The Mistaken Reincarnation Of Leon AnKhel

Shedding The Coils Of Mortality

I woke up pretty much exhausted and very tired. But there was a sense of excitement in the air I couldn't help but feel. From Leon's memories I knew what it meant to shed one's mortal coils and become a cultivator. To be able to go beyond the limits of what is physically possible for any mortal man. To be as strong if not stronger than superman, and command the elements just as easily as breathing. Even if I come from a world and a country where such feats would be frowned upon and dubbed as witchcraft, I wanted to without a shadow of a doubt wield all the powers that have been mentioned. After all I've not sold my soul to the devil, so I shouldn't been a witch or wizard....... Right?

I did not even take a bath or change my clothes, I just told the system to begin the shedding of my mortal coils, and I stupidly asked it to do so while I was still standing up. I regretted it not mere moments later when I fell to the ground in a heap, my head smacking against the floor and adding to the intense pain my body was going through.

This was way worse than the poison of the flame wolf scorpion, it burned and it chilled and my skin felt like it was being pulled in multiple directions while also being stabbed by needles heated to high temperatures. And then I felt as if my body was being beaten by a hammer, and said hammer turned out to be my own heartbeat.

With each beat I felt my bones creak and break and become remade, my organs purified and strengthened beyond what was considered normal for a human. My skin smooth and soft, but still thick enough to block a cut from most blades.

My hair began to fall off, leaving me completely bald. But it wasn't just the hair of my head that fell off, but every single piece of hair in my body, including my armpits and pubic area(which was not really looking good.). I was left completely smooth and shiny, like some sort of doll. And that's when the pain stopped and a message showed up in front of me.

{Mission Accomplished: Break the shackles of your mortal flesh.} {Rewards: +2 to all stats, you have received the perception stat, and you have received the talent Beast Empathy}

{Congratulations on stepping on the road to cultivation. You have been awarded with +5 to the perception stat, and a martial arts template to create a martial arts uniquely yours.}

{To use Martial arts template, you have to add at least two known earth martial and at most three known earth martial arts to create your very own unique fighting style. Please specify the martial arts you want combined.}

I felt stronger, faster, and fatter too. I could feel a layer of energy on my skin, it was everywhere around me, and I could feel it caressing and cascading allover me. I could also feel it within me, settling into the very fibers, cells, atoms and molecules of my body. I knew what this was, this was Qi, the energy of the heavens and the earth. Of all living things, and all dead things. The Air of existence itself.

This new feeling was exciting, but the message in front of me was equally exciting. Back home in Nigeria, martial arts movies, especially Chinese films were the rage of young boys and girls. I loved it, the fights, and the antics that came with it. I remember movies like shaolin temple, the drunken master, really old ones like snake in the monkey's shadow, or movies from the main man himself Bruce Lee. The big boss, enter the Dragon and Tower of death.

But I wasn't just a fan of Chinese martial arts movies, I also had a soft spot for Thailand's Muay Thai. I loved watching movies like The Protector, Ong Bak, Chocolate and quite a few others. Plus I had once come across quite a list of martial arts and the country of origins, so it was fun to know that I would be able to combine them all into a martial arts only I could use.

"Combine Kung Fu, Muay Thai, and Karate!" I said with excitement, not even giving much thought to my choice.

{Kung Full has many different martial arts styles and is not a singular martial art. Host would have to choose another, or proceed to combine Muay Thai and Karate.}

I blanched at those words, but I guess I can't always have everything easy. I had to think about this carefully, it was a little hard but I had to be rational about my choices. I've watched a lot of martial arts movies, including dramas, so I knew the rough outline of some of the martial arts and how they're used. And it was from those thoughts I decided to make my choice, of course I still would want to be a fan boy and chose the arts I love and admire the most.

"Combine Tai Chi, Muay Thai and Jujutsu together."

{Combining martial arts...new martial arts have been created. What would you like to call it?}

I had no idea what to call such a combination of martial arts. Tai Chi was all about using defense as offense, letting you use your opponents force and power against him, and ultimately it was a martial art that was more like an excercise for good health. that should disqualify it, but there was a serenity to it, like a bird flying in peacefully in the midst of raging storm, riding the wind currents and the rain.

