Chapter 1: Lin Ji Chen
Blue Star.
Jiangling West Mountain Cemetery.
A woman stood silently in front of a newly erected tombstone, paying her last respects to its owner.
The tombstone bore the name of the deceased: Lin Ji Chen, aged 29.
The woman was Ren Lan, Lin Ji Chen’s senior from college.
She stood quietly before the tombstone, staring at the photo on it. The person in the photo was handsome and elegant, with eyes as bright as stars.
Ren Lan gazed at the photo, lost in thought.
A cemetery worker approached, pushing a cart with a black ebony urn on it.
“It’s time for the burial, ma’am. Would you like to place it in yourself, or shall we do it?” the worker asked.
“I’ll do it,” Ren Lan replied.
With a heavy heart, she walked over, carefully took the urn, and gently placed it into the small square pit beneath the tombstone.
“I never thought our reunion after so many years would be like this,” she murmured to herself, her eyes misting with tears.
Her voice choked with emotion, unable to hide her grief.
“If only you had listened to me back then, you wouldn’t have ended up like this. You had such a bright future in ‘Bahuang,’ but you trusted the wrong person and got deceived… Never mind, it’s all over now…”
“Ma’am, you should place the deceased’s belongings in the grave as well,” the worker reminded her.
Ren Lan nodded, tearfully placing the last of Lin Ji Chen’s belongings into the grave.
Suddenly, she remembered something and quickly retrieved a voice recorder from the items.
There was a note attached to the recorder, with a line of small characters: “Ren Lan, open this when I’m buried.”
Ren Lan had always remembered, but in her grief, she nearly forgot.
Holding the recorder in her hand, Ren Lan chose to play it. A voice message began to play.
“Hey crazy woman, long time no see, haha. Bet you didn’t expect this, I’ve achieved immortality and am ascending to the celestial realm. We probably won’t see each other again. I figured you’d miss me, so I left you this recording…”
The voice was cheerful, with no hint of the seriousness or sadness typically associated with last words, jokingly comparing his death to achieving immortality.
Ren Lan wasn’t surprised at all because she knew Lin Ji Chen, always so optimistic and sunny.
The recording continued.
“Actually, I want to apologize. I should have listened to you earlier, but it’s my own fault for being blind. I’m sorry, Ren Lan. If we have fate, let’s meet in the next life. I’ll still let you bully me and be your punching bag… Hehe… So… it’s time to say goodbye…”
At this point, Ren Lan’s tears streamed down her face. This was the first time she cried since she could remember.
The first time she cried was when Lin Ji Chen misunderstood her and cut off contact.
Known as a strong-willed woman who never cried, Ren Lan broke down because of Lin Ji Chen.
However, in the next moment, the tone of the recording abruptly changed.
“What the hell! Where is this? Why is it so dark?”
“Aren’t I supposed to be ascending to immortality? Why am I locked in a small box? Help!”
“Is there anyone out there to save me? I’m scared! Yamete!”
“Dame da! Dame yo! Dame na no yo~”
Several workers nearby were amused. They had never encountered such an odd last message.
Their profession usually trained them not to laugh.
Ren Lan also laughed, wiping her tears, and cursed at the tombstone, “Lin Ji Chen, you bastard!”
….
Ding ding dong dong…
The ringtone of a phone woke Lin Ji Chen from his sleep.
“Ugh, my head hurts.”
Lin Ji Chen opened his eyes, his body and the air around him reeking of alcohol and the acidic smell of vomit.
Looking at the room, which felt both unfamiliar and somewhat familiar, his mind was momentarily blank.
“Damn, where am I? Why does it look so much like my college dorm?”
“Wasn’t I fatally wounded by the boss Zhu Jiuyin in the Ascension Realm and beyond help, finally dying? How am I still alive?”
“Wait! Where’s my storage ring? My alchemy house? Why is everything gone?”
…
Ten minutes later.
After repeatedly confirming, Lin Ji Chen realized the truth.
He had been reborn.
Back to ten years ago!
This time, he had just finished the college entrance exam and was a freshman.
At nineteen, he was young and full of energy.
As for why he was reborn, Lin Ji Chen thought carefully.
If he wasn’t mistaken, it had something to do with the jade pendant he snatched from Zhu Jiuyin’s cave.
Right after he grabbed the jade pendant, it disappeared. But in the moment before his death, he vaguely remembered seeing the pendant again, emitting a dazzling light.
Then, he was reborn ten years ago.
After pondering for a moment, Lin Ji Chen remembered.
Before “Bahuang” merged with the real world, there had always been a rumor.
The Mightiest Beast in the Immortal Realm, Zhu Jiuyin, possessed a supreme artifact known as the Double Fish Pendant, which allowed one to comprehend the laws of the Heavenly Dao.
Yet no one had ever successfully obtained it. Betrayed and left for dead, he unexpectedly fell into Zhu Jiuyin’s deep cave.
