The darkness finally subsided.
And light shone.
The young man slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed that was covered in deep green silk with intricate golden embroidery, feeling exceptionally soft on touch.
With a single glance, one could easily notice the ancient wooden furnitures that furnished the room. And multicolored candles were lit in the corners, their flames emitting not only light but also an exotic fragrance that permeated the room. The wooden walls were adorned with scrolls of past scholars and paintings depicting legendary beasts and ethereal landscapes.
The young man calmly sat up, there was no more pain from the lightning, no charred skin, no broken bones screaming for attention. Instead, it felt like an unknown power was coiling through his limbs, a vitality he had never felt before.
As he looked around in a daze, he felt a bit disoriented and very much confused. Because everything felt so unfamiliar, this room, his clothes, and even the skin over his flesh.
At that time, memories of those of a foreign world surged through his mind, causing his gaze to drift aimlessly through a sea of recollections.
It took a long while for his vision to clear and for him to regain his composure.
Realizing he had transmigrated into the body of a person called Wu Ming, the young man didn't panic.
Instead, he sat in deep uncomfortable silence.
Then, Wu Ming directly collapsed back onto the bed, pulling the sheets over himself as if trying to melt into them. But despite his efforts to just dissappear, he couldn't escape the situation he was in.
After nearly fifteen minutes, Wu Ming finally forced himself to get up from the bed. Stray beams of moonlight filtered through the velvet curtains, painting his figure in quite solitude.
"Well, isn't this just perfect. A bit of a cliche, but at least I didn't end up under a truck." Wu Ming managed a smile, though his eyes remained troubled.
'I'm sure a lot of my readers and daoist friends would jump at the chance to be transmigrated into a cultivation world. But me? That's not a dream I share. My life back home may not have been amazing, but it was mine.'
'I was young… There was still so much to see, to do.' He fingers tightened around the sheets. 'My world, my time, my dreams. All of it, taken in an instant. My parents… I didn't even get to...'
The thought cut off abruptly, as if any further contemplation might break something fragile within him.
Yet the world did not pause for his grief.
The night stretched like an ink-stained scroll, while crickets sang as if mocking mortal sorrow.
A long time passed.
"There's no way back."
The thought settled in Wu Ming's heart like a stone, heavy and unmoving.
But then… what was left?
What was he to do now?
He had no answer.
For a long time, he simply surrendered to the silence of this unfamiliar world. And that silence, painfully so, felt like an emptiness stretching deep into his bones.
Then a cold wind rushed through the curtains, stirring them slightly.
Wu Ming's gaze shifted.
Through a narrow gap in the window, the night sky peeked through. A pale moon hung in the heavens, distant and indifferent. Its cold light washed over the world, untouched by time.
Something in his chest ached.
'The moon is still there.'
It was an absurd thought. Yet it lodged itself deep in his heart, like a nail driven into ice.
It had been there always. Before he died. And after he died. The same moon had shone on his old world, just as it shone here. Everything else was stripped away, the body he wore was different, the world around him unfamiliar. And yet, that distant moon was the same.
Untouched by death. Indifferent to fate.
A cold numbness spread through him, sinking into his chest. The past was gone, out of reach, slipping further with every breath he took.
Everything he had once been was nothing but dust on the wind.
But the moon remained eternal...
His fingers tightened into fists.
Why should he accept this? Why should he bow to fate?
'I refuse to accept this. Not in this life, not in a thousand more.'
His back straightened, as if a spine of steel had formed within him. A single thought took root, unshaken by doubt.
Immortality.
A word both distant and unfathomable, yet now it burned intimately in his heart.
What ambition. What a dream. If any cultivator heard his thoughts, they'd spit in his face, call him a deluded bastard with shit for brains. Immortality, a goal so impossible and laughable that only a fool would dare chase it.
But what did that matter to him?
For a man who had lost everything, an endless road was the only thing left to walk. So he shall choose it, and he was going to be unapologetically ambitious about it.
This was the path he saw for himself. And as for what others thought?
They could mock all they wanted, he'd piss on their graves later.
