Chapter 2: Shadow

When Lin Longtian woke up, he found himself in his bed, wearing nothing and laid bare naked on his bed; revealing an extremely muscular body that a shut-in NEET like himself clearly didn't have before.

That is, if he had taken notice of his sudden body change. His attention, however, was on something else entirely more...supernatural.

"What the hell..." He mumbled under his breath.

He was surrounded by dark energy, and the air had a heavy feeling to it. He looked around, trying to get his bearings, and saw that he was on his bed with the sight outside of his window door balcony showing that it was still night.

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered to himself as he got to his feet, looking at his hands in disbelief.

They looked different from before, well, not physically but with black markings on them that seemed to pulse with dark energy.

As he stood there, still trying to process the situation, he suddenly heard a deep voice in his head filled with sadness and regret.

"Thousands of years of cultivation, all went to waste with a single failed step. Hahaha!" his hoarse laughter was filled with clear bitterness and grief. "All my efforts, wasted! Everything that I've worked hard for, all for nothing as I have died!"

Lin Longtian's heart raced as the voice echoed in his mind. He couldn't understand what was happening, but one thing was clear- he was not alone.

"Who...who are you?" Lin Longtian stuttered, taking a step back.

"...It has been a very long time since someone has not recognized someone as famous as me." The voice paused for a moment, "Though that was back on my homeworld. To think that the last trace of my tribulation lightning pierced through the several bounded fields of space and time that separates the Immortal Realm and the Earthen Plane and struck someone as unlucky as you!"

"But looking at the current situation, I don't know if it's right to call it unlucky or not..."

Lin Longtian, winced, feeling a surge of fear rise as he heard the voice respond in his mind, he wasn't dreaming! Someone or something was in his head!

Panic started to rise in his heart but his gamer attitude, especially his FPS mindset to keep a calm and collected mind, quickly took over.

He took a deep breath and managed to steady himself.

"I asked, who are you?" He asked, more calmly and confident than his previous behavior.

Silence permeated the room, the lights around his room began to dim.

"Well, well. I'm impressed at your mentality to speak steadfastly at a random voice in your head without panicking." The voice sounded amused before continuing, "My name is of no concern for you at the moment, as you will soon know all about me, but to keep you

Lin Longtian's mind was blown, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. An Immortal was talking to him, and was in his head? It was beyond his wildest imagination!

"What? How is that even possible?!" He asked, in disbelief.

What's worse, he had a feeling that the voice wasn't lying nor was it some kind of hallucination.

After all, he could still clearly, and very vividly, remember being struck by lightning! And just an hour later, judging by his wall clock, he survived that with no visible scratch on him! And how did he end back on the bed?!

Lin Longtian might be a shut-in NEET but he wasn't an extreme addict of games, anime or anything related to them to the point he'd start tripping.

...Or did he drink something wrong from his fridge?

"No. You didn't drink anything wrong, and this is not a hallucination." The voice seemed to read his thoughts once again, "You have been chosen, though involuntarily, as my successor, Lin Longtian."

"Successor? What are you talking about?" Lin Longtian asked, his confusion growing.

The voice paused, as if contemplating how to explain it properly.

"To put it simply, I am an Immortal who failed his tribulation, a being who had cultivated for eons to reach the peak of power, only for it all to go to waste with a single misstep." The voice sounded faintly sorrowful, "Truth be told, I was so confident in my ascension to the next stage that I didn't leave behind anything for a successor, not even a tomb!"

"Do you know how humiliating that is for a Immortal, especially someone like me, to not leave behind a great inheritance tomb for younger generations to desecrate and loot for them grow by leaps and bounds?"

"I, I honestly don't know how to respond to that..."

The voice snorted, "Well of course you don't, you're just a normal mortal! Haaah." he let out a deep sigh. "Sorry for that rude outburst, I was just so....frustrated with things, you know? Being dead, after I've invested so much into my work and for it to all go in literal smoke."

"....Uh, yeah. Yeah, my condolences, I guess," Lin Longtian scratched his cheek, muttering under his breath, utterly bewildered. "Look, I'm gonna be honest with you. You are not what I expected you to be when you said you were an Immortal."

"Why? What did you expect?"

"Rude, disrespectful, arrogant, got a long stick up your ass." Lin Longtian said, uncurling his fingers one by one. "Basically a typical young master kind of behavior or what elders do to people younger than themselves because they lived longer."

The Immortal made a sound of understanding, "Ah, I get what you mean. Yeah, most of the Immortals or old bastards that I'd come across sometimes would act like that. Truly idiotic."

"So cultivators are that troublesome, senior?" Unexpectedly, Lin Longtian started calling the Immortal in his head respectfully as a senior.

