Hearing this, the lord of death leaned forward.
"Eight years…." He pointed at William, "That's all you're getting. I'm not waiting centuries, or even decades, for you to stumble around trying to unite the realm. That kind of nonsense never works. At the end of the eighth year, if you fail… your life ends. Simple as that."
The Lord's eyes blazed with an eerie green fire, the light burning in his hollow sockets like an abyss staring back at William.
William was shaken, but he quickly calmed himself. His nerves were surprisingly strong for a simple guy from the modern age.
"Okay, you don't need to worry. I think… I have a solution that does not require uniting the realm!"
"You think?" The Lord of Death's eyes bore into William, as if trying to discern his intent.
"Yes… But before I can give you a definite answer, let me ask you something about the mortal realm first," said William.
"Ask away."
William then began questioning the Lord of Death about the mortal realm, confirming many of his suspicions.
According to the Lord of Death, the mortal realm was called Primordial Expanse (鸿蒙大荒 - Hóngméng Dàhuāng). It resembled the world of a Xianxia novel. Its territory was immense, so vast that William suspected the planet itself might be several times larger than Earth.
There were countless pocket realms and hidden realms, along with sects, empires, dynasties, and clans. There was even a higher realm where cultivators of greater power resided.
It felt as though every element of the Xianxia genre had converged into this one Primordial Expanse Universe.
They spent a long time in questions and answers, with the Lord of Death showing remarkable patience as he responded to everything William asked, until William had no questions left.
With all this information in mind, William now felt confident he could succeed.
"Yes… Your Honor. I think I have at least an eighty percent chance of success."
Hearing this, the Lord of Death immediately grew interested. He leaned closer to the desk, resting his chin against his steepled hands in front of his mouth.
"Oh? Let's hear it. What are you going to do?"
"Yes, I'll do what I'm best at, streaming," William started.
"Huh? Tell me more."
William smirked as he glanced at the mountainous piles of documents stacked on the Lord of Death's desk.
"Your honor… I could tell you… But my bread and butter was streaming. Don't you think spoiling the content ahead of time would ruin the fun? You wouldn't enjoy it as much if I told you everything now." William asked with a daring smile.
He had noticed that the Lord of Death was a rather chill guy, which was why he decided to test the waters, to see if he could befriend him, or at least get on his good side. After all, he was just a simple man with nothing to protect himself.
Besides, from what William had asked a moment ago, it seemed that entertainment in this world was quite limited. Poetry gatherings, live music that required skill to perform, visiting brothels, or gambling, those were the kinds of amusements that belonged to ancient times.
So William figured the Lord of Death might need something new to stave off his boredom, a distraction from endless paperwork. A dose of fun content might be exactly what he needed before returning to work with fresh energy.
"Ohh ho ho ho, so you want to surprise me?" The Lord of Death leaned forward, his voice filled with amusement. "Fine, I'll hold on to that."
He leaned back against the massive throne, his skeletal frame sinking into the backrest.
"Now, I'll grant you three wishes. You may ask for anything within my power. However, I suggest you choose things that can aid your work and enhance your survival. Don't waste them on something completely unrelated, like asking for a jade beauty."
Wait… I can't!?
William thought, but he quickly calmed himself down and began to consider the three things he truly needed.
"Then, for my first wish, I need something that can help me stream and broadcast to places where people gather, like city squares or sects. Preferably, it should also have functions similar to a video editor from my previous world." William declared.
"Granted!" The Lord of Death nodded and extended his hand. A green orb materialized in his large, bony palm and floated toward William.
The moment it touched William's chest, he felt an unbreakable bond form between himself and the orb.
"This orb will serve as both your camera and broadcasting artifact. It will project an indestructible spirit screen, unless someone strikes with enough force to destroy the entire underworld itself; nothing can break it. The orb shares this same indestructible property. It even has smart functions connected directly to your mind, allowing it to help you edit in real time! Or you could manually edit it." The Lord of Death announced proudly.
Damn… this thing is amazing. I wish I'd had it back on Earth; it would have saved me so much hassle.
