Chapter 1 - Rebirth

Li Fen felt that her soul has been floating within a dark space for what seemed like an eternity. At first, she felt a sense of panic, but as she floated endlessly her previous emotions were dulled to the point of a strange sense of calmness.

At the moment, Li Fen found herself engulfed in the most comfortable way she has ever felt before. Her body felt light, as she floated in the endless darkness, she was complete without any worries as she casually moved around.

She was well aware that she had died. Though it seemed as if the dark space was trying to remove the attachments she formed within her lifetime, including the friends she made and her family, Li Fen still clutched onto these feelings in refusal to let go.

Li Fen felt somewhat unwilling to let go, after all, she was about to achieve her life's dream and now it has been removed from her right when it was within her grasp. She has family and friends who love her, and a whole lifetime ahead of her, after all, she was a young girl at the end of the day who was just at the beginning of her life.

Although Li Fen kept thinking of the important figures within her life, her parents, Jinjing and her Grandfather, she knew she was dead and there was no possible way for her to return to her previous life. Death, however, didn't seem as terrible as expected, despite the darkness and emptiness, there were no horrific monsters or a long-bright staircase were leading towards a path of light. There was just nothing apart from an endless sea of darkness.

Li Fen felt that her surroundings were so calming, that she soon felt her previous worries subside, of the fact that she is leaving behind her parents and friends.She ended up feeling an unexplainable feeling that everything will be alright.

Suddenly, Li Fen was startled as she heard faint mumbling seemingly behind her. Her soul felt alert, as she attempted to interpret what was being said. But all she could hear was muffled, and no matter how hard she concentrated she couldn't seem to decipher anything of what the voice is saying.

For a while, Li Fen felt that a sense of panic threatened to overtake her, however, even if she desired to move away it was an impossible thought, as her consciousness seemed to be completely trapped in the sea of darkness.

Li Fen focused her attention on the sounds, but then after observing in her surroundings for a while, she noticed a change within the sea of darkness. Faint silvery flames have begun to emerge as she felt the space around her trembling, as a suction force seemed to be dragging her towards an unknown direction.

Li Fen felt her consciousness flicker slightly, as she seemed to rush towards a dark tunnel as the silvery flames began to grow more intense before she finally fell towards an unknown tunnel. Li Fen felt like she was falling, and every length and meter was felt by her.

It was a strange experience, but Li Fen noticed she seemed to be speeding up, as she felt that as time continued to pass her speed grew steadily. And if she previously moved a few meters within what felt like a month, then she now felt as if she was travelling a few meters a day, eventually, she could feel herself falling at a high speed near the end.

A feeling of fear aroused from within her heart, as she began to grow concerned about her future. She had no idea how the dark tunnel or silverly flames seemed capable of controlling time, or at least her sense of time. But she had no options in being able to do anything anyway, so she just calmed herself down by thinking she was dead anyway and no matter what happened to her she won't feel any pain.

Eventually, she felt that her surroundings have stopped moving, but it was not an abrupt stop but one which was built up over time until her speed come to a gradual stop.

As Li Fen observed her surroundings and noticed a subtle change, but currently she was still unable to comprehend what is going on.

A moment of silence followed on Li Fen's arrival, of whatever it was until she began to once again hear the precious muffled voices in the surroundings. Though different from last time, they were no longer low muffles, but hurried voices which sound as if they yelling directly at her.

The darkness changed from a black tunnel to a light shade, a shade that Li Fen was very familiar with.

Li Fen only needed a moment to comprehend her situation and realised she was no longer in a soul, but once again contained within a body. A sense of shock filled her heart as it increased its beat. She then noticed the darkness surrounding her was as a result of having her eyes closed, but opening them seemed to be a difficult task.

Li Fen was filled with awe and curiously, after all, she was dead, she was sure of that. So how come she suddenly found herself in a new body? Though it was impossible to move this body, as she felt that even opening her eyes seemed to be a cumbersome task never mind attempting to move the rest of her limbs.

However, even if Li Fen felt that she had to live like a vegetable, it would be worth it if she could see her Grandfather and parents one last time.

Her dread of the situation disappeared as she felt, that this was truly a gift from the heavens if she could be reunited with her family and friends once again. Maybe she could even attempt to get her body to move.