The guy was unexpectedly amicable after all, it would just be a dick move to not pay respect to someone who lived for thousands of years and is being civil.

"Yes," His voice was filled with bitterness, "Cultivators can be petty, selfish and prideful, especially those who are close to achieving their goals, like me. It's why I regret not leaving anything behind for a successor. But now, I have no choice but to make you my successor, Lin Longtian. You have been marked by a portion of my power, and with it, you will be able to cultivate and accomplish feats that are beyond those of ordinary mortals."

...Excuse me, what?

Lin Longtian took a moment to absorb everything that the Immortal had just said, tilting his head, and said. "What?"

"...You're kinda slow, huh?"

"Hey!"

"Did you not hear me earlier when I said that the tribulation lightning that had killed me and soon after struck you?"

"Yeah..." Lin Longtian slowly nodded, having a bad feeling.

"Well, when I failed on taking on my tribulation lightning and failed my ascension, my body and soul was then absorbed by that tribulation lightning." he started to explain,

"You see, for those who fail the lighting trials sent by the Heavenly Dao to undergo an evolution of one's state of existence, they will have their entire cultivation burnt to nothingness, their body and soul swallowed into one of the tribulation lightning and be slowly refined by the Yin-Yang energies of the tribulation lightning until they either become Qi energy, turning into another tribulation lightning, or be sent into the Six Paths of Reincarnation."

A deep sigh was released, "Unfortunately however, I was to be turned into pure Qi Energy as I can feel my soul already sizzled by the lightning to the point I can never recover and even reincarnate, doom for eternal darkness to what happens when a soul disappears."

"So that's why you didn't just snatch my body and reincarnate..."

The Immortal didn't take offense to his remark, chuckling in response, "Hahaha. Can't blame you for thinking that. Truth be told, I had actually momentarily taken possession of your body when you were unconscious after being struck."

Lin Longtian's eyes widened, "Wait, what? You possessed my body?!" he realized something and looked down at himself and hurriedly went to get new clothes to wear, finally remembering that he was buck naked. "....So that's why I was on my bed than out on the balcony."

"Yes, but only for a short while, as I realized the condition of my soul and wouldn't be able to permanently take control." The Immortal explained. "Well, everything else that you need to know would soon be imparted inside your mind because...I am now...dissipating...."

The Immortal's voice was getting slower and weaker as he continued, "The tribulation lightning that struck you had the properties of my Shadow Immortal Physique and most of my soul's knowledge....all of which...are now imbued into you..."

"Wait, senior! I-I don't want to inherit

'You gotta be kidding me, I'm content with my life and I don't want any cultivation bullshit to keep me away from it! I've read enough of this type of situation to know that forces in and out of my world would start messing with me! No!!'

Lin Longtian listened, feeling a mix of fear and confusion, inwardly yelling as the Immortal's voice trailed off and eventually faded away completely before leaving one last sentence.

"You are now this King's true and last successor...fully inheriting the title of the Shadow!"

He was left standing there, in his room, with black markings on his hands, and an overwhelming amount of knowledge and power he didn't know how to handle. It was a lot to process, but he knew that he had to figure things out quickly.

"Oh god..." Oh was he kidding, his shut-in life was completely fucked.

As he looked out the window, towards the night sky, he realized that his life was never going to be the same again. But, for better or worse, he was going to face whatever was coming his way.

For his solitary life.

....

Over at a huge and expensive looking palace in the Province City.

"Did you all feel that intense surge of Qi a couple of hours ago in the city? It wasn't anything I, who lived for over two hundred years, have ever anything felt like it! It must be some supreme treasure! The other bastards must've also sensed it, hurry and find it!"

"Yes sir!"

"Yufei, you also go with the disciples. Whatever it takes, you must get this treasure for our family!"

"Yes, grandfather!"

....

For games, anime, comics, novels, and most importantly, the internet!

....

A beautiful woman with long and luscious red hair, wearing only a white towel that barely covers her voluptuous figure, had a frown on her face as she turned towards the wall.

"What was that intense energy I felt earlier from Longtian's room earlier? Did he somehow start cultivating? Even so, that burst of Qi essence is too much for a new cultivator to release. What's going on?"

She hummed for a moment before shaking her head, turning towards her wardrobe, she muttered,

"I'll just ask him later on after work. Haah, I sometimes really do envy his lifestyle. I am really not a morning person."

.....

He was going to fight, for his lifestyle.

"Fuck it! Whatever happens, happens I guess..."

With a deep breath, with the new dawn of light permeating through his balcony window, shining upon his muscular body, he took his first step towards a new life, towards the unknown future that lay ahead of him.