The skies above the Heavenly Realm bled crimson.
Endless thunder tore through the firmament, each bolt carrying the wrath of heaven itself. Floating above a sea of shattered mountains stood a lone figure — Lin Tian, the Heavenly Sword Immortal, whose name once made gods tremble and demons flee.
His silver robes, once pure as moonlight, were now torn and soaked in blood. The mighty Azure Heaven Sword in his grasp flickered weakly, its once-limitless spirit crying in pain.
Before him stood his most talented disciple, Mo Xuan, draped in black armor forged from demonic qi, his eyes burning with betrayal.
"Disciple," Lin Tian said, his voice calm but trembling with fury, "for centuries, I guided you through life and death. Why raise your blade against your master?"
Mo Xuan sneered, his aura rippling like a storm.
"Master? The heavens never crowned you god, yet you sat above all! You told me to pursue strength without limits — today, I surpass you!"
The sky howled. Space itself cracked as the two auras collided — one pure and ethereal, the other dark and consuming.
Lin Tian coughed blood but smiled faintly. "Surpass me? You have merely fallen deeper into your own greed."
With a swing, his sword split the void, tearing through dimensions. Mo Xuan parried, the shockwave leveling entire celestial mountains. Lightning danced between them, brighter than stars.
The battle raged for what felt like eternities. When the dust cleared, Lin Tian's body trembled — a gaping wound in his chest, the Heart of Immortal Qi shattered.
Mo Xuan stepped forward, voice trembling between triumph and guilt.
"Your era ends, Master. The new world belongs to me."
He thrust his spear forward. It pierced Lin Tian's heart.
A flash of blinding light filled the heavens. The roar of collapsing space echoed like the cry of a dying god.
As Lin Tian's divine body began to fade into motes of light, he whispered, "Even if my body perishes, my Dao will never die… Mo Xuan, one day… you'll kneel before me again."
And then — darkness.
The Awakening
A deafening beep pierced the silence.
"—Hey! Bro! Are you alive or what!?"
Lin Tian gasped and opened his eyes. The heavens were gone. Above him loomed strange metallic beasts with glowing eyes — cars, honking and screeching on a wide gray road. The smell of smoke and dust stung his nose.
He sat up abruptly, clutching his chest — no wound, no blood. Only the pounding of a mortal heart.
"What realm is this? The Mortal Plane?" he muttered. "But… where are the spiritual veins? Why can't I sense qi?"
"Hey!" A woman's voice snapped him back.
He turned — and froze.
A young woman stood on the sidewalk, long black hair swaying in the wind, wearing strange clothes: denim jacket, white shirt, blue jeans. Her face… it was familiar — the same eyes, the same aura he had once known in the celestial gardens.
"Mengyao…?" he whispered.
She blinked, confused. "Huh? Do I know you? You almost got hit by a car! Are you drunk or something?"
Before Lin Tian could answer, a robotic chime echoed in his mind.
[Ding! New Host Detected.]
[Initiating Heavenly Reincarnation System v3.0.]
[Scanning Host Soul … 99.9% match with 'Heavenly Sword Immortal Lin Tian'.]
[Reincarnation complete. Welcome to Planet Earth.]
Lin Tian stiffened. "System? Is this a celestial artifact? Or a spirit bound to my soul?"
[Negative.]
[This System is an Artificial Intelligence designed to assist you in re-cultivation.]
[Current mission: Adapt to Earth's civilization and recover spiritual energy.]
He frowned deeply. "Recover spiritual energy? There's not even a single wisp of qi here!"
[Correction: 0.00001% ambient qi detected. Equivalent to a dirty breath from a pig cultivator.]
"…You mock me?"
[Affirmative. Host status — laughably weak.]
Lin Tian's eyebrow twitched. "Even the heavens never dared insult me like that."
The System chirped again.
[Main Quest 1 unlocked: 'Blend In With Mortals'.]
[Task: Survive one day without being arrested, hit by a car, or admitted to a mental hospital.]
[Reward: +1 Spirit Point.]
He looked around at the flashing lights, people filming him with little glowing rectangles, and giant metal boxes zooming by. "What… kind of demonic realm have I entered?"
Mengyao sighed and offered a hand. "Come on, let's get you off the road before someone really hits you."
He stared at her hand — soft, warm, human. For a moment, an ancient memory flickered: a woman in white robes smiling under a peach tree. Fate… truly never ends.
He took her hand. "Very well, mortal. Lead the way."
She frowned. "Mortal? Seriously, you need a hospital."
Back to Earth
She brought him to a nearby café, sat him down, and handed him water.
"What's your name?" she asked.
He hesitated. "Lin Tian."
Her eyes widened. "Wait, Lin Tian? You're from our university, right? You disappeared for two days — people said you fainted during the physics exam!"
"Physics… exam?" he echoed, confused.
He glanced at his reflection in the glass window — a young man, maybe twenty, slim, wearing modern clothes, a faint bruise on his forehead. So… I truly reincarnated into this mortal's body.
[System Update: Body Fusion Complete.]
[Note: Previous host — University student, average grades, single, no cultivation record.]
[Side Quest: Pass next midterm exam to gain +5 Spirit Points.]
"Exams again…" Lin Tian muttered darkly. "First heavenly tribulations, now mortal ones."
Mengyao tilted her head. "What did you say?"
"Nothing. Just preparing to conquer… the midterm realm."
She laughed softly. "You really hit your head, didn't you?"
A New World
That night, Lin Tian stood alone in the small apartment he apparently lived in. Strange glowing boxes filled the room — computer, television, phone — yet no hint of spiritual energy flowed through them.
He sat cross-legged, forming a hand seal.
"Let me see… if the ancient arts still heed my call."
He inhaled. Silence.
He exhaled. Still nothing.
[Warning: Ambient qi too low for cultivation. Recommend: Consume mortal food and sleep.]
"Sleep?" Lin Tian glared at the invisible voice. "An Immortal does not—"
His stomach growled loudly.
[See? System is always right.]
He sighed. "Very well, System. I shall begin my cultivation anew — starting from the lowest mortal path."
As he lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thunder rumbled faintly in the distance. A dark figure watched him through the window from across the street — a man cloaked in shadow, his eyes glowing red.
"So… the Heavenly Immortal truly lives again," the figure whispered. "Master Mo Xuan will be pleased."
Far away in another realm, a faint tremor ran through the demonic heavens.
The game had begun.
End of Chapter 1: The Immortal Falls