Wu Li was a graduate student at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. At just 23 years old, he was already in his final year of graduate school, his days spent deep in research and his nights poring over academic journals. A genius by every measure, Wu Li was the epitome of a rising star in the world of science and technology. His work on quantum physics and theoretical mechanics had garnered him praise from his professors, and he was already poised to make a name for himself in the world of academia.
But despite his success, Wu Li often felt a sense of emptiness. His life was meticulously structured around his academic achievements—his work, his grades, and his future—but something was missing. He had never known what it felt like to truly live outside the confines of academia. Relationships were fleeting, and personal ambitions seemed meaningless compared to the demands of his research. Even his parents, who were proud of his accomplishments, often seemed distant. They never truly understood the pressure he faced.
That night, everything changed.
The rain poured relentlessly, as if the heavens themselves had opened up to drown the world. Wu Li was driving home that night, his hands gripping the wheel tightly. The sound of the thunder shook the air, and flashes of lightning illuminated the road in sharp bursts. The storm was fierce, but Wu Li didn't mind. He had always felt a certain calm in the midst of chaos—academia had taught him to endure and focus, no matter the distractions.
As he drove through the darkened streets, he caught sight of a truck passing by, its lights blinding for a moment. Just as his vision adjusted, another flash of light exploded across the road—this time from the truck's headlights. It was so bright, so intense, that it seemed to pierce the very fabric of reality.
In that single moment, everything changed.
The world disappeared—the road, the storm, the car—everything was swallowed up by an overwhelming flash of light.
For what felt like an eternity, Wu Li felt as if he were suspended in nothingness. His body was weightless, drifting in an endless void. He could no longer feel the weight of his physical body. His senses were gone, and yet… he was aware—aware of something.
Motes of light began to appear before him—countless, floating in the empty space. They were like tiny stars, each one glowing softly, their light flickering in the darkness, casting strange shadows around him. Each mote seemed to pulse with its own rhythm, as if they were alive, waiting for something.
Wu Li instinctively reached out toward one of them, drawn by an unknown force, but as his hand approached, the mote simply vanished into the void. Confused but still driven by a need to understand, he turned his attention to the next glowing light and reached again.
This time, when his hand moved toward it, the mote seemed to flicker briefly, almost as though it recognized his presence. But just as quickly, it disappeared like the first.
He reached for another, and then another, but each time, as his fingers brushed the edges of the lights, they would simply fade away, as if the void itself was consuming them. No matter how many lights he chased, none of the number seemed to reduce.
It was as if he were chasing something that had no end, a process that was eternal, unreachable.
Time, or what he perceived as time, seemed to lose all meaning in this place. Every mote he chased felt like a new beginning, yet it was always the same—the endless chase of motes of light, each fleeting and elusive, just out of reach.
For a while, Wu Li lost himself in this pursuit, but with each passing moment, an unsettling feeling began to rise within him. The void itself seemed infinite, but it also seemed empty, as though these lights were simply a distraction from something deeper, something far more important.
"What is this?" Wu Li thought, but his mind felt strangely disconnected from his own thoughts. His surroundings had no sound, no air—just the distant hum of the lights and the feeling that he was drifting through a space that held no answer.
Then, for the first time, one of the lights lingered, just a bit longer than the others. Wu Li hesitated, his hand hovering just above it. This light didn't seem to disappear as quickly, instead glowing more intensely. His heart raced—this light felt different. There was something about it that called to him, as though it knew him. It responded to his presence.
Before he could reach it, the light flickered once more and vanished into the vast void.
The next moment, he was no longer alone.
A voice, deep and resonant, echoed in his mind—no words, just a presence, a force of ancient wisdom.
"You are caught in the web of fate now, Wu Li."
It was not his voice, yet it was familiar, as though it had been waiting for him all along.
"The lights you chase are but the surface, a distraction from the true path you must walk. The world you have known is no more. The Myriad Immortal World awaits you, but you must first understand the forces that bind you to it. To move forward, you must accept both the Dao and the Arcane, and find your place in this new world."
Wu Li could feel the weight of the words press into his mind, but before he could fully grasp their meaning, the lights—the motes of light—began to fade, like a dream slipping from his grasp. The sense of chasing them, of being pulled into this endless cycle, stopped abruptly.
The next moment, Wu Li's body returned—he was no longer floating in the void, but now standing on solid ground. The world felt different, the air had a strange vibrancy to it. He blinked, his mind still struggling to understand what had just happened.
He opened his eyes once again, but this time, the world around him felt real. More real than it had ever been before.
At first, everything was blurry—his vision clouded by the haze of sleep. But as the world gradually came into focus, Wu Li felt a strange sense of disorientation. Where am I? he thought, his mind still trying to piece together the events that had led him here.
The first thing he noticed was the brightness of his surroundings. He was no longer surrounded by the darkness of the void. Instead, the air was warm and filled with the faint scent of incense, mingled with an unfamiliar fragrance he couldn't quite place. His body felt strangely small and fragile, as though he were trapped in a different version of himself.
Looking around, Wu Li saw the faces of strange people. There was a man and a woman, their features soft but regal, their expressions filled with adoration as they gazed down at him. They looked at him as if he were something precious, something important.
The man had a strong, imposing presence, yet his eyes were filled with a softness that didn't belong to the intense aura he radiated. The woman, standing beside him, had an expression that could only be described as filled with affection—her eyes reflecting warmth and a gentle pride as she looked at the tiny form of Wu Li.
Their faces were familiar, yet so alien. There was an odd sense of recognition in his chest, but no recollection in his mind. The feelings they elicited—affection, protection, even love—felt completely at odds with the disconnected state he was in.
He tried to speak, but all that came out was a weak cry, an infant's wail of confusion and helplessness. The man and woman exchanged a look, and their smiles deepened, though Wu Li felt only strangeness in the moment. Something about their warmth should have comforted him, but instead, it left him with a sense of unsettling alienation.
Who were they? Why did they look at him like that? And why did he feel like he was caught between two worlds—his memories of Earth and the new reality surrounding him?
The confusion was overwhelming, but as he tried to make sense of everything, the man's voice cut through the haze, calm yet filled with authority.
"Welcome home, Wu Li. You are no longer a stranger here."
The words hit him like a wave. His mind, still fragmented from his journey, struggled to comprehend what had just been said. He tried to piece it all together, but everything felt foreign, and his body, so small and incapable, only magnified the feeling of vulnerability.
The woman leaned over, her gentle hands reaching out toward him. Wu Li instinctively flinched, though he had no reason to fear her. Still, there was a disconnect—an almost unnerving separation between who he was, what he had been, and the infant he had become.
Wu Li had transmigrated, yes—but what did that mean now? He was no longer a graduate student from Earth, no longer living in the modern world he had known. The weight of this truth settled heavily on him.
This was the Myriad Immortal World. A place of immortality, cultivation, and arcane magic. And this… this new reality was his second life.