Darkness enveloped me. Not the oppressive, suffocating kind of darkness, but a dim red hue that pulsed faintly, as if I were trapped inside something alive. The faint glow shifted and throbbed rhythmically, surrounding me with an odd sense of warmth and unease.
Where am I?
My first thought was panic—pure, unfiltered panic. I felt like I was floating in some kind of liquid, suspended in an alien environment with no sense of direction or reality. I raised my hand—or at least I thought I did—but it was blurry, indistinct, as though my very existence was… incomplete.
What's happening to me?
Memories surfaced, fragments of my life before this moment. I was a data analyst. A regular guy living a mundane, uneventful life. Nothing in my reality could have prepared me for this. Another wave of terror hit me. Could this be death?
But before the thought could sink its claws into me, a strange sensation began to take hold. A faint warmth—comforting and reassuring—spread through me. Then, as if an unseen dam had broken, information started to flood into my mind. Disjointed pieces, fragments of an impossible truth, yet they all pointed to one undeniable conclusion:
I'm inside a woman's womb.
The realization hit me like a lightning strike. The warmth, the pulsating glow, the confined space—it all made sense now. I wasn't just floating aimlessly. I had been reborn.
Instead of relief, a cold dread filled me. I'd read enough novels about reincarnation to know the tropes. These stories were always exhilarating to read, but the reality? The reality was terrifying. Reincarnation meant danger.
A single thought began looping in my mind: A world of cultivation.
Excitement and fear warred within me. The possibilities were endless—unfathomable! But so were the risks. I knew what kind of world cultivation was: ruthless, deadly, where the weak were crushed and the strong ruled. A single mistake could lead to ruin.
Yet none of that scared me more than one question: Why am I here?
Paranoia set in. My mind raced with scenarios. What if I'm a pawn? A piece in some grand cosmic game, moved around by a higher power for its amusement? That thought alone sent shivers down my spine. I hated the idea of being manipulated. It was a visceral hatred, the kind that burned deeper than fear.
What if I'm just a reincarnated soul with some cliché backstory? Maybe I was an ancient cultivator reborn after my tragic death, and now my past-life lover was trying to resurrect me. Or worse, some mysterious entity had plans for me, thinking I'd obediently follow their script.
No.
A defiant clarity swept over me. I would not be a pawn. Whoever or whatever had placed me here would not control me. I clenched my thoughts as though clenching fists, forging an iron resolve.
Eventually, my thoughts settled. My breathing—mental or otherwise—slowed. I needed to focus on what was real, not the spiraling chaos in my head.
That's when I noticed it. A connection, faint but tangible, linking me to… my mother? I could sense her emotions, hear faint whispers of the world outside. Despite the alien nature of the language, I understood it intuitively.
And then came the moment that shook me to my core.
The world she lived in, the energy she wielded, the very laws that governed her reality… they were exactly like the world of cultivation I had envisioned. A concept I'd designed, fleshed out in the depths of my imagination, was now reality.
I was stunned. My mind churned with possibilities. Could this truly be the world I had created in my thoughts?
And then, a new emotion took hold. Excitement. Overwhelming, boundless excitement. If this truly was the world I had envisioned, then…
Is it possible?
The question echoed in my mind, growing louder with each repetition. Can I do it? Can I reach it?
A manic laugh bubbled up within me, silent but unstoppable.
And then, as my thoughts crystallized, a single word emerged from the chaos. One word, pure and absolute. The moment it appeared in my mind, I felt it ripple outward, affecting not just me, but my mother as well. I felt her smile faintly from the outside, her lips whispering the word I had just thought of:
"The One."
In that moment, it became more than a question. It was a promise. A goal. My reason to exist.