"Ughh..." Zhen Shi groaned as he tried to make sense of the darkness surrounding him. He was completely frozen in place and unable to move, even while his mind was working on figuring out his current situation. The last thing he remembered was pushing that girl out of the way of... THAT TRUCK!

Like any other day, he had been calmly walking up that hill when he had suddenly seen a little girl running across the road. But unfortunately, a speeding truck was just hidden behind the hill and was dashing forwards in a collision course with that girl. And even before he could stop himself he had instinctively jumped in and pushed her aside... SHIT! Did I have to go and be the hero? Now, look at me... I'm fucking dead!

But besides his memories, there was nothing else. He couldn't feel his body, and he couldn't sense anything else either. Just vast, cold, unending darkness...

Even after hours of thinking and contemplation, he couldn't make sense of anything. There was nothing but the dark void to keep him company. As time passed the darkness seemed to weigh mercilessly on to his very sense of self! Under that terrifying pressure despite his struggle not to, he almost gave up completely...

And time seemed to be frozen as seconds felt like hours, hours felt like years and days like decades. Zhen Shi was barely holding on with his will while on the verge of flickering out forever.

Fortunately for him, after an instant that seemed to have lasted through eternity, he could suddenly sense a vague connection... to something... somewhere out there. Despite being only a single spark, this was like a beacon of light and hope amidst that sense of nothing and darkness!

Like a starved beast and grasping for straws, he hurriedly struggled and tried to push himself towards the only thing he had felt in a long while. But even then he was unable to get himself to move, almost as if he had become a part of the darkness itself.

Fortunately for him, that spark of light seemed to stretch out through an immense distance and wrapped around him. As light wrapped around him, the darkness began to boil and squirm almost in disagreement. But the light suddenly increased in intensity literally pushing the darkness away.

As this light took him away saving him from the clutches of the dark void... for the first time in a long while he could feel again! Whatever it was that had wrapped around him, it felt light and warm, like a mother's embrace. It was the exact opposite of the cold merciless darkness-- a warm hopeful light. The light seemed to be expressing its remorse and regret for Zhen Shi's current situation, as he was slowly pulled away from the dreary dark to a growing light...

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Zhen Shi hurriedly opened his eyes with that vast unending darkness still fresh on his mind. He was unable to move or talk but stared up at the full moon and the star-lit sky with relief.

FUCK! That was close... I'm glad I was able to escape that dark void!

Gradually he began to sense his body as a sense of control slowly returned to his limbs, while still being unable to completely move. So he calmly waited while observing the beauty of the night sky; a stark contrast from the dark empty void.

"Eh? Isn't the moon a bit too large?" he surprised himself by speaking out. Putting that aside with the ability of speech returned, he grinned happily as he slowly pushed himself off of the grass and stood up.

Or at least he tried to, as his entire body was suddenly wracked with horrendous pain. Under the mind-numbing pain, he lost control of his barely working motor functions and fell back on to the ground. Face forwards...

SPLASH!

While his body had fallen back on to the ground with the grass softening the blow, his right arm had somehow found its way into a small pond. Zhen Shi growled as he bit his teeth trying to stop himself from screaming out in pain. He heaved deep breaths for several moments until the pain receded to a certain degree.

Now with the pain lessened, he struggled as he slowly sat himself down on the grass. He surveyed the surroundings trying to get his bearings and muttered, "This has to be some sort of afterlife? Well, at least its better than that empty darkness..."

He was in a wide clearing which was rather small in comparison to the large seemingly endless forest surrounding him. The trees were wreathed in ivy, ever frozen in its embrace, while others were still bare; young shoots that hadn't had enough time to claimed companions.

The only source of light was the moon and the stars in the night sky; excluding the small dots of light barely visible under the thickness of the trees on one side of the forest. And Zhen Shi could only conclude that to be signs of civilization. Now calming down, Zhen Shi could hear the sound of crickets chirping along with the usual sounds of nocturnal creatures. Granted there were some that he found unfamiliar and even down-right scary.

"But this goes against most known concepts of the afterlife. How could it be so similar to a night of ordinary life?" Suddenly his eyes widened as a revelation hit him, "Could it be, but it's impossible... that I reincarnated?" Now with great interest, Zhen Shi hurriedly stood up ignoring the lingering pain and observed the sky. He noted the overly large full moon along with the unfamiliar pattern of stars up in the sky. No matter how much he tried he was unable to find any constellation he was familiar with.

