1 1. Reincarnation with a twist

If you asked anyone on the Internet who Lillian Ambers was they'd ask you what rock you lived under and then promptly reply: "Everyone knows who Lillian Ambers is, duh! She's the female Bear Grylls of the 21st century! Master Survivalist as wel as Master Martial Artist with championship titles in multiple disciplines, known even in underground fighting rings as "The invincible swordswoman", as well as programming extraordinaire that singlehandedly sped up game development industry evolution by good 30 years with her projects."

If you asked Lillian herself though she'd usually respond with: "Just an adventurer and explorer born in a wrong era. "

Currently Lillian, age 70, was in a place where you'd least expect a 70-year-old lady to be - sitting in a lotus position on top of the Peak of Himalayas. What was she doing there? - you might ask? She was trying to breakthrough.

You see, her statement was true. She really felt she was born in a wrong era, so she resorted to filling up her thirst of adventure and combat with martial arts and fantasy novels. It was shortly after discovering her prodigious martial arts talent that she happened upon cultivation novels. She gave up on ancient cultivation world but the Galactic Cultivation Empire-type novels gave her hope, that maybe, if cultivation really existed she could live until the Era of Great Cosmic Exoration. So she set herself a goal - to rediscover cultivation techniques or invent a working one. She didn't know what she did right, but somewhere she went in the right direction when experimenting and she managed a small breakthrough. Since then she continued in that direction and now she was nearing the first major boundary. Don't let her looks decieve you - thanks to her hard work she currently barely looked above 40 despite being 70 years old.

Currently Lillian was only a few breaths away from impacting the boundary. She stood up and shouted "break for me" and started performing the basic Tai-Chi kata one after another. Suddenly she felt something break inside her and with a major "crack" she found herself feeling enormous power that was now at her disposal. However, before she could start to celebrare, the clear sky flashed white with a sound of thunder, blinding her temporarily. When she recovered her sight she only had a second to see a gigantic tornado throwing a honking Truck towards her, before her whole world went dark.

Lillian woke up in a large white room quite disoriented. Looking at herself, she was currently a floating grey mist body that vaguely resembled a human, which she assumed was her soul form. After taking a moment to sort out her memories she started cussing like a sailor, finishing with screaming into the sky "Fuck you Truck-kun! 50 years of hard work and you deny me?!" Hearing a cough behind her, she instantly turned around only to end up face to face with amicably looking old man, whose face was currently stuck between an awkward and amused smile.

"Who are you? Don't tell me you're a god, I won't buy it" she asked.

He once again coughed, before replying "You're right of course. I'm what you'd best describe as Realm Spirit of your current universe."

"A Realm Spirit? Like in those cultivation novels?"

"You could say that, except the Laws of this Realm forbid cultivation. And that is why you unfortunately had to take your trip here my dear. Somehow, against the Laws and Will of Universe itself you managed to not only begin cultivation, but even to advance a major boundary. As such the Realm had no choice but to eliminate you from the living world. However fret not my child, for the laws of Multiverse are fair and the Realm is required to compensate you more than it took from you. That is also why we're meeting here instead of just chucking you into the Cycle of Reincarnation in a different world."

"Frankly speaking, your talents are inhumanely absurd. You'd be a peak tier talent in any Cultivation Universe. To make it better than it already is we(That is the Universe and I) will have to go beyond the scope of a Universe - we'll have to reincarnate you as a Primordial. On top of that you have to have a peak talent out of all the Primordial races, and that leaves us with only one option - the dragon race. Thank god for that 'Isekai exchange Program' we're running or the Universe would run out of resources to compensate you. You'll also gain some other benefits and we'll fulfill your wish and reincarnate you in Galactic Cultivation Era Universe. Now that my explanation is finished, do you have any questions?"

Lillian sit there quietly for a while digesting the sudden information dump. After she finished, she closed her eyes for a while then opened them with a sliver of her iron will flashing in her eyes.

"No, I understand everything and thank you for your trouble. My only wish is to have top cultivation techniques of my race as innate knowledge when I reincarnate."

"Ah, of course, that was one of the "bonuses" I mentioned. Since you're alright then off you go!" The Realm Spirit said before suddenly sending a gold orb into her soul, opening a space tear and throwing her inside.

'Ufff, for a second I thought she'd decline, there was a good chance if she did so the Multiverse itself would erease us. Crisis averted, I'm going to sleep for a few millenia, this job is way too stressful.'

He then turned towards sky and shouted:

"And you! Why do you wait until last minute?! Couldn't you just Isekai her with a truck after she broke the first boundary? I hate when you ruin my holidays. Stupid Universe... "