Wu Nian had a dream.
In that dream, he lived in a world called Earth.
On Earth, humans had no Qi, but they were highly advanced in terms of technology.
They used automobiles to move across the land, airplanes to travel through the skies, and ships to sail across the ocean.
On that planet, he was an ordinary young man, with no money, looks, or status.
The only thing he could take pride in was his resilience in trying to be an author.
But he failed—his works always flopped.
To make his misfortune even worse, Wu Nian discovered he had terminal cancer in an intermediate stage.
Unable to afford treatment, he accepted he would die and spent the last days of his life drinking alcohol, eating canned food, and playing games late into the night.
The result? He died earlier than expected.
...
Awakening from the dream, Wu Nian's pupils contracted as he stared at the familiar white ceiling.
"Was that dream real?" With his legs still stretched out on the mattress, he straightened his back and placed his hands on his chin, pondering what he had seen.
His first rational thought was that it couldn't have been fake. It was far too realistic for him to process as a mere dream. Then came the second, the simplest deduction he could make.
He had died, been reborn as a newborn in another world, and now recovered his memories for some reason.
'Why recover those trash memories? Just to remind me how insignificant I was in my previous life?'
Wu Nian frowned, his expression darkening, though he didn't maintain it for long.
The him from his previous life was dead; the current him was completely different.
'But some things were still interesting, like phones and the Internet. It would be entertaining to recreate those things in this immortal cultivation world... but what a pity.' Wu Nian sighed with regret.
To build such things, knowledge was required—and he didn't have it.
Discouraged, he lowered his back, resting his head on the pillow, and closed his eyes, ready to sleep.
But before he could drift off, a systematic sound—ageless, genderless, emotionless—echoed inside his head, coming from the depths of his consciousness.
[Ding]
[Death Reversal System Installed]
[Installation Completed Successfully]
[From now on, you are undying! Every time you approach death, your situation will be reversed, and the factors used to kill you will be used to increase your cultivation! Suicide does not count!]
[Host Status]
[Name: Wu Nian]
[Age: Sixteen]
[Cultivation: Third Level of the Yuan Meridian]
[Innate Property: Rare Red Flame Meridian. Soul Unrestricted by the Rules of Heaven.]
[Reversal Count: 1 — You are still undying, but you will remain dead for one day and one night; if you exceed the limit, you will resurrect the next day.
This happens because of the heavens. Even if you are unrestricted by the rules, the heavenly will can destroy you with a calamity lightning.
To protect the host, the system limits you to one reversal, preventing the will from detecting you at lower levels and allowing a smoother initial growth in power.]
'What?'
Wu Nian opened his eyelids, the eyes beneath trembling nonstop. Seeing the translucent screen before him, they trembled even more.
"I obtained a system?" Wu Nian accepted the situation. Perhaps due to the influence of being an author, this fact didn't bother him at all. It was strange, but what could he do after living a writer's life?
Staring at the system before him, Wu Nian studied it.
'I can reverse my death once per day. If I exceed the limit, I'll stay dead until the next day. And the reversal process undoes everything that kills me.'
"This system is OP. But can my mind withstand dying multiple times?" Wu Nian pondered.
A normal person experiencing consecutive deaths would surely suffer brain damage. And for cultivators it was no different—it caused inner demons if they were mentally weak. Yet being mentally strong could grant an unshakable will forged through countless ups and downs.
'I want to be immortal! Truly immortal! And live forever.'
This was an obsession Wu Nian carried ever since he was born into this world.
Before, he didn't understand why he was so obsessed with immortality, but now he understood: this obsession came from his past life.
Inside that defeated soul, there must have been a part that wanted to live forever. An obsessive part that never dissipated, even through reincarnation.
'Human life is insignificant before time. Sooner or later, everyone returns to dust, becoming grains in the sands of history. If I want to escape that fate, I must use everything in my favor.'
Determined, Wu Nian stood up from the bed and walked to the window of the room. He opened it with a creak, revealing a scene bathed in moonlight.
Gazing at the sky, Wu Nian saw a full moon with a bluish hue; around it were thousands of stars. Together, they illuminated the darkness that blanketed the land.
"This is beautiful." Wu Nian murmured, admiring the night as the breeze brushed his face, flooding him with a cool sensation and a refreshing tranquility in his ears, which heard both the nocturnal birds and the rustling of the hair behind him.
The three thousand black strands swayed to the sides like leaves following the wind's path.
....
One incense stick later, Wu Nian shifted his gaze toward a white wire fence held up by several thick wooden posts. Beyond it was a field of tall grass, with blades about a meter long, forming a green pasture.
'Two blocks ahead is the Misty Mountain Range. Should I explore it now that it's night? What if the system is flawed and I end up dying for real?'
With his mind restless, Wu Nian felt his chest tighten and his heart suddenly speed up.
He was overtaken by waves of panic that made him hesitate.
'I'll risk it. If I die because of this, so be it.'
Gathering his courage, Wu Nian placed a hand on the window ledge and jumped out silently, running toward the fence and slipping through one of the white wires.
Entering the pasture, he felt a faint itch from the plants brushing against his legs, which he deliberately ignored as he continued toward the exit, always looking at the moon and stars.
If they vanished, it would be dawn.
...
An unknown amount of time later, Wu Nian saw the other side of the fence from afar. It was surrounded by a white vapor rising into the sky, blocking any view beyond.
This was the Misty Mountain Range, which during the day was a normal area filled with steep mountains, but at night the region was consumed by fog.
Why did this happen? Wu Nian didn't know, nor had he heard of anyone who did.
After all, everyone who entered the fog disappeared without leaving behind a trace...