Muay Thai is just chock full of killing strikes and hit. Every move is designed to hurt, incapacitate and outright kill a person if enough force is utilized, like a lion going for the kill, it was ferocious utilizing literally every part of your body as weapon, with emphasis placed on joints. it's strikes were definite and not random going straight for every perceivable weak point in sight, in my opinion this was not just martial art, this was a killing art.

Jujutsu was a subjugation martial arts, but it would still leave a person with broken bones and even dead if you want to take it a little too far, it reminded of wrestling, the joint locks and throws. if you wanted to incapacitate an opponent, this was the way to go, or if you wanted to break something to prove a point. I really didn't know what to call the new martial arts that would be born from the combination of these three gifted disciplines, would it even do it justice.

"Can you just let it be unknown for now, I'll think of something later."

{Affirmed. Martial arts shall be known as unknown until host decides a name.}

"That's good. Show me my stats."

[Leon An Khel: Age 20]

[Bloodline: Ancient Human]

[Cultivation level: 1: Body Refining Realm]

[Cultivation Method: Celestial Zodiac Theorem (uninitiated)

[Strength: 15/ Speed: 19/ Body 15/ Energy: (18/20)/ Perception: 8]

Talents: > > >

Skills: > > > > > >

Stat points:6 | Skill Points:9

{Mission: Use the Celestial Beast Theorem to gain your body refining star beast} {Reward: one random skill raised to Max level.} {Time: 5 hours} {Penalty: crippled cultivation}

Right of course there's another mission. At the very least this should be something I can do right, so let's get this over with.

{Initiate the Celestial Beast Theorem}

As soon as I agreed the world fell away and I found myself within a sea of stars. Or to be more precise I was standing in outer space, and there were a couple of gates in front of me. The gates were actually made of stars too, in fact they looked nothing like gates rather they were constellations and I just had the instinctive knowledge to call them gates.

I recognized the constellations in front of me, from Pisces, Aquarius, Taurus, Gemini and Leo. All twelve of them, and each of them offered unique star beast and each with a particular orientation. But just like when I was choosing a martial art to combine, I had to be careful and wise. It was also said I really couldn't choose what I wanted, body refining realm placed emphasis of the training of the body, so it was better for me to gain a constellation that represented strength or defense.

I could go for Leo, but Leo was more offensive related than defense. Which leaves me with one option, and that option was Taurus. After all, nothing emphasized strength and defense more than a bull. and maybe this world? whatever it was could read my mind as I went towards the Gate of Taurus. There was a feeling associated with it that I couldn't understand, but it gave me an impression of solidarity, brashness, willfulness and strength. I fell towards the constellation, and immediately it changed, it was as if I had to climb a stairway, but I was only able to stand on the first step, the body refining step.

And that's when I understood how it all worked, each constellation had star beast of particular mannerisms. But they also have differing realms of star beasts, and only when you're strong enough would you be able to experience the other levels. But for now, I could only pick a body refining realm star beast from the Taurus constellation. This should be fun.

I opened my eyes and my senses to the first step, the part of the Taurus constellation that had the presence of the body refining realm star beats, and there was a lot of them. I saw them float and fly past me like a school of fishes, each one more unique than the last. I could see wolves with horns, snakes with two tails, spoon with hands, a plate, a hole with intricate runes carved on it. And finally the only star beast that drew my attention because of it's peculiarity.

It was Tortoise. It was a little bigger than normal, being about the size of range rover, but what really drew my attention was the literal garden/island that was floating on it's back. As I got closer to it, it's eyes met mine, and an understanding of what this beast stood for filled my mind. It represented ultimate strength to defend, a strength so powerful that you could carry a world on your very back, protect it and help it move. This was.

{World King Tortoise(Infant): Body Refining Realm Soul Beast}

{Elements: Earth, Metal and Plant} {Traits: Sturdy, slow, Timid.}

{Skills: Hard Shell}

This was the one, this was the star beast that was going to make me strong and invisible amongst others within the body refining realm. I acknowledged it, and so to did it acknowledge me, choosing me as a worthy partner for all of my lifetime. And then I touched it, and the whole world went white.