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I DO NOT OWN BEN 10 AND MARVEL
Chapter 1- I Am Back
In the summer of 2007, a bus operated by Golden Dragon Travel Service was heading towards the County of Dildar Nagar near Mahanagar, a city in the Awadh Province.
Dildar Nagar was a backwater county in the middle of nowhere. In the heat of the summer, the passengers on the bus had mostly fallen asleep.
A five foot six, handsome boy with a smooth face and a sleek haircut suddenly jerked his head up as he woke up from a nightmare. He scanned the bus with a weary look.
As reality finally set in, his face suddenly hardened with a frown. He had been to another world and back, yet no one on the bus would have any idea of what he had just been through.
"This is the same bus as the one I took to Ghazipur City for my last year of high school!"
"Why am I here? Am I no longer in Tribulation?"
"Could it be that I am back in the mortal world again?" Disbelief flickered in Aryan's eyes as he thought to himself.
"How is it possible that I, Aryan Shahenshah, escaped the heavenly tribulation, and was reborn again as my former-self?"
Aryan, also known as "Aryan Shahenshah," was a cultivator. "Shahenshah" was the cultivation name that his teacher had given him when he met his teacher for the first time.
He cultivated for five hundred years under one of the nine celestial sects in the universe: the True Martial Immortal Sect, and he was the disciple of the sect's Grand Elder: Akbar, the immortal cultivator.
Thanks to Aryan's incredible talent, it only took him five hundred years to enter the last stage of his cultivation: The Tribulation. He was thought to be the most likely cultivator in centuries to successfully ascend beyond the current realm to that of the immortals.
Aryan lived in this universe for five hundred years, fighting and winning every battle against any sentient being across the universe that dared challenge him. His invincibility had earned him the title: The North Mystic Celestial Lord.
However powerful he had been, he had lost himself in the heavenly tribulation after all.
It was not until his doom was knocking on the door did he realize that the culprit of his failure was the hastened pace during his cultivation. Fast and furious was his motto, but it had also made his cultivation foundation riddled with weak points.
His resolution and dedication— the so-called "Dao-Heart"—crumbled when he had to face the mental demons that lurked in the darkest corners of his mind.
His eagerness to complete the cultivation had become his downfall. To advance as fast as he could, he had left many regrets and made countless mistakes. As guilt and self-resentment slowly eroded his mind, he became vulnerable to the mental demons' deceits and illusions.
As Aryan reflected his battle against the mental demons, he tried to tap into the energy within his system, to see if he was in another illusion. To his surprise, he found that not only was there no trace of his star-devouring Dharmic Power, but his boundless Primordial Essence had also disappeared.
"This is not the work of mental demons. I really am BACK!" Aryan furrowed his brows as realization finally dawned upon him.
Aryan knew that however real and vivid mental demons' illusions were, they could not mask all traces of a Celestial Lord's Primordial Essences.
"My powers are gone. There is not even a trace of Dharmic Power, Primordial Essence, Immortal Enlightenment in me, much less my precious Dharma Treasures. I am now no different than an ordinary man, and anyone could strike me down if they try hard enough."
Despite the huge setback in his cultivation, he did not seem to be too upset about it. Instead, he laughed at his defeat lightheartedly.
"So be it, my last life's cultivation was doomed from the beginning anyways.
"This time around, I will make sure that I take my cultivation one step at a time. I will not only complete but also perfect each and every level."
He cracked a smile as fire danced in his eyes.
"I will return the humiliation and contempt the world had given me in kind, and I will learn from my previous mistakes and leave no regrets as I progress."
There had been many regrets in his past life. Although his mind had always been preoccupied with cultivation, the regret and sorrow persisted.
"Mom, Dad, Sophie, and Bryan. I am BACK! This time I will not fail you."
Aryan lowered his head as resolution rose in his heart.
Aryan was born in an ordinary family in the Dildar Nagar County. His father, Shourya, was in the Jinpan City of the Awadh Province. His mother, on the other hand, hailed from a prominent household in the Paristan City.
