his part-time job at a local store.

 

Still, he kept dreaming and longing for a more exciting life. One filled with adventure or excitement, but lacked the energy or determination to go out and achieve anything. Every attempt to make something of himself wilted away to dust. Just as fast as it came.

Zhang was not a person with strong willpower in any way. He could never concentrate or stay consistent with his wants. Time went on for him, every day the exact same for Zhang. He questioned if this was all he would amount to a few times, but quickly went back to distracting himself.

 

Until one event shattered his world.

 

The first sign that something was wrong was when the skies turned red. At first, everyone thought it was just a strange phenomenon and went about their lives as usual. Maybe it was just a prank, or some weirdos filming a horror movie they told themselves. But then, the sun began to disappear, and the sky grew dark. Within an hour the world was plunged into darkness.

And yet still during this, everyone clung to some semblance of normalcy. People were looking at their phones, watching tv, talking to each other as if this was an every day occurence!

Then the earthquakes came. They were small at first, just a little tremor or two to shake things up. But quickly grew larger and more violent. Buildings crumbled, roads cracked open, and people were killed. The quakes lasted for a whole day, until finally the ground stopped moving. Several cities were left in complete and utter ruins, destroyed amongst the chaos and left into rubble. Many Governments in those 24 hours had lost many people and resources, unable to formulate a proper disaster response in such little time.

 

But the worst was yet to come. The volcanoes erupted next, spewing forth lava and ash that quickly covered the land. The air filled with smoke and toxic gases, making it impossible to breathe. Many people died choking on the poisonous air.

 

As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, giant meteors then began raining down from the sky, smashing everything in their path. The world was being destroyed by natural disasters, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. It was as if God hated the earth, and his wrath was now made manifest.

 

 

Within five days, half the world’s population had been killed by these disasters. And still, they continued relentlessly onward. Forests burned, cities were swallowed up by lava, and the oceans boiled away. There seemed to be no end to the destruction.

 

And then suddenly, it stopped. Just as quickly as it had started, it was over. The skies cleared, the sun returned, and life slowly began to return to normal.

 

But not for everyone. For those who survived these catastrophic events would never be able to forget what they witnessed or what they lost.

 

Zhang Xuan was one of the lucky ones. He survived. But he didn’t just survive – he changed.

 

When the world ended, something inside of him awakened. He gained the ability to cultivate and use qi, an ability that had been lost to mankind for millennia. It was a funny feeling inside of Zhang Xuan, the fact that his so called life dream was now about to come true!

 

"Finally, I can be just like my Manhuas! I-I'll..I'll be a hero!" Zhang Xuan believed, despite the series of unfortunate events that plagued him in the early days.

 

But he was not alone.

 

Many other humans had awakened to the ability to use qi. As if a dormant instinct was awakened inside mankind, people began to invent their own ways of cultivating qi. By drawing upon natural elements, they were able to enhance and amplify the qi inside of them.

 

The disasters had changed the entire planets environment, causing every part of nature to become spiritually rich with qi.

 

With this new revelation, mankind changed.

 

As people cultivated qi within themselves, they began to develop superhuman traits. With each break through in their cultivation, Cultivators achieved supernatural strength, powers and all sorts of transformations within their body.

 

Over the next six months, human beings would go on to create Martial Sects of their own. Factions that taught their own style of cultivation and means of fighting.

 

The various Martial Sects were fiercely competitive, vying for power and influence within the human territories. Conflict soon broke out between these sects, as they fought one another for dominance and survival.

 

Amongst the many factions that developed, there were those who favored more aggressive combat strategies and techniques. The Warring Fists sect focused on using their fists and brute strength to overpower their opponents.

 

The Wind Blades sect was known for their swift and deadly combat style, utilizing sharp swords and blades to cut down their enemies with precision and unmatched speed.

 

Meanwhile, the Shadow Assassins preferred to use stealthy tactics, striking from the shadows at unsuspecting targets without being seen or heard.

 

However their fierce names, they were only frogs in a well. Every month, a new sect replaced an old one. The earth was now a dog eat dog world.

 

And Zhang Xuan was still at the bottom of it.

 

He was currently running for his life, desperately trying to outrun the terrifying spiritual monster that pursued him relentlessly.

 

Zhang Xuan had been weak and unremarkable in his cultivation up to this point in time. Though he had made some progress recently, he was still far from being a match for the spiritual monster chasing him. The only reason he had been able to stay alive thus far was due to his quick wit and agility.

 

However, even those would not be enough to save him from the monster forever. He knew that he would eventually be caught and devoured if he did not find a way to increase his strength quickly.