With increasing confidence, Zhen Shi looked at his reflection in the pond which was responsible for soaking his hand. He stared wordlessly with widened eyes at the reflection in the water. This was a refined-looking young man with long coal-black hair and pale green eyes. His body was slightly more muscular than average. But what truly made Zhen Shi speechless was his clothes since he was wearing nothing but a front only covering loin cloth.

Zhen Shi laughed pitifully while covering his face with one hand, "The constellations and this new body confirms the possibility that I have reincarnated." Once again observing his reflection, "This body is pretty suitable for me, in fact, I look devilishly handsome and outrageously scholarly... However, why do I not have any memories of this world? Was there no original owner for this body? Either way... why the hell am I wearing this shameless piece of cloth?"

He stared at his reflection while wallowing in self-pity and confusion.

Whoosh!

A light shadow dashed past him slowly revealing itself as a girl.

Zhen Shi's face froze... ♥‿♥

He stared at this sudden and unexpected arrival. She had long luxurious silver hair tied up into a ponytail shimmering under the moonlight. Dressed up in dark golden robes that were tightly wrapped around her petite body, her cute face was scrunched up in worry as she stared back at the direction she had come from. She wordlessly unsheathed a yellow-earthen sword from her back.

Whoosh...

Several more shadows formed in front of her revealing a group of ten men dressed in dark black robes. The man who was in the very front of the group took a single step forwards, a lecherous grin present on his face he shouted, "Zou Rou, running away is pointless. It's obvious that we'll catch up with you once you run out of energy. So, obediently hand us the pill and come back with us to the sect... that is if you know what's good for you..." while the other men laughed in agreement.

Zhen Shi was mind blown. People who can dash about like the wind? Pills? Sects? Could it be that this world is one of martial arts and cultivation?

Zhen Shi didn't dare completely believe it, for fear of being face slapped back to reality. Still, he gripped on to a small hope that everything was true exactly as he had figured. As such, possibly due to still being delirious under the after-effects of reincarnation, he couldn't help but start daydreaming about flying about in the sky, fighting evil and monsters, saving people and maidens in distress, face slapping those who dared to underestimate him...

But suddenly he paused in realization and fear. He could feel that these people in front of him could kill him easily as breathing. Fuck! How can I handle myself against these mid-level bosses when I just started a new game?

Thus Zhen Shi began to contemplate his next move. He could either wait for some cheat power to be granted to him like in most fantasy stories and save this girl or make a 'tactical retreat' if things ended up differently. Zhen Shi was aware that events would more likely be biased towards the latter and was slowly planning his escape. He wasn't planning on dying immediately after reincarnating.

Nevertheless, none of these 'martial artists' paid any attention to this scantily clad mortal who was frowning his brow in deep contemplation...

"Bastards of the Xue Yue clan, you'll have to take it back over my dead body. Let's fight!" shouted Zou Rou as she took the initiative to attack and dashed forward with her sword.

"Well you asked for it..." said that man still grinning lecherously. He flicked his hand in order and the entire group of cultivators unsheathed identical dark black blades. Immediately they moved into a strange formation and held their blades with calm eyes, causing a dark black miasma to appear over their bodies and blades.

Zou Rou slashed her sword at the Xue Yue cultivators launching a deadly streak of golden sunlight.

But, all the black-robed Xue Yue cultivators swung their blades in retaliation completely in sync with each other. These dark black slashes combined and strengthened each other, ultimately forming a terrifying shadow streak! A vague shadow of a roaring monster appeared within this shadow slash as it streaked forwards, roaring in anger towards the slash of golden sunlight.

The energy slashes clashed generating a violent gush of wind and energy. The golden sunlight dissipated almost immediately and unable to handle the combined attack of ten cultivators using a battle formation, Zou Rou was thrown back like a broken kite, blood spewing from her mouth. She collapsed momentarily fainting. The group of black-robed martial artists laughed in satisfaction while moving forwards to grab this Zou Rou.