The two met at college, and they quickly fell in love, despite the outcry from Pari Family. The overall sentiment of the society was hostile towards marriage without the parents' arrangement. It was particularly true in a prestigious old-money family such as the Pari Family.
After failing to put a stop to the marriage, Aryan's grandfather went as far as denouncing his own daughter.
In a fit of anger, Pari Jasmine left her parents with her husband and settled in Awadh Province.
In order to prove to the Pari Family that he was worthy of their daughter's hand, Shourya did not choose to stay in the populated cities where Pari Family's influence was strong; instead, he had moved to Dildar Nagar County and started working as a low-ranking public servant.
Shourya continued working for the county for a few decades, and never once had he tried to seek advantage using his connection with the mighty Pari Family. He had worked his way up from his first low-ranking position to the management level, but it was still a far cry from the expectation of the Pari family.
The tension between the two sides finally started to ease after Aryan was born. Aryan's grandfather granted the couple a visit during the. New Year. However, unbeknownst to the young couple, what awaited them at Pari Family were cold sneers and lofty disdain.
The entire family had considered Aryan's parents a taint on the family's reputation. They had defied the will of the family patriarch and gave birth to a son who had brought no joy but only shame to the Pari family.
As for Shourya's achievement in the county, it was laughable and pathetic in their eyes.
The thought brought a bitter taste to Aryan's mouth. He shook his head and smiled wryly.
"Pari Chen, I bet that you had never expected me to be back from the future!"
"My family has worked hard to catch up with you and your parents, but in the end, we are still worthless worms in your eyes."
"My mother was a proud person, and she could not stand being looked down upon. That was why she worked so hard, but what did she get in the end? Nothing!"
"I swore I would avenge my mother. Although I am an ordinary person right now, once I get my power back, I will be knocking on your door. I will show you what it is like to be looked down upon and to be crushed like a worthless worm."
Pari Chen was Aryan's cousin. He was the favorite child of the great house Pari. In Aryan's last life, he had tried for all his worth to catch up with Pari Chen but failed. The gap between Pari Chen and Aryan was unbridgeable.
The last time that Aryan saw any visitor from the Pari Family was during his mother's funeral. As if the Pari Family thought the death of Aryan's mother was not tragic enough for the young man, they had to gloat over the tragedy and sent only three youngsters to attend the funeral. No one from the older generation of the Pari Family had come to pay tribute to their own blood; not his grandfather, uncle, or grandmother.
To rub salt into the wounds, one of the visitors was Pari Chen. Pari Chen acted as if he was walking the red carpet instead of attending his aunt's funeral. Surrounded by his sycophantic entourage, his steps carried such a haughty and proud quality that blatantly disrespected the dead.
He was the star, and wherever he went, he deserved attention and respect, regardless of the circumstances.
Although it had been five hundred years, the thought of the Pari family still lit up the knot of fire in Aryan's belly. This memory was toxic to a cultivator such as Aryan.
Without coming to terms with the past, the cultivator would be vulnerable to the attacks of the devious mental demons. A small mistake would lay waste to thousands of years of hard work.
"Anyways, I better not dwell on the past. I wager that Shen Junwen's family fortune has not reached the Mahanagar City at this point in time."
Looking out the window, the familiar scenery of the Mahanagar City filled Aryan's heart with nostalgia.
The thought of Shen Junwen also reminded him of Fang Qiong.
He had loved that girl, and she loved him, but that was not how their love story ended. Later on, his love for her had turned into an obsession which ultimately ruined his cultivation.
The mental demons had used her image to weaken his mind during their battle. One look of her face was enough to render his defense useless.
"Shen Junwen! You had robbed me of my fortune and the love of my life! You forced me to return to the county where I came from. You sat on your throne while I licked my wounds like a street dog." The thought brought Aryan's blood to a boil, and his eyes glinted like sharp steels.
Shen Junwen was the director of the Wanrong Group, a magnate of the real estate industry, and he was the son of the richest man in the Awadh Province.
He was also Aryan's greatest rival in love. Not only had he stolen Fang Qiong from Aryan, but he had also contributed to the collapse of his mother's company: the Splendor Group.