As he sat there contemplating, he muttered in realization, "Wait! This Wu Ming character... was he even mentioned in the character selection stage of the game? Hmm, I don't recall. Tch, I should've paid more attention. But who am I kidding? There's no way I could've seen this coming."
Wu Ming frowned suddenly. 'No, my thought process is flawed. I shouldn't blindly assume I've transmigrated into that game. Maybe this is a different world altogether. I need to be more careful with my thinking from now on. Blind confidence in incorrect assumptions could lead to a disastrous end.'
Immediately after Wu Ming's eyes lit up, 'Oh yes, my golden finger. Haha, I completely forgot about that. I wonder what it is. Oi, system! Panel! Status! Grandpa! Senior sister! Aunty fox! Whatever you are, show yourself!'
The moment he gave the command, a small orb of light shot out from his right eye, quickly unfolding into a rectangular screen that hovered before him, emitting soft azure glow.
[Ding!]
[Welcome, fellow Daoist]
A calm and serene voice sounded in Wu Ming's ears, involuntarily bringing a smile to his face.
His guess was not wrong, he had a golden finger.
"It seems lady luck has taken a liking to me, hehe." Wu Ming chuckled softly.
[This is the Heaven and Earth Supremacy System. Cultivator Wu Mi–]
Abruptly the screen flickered, its calm voice stuttering like a newborn. Black and white lines began crawling across its surface, and then the screen began to distort.
"An error..?" The smile on Wu Ming's lips faded.
Suddenly, another orb of light burst forth from Wu Ming's left eye, colliding and merging with the azure panel.
The left side of the screen darkened to a deep ominous red. As the red light spread like a plague, reaching the midpoint of the screen, a cold and mechanical voice echoed.
[Ting!]
[This is the Heavenly Deviant System. Welcome, demonic cultivator Wu Ming]
'What, another system?!' Before Wu Ming could process what was happening, the azure half of the screen flared up, its once serene tone now raging with flames of fury.
[Ding! Ding!]
[Who are you, dog system? How dare you interfere with me!]
Hearing this the Heavenly Deviant System sneered in disgust, responding mockingly.
[Ting!]
[Trash system, can't recognize your grandpa Heavenly Deviant!]
[DING!]
[Junior Heavenly Deviant you dare!?]
[Ting!]
[Huhu, why wouldn't i dare? Now obediently bend over for this grandpa!]
The entire screen shook violently as the two sides clashed in a battle for supremacy. Azure and red energies collided with explosive force, sending sparks flying in their aftermath.
"Oi, calm down both of you. Let's talk this out, violence is not necessary." Wu Ming said hurriedly, trying to mediate.
Despite how shocked he was by the situation, he couldn't help but be secretly pleased to have not one but two systems!
'Haha, lady luck is flashing her tits.' Wu Ming laughed in his heart.
Two golden fingers, what kind of luck was this!
This kind of fortune would even make those pampered sons and daughters of heaven green with envy.
But unfortunately, Wu Ming's joy didn't last long as the bickering voices of the systems grew increasingly hostile and chaotic.
His eyes widened in pure disbelief as the screen before him began to fracture, with spider-web like cracks rapidly spreading across its surface.
And now, Wu Ming truly panicked, desperately trying to intervene, but the systems ignored him like a passing breeze.
They cursed each other's ancestors and battled until the entire light screen could endure no more, ultimately exploding into shards of dazzling light!
From the remnants of the systems, two tiny orbs of light fell to the ground, one azure and the other blood-red, like the final brilliance of dying stars.
Wu Ming stared blankly, for a moment he even forgot to breathe.
"W-what the fuck just happened...?" he cursed, his eyes darting between the fallen orbs.
"Heaven and Earth System...? Heavenly Deviant System...? Are you there?"
Silence.
This was no lady luck, but uncle badluck brandishing his nine-inch scepter of 'bitch gotcha!'
Taking a deep breath, Wu Ming gritted his teeth and lowered himself, then cautiously picked up the two orbs that on contact, began merging into one giant ball.
Startled once more, he scrutinized it closely.
The ball glowed in scarlet, with a small golden-brown seed inside that pulsed like a beating heart.
He stared at the object in his hands for a long time, sighing heavily. "Whatever the hell just happened, this might be my only way forward."