Taking the pendant, it was highly likely that it was the legendary Double Fish Pendant.
Unexpectedly, this legendary artifact granted him a chance at rebirth.
“Since the heavens have not forsaken me, Xu Zikui and Guo Jie, you two traitors! In this life, I will make you experience the taste of being despised and abandoned, a life worse than death!”
Lin Jichen stood up and approached the mirror in his dormitory, gazing at his reflection. His eyes flickered with a cold gleam and a chilling intensity.
Before his rebirth, he had just experienced the most tragic and desperate moments of his life.
His girlfriend of ten years, Guo Jie, had betrayed him, getting together with his most trusted brother, Xu Zikui.
The two even conspired to deceive him of all the wealth, immortal powers, and magical treasures he had accumulated over ten years.
In the end, they tricked him into the abyss of Zhu Jiuyin to die.
Even though Lin Jichen was already a Dao-Understanding powerhouse and the world’s top magic cultivator at the time, he couldn’t withstand the formidable Immortal Realm beast. He narrowly escaped with severe injuries.
Due to his grave injuries, beyond the aid of any medicine, Lin Jichen soon passed away.
Reflecting on his past life, Lin Jichen realized he had lived a life of utter tragedy.
He had squandered a winning hand.
He had so many better choices and many people who truly cared for him.
But due to his stubbornness and overconfidence in his own judgment,
he pushed away the girls who sincerely treated him well, responded to them with cold words, yet embraced and doted on a woman with a heart of a viper.
Thinking back, Lin Jichen found himself utterly ridiculous.
Heaven had mercy, allowing him to return ten years ago, in the year 2040.
On August 8, 2040, on this day,
a virtual reality game with 100% realism, named “Eight Desolations,” made its grand debut.
Developed autonomously by the so-called cosmic-level artificial intelligence ‘Nüwa,’ this game was crafted with the cultural backgrounds of various nations, creating a groundbreaking first virtual reality game.
Originally, everyone thought it was just a virtual game.
However, five years after the game’s launch, strange things began to happen!
At first, a few players discovered that abilities and treasures from the game could be brought into the real world, and even NPCs from the game could appear in reality.
Once this discovery was exposed, players worldwide frantically poured into “Eight Desolations” to obtain various abilities, cultivation levels, treasures, immortal arts, divine powers, and more.
But along with this came all kinds of demons, bosses, and monstrous tides from the game, all appearing in reality.
Eventually, the game world even merged with the real world.
It was this game that made Lin Jichen a Dao-Understanding powerhouse, giving him everything and taking it all away.
But now, everything starts from scratch, from the beginning.
Lin Jichen was confident that with his ten years of knowledge about “Eight Desolations,”
all the secret realms, hidden quests, immortal abodes, divine pets, and divine weapons, he knew them all inside out.
With the skills honed over these ten years, Lin Jichen was absolutely confident he could become the strongest cultivator in “Eight Desolations”!
The game had been running for ten years, but excluding the time of world fusion, it had only operated for five years.
And Lin Jichen had only played for four years.
He encountered the game a year after its public release, and his start was very unlucky, with only a very mediocre talent.
Even so, he still later rose to prominence.
He caught up with most players and even squeezed into the top ten of the [Eight Desolations Heavenly Rankings].
The current date was August 7, 2040.
The public release of “Eight Desolations” was tonight!
Lin Jichen took deep breaths to calm his emotions. He swept away the gloom from before his rebirth, smiled at the mirror,
In this life, he would start anew, seek vengeance!
In this life, he would make up for all the regrets and compensate those he had wronged.
In this life, he would not waste a single year or the precious initial time of the game.
Even if the start was the same as his previous life, with only a mediocre talent,
Lin Jichen was confident he could use his knowledge of “Eight Desolations” and ten years of skills to leave everyone far behind and dominate the entire Eight Desolations world!**
Ding ding dong dong…
The phone rang again.
Lin Jichen picked up the Huawei Tianwen phone from ten years ago, seeing the caller ID: [Crazy Woman].
Seeing this name, Lin Jichen couldn’t help but smile brightly and immediately chose to answer.
“Xiao Linzi! Why did it take you so long to answer my call? Something big has happened. I have some explosive news for you; you must stay strong!”
On the other end, a young and energetic girl’s voice came through.
Lin Jichen didn’t care about the content; he was just savoring the sound of her voice.
How long had it been since he heard this voice? Ten whole years.
Yet it was still so familiar and kind.
“I’m sorry, Crazy Woman,” Lin Jichen suddenly whispered.
“Huh? What are you apologizing for?” The person on the other end clearly didn’t understand.
“Nothing, just felt like saying it.”
Lin Jichen chuckled, brushing it off casually.
In his previous life, he had wronged two girls the most, and Ren Lan was one of them.
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