In the void of endless darkness, a soul was floating aimlessly. Around it were countless souls moving forward. But unlike the others, this soul was a bit strange. It was more powerful than the rest. Soon, all the souls entered the River of the Dead, but this one didn't; instead, it was pulled into a different space along with another soul. The other soul was weaker than it but still tried to resist. In the struggle, the powerful soul won and eventually fell asleep.
…
When the soul opened its eyes, it felt groggy, unable to understand what was happening around it. It could hear some voices but couldn't grasp their meaning. Soon, it fell asleep again.
When it opened its eyes once more, it found itself in the body of a young man around 17 years old. He tried to sit up but couldn't—his entire body felt as though it were falling apart. A painful groan escaped his lips. Soon, he heard a girl's voice close by.
"Young master, are you alright? You finally woke up. I was so worried. Do you need anything?"
The boy looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman in her 30s standing beside his bed. She was stunningly beautiful, with a figure that seemed to strain against her loose clothing. Her hair was a blend of blonde and brown, and she wore a maid's outfit. Her worried eyes were fixed on him.
He looked at her, uncertain of what to say. He couldn't even remember who she was. When he tried to recall her name, a sharp, intense pain hit him, so severe that he lost consciousness again.
…
He found himself in a dark void surrounded by orbs of light. He couldn't understand what was happening. He reached out and touched one of the orbs, and instantly, fragmented memories appeared in his mind, though they made little sense to him. Not knowing what else to do, he decided to absorb all the memories from the orbs first.
After what felt like an eternity, the memories finally started to piece together. He understood everything, and a wry smile crossed his face.
It turned out that the soul he devoured earlier was a reincarnator. When that soul died, it fell into the river of time and returned to its past self. However, due to erosion from the river of time, it had weakened, allowing him to absorb it.
Because the body was still alive and the reincarnator's soul was still bound to it, the river of souls had tried to return the soul to its original body. But since he had defeated and absorbed it, the river had instead placed him in the body.
He could only consider himself lucky. Looking through the memories, he learned a bit about the world he was now in. The name of this person was Ye Chan, the young master of the Ye family. Due to the erosion of time and his devouring, much of Ye Chan's memory was fragmented, but he managed to piece together the essentials.
Ye Chan had seven sisters who despised him. When he was two years old, he had been kidnapped by the family's enemies. At that time, everyone had loved him dearly, especially his mother. In his absence, his mother had been heartbroken, and the family eventually adopted another boy named Ye Tian.
When Ye Chan was twelve, his family found and brought him back. However, by then, Ye Tian feared losing his position and started acting obediently while secretly framing Ye Chan for various offenses, like theft, bullying, and even peeping on the family's honored guests. Everyone believed Ye Tian, and Ye Chan was punished repeatedly.
Desperate for his family's affection, Ye Chan stayed, enduring everything. Despite his good nature, he was never good enough in their eyes, and they kept his existence hidden from the world.
Eventually, Ye Tian killed many people to ascend to godhood and framed Ye Chan as a cultist. The family and others killed Ye Chan while Ye Tian watched coldly.
The memories were incomplete, but he had a general understanding of things. After seeing them, he decided it was best to leave this family; as he was not the real Ye Chan, he would not even use his name. All he remembered from his own past was his name: Lith, so he decided to go by that.
After wanting to leave the void, he suddenly found himself back in the bed. He noticed the woman from earlier, Julia, sleeping beside the bed.
From the memories, he learned her name. In the past life, Ye Tian had desired her, but before he could have her, she had taken her own life. Ye Tian blamed the original Ye Chan for her death, claiming he had loved her. As punishment, the original Ye Chan was sent to an icy cell for five years, tortured by the frigid winds.
Seeing him awake, Julia stirred.
"Young master, what happened to you? You were in a coma for five days."
Hearing her words stirred complex feelings within him. Before he could respond, he was pulled back into the dark void again. This time, he found a dilapidated castle there. It was small, and he didn't know what to make of it, so he entered. Inside, the walls were cracked, and the paint was peeling off. He wondered why such a place existed here.
In the main hall, he saw a throne. Bored, he decided to sit on it and think of a way to leave this place. As soon as he sat on the throne, he felt a strange connection—a feeling as if he were now part of the castle.