Suddenly, a flood of knowledge and mories invaded his mind. It was the common knowledge of this world: language, notable towns, cities, empires, sects, and even basic survival skills used by vagabonds and wanderers.
Amongst them was knowledge of Samsara Sovereign’s Scripture cultivation thods and several powerful combat techniques. All of them were associated with the underworld and death. He was certain that if anyone were to see this set of techniques, they would imdiately categorize him as part of a demon sect.
But there was one key difference: he didn’t gain the mories of the body’s forr owner, unlike the protagonists in transmigration novels. There were no signs, no lingering mories that told him who the original owner was or what kind of person they had been.
He climbed out of the coffin, though his legs were still numb. It must have been that the body’s forr owner had remained in the coffin for a long ti before William transmigrated into it.
The mont he got out, his body collapsed onto the ground, his legs unable to support him as they struggled to adjust to movent.
At that mont, an ethereal green orb flew out of his chest, projecting a screen that showed the image of the Lord of Death sitting behind his desk like a video call.
"Ah, you’re finally awake!" the Lord of Death began.
William really wanted to reply, "Hello, Ralof," but considering the other party’s identity, he held himself back from making such a stupid joke.
The Lord of Death continued, "It’s been a month since I sent you to the mortal realm. How do you feel?"
"Ugh... feel like sh*t, your honor. I’m numb all over my body." William tried hard to maintain a sitting posture as blood finally began to circulate through his limbs.
"Yeah, sleeping in a closed coffin without moving for a month would definitely do that. Fortunately, you managed to awaken the Demon Suppression Body during that ti, so there will be no lasting damage. Just a bit of numbness until your body adjusts," said the Lord of Death.
William nodded, and the Lord of Death continued.
"You’ve already received the necessary knowledge I engraved into your soul, along with the Samsara Sovereign’s Scripture cultivation thods and combat techniques you wished for.
Moreover, in order for you to fully integrate into this world without breaking the laws of rebirth, you must have a new identity. William has already died, so you must take on a new na. What will it be?" the Lord of Death asked, his hand ready to write the na on the paper before him.
"Ummm... how about Wei Chen? Surna Wei, na Chen. It’s easy to rember."
"Wei Chen? That’s a fine na. ’Wei’ (伟) ans great or extraordinary, and ’Chen’ (辰) refers to celestial ti, dragon, or heavenly body, such as a star," the Lord of Death explained as he wrote the na onto the docunt in his hand.
The mont the Lord of Death finished writing, the mory of his old na began to fade from his mind like an indescribable mist. It felt as if the na William belonged to soone else. If he didn’t deliberately try to recall it, he would forget that it had ever been his. From now on, he would no longer use that na.
His body suddenly felt several tis lighter, as though it had belonged to him since birth. The numbness quickly faded away, as if it had never been there.
"Done!" said the Lord of Death.
"Now, you are Wei Chen. This broadcasting orb I gave you will also serve as space storage, and also your ans to contact , and through it, you can redeem your rit points.
The points you earn will depend on the strength of the soul you save. For example, saving a simple mortal without cultivation will give you 1 point, while a cultivator at the Qi Condensation realm will give you 3 points. The amount scales depending on their realm.
I won’t bore you with the entire rit score table. All you need to rember is that the stronger they are, the more points you will receive."
"Understood," Wei Chen nodded.
"Good. Now you may begin your work. Rember, you only have 8 years," the Lord of Death instructed.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Welco to the Primordial Expanse," said the Lord of Death.
"Primordial Expanse" is the na of the universe Wei Chen is currently in. This place is divided into two realms: the lower realm, where the lower-ranked cultivators live, and the higher realm, where the most powerful beings reside.
After greeting him, the Lord of Death was about to sever the connection, but Wei Chen raised his hand.
"Wait! Your honor!"
The Lord of Death stopped. "What’s the matter?"
"Why only 8 years, your honor? Does this number have a deeper aning? Is sothing going to happen, like a heaven convergence or sothing similar?" Wei Chen asked.
"Oh! In your world, the presidential term is 4 years, right? So I gave you ti equal to two terms of presidency. That way, whatever you do in the first 4 years can have results in the next 4 years," the Lord of Death explained.
Why do I get the feeling he knows a lot about modern-day knowledge? The guy even knows about Spielberg... does he usually take vacations on Earth? No... it shouldn’t be, right? Wei Chen thought.
After the clarification, the Lord of Death said goodbye and cut the connection between him and Wei Chen.