Despite having been planning his escape, Zhen Shi had been rooted to the spot when those terrifying sword slashes had been launched out. But now seeing the girl getting hurt, even with fear and terror in his heart, he was unable to stop himself from instinctively jumping forwards to stop them.

SHIT! Am I going to die by being a hero again? I feel like a certain teen hero dressed in green and red unable to control himself from being suicidal!

Despite this, he threw away his fear arising out of instinct in the face of the powerful auras seething from these black-robed Xue Yue sect cultivators. Now having jumped in front of the fainted girl it was too late to run away from this situation. And so Zhen Shi decided to face this hopeless situation with bravery and style! He grinned and responded to the surprised black-robed men while shouting, "You shameless bunch of pigskins. Do you think you can gang up on an innocent girl when this handsome and scholarly self is here?"

The black-robed members of the Xue Yue clan stared at him with growing anger and rage. Zhen Shi gaped as he watched a terrifying dark black energy manifest around their bodies along with another energy targeted specifically at him. Facing them he felt like prey in front of predators... a grasshopper trying to stop a train. Zhen Shi could only conclude that this was killing intent!

He took a deep breath and controlled his fear. Even with prior knowledge of cultivators, being able to control his fear in the face of their unhidden killing intent was rather miraculous. But it could only be attributed to the eternity he had spent within the void and his sudden reincarnation; dulling his sense of logic.

"A non-cultivator dares to talk back to us of the Xue Yue clan with such a foul mouth. Dressed like a barbarian no less? If you crawl down and beg for mercy we might trouble ourselves to give you a clean death," shouted out one of the Xue Yue cultivators.

But surprisingly they didn't attack. This was because they were extremely confident in their combined power while in battle formation. They wouldn't be unnecessarily frantic to kill a mortal and capture a single foundation establishment girl. But at the same time, the majority of them wanted to relish watching the helpless prey squirm under their power...

Noticing their reaction, despite his attempt to hide it Zhen Shi's stomach clenched in fear.

But, of course, he wasn't afraid. Preposterous! Who dares say that? It was just that the lunch that the former owner of this body had had wasn't agreeing with him...

Zhen Shi quickly pushed that matter off of his mind. With the cultivators locked on to him, he instead put all his mind and effort into discovering some sort of cheat or special power he could use to turn things around. In the face of death, people tend to put their hopes on things that they would find even nonsensical at other instances. It was the same for Zhen Shi...

Honestly, he was only barely aware that he was seeking death by jumping in front of these men. Having just reincarnated into another world after god knows how long in that dark void, everything seemed unrealistic and unbelievable no matter how familiar he was with the concept. But since he was unable to watch this Zou Rou in trouble he had instinctively stepped in. And now had put all his hopes of survival on the legendary 'cheat' powers of reincarnations.

Zhen Shi's eyes glowed as he figured that the only cheat that could save him instantly at this moment was one of those 'legendary' systems. As such, he immediately put his slight hopes of survival on this 'system'...

Almost a lifetime of an instance of failure later... Zhen Shi was sweating heavily. In fear? Of course not... he was simply angry that the system was too scared to help him!

Honestly only a moment had passed, but the 'angry' Zhen Shi had felt that it was much longer.

Shit, where's my system? Is it in my loincloth? But he didn't feel anything in his lower abdomen, so probably no. He felt like flipping a table...

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻.

As time passed and the energy on the cultivators reached a crescendo with no signs of a 'system' to save him, Zhen Shi realized that he just might die again on his second attempt at being a hero. He couldn't help but shiver at the memory of the desolate void, but, he wasn't a coward either. Now with his 'only hope of survival' disappearing, he could only accept his possible death.

His mind was much more mature than most with the greater part of his former life spent neck-deep in entertaining fiction and academic pursuit. So despite only having lived until barely becoming an adult, that knowledge and experience combined with the more recent time spent in the darkness of the void calmed his fear of death. As such, he decided he would go out with a 'bang' if he had to... or at the very least extend his now terrifyingly short lifespan, so that the fainted girl would wake up, hopefully giving him the opportunity to survive.

Even then, Zhen Shi knew that his chances of survival were very low. Now that things had come this far he decided to throw everything to fate. He grew even calmer as he accepted this fact. But there was no way he was going to die on his knees begging. He would only die after leaving his memory seared on to the minds of these damned cultivators...