 

That was why he had been running towards the Spiritual Beast Mountain Range, where legend said that one could find spiritual beasts capable of helping humans break through their bottlenecks.

"The Spiritual Beast Mountain Range is my only hope! My plot armor! If I can just get there, I will be able to break through and slay this creature!"

Zhang Xuan held on to the thin thread of hope as he ran. Nobody would be coming to help him. Nobody had cared in the cultivator world for one as lowly as him, his family had died far earlier in the apocalypse.

 

Unfortunately, it seemed like the spiritual monster chasing him had also heard of this legend as it followed close behind him, determined to not let its prey escape.

 

Zhang Xuan's heart skipped a beat as he saw the ferocious glint in the monster's eyes. If he was caught, there would be no doubt that he would meet a gruesome end.

 

Pushing himself to his limits, Zhang Xuan leapt forward with all his might, narrowly avoiding the monster's grasping claws.

 

He could hear the monster's angry roars echoing in his ears as he continued to run deeper into the mountain range…

 

But he was too slow.

 

To be trash in this world, to be unremarkable in every way only guaranteed your death. The world of cultivators favored two kinds of people, the rich with great backers. Or the genius who could easily grasp and invent their own techniques.

 

Zhang Xuan was neither.

 

The beast's claws reached at Zhang Xuan. Grabbing at Zhang and tearing rents in his skin wherever it could reach.

 

As blood rained down on him from all directions, Zhang knew that death was inevitable – he only needed to be caught one more time and it would be over.

 

But he made it this far. Could he just allow himself to die?

 

"If I die here, I'll take you with me bastard!!"

 

Refusing to give up without a fight, Zhang threw himself recklessly at the monster and managed to land a blow into its soft underbelly.A soft trace of yellow qi erupted from his fist into the monster's underbelly.

 

It then roared in pain and fury, the beast lunged towards him with blinding speed.

 

Without looking back, Zhang turned and sprinted towards the relative safety of the forest – if he could get inside those trees and lose sight of his pursuer for just one minute, he might have a chance at surviving this nightmare.

 

At last, after what felt like an eternity, Zhang stumbled through the undergrowth and collapsed onto the cool grass beneath him. Panting heavily, he looked back towards where the spiritual monster had disappeared into the thick foliage with bated breath.

"That's right stupid beast! Better not chase after me, or this senior will give you another beating of the belly." Zhang Xuan boasted.

 

Was it really over? Had it really given up? He dared not hope too much - there was no telling when it would return again to rip him apart limb from limb.

 

But even as these thoughts ran through his mind, Zhang Xuan knew deep down that he would never allow anything else bad to happen ever again; that he would never let himself be so weak or helpless ever again. He vowed then and there that he would become stronger than anyone or anything in this world - stronger than anyone.

 

This was the beginning of Zhang Xuan's journey to becoming the strongest cultivator in the world.

"I may be a trash! But if I am to not die in this world, I must get stronger!" Zhang Xuan then looked away, letting down his guard to begin a long and dramatic speech. "This is where I will overcome Heaven and Earth! Become a real cultivator! Nobody will be able to stop me!!!!"

Zhang Xuan screamed the last part of his sentences loudly. This was truly where his cultivator journey began. He would rise to become an immortal Daoist Heavenly Emperor of the Yin and Yang.

 

Atleast, that's what he thought.

 

CRACK!

 

Four long claws pierced through Zhang Xuan's chest, sticking out badly through him. The loud growl of the monster could be heard behind him. His heart was now broken through, his body bleeding badly. The creature then took him, and began to tear him apart.

"No! But I! I was going to be-" Zhang Xuan coughed up blood violently in pain, unable to speak further.

 

There was nothing Zhang Xuan could do but cry out in pain and agony as the monster consumed him alive. It's teeth tearing into his body and ripping it apart. He struggled, desperately fighting against its grasp, but to no avail.

 

This was the fate of the weak. To die like a breeze in the wind. His consciousness began to fade, as Zhang Xuan lost feeling in almost every part of his body.

 

In the final moment of his life, Zhang Xuan knew only despair and regret - a profound understanding that he had been weak and helpless all along, despite his best efforts.

 

But he also felt something else - a fierce determination to never be consumed by a monster like this ever again. A promise to himself that he would forge himself into the strongest being in the world...

 

"If I could redo everything again, I would rise to the top of this world!"

 

As his vision faded, that was the last thing he thought of. His body reduced to a pile of meat for a random spiritual monster.