Alone in the cetery, Wei Chen slowly stood up and looked around before turning his gaze on himself. He was wearing a plain white hemp robe riddled with holes. The fabric was covered in dirt and had already turned a dirty yellow, making it look as though the body he now inhabited had once been one of the old corpses buried in this cetery.
He didn’t know exactly what the Lord of Death had done to restore this body to such a degree, but he was certain it had been reconstructed using one of the corpses here as a dium.
But it didn’t matter. This body was his, end of story. Now he needed to find new clothes; he couldn’t stand wearing these tainted rags any longer.
Wei Chen walked through the vast cetery, stretching as far as the eye could see. Judging by its sheer size, there might have been more than a million people buried here. It was even larger than the Calvary Cetery in New York.
Following the knowledge engraved in his mind, he rushed across the cetery grounds toward the exit. After about ten minutes, he finally arrived at the cetery gate.
Before him stood a massive structure, the entrance built into a sword-shaped stone that served as both the pillar and the foundation of the gate.
Carved into the stone were the words: Vagabond Ancient Cetery.
Wei Chen marveled at the sight. This was the first ti he had ever seen sothing like it. If he had a smartphone, he would have already taken a picture.
Wait.... taking a picture? An idea hit him.
He then tried commanding the broadcasting orb to capture an image of the gate without going live.
The orb floated out from his back, and with a split-second flash, it hovered in front of him. A hologram-like image of the gate appeared before his eyes.
"Damn... this is so sci-fi," Wei Chen muttered.
He kept the orb back in his body and continued on his journey. He needed to reach the nearest human settlent, and from the knowledge the Lord of Death had bestowed upon him, he knew there was a small farming village about thirty kiloters away.
He walked through the night, surprised to find his body many tis stronger than it had been before. Is this the power of the Demon Suppression Body? He hadn’t even started cultivating yet, but... what would happen once he did?
With that thought in mind, Wei Chen began to use the senses he had gained after rebirth to feel the air around him. There was a strange sensation, like fresher air mixed with a heavy, turbid moisture. It wasn’t sothing visible to the naked eye; it could only be sensed.
"This must be the so-called spiritual qi," Wei Chen muttered.
He followed the spiritual qi, tracing it to where the sensation grew thickest, like a fog hanging heavy in the air, until he found a strange cave. The cave was tucked deep within the mountain forest, its surroundings offering a breathtaking view that could easily be considered a natural wonder if it existed on Earth.
A massive waterfall, grander and taller than Niagara, roared nearby, with various beasts and flying creatures soaring across the horizon. A rainbow ford from the mist of the waterfall stretched across the valley, creating a breathtaking scene of wonder.
Wei Chen entered the cave and found a comfortable spot to sit down.
"Alright, ti to sit on my ass until I reach the highest realm possible," he muttered.
According to the Lord of Death, cultivation in this world, called the Primordial Expanse, is divided into ten main realms.
But in the so-called lower realm he currently found himself in, there were only six stages available before the laws of the universe forced cultivators to ascend.
Qi Refining Realm: The starter realm everyone has to slog through if they want to cultivate. There are nine levels in this realm.
Foundation Establishnt Realm: The realm where you lay your foundation. Pretty important, second only to Core Formation. As the na suggests, it sets the groundwork for the rest of your cultivation.
Core Formation Realm: The most important stage, according to the Lord of Death. This is where your future is decided, either stay as a lifelong loser or beco a monster capable of bitchslapping even higher-realm cultivators.
Nascent Soul Realm: Here, you form a nascent soul, which lets you pull off spiritual attacks, stash away a backup life, and even rebirth if your body gets wrecked.
Soul Transformation Realm: Nothing fancy here, just polishing and strengthening your soul, getting it ready for getting zapped by heavenly tribulation if you want to move up.
Void Refining Realm: After getting zapped by heavenly tribulation, you use that lightning as startup capital to refine both body and soul, rging them into one. In this realm, you also unlock domain expan.... ahem... a domain! Basically, your own personal arena where you get crazy buffs and can beat the crap out of anyone dumb enough to step inside.
Beyond this lies the major leagues. Cultivators at that level are forced to ascend whether they like it or not, unless they’ve got so shady trick that lets them cheat and stay behind on the "newbie server," even though their rank belongs with the elite freaks up above.
With that knowledge, Wei Chen sat down and began channeling his qi according to the teachings the Lord of Death had given him.
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