"But…" The Lord of Death raised his finger. "The broadcast range will depend on your own cultivation. For starters, if you are in the Qi Refining Realm, the range would be about three to five million kilometers in radius. If you advance to the Foundation Establishment, the range will be about three hundred to five hundred million kilometers in radius,"
"God… that's crazy…" William muttered.
"No, it's not. Five million kilometers is just the size of a small prefecture, and five hundred million kilometers is the size of a province," said the Lord of Death.
What!? How big is this goddamn place!? William was startled. Listening to the scale, this was beyond crazy.
"Anyway, what about the second wish?" the Lord of Death asked.
After calming down, William began to think and asked for his second wish.
"For the second wish, I want an unlimited supply of artifacts that will allow cultivators or even ordinary mortals to interact with the chat room, create forums, and donate spirit stones. I need this so I can build a network for them to enjoy my streaming," William said.
"Hmmm…" The Lord of Death touched his chin, thinking.
"There is no such thing as true unlimited or infinite. Even the underworld qi in my realm is finite. But like water, it circulates, renews, and sustains itself. So… how about this? I will grant you the knowledge to craft such artifacts, and I'll give you one hundred samples to start with," the Lord offered.
William nodded. "Yes, that works as well, your honor."
"Very well, granted!" The Lord of Death waved his hand.
With that gesture, knowledge flooded into William's mind, engraved so deeply it was impossible to forget. He now understood how to craft the artifacts. He even knew how to customize them to his liking and was capable of applying things like post-launch patches to improve them.
The artifact is like a small smartphone, but instead of modern technology, it uses spirit qi screens and other Xianxia-style mumbo jumbo.
"For your last wish, I suggest you ask for something that will help you survive," the Lord of Death advised.
"For the third wish, I wish for a system… or some kind of connection between you and me, so that I can use my merit to redeem rewards from you!"
"No…" The Lord of Death denied.
William let out a sigh of disappointment. It was impossible after all. As expected, things like an almighty system were just fantasies from novels. But the next words from the Lord of Death lifted his mood.
"The merit points for redeeming rewards from me are a basic employee incentive. I intended for you to have a way to contact me and exchange merit for rewards anyway. Change your wish."
Your honor… you…
ARE THE BEST!
Your company is awesome! I'm honored to be your employee!
After giddying in his mind like a boy in a toy shop, William thought hard.
"Hmmm…" This time, William thought for a long while. He didn't know much about physiques, qi, sutras, or powers that could help him.
"Your honor, can you recommend some kind of physique, power, or cultivation method that'll let me quickly become an overpowered chad? Or at least something that allows me to travel anywhere in the world for streaming?" he asked.
"Hmmm…" The Lord of Death thought for a moment.
"Then I'll grant you a physique as strong as your soul can host without hindering you, along with a cultivation method The 'Samsara Sovereign's Scripture, along with some powerful moves that's simple as pie to cultivate and train yet quite powerful. Both will be upgradeable. You may use merit points to enhance them afterward, once you're strong enough. How about that?"
"Yes, your honor! That's supremely fine with me!" William said with a smile and double thumbs-up.
"Then granted!" The Lord of Death waved his hand grandly.
With that gesture, William's body slowly faded before turning into motes of light and vanishing.
— ??? —
William's vision faded to black as his consciousness returned to the pitch-dark void once again, before sensations began to ripple through his body.
A cramp and the uncomfortable hardness pressing against his back told him he was lying inside some kind of casket.
He opened his eyes but saw only darkness. Slowly, his vision adjusted until he could make out a wooden lid above him.
Was he really inside a casket!?
William raised his hand and tried to push it open.
Crash!
His hand easily plowed through the wooden lid with only a little strength.
The sensation from his hand reaching outside, along with the chilled air leaking down through the opening, told him that he was buried just below the surface.
Quickly, William used both hands to tear apart the rest of the lid, opening a wide enough hole for him to climb out.
As he rose, the cold wind brushed against his face. The air filled his lungs as he took a deep breath of the fresh, cold night.
He had finally been reborn!
He looked around and saw that he was in a dilapidated cemetery. Many coffins were scattered nearby, and half-dug pits marked the ground. Old tools such as hoes and shovels lay abandoned around the area.
He was alone in this cemetery…