"Fang Qiong and I had a crush on each other ever since we were little, and we hit it off when we met again at university after a long period of separation. However, it was you who came in and stole her from me. You had driven a wedge between her family and me and forced her to give up in the end."
"The last time I met Fang Qiong was at an alumni party where I heard about her engagement to none other than you. I do not expect you to understand how I felt back then, but I promise that I will give it back to you ten times worse!"
"If not for Akbar's help, I would have already ended my miserable life after I jumped off from the roof of my apartment." Aryan murmured.
It has been five hundred years, and he should have already come to terms with what had happened. However, every single word that came out from Aryan's mouth carried a bone-chilling intent that threatened to claim souls.
"I will never forget the moment right before I decided to let go of my life. From that moment on, the old Aryan was dead, and the new Aryan Shahenshah was born.
"Thanks to you, I was able to focus entirely on cultivation. I fed on the anger inside of me and advanced through my cultivation at an incredible rate. It only took me five hundred years to reach the final stage: Tribulation. I felt that I almost owe you my appreciation."
Aryan's lips curled into a smile.
While Aryan had lived as the loser, Shen Junwen was basking in the glory of his success.
The Shen family had contributed to the death of Aryan's mother as well as the collapse of the Splendor Group. In other words, Shen Junwen and his family were responsible for nearly all the miseries in Aryan's life.
In his last life, Aryan had lost everything to his opponent. These old wounds never healed, at least not until redemption was sought and completed. He grunted as anger flickered in his eyes.
"Shen Junwen, Fang Family, Pari Family, and Pari Cheng, I will return the humiliation and suffering back to you in kind."
After five hundred years of cultivation, he was finally ready to right the wrongs in the first thirty years of his life. As he looked outside the window, his mind sought only one thing: retribution.
Suddenly, a loud ringtone wrenched Aryan's mind out of his reverie.
He glanced at the caller ID which read: Mom!
"Is this Aryan? Are you almost at Mahanagar City? Auntie Tang should be waiting for you outside the bus station right now. I told her to find a place for you in Mahanagar City and help me take care of you while you stay there. Do not blame me for being such a tiger mom and sending you away. You know how low your grades are right now. If you do not work hard, you could not even make it into a good university. So, I had to pull some strings to send you to the best school in the city. You listen to Auntie Tang while you are in Mahanagar City, you hear me? She was one of my business partners while I worked in Mahanagar City. Really nice people!"
Hearing his mother's harsh voice for the first time after hundreds of years sent a warm current through Aryan's body; tears welled at the corner of his eye.
"Mom, I get it. I will study hard, I promise," despite the tears, he replied with a bright smile.
This was the first time he had heard his mother's voice ever since she passed away five hundred years ago, or a few years later, depending on which time-line Aryan looked at.
Mother had always been a distant and fuzzy concept to Aryan since they did not have many opportunities to meet each other.
His mother, Pari Jasmine, was the very definition of a willful woman. After having been held up as the object of ridicule by her own family, she had sworn to prove them wrong. In a fit of anger, she took Aryan's sister, Anya, to the international metropolis of Aryanagar, and created the Splendor Real Estate Group. By the time Aryan went to college, the Splendor Group had grown into one of the largest companies in Aryanagar, and Pari Xiaoyun was known as the Queen of Real Estate.
Therefore, Aryan could not have remembered much about her, at this point in time in his past life. It was not until she died in a car accident did Aryan finally realize how much his mother meant to him.
She had always been the backbone of the family. Aryan remembered that his father's hair turned gray overnight after her accident. It was as if the tragedy had sucked his father's soul out of him, rendering him into an empty husk.
"Ah! I almost forgot to tell you. The Tang family has a daughter, and her name is Jiang Churan. Unlike you, she is a straight-A student. Your Auntie is very keen on setting you two up, but I had to warn you that studying is your priority right now!" Pari Jasmine said.
Aryan laughed in his mind. What kind of Asian mother would allow her daughter to date in high school?
