Within the expanse of a dark, empty void, Li Yao's eyes flustered open as he floated weightlessly in the vast void.
"W-what?"
It didn't take him long to realize he was no longer bound to the physical world—at least, not his body. His soul, untethered and unaware, continued its silent plunge into the endless abyss below.
"Am I dead? That's right, so this is where they go when they die?"
Purgatory.
It was an astral plane beyond the domain of space and time, a realm of boundless emptiness where the laws governing the physical world simply ceased to exist.
Li Yao could feel the it's influence creeping in, its void gnawing at him like a ravenous predator, trying to redeem his soul and cleanse it before passing on to the world of the dead. But he remained unfazed, it no longer mattered to him if he lived or died, one thing was for certain, he knew he could finally rest.
However, just before his soul could fully succumb to purgatory's redemption force, a strange sensation stirred within him. It was as if his soul, instead of passing through, was coming back to life, slowly regenerating, as though he was healing from wounds inflicted by some unseen hands.
His chest burned with a great heat, growing stronger by the second like it was about to burst from the inside.
It was the most sacred relic of the Flameblood Clan, something he had consumed before setting out on his path of revenge.
It acted as a barrier against external forces, preventing his soul from succumbing to the influence of purgatory.
"I see, this relic is far stronger than I initially imagined." He placed a hand over his chest, feeling the Heavenly Divine Pearl's power surging within him, but one problem still remained.
With the Heavenly Divine Pearl constantly shielding his soul against the influence of purgatory, his soul had no way to pass on to the world of the dead, it meant that till he found a way out of it, he'd be stuck in purgatory.
"An eternity of peace doesn't sound like a bad idea, howeverI'd rather spend it with my family ." He closed his eyes and placed his hand on his chest.
With a gentle hum, he merged his own mana with the power of the Heavenly Divine Pearl, in order to cancel it's effect. Once the fusion was complete, he drew a deep breath, steadying himself before harnessing the immense energy that rested in the Heavenly Divine Pearl in his chest.
A blinding light erupted, piercing through the void with Li Yao at its center. And as it's brilliance slowly faded, he was gone, finally, he will be reunited with his loved ones.
..
Not long after, his eyes fluttered open, and he found himself staring up at the sky. The distant roar of a nearby waterfall filled the air, and towering mountain peaks rose all around him.
"Where am I? Is this the afterlife?" He muttered softly, slowly pushing himself upright. But before he could fully rise to his feet, sharp pain flared through different parts of his body, forcing him to stagger.
"AAARGH!" He collapsed to his back, unable to withstand the searing pain. Glancing down, he quickly examined himself and found that he was clothed in a white kimono that was torn and soaked, stained with blood and muddy water.
He also noticed several cuts scattered across his body, some shallow, others deep and jagged.
He glanced at the towering peaks hat surrounded him. "Did I fall from the mountain tops? No, that doesn't explain the cuts and bruises all over my body."
"Well, it doesn't matter now does it." He took a deep breath, steadying himself as he tried to summon enough mana to accelerate his healing.
After several attempts, he paused, stunned by the outcome. He couldn't feel or channel a trace of mana, it was as if mana had never existed to begin with.
"I can't heal my injuries?" As he glanced down at his battered form, something felt deeply wrong. His arms were noticeably smaller and thinner than before, far from the bulky frame he once knew.
The truth struck him like heavy metal, not only was magic nonexistent in this strange place, but the body he now inhabited was not his own.
He now had silky white hair, pale green eyes, and a thin, fragile body that all but screamed malnutrition.
"I transmigrated?" His last moments in purgatory came back to him, he fully maximized his magical power as well as the power of the Heavenly Divine Pearl. It was undoubtedly the cause of the transmigration, the combined fusion of the heavenly divine pearl and his magical prowess.
"Did I exhaust both during my attempt to move on to the afterlife and ended up being transmigrated?" His gaze swept across the hills and the vast landscape beyond. Whether his magical power was drained or not, he couldn't sense a trace of mana in the air, none at all.
"Hm?" It was in that fleeting moment, that he realized that he was clutching a strange object in his hand.
"What is this strange object? Was it always here?" The object took the shape of a beetle, adorned with intricate markings and etched with patterns that looked advanced, almost futuristic.
Without warning, it suddenly detonated in a flash of light, scorching his skin and leaving a scorched mark where it had been.
"Young Master!"
As a distant voice called out a strange title, his vision blurred, and a wave of weakness washed over him. Blood loss dulled his senses, and soon he could no longer feel his limbs. loss and he lost feeling in his limbs.
Unable to heal himself, he fell victim to the frailty of his new form and succumbed to blood loss as darkness closed in around him.
"He's over here! Quickly!"
"D-damn..." Just before everything faded to black, he caught a glimpse of a man and woman rushing toward him.