Pain.
A searing, bone-deep pain shot through her body, dragging her from the abyss of unconsciousness. Her fingers twitched, her breath came in shallow gasps, and her head throbbed like it had been split in two.
She wasn't dead?
Her last memory was of a battlefield soaked in blood, her sword heavy in her hand as she cut down enemy soldiers. Then, a sharp pain in her chest—the fatal strike. She had fallen, knowing her life was over. Yet here she was, breathing. Alive.
Her eyes snapped open, adjusting to the dim light filtering through the cracks of what appeared to be an unfamiliar ceiling. This wasn't the open sky of a battlefield, nor was it the luxurious chamber of her general's estate. It was… a strange room colored white with many strange things that were attached to her body?
She tried to move but found that her body was so weak that she couldn't even lift a finger. While she was struggling to understand how she was still alive after a spear went through her heart, she was struck by piercing pain in her head.
Unfamiliar memories surged in her brain and threatened to split her head open. Only then did she realize what was happening.
Chu Miao. Eighteen years old. A modern girl from a world completely different from her own. A car accident had left her in a coma for two weeks.
And now… she was her.
The realization sent a shiver down her spine. She had transmigrated into another body, another space and time. But why?
The priestess's words echoed in her mind:
The clock sighs its final breath,
shadows curling like dying embers.
I walk the thread of twilight's edge,
where echoes of fate murmur in riddles.
Death lingers, a whispering tide,
a hush before the storm of rebirth.
Not into the silence of forgotten names,
but into a world where the sky burns red.
A face not my own, eyes unknown,
a stranger draped in my soul's remnants.
The wind howls of ruin to come,
a month's grace before the earth shatters.
Steel and ash, hunger and blood—
I stand where hope and horror entwine.
The end was only a door,
and beyond it, the war of my second life begins.
A prophecy. It hadn't been mere superstition after all. The priestess had told this prophecy when she was only nine years old and starting to cultivate. Everyone had taken it lightly, except her grandfather, the feared general of their kingdom. He had used his spare time to train her diligently that he would only let her go once she collapsed from exhaustion.
As a result, her cultivation had progressed much faster than her peers and even older children in their clan and other families. She started following her grandfather to the battlefield when she was twelve years old. She had led troops to win various battles and pushed enemies past their defense lines, earning her the title of 'Little General' by the time she was sixteen.
She had perished at the age of eighteen at the great battle between their kingdom and an alliance of the three surrounding kingdoms. Even though she had died and reborn in a different era, she was happy and had no burden because she new the war had been won. Her family was safe.
Chu Miao came back to her senses and her fingers clenched the bedsheet as she absorbed the truth. This world was strange, but it was now hers. She had to adapt.
But as she took a slow breath, something else stirred within her—a familiar presence. Her heart pounded as she closed her eyes and reached inward.
Space.
An ancient, boundless space existed within her consciousness, just as it had before. Relief flooded her as she willed it to respond. The next moment, a small crack in reality appeared before her, revealing a storage ring—her storage ring. It had crossed into this world with her. With another thought, it disappeared.
Her space ring had always been different from others. While other rings where just a space that can be transferred to someone else after erasing one's divine sense, hers was attached to her soul. It was a family heirloom that her grandfather had given her. It is said to have been in their Chu family for generations but had never recognized a master since their ancestor died. She was the first to get the ring to recognize her. Nevertheless, she had not discovered many functions of the ring, except storing items and using it for cultivation. It had rich spiritual energy and a spiritual spring that can help restore spiritual energy faster.
Her grandfather had warned her about letting others know about it once the ring recognized her as it's master. He had given her another normal space ring to use as a cover. She knew that if others found out that her ring was a cultivation paradise then she would be in trouble. She could be hunted down for treasure, hence, apart from her grandfather, she never let anyone else know about it. Not even her mother. Speaking of her mother, she became sad, thinking that she would be heartbroken because of her death.
She was only sad for a moment when she remembered the prophecy and realized that she didn't have the luxury of wallowing in her emotions. She only had a month before the earth is thrown into destruction. She had to get better and prepare. Thanks to the memories of the host, she already knew what to do.
Luckily, the host loved reading fantasy novels and happened to have read a couple of books about the apocalypse. So, she had an idea of what to prepare. But, first she had to take stock of what she had in her space and plan how to get stronger before the apocalypse hits.
With a thought, she pulled an object from within. A glimmering jade bottle landed in her palm. She opened it and the scent of spiritual energy filled her nose. Elixirs. This was a jade bottle of spirit gathering elixirs. There were other similar bottles with different types of elixirs. They are her capital for becoming stronger.
Everything she had accumulated in her past life was still there.
Her lips curved into a sharp, knowing smile. The gods had not forsaken her.