Aryan paused for a second and then said, "Mom, do not worry, I will study hard. Promise me that you will pay more attention to your health and safety while you are in Aryanagar, particularly when you are driving. Is Sister going to get her driver's license soon? When she does, you better let her drive. I do not trust your driving skills, Mom. Sooner or later you will have an accident! "
"Okay, okay, since when did you learn to preach to your mother? Anyways, I have to go. I have already wired some money to your account but try not to waste it!" Pari Jasmine hung up the phone.
Aryan knew that although his mother was a resourceful and talented businesswoman, she was not the most detailed and meticulous person. Without the help of his sister Anya, her company would be plagued by minor mishaps and mistakes.
The thought of his sister Anya brought another bout of pain to his heart.
Aside from Fang Qiong, his sister and his mother were the two other greatest regrets of his previous life.
"I owe her a big one, and I don't even know how to make it up to her." Aryan kept his silence; after all, how could he assign a value to familial ties.
As Aryan was engrossed in his reflection of his past life, the bus arrived at the destination.
Looking at the flood of people passing by him at the bus terminal, reality finally hit him. He was back; he was seventeen years old, younger, and better than he ever had been.
"Another life, another story." Aryan cracked a smile, and then he followed the crowd to the exit.
Meanwhile, outside of the Mahanagar City bus terminal, something had caught the crowd's attention: an imported red Audi-A6.
This car's worth was seven hundred thousand in 2007. It was no doubt a rare sight of luxury in the streets of Mahanagar City. However, the car was not what the public was gawking at; it was the two women standing right in front of it.
The older one looked like she was in her thirties; she had a beautiful face and was wearing a black dress tailored to her curves, a formal white shirt, and a pair of high heels. No doubt she was an elite-class woman with a white-collar job.
The younger one was no older than 16; she was tall and was as beautiful as the older woman if not more so.
They were Auntie Tang and her daughter, Jiang Churan. Jiang Churan surveyed the exit of the bus terminal with a frown.
"Mom, when will he be here, do you want to call him?" Jiang Churan asked impatiently.
"We have only been waiting for ten minutes." Auntie Tang refuted.
Aryan's mother had been her best friend in Mahanagar City, and she could not let her down. Pari Jasmine trusted her, and naturally, she had to do her best to look after the child.
"Aryan is a very good child. Be nice to him! You two are going to be schoolmates, so I hope you will get along. This is the first time he's leaving his county, so he is not familiar with life in the city. You need to take care of him." Auntie Tang said.
"I know… I know, Mom! This is the thirteenth time you have told me the exact same thing!" Jiang Churan complained.
Because of the stupid country boy, she thought she had to waste her entire afternoon outside of this stupid bus station under the stupid sun. She could have been spending time with her friends at the Starbucks with a cup of pumpkin spice latte in her hand right now; but no, she had to be here and be miserable.
What's worse; she had noticed the way her mother had mentioned his name to her: she was trying to set her up with that boy. "Well, over my dead body!" Jian Churan thought to herself.
Suddenly, she heard a voice calling out to her mother.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, Auntie Tang." The boy politely greeted her mother with a gentle smile.
"Is this Aryan?" Jian Churan quietly regarded the boy from head to toe while standing behind her mother.
He was of average height, 5'7″ if not less, the same height as she was in her flats.
His look was…. pedestrian at best, and his taste in fashion was definitely questionable.
She shook her head slightly. "He is overrated, not nearly as cool as Li Yichen."
Li Yichen was her classmate, president of the school's student council and the son of the deputy mayor of Mahanagar City.
Li Yichen got both good looks and a good family. He was one of the pursuers of Jiang Churan, one that Jiang Churan actually liked. The two were already regarded as a couple on campus.
Auntie Tang smiled at Aryan. She was very pleased with Aryan's courtesy.
"Xiao Fan, this is my daughter Jiang Churan."
"She will start her last year of high school next semester, and you will be schoolmates. She is three months younger than you. You can call her Ran-ran, make sure that you look after her for me at school, will you?"
Aryan nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, Auntie Tang, I will treat her like my own sister."
Afterward, he turned around to look at the girl who he had liked, hated, and eventually forgotten about in his past life.
Her name was Jiang Churan.
She was not only Auntie Tang's daughter, but also his high school classmate and the first girl that he had liked.
