Reign of the Swordmaster: One Blade to Rule Them All

Blue Star.

West Mountain Cemetery, Crystalove City.

A woman stood before a freshly erected tombstone, silently paying her respects and bidding farewell to the deceased.

The tombstone bore the name of the departed: Sebastian, who had passed away at the age of 29.

The woman's name was Isabella, a senior in university to Sebastian.

She silently stood before the tombstone, gazing at the photo of the departed. In the photo, the late was handsome and bright, with eyes like a shining star.

Isabella stared at the picture, lost in thought.

A cemetery worker approached, pushing a cart with a dark ebony-colored urn.

"It's time for the interment, madam. Would you like to do it yourself, or shall we?" the worker reminded.

"I'll do it," she said."

Isabella, with a heavy heart, approached and carefully placed the urn into the small square pit beneath the tombstone.

"Didn't expect that after all these years of not seeing you, our reunion would be under these circumstances," Isabella muttered, her eyes misting with tears.

Her voice quivered, unable to hide the grief within. "You, of all people, believed those liars back then. Your future was so bright in 'Wild Valley World,' but you fell for their deceit. It's such a shame... Well, it's all in the past now."

"Madam, it's time to put the belongings of the departed in," the cemetery worker reminded.

Isabella nodded and, with teary eyes, placed the last memento left by Sebastian into the pit.

Suddenly, she remembered something and hastily retrieved a recording pen from the belongings.

The pen had a note attached to it with a small message: "Isabella, open this when I'm buried."

Isabella had kept it in mind but had been too overwhelmed with sadness just moments ago to recall.

With the pen in her hand, Isabella chose to play it, and an audio recording began.

"Hey there, crazy lady! It's been a while, huh? Haha, I bet you never expected this. I've already become an immortal and I'm about to ascend to the heavens. This might be the last time we get to chat, and I'm sure you must be missing me terribly. So, here's a recording for you..."

The voice in the audio was cheerful, without a hint of the seriousness or sorrow usually associated with farewells. Sebastian even joked about his own death, comparing it to achieving immortality.

Isabella wasn't surprised at all because the Sebastian she knew had always been this optimistic and sunny.

The recording continued.

"I actually want to apologize to you. If only I'd listened to you earlier. But it's my own fault, I can't blame anyone else. I'm sorry, my dear Isabella, next time, if we have the chance to meet again in our next lives, I'll continue to be your punching bag and let you bully me... Hehe... Well, it's time to say goodbye..."

At this point, Isabella couldn't hold back her tears, marking the second time she had cried in her life. The first time was when Sebastian had misunderstood her and cut ties with her.

Her tough and resilient demeanor was shattered by Sebastian, who broke through her defenses.

But in the next second, the tone of the audio drastically changed.

"Whoa! Where am I? Why is it so dark here?"

"I was supposed to become an immortal, so why am I stuck in this little box? Help~"

"Is there anyone who can rescue me? I'm scared~ Yakety yak~"

"Dare mo dare mo! Dare mo yo~"

A few nearby cemetery workers couldn't help but burst into laughter. They had never seen such a bizarre farewell message.

In their line of work, they were trained not to laugh.

"Chuckle."

Isabella also laughed while wiping away her tears and scolded the late owner of the grave, "Sebastian, you rascal!"

....

Ding ding dong dong...

A ringing phone woke up Sebastian, who was sound asleep.

"Ugh, my head hurts so much."

Sebastian, clutching his head, opened his eyes, and he was surrounded by an unpleasant smell of alcohol and the stench of vomit, both on his body and in his breath.

Looking around the room, which felt both unfamiliar and strangely familiar, Sebastian's brain momentarily short-circuited.

"Wow, where am I? Why does this room look so much like my college dorm from back in the day?"

"Wasn't I supposed to be critically wounded by the Transcendence Realm BOSS Black Dragon King and meet my end, and yet here I am alive?"

"Hey, where's my storage ring? Where's my Immortal Mansion? Why do I have nothing at all?"

...

Ten minutes later.

After several confirmations, Sebastian finally understood. He had been reborn. Back to ten years ago. That year, he had just finished the college entrance examination and was about to start his freshman year. Nineteen years old, full of youthful vigor.

As for why he had been reborn, Sebastian recalled carefully. If he guessed correctly, it was related to the jade pendant he had taken from Black Dragon King's cave.