Li Fen decides to attempt to move her limbs, to see if they were all still connected from the accident. A relieved sigh emerged from Li Fen as she felt the familiar feeling of her limbs somewhat following her orders.

Though despite this she still felt that something was amiss. Li Fen's body felt completely different from before the strange lightning bolt struck her, but she decided that such details can be thought of at a later time. The most important issue was waking up so she can return to her family, so she focused all of the energy in her body to get her tired, closed eyelids to open.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise as she saw the somewhat look of a bearded giant in front of her. It was a rough-looking man with a beard so thick and close to her face that she felt that she could reach out for it if she stretched her arms.

After letting out that temporary sound out of her mouth, she couldn't help but freeze as she dared not to make another sound or move a muscle. But, the fear in her eyes remained as she couldn't help but feel deeply shocked by the current events.

The giant man seemed to be mildly surprised by her outburst, but then he suddenly began to roar with laughter in a pleased manner as she felt she was being lifted by the brute.

Li Fen first thought was to escape the clutches of the man to a safe place, but she is held tightly within his grasp, with no way to escape with this giant holding her.

At the very least he didn't seem hostile in any way, instead, he seemed very happy about the situation, however, this doesn't stop the fact that she has found herself in a precarious situation.

Li Fen was terrified, she expected to awake to find the faces of her friends and family and her mindset was a positive one, but now everything was thrown out of the window as she felt afraid for her future and new life.

"Calm down honey, be gentle you're scaring her." An exhausted but gentle voice sounded from the side, as she slowly turned her head in the direction of the voice.

It was hard to even move her head or open her eyes, but Li Fen still forced herself to do so, as she had no choice but to stay on guard because of her new surroundings.

Looking around Li Fen noticed she seemed to be in a work down bedroom, in what seemed to be in some rundown shack. Li Fen furrowed her brows, as she couldn't help but wonder if she had gone back in time as the interiors exactly resembled one which would be found fo be owned by commoners in ancient China.

Li Fen noticed that something about the air in the environment was much richer than what she was used to, but most importantly Li Fen understood that giants do not exist so she may at be in another world.

The bed in the bedroom was currently occupied by a woman, who was clearly beautiful but right now her features were contorted in a mixture of exhaustion and pain.

The lower part of the bed was currently covered in blood and a young girl stood by washing the woman.Li Fen was both fearful and confused, as the current situation was beyond her level of understanding. She knew that these giants did not seem to be hostile, but after looking at the two adult giants she found that the best means of gaining information would probably be from them.

Although Li Fen firmly decided to seek help from the friendly giants, she couldn't help but draw in a few breaths to help stabilise herself to calm down.

But, as she opened her mouth to speak, she found that her words ended up sounding out like, "Goo goo, Gah... Uwhaa!", which completely didn't make sense. Li Fens' eyes widened as she felt a sudden strange and uncomfortable premonition.

"Oh, listen, darling, our daughter is already trying to speak!" The bearded giant said as he carried Li Fen over to the woman, "Look at her isn't our girl a genius!" That was a tenderness in his voice, the same type of fondness in how he looked at the woman.

The tenderness and care the giant couple was showing her at this moment reminded her of her parents, who she knew despite their arguments loved her deeply.

This made feel an even more sense of heartache as she began to think of the suffering they must be going through as a result of her premature death.

It made her miss the fact that she would never talk to them again randomly, or be scolded by them for having a 'stupid' career choice.

She then felt that she missed her best friend Jinjing, who has accompanied her as her closest friend since she was a young girl in the nursery. This sudden realisation made her realise she may never see them again.

Lying on her new mother's bosom, Li Fen forced herself to ignore the pain and longing she felt for the loss of her parents. Instead, she began to recall everything that had happened to herMaybe she should have believed the old lady when she said the pendant was cursed, it truly did seem to be responsible for killing. 'If I could go back, I would surely slap myself before I would choose to buy that thing!' She thought.

'Obviously, it was caused by my profound and mighty power!' A haughty voice suddenly sounded in her mind, causing her to be even more spooked by the events taking place.

'Who are you?' She asked tentatively, whilst trying to remember where she has heard this voice before. However, as soon as she remembered, she recalled it was the voice she heard whilst she died.Li Fen instantly felt alert, as she knew that in her current body she could do nothing to this mysterious figure.

