What is it like to come back from the dead?
"Thanks for the ask. Just got out of the instance in Jihua. Coming back from the dead? Well, it's probably a pleasant surprise? And what exactly is a 'pleasant surprise'? A pleasant surprise is, damn it, exactly what it sounds like." — Anonymous
"Hey, you upstairs, have you actually come back from the dead before? Stop talking nonsense and making assumptions." — Anonymous
"Heh, of course not. I was lucky enough to achieve the Golden Core and haven't died once so far. But these experiences can mostly be inferred. What? Want to grant me death, little friend? Dare you leave your name? Fate will bring us together eventually." — Anonymous
"No need to wait for fate. After leaving Qiudao Jade, the demonic path will shake heaven and earth. I'll wait for you on the Path of No Return for three days!" — Shaking Heaven and Earth
So noisy. What is Qiudao Jade? Who am I?
[Spiritual energy depleted. Butian Platform closing (Note: Qiudao Jade is the access credential for the platform, connecting to the Q&A forum of scholars across the heavens). Looking forward to your next visit, Fellow Daoist.]
A cold, emotionless consciousness receded like a tide, sinking into the depths of his mind.
...
"Cough... Gack!"
Icy, piercingly cold liquid, thick with a pungent saltiness, rushed into his mouth and nose!
Jiang Lixuan choked violently, coughing as he jerked awake from suffocation!
Who am I?
Consciousness struggled to coalesce in the chaos—
Jiang Lixuan! I am Jiang Lixuan! I am the Guardian of the Wastelands! I am the Southern Commander of Shenzhou!
I died?
The thought exploded like thunder in his chaotic mind!
I died!
But... how did I die?
His memory seemed swallowed by a thick fog, blank.
Where is this?
He didn't know if his eyes were open or where he was. There was only boundless, viscous darkness.
Instinctively, he shook his head desperately, trying to shake off the invading liquid and the oppressive darkness.
Blinding light, like red-hot steel needles, stabbed into his newly opened eyes!
Jiang Lixuan instinctively turned his head to avoid it—thump! His forehead slammed hard against the cold, damp, and rigid edge.
Pain! Excruciating pain!
Gasping with difficulty, he wiped his face with his soaked, tattered sleeve. His consciousness felt as though it were crawling out of a ragged sack, utterly disoriented.
Escape first!
With that thought, Jiang Lixuan lifted his feet, pressing them firmly against the edges of the light-pierced crack above.
Testing his strength, he pushed upward. A grating, metallic screech, as though bones were groaning, echoed as the crack gradually widened under his effort.
Finally, mustering all his strength, he shoved with everything he had—clang!
The heavy coffin lid was pushed open further, finally creating enough space to move.
Shoving the lid aside, Jiang Lixuan sat up abruptly. The glaring daylight forced him to squint.
Before him stretched an endless expanse of murky water. Turbulent tides washed over the cold bronze coffin beneath him, splashing against his face with the stench of river mud.
Jiang Lixuan rubbed his throbbing temples, trying to grasp a sliver of clarity.
What... happened before?
His memory was like torn silk, scattered and chaotic. Whenever he tried to piece it together, sharp, needle-like pain shot through his mind, leaving only a buzzing blankness.
Only the heart in his chest persisted, stubborn and heavy: thump... thump... thump...
Each beat tugged at a deeper, suffocating sense of loss, as though a piece of his heart had been gouged out.
An illusion?
The sensation felt so real. He looked down at his pale, drenched hands.
Is this my body?
The next moment, his heart thumped heavily again, the icy void following closely, relentless.
No! This is no illusion!
The moment that void emerged, all perception—the salty air, the roar of the waves, the coldness of the bronze—vanished abruptly!
The world was stripped away in an instant, leaving only pure existence and an expanding, icy, ravenous void where his heart beat!
Worse than forgetting was the clear knowledge that something vitally important had been torn away, yet not knowing what it was!
As he grew more accustomed to the eerie sense of "loss," the blankness in his mind was suddenly struck by an invisible chisel!
A piece of information, uncompromising and forceful, carved its way in:
"The Treatise on One Mind Across Three Times and Nine Realms." Thus spoke the Immeasurable Zen Enlightenment: "To attain the highest awakening, first sever the roots of conditioned existence. If the old boat does not sink, how shall the new raft carry one across?"
