There was nothing.
No light. No sound.
Only endless darkness—and a suffocating silence that felt like being dragged into a bottomless abyss.
After what might have been seconds or centuries, the faint howl of wind finally reached him. Lin lan let out a low groan as consciousness crept back, inch by inch.
He opened his eyes.
A dull, ashen sky stretched overhead. Heavy clouds hung low, thick and oppressive, as if they might collapse at any moment. The wind roared across the ground, tearing loose waves of sand and hurling them into the air until the horizon vanished beneath the storm.
As Lin lan turned his head, he realized he was standing inside a vast, milky-white circle—nearly a hundred meters across. Strange, unreadable runes floated along its edge, while wisps of pale mist rose lazily within, curling through the air like breath.
The space felt sacred.
Calm.
Almost too calm.
Outside the circle, the sandstorm raged violently. Dark shapes moved within the swirling dust—flickering, shifting, never quite clear.
Inside, there was nothing.
No wind.
No sand.
Not even the faintest breeze.
Lin lan frowned.
This thing… it's blocking everything.
Whatever this circle was, it clearly possessed terrifying power.
But those shadows beyond it…
Curiosity won out.
He leaned forward, squinting into the storm.
And nearly jumped out of his skin.
Skeletons.
Not one or two—dozens of them, maybe more, appearing and vanishing as the storm churned.
Before he could even scream, a skeleton rat suddenly darted out of the sand. It scurried along the edge of the formation, paused to peer inside with twitchy caution, then vanished back into the storm in a blink.
"…What kind of nightmare did I wake up in?" Lin lan muttered.
"Skeletons everywhere? This completely breaks common sense."
He swallowed. "Is this some kind of stress test for my sanity?"
Then a thought hit him.
A bad one.
"Don't tell me…" His throat went dry. "Did I… transmigrate?"
He'd read enough web novels to know the formula.
Lightning strike.
Sudden death.
Wake up somewhere impossible.
That usually meant one thing.
"Transmigration is outdated," a voice said lazily behind him.
"Rebirth is what's popular these days."
Lin lan yelped and spun around.
No one.
"…What?" His heart pounded. "I definitely heard that."
A chill crept up his spine.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Whoever you are—human or ghost—come out already! Don't just hide and talk like that. That's creepy as hell!"
"Hmph. No patience at all," the voice replied.
As the words faded, a crooked wisp of green smoke seeped up from the ground. It twisted and coiled, slowly forming the vague outline of a human figure.
Lin lan froze.
This is insane.
His twenty-plus years of scientific worldview shattered on the spot.
And yet—against all logic—his curiosity surged.
He stepped closer, narrowing his eyes.
Then—
BOOM.
The green smoke suddenly expanded, swelling in midair before solidifying into a rotund man dressed in ancient robes. His face was round. His belly even rounder.
From a distance, he looked less like an immortal and more like an overinflated balloon that had learned how to float.
"Damn it!" Lin lan snapped.
"Could you at least warn me before doing that?! My heart almost stopped! If I get a heart attack, are you paying the medical bills?!"
He rolled his eyes hard, then quickly swallowed his irritation.
He had no idea who—or what—this guy was. If this turned out to be some endgame boss, offending him would be a terrible idea.
Forcing a polite smile, Lin lan asked, "Uh… sir. What should I call you?"
"Shen Daolun," the fat man replied flatly.
"Oh—Brother Shen," Lin lan said quickly. He gestured at Shen Daolun's floating body.
"So… what exactly are you?"
Shen Daolun shot him a look of pure disdain.
"What, never seen an immortal before?"
Lin lan wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead.
Immortal?
He'd seen missiles, satellites, even space stations—but an immortal? That was new territory.
And honestly… staring at Shen Daolun, Lin lan couldn't shake the feeling that this guy looked more like a shady merchant than some lofty divine being.
Books never described immortals as half-transparent blobs drifting around like ghosts.
Something didn't add up.
Seeing the doubt written all over Lin lan's face, Shen Daolun coughed awkwardly.
"Alright, alright. Strictly speaking, I'm not an immortal. I'm an immortal soul—the soul of a cultivator. I failed to fully ascend, but I was close."
"I see." Lin lan nodded solemnly, as if he'd just received a major revelation.
"So whether you're an immortal soul or a ghost… the key point is, you're not human."
Shen Daolun tilted his head and studied him.
"And you are?"
"…What's that supposed to mean?"
A bad feeling crept in.