'Is this some sort of grim reaper?' She thought as it seemed the voice was amused by her current thoughts as a hearty laugh sounded.

'Ahh, not bad kid. I never thought you would offer me such amusement.' The voice exclaimed happily as if she was somehow praising it. 'I am the legendary Silver Dragon and I was sealed within that pendant you bought.'

'Wait, you're the one who killed me?' A sudden hostility aroused as she roared at the hidden voice.

This voice belonged to the person who stole her life from her! It was the one who snatched her hopes and dreams and left her parents to experience the grief of losing their only child! This self-proclaimed mighty Silver Dragon made Li Fen seethe with rage.

'Well, in reality, I technically wasn't the one who killed you. Both the car and lightning bolt were actually down to your bad luck funnily enough! Though I did take the opportunity to merge with you.' The voice said as if it sensed the hostility in Li Fens' voice.

'You know if I wouldn't have merged with you, you would be unable to reincarnate so quickly' The voice said with obvious disdain.

This caused Li Fen to doubt whether the voice is lying, as the voice seemed to hold no care for her at all. After contemplating for a while, Li Fen decided to believe the mysterious voice. After all, he had no real choice as it was her only direct option for information.

'What do you mean by reincarnation anyway? And where am I? Mumbled Li Fen.

Soon after asking these questions, she heard a sigh emerge from the Silver Dragon and somehow she felt the current feelings of the Silver Dragon. Li Fen felt a certain agree of impatience and hope, after all the if the Silver Dragon can answer her questions she would no longer be completely clueless about the situation she is currently in.'Let me tell you a long story kid' The Silver Dragon said.'

Well, I have got plenty of time on my hands, after all, I am a baby.' Replied Li Fen referencing to her current infant form. She even pretends to be asleep to stop herself from being disturbed whilst the Silver Dragon told its story.

'Just shut up and listen to the story kid. Well, this world we're in at the moment is a completely different one to your world.' The Dragon said, 'It is one in which the strong eats the weak, and only the most powerful has a place at the top of the society. Anyone below is at the whims of the top, it is as it's always been.'

As she listened, she felt the Dragon also understood her thoughts and feelings, as if it understood everything about her also. Shame it didn't seem to work both ways.

'Hmm,' the Dragon continued, 'The world is quite vast and it belongs to many different kinds of races which set up their territory. In which Humans, Elves, Barbarians, The Sea Race and Winged-Race ruled the lands. The world as we know it used to completely different, before as a race known as the Demon were the dominant force of the land, and the other races were treated as a bunch of slaves, if not worse.'

Hearing the story that sounded like some mystical fairy tale, Li Fen couldn't help but be amazed.

'But, the other races were too weak to overthrow the Demons despite being discontent at their current positions, or perhaps it could be viewed as the Demons just being too strong. But, eventually, a powerful figure began to emerge within each one of the five races, each of them is a once in a thousand years genius which grew rapidly in strength eventually becoming ones who could lead their race to a rebellion, which could overthrow the Demons. But, this still wasn't enough, so they joined forces with the Dragons, a race despite their low numbers were individually the most powerful in the continent. And the Silver Dragon bloodline in the Dragon race was the mightiest, only losing out to the royals of the Dragon Race, the Golden Dragons and this was only due to the purity of the Silver Dragon Bloodline!' The Silver Dragon said proudly.

'So how did one get sealed in a baby's body?' Li Fen couldn't help but joke, causing the Silver Dragon to reply.

'Hmm. This is only because I was sealed by those traitors!' He rumbled in dissatisfaction, 'Do you want me to finish or what kid?'

Hearing that Li Fen grew silent, as, after all, she was greatly interested in learning about the new world she was in.

'With the combined allegiance with the Dragons the five races successfully defeated the Demon Race and banished them from the world. But, the Silver Dragons were betrayed by their kind, the Golden Dragon who felt that his position was threatened teamed up with the other five races to wipe them out. In the end, the most powerful Silver Dragon with the purest bloodline proved to be difficult to handle without risking heavy losses and thus was sealed at a great cost to the other races, to slowly deteriorate until he dies. This is my story kid, and this will be related to the offer I will give you. I want revenge, and in return, I will give you power!'