The words burned like red-hot brands, brutally searing into the depths of his consciousness. There was no sound, yet his soul eerily "heard" a terrifying Daoist resonance—a chorus of countless Buddhas chanting interwoven with the wails of endless demonic realms!
There was no scent, yet his mind "smelled" the strange fragrance of golden lotuses blooming, cloyingly sweet to the point of nausea!
No illusion! This was contamination! A poisonous Daoist charm!
Jiang Lixuan bit down hard on the index finger of his right hand, which had been hanging down past his brow!
Sharp pain, like lightning, forcibly pulled his consciousness free from the erosive grip of the sutra!
Blood mixed with the salty river water flowed into the corner of his mouth.
Yet, that profound sense of loss, originating from the deepest parts of his bloodline and soul, arrived punctually with the next heartbeat, endless and relentless.
Biting his finger to shreds couldn't free him from it.
"The Treatise on One Mind Across Three Times and Nine Realms," spoken by the Immeasurable Zen Enlightenment!
"The Treatise on One Mind Across Three Times and Nine Realms," spoken by the Immeasurable Zen Enlightenment!
Three thousand worlds unfolded layer upon layer outside—in his eyes, in his heart, in his ears, blooming!
No! Hua Xu, you screwed me over!
The name burst out instinctively.
The moment it crossed his mind, a vast, cold, non-human voice, as though descending from beyond endless time and space, through layers of cosmic barriers, spoke directly into his consciousness:
[Key designation detected—Hua Xu. Identity verification—Tourist. No citizen permissions. Item information retrieval—Fantasy System, Three...]
The voice cut off abruptly, as though severed by an invisible hand.
Then, a more direct consciousness, carrying a hint of indescribable interest, replaced it:
"Huh? How strange. Why would Hua Xu's terminal appear here? What did it just discover..."
Jiang Lixuan instantly returned to reality. Simultaneously cut off was the sutra that had been echoing in his ears like a demonic incantation.
Except... the icy sense of loss at the edge of each heartbeat remained, clinging like a persistent disease, inescapable.
An opportunity!
While the sutra was seemingly interrupted by that consciousness, Jiang Lixuan closed his eyes again, enduring the pain as he tried to recall.
In the depths of his blank mind, countless fragmented images swirled above his consciousness sea. Sensing Jiang Lixuan's gaze, they rushed toward him jostling and competing!
Not good!
The first fragment surged into view—a sword light, cutting across time and space, piercing through the air!
Before the second and third fragments could arrive, the loss triggered by the next heartbeat unexpectedly "jolted" Jiang Lixuan out of the forcibly imposed state.
The sword light flew into his consciousness sea, transforming back into a memory fragment, sinking quietly to the "sea floor."
Jiang Lixuan tried to examine it, but the fragment instantly turned into a sharp sword light again. He had to give up. Fortunately, the sword light didn't attack him. But Jiang Lixuan didn't dare risk other fragments—among those that had rushed toward him earlier, some made his spiritual sense tremble just by proximity. And the many fragments farther away—he didn't even dare to glance at them subconsciously.
As for that damned sutra? With a thought, Jiang Lixuan bundled that memory and hurled it beneath the sword light fragment, pressing it down firmly!
After doing all this, looking at the chaotic flow of past fragments in his consciousness sea, Jiang Lixuan finally let out a long breath.
For now, these two unexplorable memories in his consciousness sea were his only starting point.
Next, it should be a normal beginning, right? he thought wearily.
Wait!
The sense of loss caused hallucinations, and the hallucinations brought the sutra.
But... that deadly sense of loss wasn't there from the start!
Did he touch something? Or undergo some change?
Was it... after pushing open the coffin lid? Or when he came into contact with this murky river water?
Alertness, like a cold electric current, shot down his spine!
The next moment—
The sky darkened without warning.
Strength, water, light... all perception vanished instantly!
In the absolute darkness, a hint of dark blue "gaze," full of greed and malice, cold and slimy as substance, penetrated through heavy curtains, slowly, firmly locking onto his location!
That stare, hungry with the void.