Slowly, Lin lan lowered his gaze.
Time seemed to freeze.
Then—
A piercing scream ripped through the air.
"AAAAHHH—WHY AM I A SKELETON?!"
Where flesh and muscle should have been, there was nothing—only dry, cracked bones dusted with sand. When he moved, his joints scraped together with a harsh, grating sound, grains of sand trickling down from the fractures.
Even with Lin lan's usually thick nerves, this was too much.
It took him a long moment to recover.
"Brother Shen…" he croaked. "What the hell… happened to me?"
Shen Daolun chuckled.
"Tell me—what happened right before you lost consciousness?"
"I got struck by lightning," Lin lan said darkly. "Five times. In a row."
Shen Daolun sighed and shook his head.
"That explains it. You're incredibly lucky."
Lucky?
Lin lan's eye sockets nearly sparked.
I got fried into a skeleton and you call that lucky? Why don't you try it yourself?!
As if reading his thoughts, Shen Daolun smiled knowingly.
"Fivefold heavenly lightning would erase the soul of even a weak cultivator—no reincarnation, no afterlife. But you survived. Your soul entered the Nine Nether Immortal Realm, rebuilt a body, and emerged as a skeleton. How is that not fortune?"
He paused.
"This realm isn't something just anyone can enter. I've been here for over a thousand years. You're the first living soul I've ever seen."
"…Seriously?" Lin lan asked skeptically.
"So getting struck by lightning sends you to an immortal realm now? That's ridiculous. Am I an immortal or a skeleton? Is there even such a thing as a skeleton immortal? And what is this Nine Nether Immortal Realm, anyway?"
The questions poured out nonstop.
Shen Daolun pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead.
"Easy, easy. One question at a time. I'll explain."
Lin lan immediately grabbed a stone and sat down, back straight, eyes fixed on Shen Daolun like an eager student. He hadn't looked this attentive even back in school.
"The jade token Liang Wan carried is called the Nine Nether Divine Jade," Shen Daolun began.
"It looks small, but the space inside is boundless. That space is this place—the Nine Nether Immortal Realm. It has existed since primordial times."
Deathly energy permeated the realm. Undead creatures from both Eastern and Western origins roamed freely, slaughtering one another. It was a brutal world where the weak were destroyed and the strong devoured soul energy to grow even stronger.
"It resembles a hellish underworld," Shen Daolun continued, "yet for certain cultivators, it's paradise."
All cultivation, regardless of method, came down to absorbing spiritual energy. Drawing from natural forces—the sun, moon, and stars—was stable and safe, the orthodox path of cultivation. But it was painfully slow. Even a heaven-defying genius, guided by a master and blessed with countless opportunities, might need centuries to ascend.
Such people were rare.
Most cultivators lacked that patience—or that luck.
"So they took shortcuts," Shen Daolun said calmly.
"Seeking faster ways to gain power. Those cultivators are known collectively as the Demon Path."
The Nine Nether Immortal Realm was their ultimate sanctuary.
Undead beings here contained a Soul Flame—pure soul energy condensed into fire. Absorbing it granted power far beyond traditional cultivation, allowing for explosive growth.
But entering this realm required extraordinary chance.
"This formation you're in," Shen Daolun concluded, "is one of the realm's entrances. An ancient array from primordial times. No undead can cross it. Inside, you're safe."
He smiled faintly.
"Outside… every step could mean death."
Lin lan listened in silence.
So it wasn't transmigration.
It was rebirth.
Just… the worst rebirth imaginable.
Others reincarnated into wealth, power, and romance. At the very least, they got foresight or a second chance.
Why did every deity suddenly go blind when it came to him?
Then a far more terrifying thought struck him.
"Can I leave?" Lin lan asked urgently.
"Can I… become human again?"
If he was stuck here forever, he'd rather smash his skull into a rock and get it over with.
Shen Daolun nodded.
"Of course. Leave the Nine Nether Immortal Realm. Return to your original world. Find the Golden Blood Pool. Soak in it, and your body will be restored."
He waved a hand dismissively.
"I'll explain the Blood Clan later. For now, your priority is simple—survive. Grow stronger. Find a way out."
Lin lan let out a long breath.
Relief washed over him like a last-minute pardon at an execution.
I can still be human again.
He almost cried—until he remembered he didn't have tear ducts anymore.
Once he finally calmed down, another thought surfaced.
Lin lan stared at Shen Daolun.
Why does this guy feel so much like an NPC?