Chapter 1: Reborn in the Chaotic and Dreamlike Realm
Ye Wudao woke up with a start, his heart pounding violently, just like a drum being beaten.
Everything around him was a murky gray, even more exaggerated than a heavy smoggy day, so dark that he couldn''t see his own outstretched hand.
Even more eerily, when he opened his mouth to shout, he couldn''t make a single sound, as if someone had tightly gripped his throat, making him feel extremely frustrated.
"What on earth is going on? Is this sleep paralysis?" Ye Wudao muttered to himself, and a chill ran up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
Suddenly, a strange gust of wind howled past, blowing him around in the air like a kite with a broken string.
This wind was truly peculiar. Despite its powerful force, it carried an inexplicable sense of intimacy, much like a mother''s embrace or a lover''s gentle touch.
"Could it be... that this is the legendary Underworld? The exclusive luxurious VIP transfer service of the Netherworld?" Ye Wudao thought wildly, and his mind involuntarily drifted back to the past.
Thinking of himself, Ye Wudao, an ordinary college student, his life plan had been crystal clear: graduate, find a job, get married, and have children, the standard template of a "life winner".
But now, everything had come to nothing.
He was dead!
Completely lifeless!
"Sigh, the world is indeed full of unpredictability!" A wave of sadness welled up in Ye Wudao''s heart.
Remembering how he had died made him feel even more aggrieved.
He had tried to save someone out of kindness, but in the end, he had sacrificed himself.
At first, he had seen a girl struggling in the lake. Assuming she was drowning, he had jumped in without hesitation to save her.
However, when he swam closer, he found that there was also a man beside the girl. The two were hugging each other tightly, and he had no idea what they were up to.
This wasn''t drowning at all! It was clearly a case of a couple having fun in the water and getting into trouble!
Ye Wudao was just about to curse "crazy" when the man suddenly went berserk and clung to him tightly, pushing him underwater.
Ye Wudao then realized that this guy was truly drowning and had taken him as a last hope, as if determined to die together with him.
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"Bro, I''m more wronged than someone in a really unfair situation!"
While struggling, Ye Wudao desperately tried to push the man away, but the other person clung to him like an octopus and refused to let go.
The cold lake water rushed into his nose and mouth, and the feeling of suffocation grew stronger and stronger. The world before his eyes gradually became blurry...
In the end, all he remembered was a sea of darkness, and then he lost consciousness completely.
"Thinking about it now, that girl must have had a really tough time too. She was having a romantic date, but her boyfriend ended up drowning himself and even dragged an innocent bystander like me down with him. What a huge psychological shadow that must have left on her!"
Ye Wudao couldn''t help but sigh. He wondered what had become of that girl later.
Just as he was lost in thought, the strange wind suddenly stopped, and Ye Wudao slowly "landed".
To say it was landing was actually more like floating on a soft mass of cotton.
He tried to move, only to find that he seemed to have no body at all!
"Hello, is anyone there?" A faint voice echoed in the chaos, "Where... where am I?"
"What the hell! Where are my legs?" Ye Wudao looked down. Goodness, not only were his legs nowhere to be seen, but he couldn''t even spot a single toe!
He waved his arms vigorously, but it was like waving at thin air. He couldn''t grasp anything.
"Could it be that I''ve become a ghost? A transparent being? Or... the so-called air-like entity?" Countless questions flashed through Ye Wudao''s mind.
To confirm his suspicion, he summoned up his courage and drifted towards a peculiarly shaped stone nearby.
As he was about to collide with it, he quickly closed his eyes in fear, bracing himself for a possible "bad injury".
But after waiting for a while, he felt nothing.
Ye Wudao opened his eyes cautiously and found that he had actually passed through the stone!
"I... I''m really just a soul now?!" This realization left Ye Wudao completely stunned.
He felt like a lonely wandering soul, drifting in this gray void, with no direction, no goal, and no prospect for the future.
I don''t know how much time had passed, but Ye Wudao "awoke" again.
This kind of "awakening" was rather strange. There was no drowsiness, no tiredness, and no dreams. It was simply a matter of regaining consciousness from the chaotic state.
This gray space was oppressively suffocating, like a huge stone pressing on his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.
In order to escape this despairing feeling of oppression, Ye Wudao could only force himself to "fall asleep" again, or rather, lose consciousness.
Repeating this cycle of "awakening" and "falling asleep" time and time again, Ye Wudao had no idea how much time had elapsed.
Until one day, he discovered that he could actually absorb the gray substances around him!
These substances were like tiny specks of dust, floating around with the strange wind and being unconsciously inhaled into his "body".
What was even more miraculous was that as he absorbed more and more of these substances, he felt that his "body" was gradually growing larger and becoming more solid.
"Haha, I''ve finally found something to do!" Ye Wudao was overjoyed, just like a person lost in the desert who had stumbled upon a clear spring.
He began to actively chase after the strange wind and greedily absorb the gray substances.
I don''t know how long it had been, but he felt that his "body" had grown to twice its original size. Although he still had no physical form, it was much better than the previous intangible state.
"This feeling is just like leveling up in a game. So exhilarating!" Ye Wudao thought happily, and he even harbored a glimmer of hope for the future.
However, the good times didn''t last long. He gradually sensed that this space was becoming restless.
The strange wind became more and more frequent and intense, and the entire space was filled with an oppressive and suffocating atmosphere, much like the calm before a great battle.
Suddenly, a dazzling beam of light pierced through the gray space, and a huge figure emerged in front of Ye Wudao''s "eyes".
That figure towered into the sky, like a majestic mountain peak, exuding an unparalleled aura of power.
"I am Pangu!" A deep and powerful voice resounded throughout the space, making Ye Wudao feel as if his soul was about to disperse.
At the same time, the entire space began to shake violently, as if it might collapse at any moment...
"Pan... Pangu?!" Ye Wudao''s "mouth" opened wide enough to fit a large egg, "Am... am I dreaming?!"
Ye Wudao felt that his head was about to explode. This was an overwhelming amount of information!
Wasn''t he supposed to have drowned while trying to save someone? How had he ended up here? And he had even encountered Pangu? Could it be that he had traveled back to the chaotic era before the world was created?
"嘶... This is no laughing matter!" Ye Wudao''s mind raced, "When Pangu creates the world, he''s going to engage in a battle with the three thousand Chaos Demons! With my weak self, not to mention helping, I''m afraid that even the aftershocks could reduce me to ashes!"
Among the thirty-six strategies, the best one is to retreat!
Without hesitation, Ye Wudao turned around and "fled".
The word "fled" was truly a luxury for Ye Wudao at this moment.
He had no legs, no feet, and not even a body. He could only float around in the chaos like a wisp of smoke...