Thus with an emotionless and aloof expression as if the entire world was beneath him, he serenely said, "I have witnessed countless legends being born and countless men reaching the heavens with their own effort. The heavens were sealed, flames were conquered, otherworldly invaders were beaten, peace was established between warring nations, and gods were slaughtered..."

The black-robed cultivators of the Xue Yue clan were rather stunned with the mention of these unbelievable actions spoken by a mere mortal. Still, they're aura and killing intent reduced slightly as they grinned in amusement and one even said "Shameless braggart, your words are truly amazing. Come along then, entertain us more!"

Alas, in a way Zhen Shi had truly witnessed these events. As such, he continued to reminisce about all the novels and anime where he had witnessed heaven-defying main characters. Now that he was in a life-threatening situation, reminding himself of things that he was familiar with helped to reduce his fears. He knew that they were fiction, but somewhere deep in his heart, he had a belief. That they were actually true...!

Now having completely calmed down, along with his speech and thoughts, his own spirit was being stirred. A strong will and intent to lead an awe-inspiring life!

Even while the cultivators of the Xue Yue clan were eyeing him as prey on the chopping block, Zhen Shi calmly changed topics.

There was one other thing he had truly loved to throw himself into. He was a bookworm who loved to read books of any sort. Be it fiction, non-fiction, thesis, philosophy, physics, chemistry, history, business, etc.

But even then, a topic he truly loved was ancient mythology! In his previous life, despite living an ordinary life he had been all over the world with his parents who had to frequently travel due to work. Even then they were mostly busy with work. So while being forced to travel worldwide, he had spent the majority of his life on his own. But frequent travel had caused a passion for various cultures to arise in him. And that had ultimately led him into philosophy and mythology! The tales of gods in different parts of the world, their struggles for power, their abilities and powers, and the possibility that they truly existed in the past excited him beyond measure! Seeing that his life may end here, he figured he might as well die with the things he had been passionate about.

Thus with unwavering determination and a confident voice he spoke out, "Let me mention some truly almighty personas,

Zeus or Jupiter, the God of Lightning and Thunder, the leader of the pantheon originating from none-other than CHAOS!

The World Tree, Yggdrasil of Norse Mythology, rooted within the waters of the Norn, which bears the nine worlds of existence!

Odin, the all-father, who mastered the runes and Seither magic despite the opinions of others, becoming the strongest of them all!

Ra, the Creator God, who was born of the empty waters of Nun and gave life to the world!

The lesser-known but undoubtedly powerful Heka, who viewed the creation of the universe itself, the personification of magic!

The Three Pure Ones, who created existence and as a whole completed the ephemeral and formless Dao!

The Jade Emperor of Eastern mythology, who rules the universe with all immortals including the Taoist and Buddhist factions beneath him!

Sakyamuni, the most recent Buddha who overcame worldly attachment, bringing peace to the masses!" And he finished his words with heavy breath...

But the cultivators of the Xue Yue clan were staring in surprise and horror as this random mortal shouted out those all too familiar names. They were extremely surprised at the way he had talked and the words he had suddenly spouted at the moment of his death. In fact, they had actually been frozen in place until he had finished speaking. But just as Zhen Shi finished, the apparent leader of the group returned to his senses and shouted out hurriedly, "Attack! He might be a potential divine prophet! We can't let him prepare the chant!" And as if death was looming over them, the group of cultivators dashed towards Zhen Shi while brandishing their swords.

That moment was a mere instant, but to Zhen Shi, it was comparable to a lifetime...

His mind was already brimming with a terrifying non-human calmness and unrelenting determination since he was unwilling to die so soon after his sudden reincarnation. His passion for knowledge, all that which he had enjoyed in his past life combined with the desire to grow stronger in this new world resonated with his heart and soul.

Although he could see death arriving as the attack of the Xue Yue cultivators grew closer he continued to shout out in his mind,

"The path to the heavens is difficult and riddled with countless obstacles. Now that things have come this far, the only thing which makes that path easier and grants me the chance to survive is a SYSTEM! Now that I have reincarnated, I refuse to die a useless death!

IF I DON'T GET A SYSTEM WHO WILL??"

DING.....