As soon as Sebastian got his hands on the pendant, it disappeared. However, in the last moment before his death, he vaguely remembered seeing the pendant again, emitting a dazzling light.

Immediately after that, he found himself back in time, ten years earlier.

Sebastian pondered for a moment and remembered. Before the integration of "Wild Valley World" into the real world, there had always been a rumor. The most powerful Transcendence Realm exotic beast, Black Dragon King, possessed a supreme artifact called the Gemini Pendant, which could comprehend the laws of the heavens. No one had ever obtained it. After being framed, he had accidentally fallen into the Black Dragon King's cave. The jade pendant he had obtained was most likely the legendary Gemini Pendant.

Unbelievably, this legendary artifact had given him a second chance at life.

"Since fate has given me another chance, Damian Blackwell and Selena Venom, you two villains! In this life, I will make you taste the bitterness of betrayal and solitude!"

Sebastian stood up and walked to the mirror in the dorm. He looked at his reflection, his eyes filled with a cold and bone-chilling determination.

Before this rebirth, he had experienced the most miserable and desperate time in his life. His beloved girlfriend, Selena Venom, had betrayed him after ten years of love and got together with his most trusted friend, Damian Blackwell. The two of them even conspired to cheat him out of his accumulated wealth, elixirs, magical treasures, and finally lured him into the depths of the Black Dragon King's lair to die.

Even though Sebastian was already a Great Vehicle Realm powerhouse, the top mage in the world, he was no match for the terrifying Transcendence Realm exotic beast, which had ultimately left him critically injured and barely escaping. Due to his severe injuries and the lack of healing resources, he had soon met his end.

Recalling his previous life, Sebastian realized that he had lived a complete tragedy. He had made a series of wrong choices, even though better options and genuinely kind people were available to him. His stubbornness and overconfidence in his own judgment led him to reject the girl who truly cared for him and embrace the treacherous woman, ultimately betraying his trust.

Thinking about it, Sebastian found his previous self to be quite ridiculous. He believed that, given the chance to return to his past life, he could rectify all the wrongs, make amends to those he owed, and not waste the precious early game time he missed.

Even if he started with the same lousy talent as in his previous life, Sebastian still had full confidence that his knowledge of "Wild Valley World" and ten years of expertise would allow him to outpace everyone, aiming to become the most powerful cultivator in the entire "Wild Valley World."

The game had been running for ten years, but if you subtract the time it took for the world to merge, it had only been operational for five years. Sebastian had only played for four years.

He had joined the game during the second year of public testing. His start was rough, and he received a rather mediocre talent. Despite that, he managed to catch up with most players and squeeze into the top ten of the "Wild Valley World Leaderboard."

And now, the date was August 7, 2040.

The "Wild Valley World" public test was scheduled to start tonight!

Sebastian took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and looked into the mirror, breaking into a grin.

In this life, he wanted to start anew, seek revenge, and make amends.

In this life, he was determined not to squander a whole year, the most precious initial game time.

Even if he started with the same talent as in his previous life, receiving nothing but a lousy talent, Sebastian had complete confidence that his ten years of experience and in-depth knowledge of "Wild Valley World" would allow him to surpass everyone and become the ruler of the "Wild Valley World."

Ding, ding, dong, dong...

The phone rang again, waking up Sebastian from his thoughts. He picked up the vintage Huawei Tianwen phone from ten years ago, and the caller ID displayed: "Crazy Girl."

Seeing this name, Sebastian couldn't help but smile brightly and immediately answered the call.

"Sebastian! Why did it take you so long to answer my call? Something big is happening, and I need to tell you this groundbreaking news. You have to stay strong!"

From the other end of the line, a spirited and youthful girl's voice came through.

Sebastian, however, wasn't concerned about the content; he was simply relishing the sound of this voice. He hadn't heard it in such a long time, exactly ten years.

Yet it remained so familiar and comforting.

"Sorry, Crazy Girl," Sebastian whispered suddenly.

"Huh? What are you apologizing for?" The voice on the other end clearly didn't understand.

"Nothing, just a sudden thought," Sebastian replied, with a playful smile, brushing it off.

In this life, he had a lot to make up for, especially to Isabella, who was one of the two girls he felt he had wronged most in his previous life.