Aryan reminded himself that the year was 2007, before the real-estate boom and her mother's sudden rise to power. Therefore, in the eyes of the mother-daughter pair, he was just a country boy.
"That was the first time I left the backwater county to a prosperous city. I was young and foolish. How could I not fall for an upper-class beauty such as Jiang Churan?"
The flashback made Aryan lighthearted. What a foolish boy he had been!
He should have known better. There was no way that Jian Churan, the princess who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, would have had any feelings for him. Aryan shook his head.
"I remembered that she eventually fell in love with the most popular boy at that time, Li Yichen, the son of the deputy mayor of Mahanagar City. Later, the two of them went to Aryanagar University together and started officially dating each other. I was quite devastated by that development."
Aryan was no longer the boy he had been five hundred years ago. What would he do this time? Would he make a proper closure to this secret infatuation?
Aryan took the initiative and reached out a hand. "Hello, my name is Aryan, from Dildar Nagar County. We will be classmates in the future. Let me know if you ever need any help!"
Although Jiang Churan had hurt him once, he had made a promise to Auntie Tang that he would protect her.
Jiang Churan had to admit that although the boy was not handsome by a long chalk, he was not entirely an eyesore. The features on his face could even be pleasing to her eyes, depending on the angle she looked at them.
"Unfortunately, his family was too poor; we could be friends at best." Jiang Churan lamented in her mind as she shook Aryan's hand.
"Very well; I will take you up on it." Jiang Churan said, and then her lips thinned into a smile.
Her father was a high-ranking government official, and her mother ran a million-yuan company. She had never thought that she would ever need any help from Aryan.
Auntie Tang put in, "Get into the car, we will go to your new place and drop off the luggage first. Then we will go to my house for lunch. Where I will introduce you to your uncle."
"Okay." Aryan nodded with a smile.
After getting into the vehicle, they headed toward Aryan's new house in the Lakeside Community.
This was a mid-range residential property in Mahanagar City. The scenery was beautiful as it was surrounded by trees and was right next to Yangui Lake. It was also not far from the Ivy League High School where Aryan would be studying. Aryan was led to a large furnished one bedroom suite. It came with air conditioning, hot water, bathtub, TV, sofa, and a refrigerator. It was evident that Auntie Tang had spent a lot of time preparing for his stay in the city.
"Thank you, Auntie Tang, for all of this," Aryan said sincerely. Auntie Tang was one of the few people who had been genuinely nice to him.
She was a business partner of his mother, Pari Jasmine. She ran an architectural design company and was considered a successful woman.
Worried about her son's low grades, Aryan's mother sent him to the best private high school in the City of Mahanagar: the Ivy League High School and Auntie Tang had been taking care of him ever since. Not only had she helped him with accommodations, but she had also packed him lunch from time to time.
Looking back on his past life, Auntie Tang had always been there looking out for him.
"You are too polite. Your mother has entrusted you to me so that I will take good care of you. Plus, I had always wanted a son," Auntie Tang said with a smile.
"Thank you." Aryan nodded, and he was ready to repay Auntie Tang's loving care in his past life.
Auntie Tang felt the sincerity in his words, and she was even more impressed by the boy. Compared to that cocky city boy, Li Yichen, Auntie Tang preferred Aryan as a son-in-law. Money and power were not the key to a happy marriage; honesty and integrity were.
After a while, they drove out of the Lakeside Community, and towards the Tang family residence.
Jiang Churan and Aryan were sitting side by side in the back seat. They only exchanged a few words before the girl completely lost interest in Aryan. She was out of his league. None of them spoke a word to each other, dragging out the silence. Aryan eventually put on a tired look and rested his head against the window and pretended to be sleeping.
Although Aryan had given her a good impression during their first meeting, she didn't like to talk to people who were less popular than her, especially when the boy was ignoring her in the first place.
She knew the likes of him: pretending he was not interested, thinking that he could make her feel jealous. She had seen too many boys play that trick on her, but none had succeeded.
However, Aryan was not even remotely interested in her, much less in the mood of playing tricks. His mind was occupied by his cultivation.
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