Rebirth from another world

Shi Yan suddenly awoke, his head pounding as if it might split open, his mind weighed down as if filled with lead.

He found himself in a dimly lit cavern, about the size of a basketball court. The stone floor was littered with countless bones, and scattered nearby were over a dozen fresh corpses, their strange attire still vibrant, suggesting they hadn't been dead for long.

Where was this? Was it still the Bahamas in the Caribbean?

Shi Yan was a fanatical extreme sports enthusiast, almost to the point of obsession. At twenty-seven, having lost his mother early and inherited his father's lifetime of wealth after his untimely death from cancer, he possessed more money than he could ever spend.

What others spent a lifetime pursuing, he had effortlessly at his fingertips from the beginning.

But despite his youth and fortune, he felt directionless, a sense of emptiness that left him perpetually melancholic.

It wasn't until he discovered extreme sports at seventeen that life began to hold any real interest. Armed with immense wealth, he indulged in these thrilling pursuits that were far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Rock climbing without safety gear, crocodile bungee jumping, low-altitude skydiving, volcano boarding, cliff diving, skating under moving cars—these insane activities became his greatest joy.

He reveled in the exhilarating rush that came from dancing on the edge of life and death.

For ten years, he tried every wild and dangerous sport he could find, always seeking out the most lethal challenges.

A decade of extreme sports honed Shi Yan's physical prowess to an extraordinary degree, and countless brushes with death had toughened his nerves to an almost inhuman extent. He often joked that he was the person closest to death.

The Blue Hole exploration in the Bahamas was to be his final extreme challenge. Some of these underwater caverns reached depths of hundreds of meters, and their labyrinthine complexity meant that even the smallest movement could stir up silt, making it impossible to see, no matter how bright the lighting.

Thus, no matter how skilled the diver, they always tied a steel wire to themselves before venturing into the Blue Hole. This wire was their lifeline, marking the end of their dive. To swim beyond it was to court death, as no one could navigate the "maze" without it. According to Bahamian maritime statistics, an average of twenty extreme divers died in the Blue Hole each year, most due to losing their way.

In this, the world's most dangerous extreme adventure, Shi Yan deliberately discarded the steel wire—the so-called lifeline—embarking on a suicidal venture that ultimately led to his being lost in the mysterious Blue Hole.

And in the Blue Hole, being lost meant death...

Shi Yan lay limp on the cold stone floor, surveying his surroundings with the aid of the eerie, flickering light on the cave walls. He felt as though his mind was suddenly filled with fragmented memories that weren't his own.

They were the memories of another Shi Yan...

This other person, also named Shi Yan, was only seventeen and an avid archaeologist, fanatically obsessed with exploring ancient ruins. After months of hardship, he had arrived here, driven by an old, tattered map and accompanied by a few family bodyguards.

Frowning, Shi Yan slowly stood up, feeling weak and frail.

In that moment, he realized this body wasn't his own; it belonged to the other Shi Yan, the seventeen-year-old.

His face changed dramatically, and he stood there, shocked and bewildered.

"I really did die in the Blue Hole... No, I'm still alive, but in a way that's beyond belief!"

...

Through the fragmented memories of the other Shi Yan, he learned that this place was called the Grace Continent, a land devoid of technological civilization, plagued by constant warfare, and dominated by warriors!

In this world, many people were born with extraordinary gifts, displaying mysterious abilities shortly after birth. Some were born with the power of lightning in their bodies, others could control plants, some could move freely through the earth, others had an innate ability to communicate with beasts, and some were born with the power of ice...

These varied and mysterious abilities were known as "Martial Souls."

"Martial Souls" were mostly innate, with only a rare few acquired through extraordinary encounters—so rare that such cases were negligible. This was why the continent was called Grace Continent, for the warriors believed their "Martial Souls" were divine gifts.

Not all warriors possessed "Martial Souls." On the contrary, the vast majority did not. While ordinary people could become warriors through training, they couldn't acquire "Martial Souls" through practice. However, those with special "Martial Souls" could enhance their training speed, significantly increase their combat power, and gain unique abilities...

Thus, warriors with "Martial Souls" were often far superior to those without, and their future achievements were usually much greater. These gifted individuals had an overwhelming advantage on the path of cultivation.

"Martial Souls" could be inherited through bloodlines, with a high probability of being passed on.

Generally, if one parent had a "Martial Soul," there was a good chance their child would also possess the same "Martial Soul." If both parents had "Martial Souls," their child had an even higher chance of inheriting one of the "Martial Souls," either from the father or the mother, but almost always only one.

In rare cases, a child might inherit neither parent's "Martial Soul," becoming an ordinary person. This was a very small probability, occurring perhaps once in a hundred couples with "Martial Souls."

Even rarer, about one in a hundred thousand, were those who inherited both parents' "Martial Souls." These individuals were known as "Twin Martial Souls" and were often called "Children of the Gods" for their extraordinary gifts.

This possibility was so rare that it might only occur in one out of ten thousand couples who both possessed different "Martial Souls."

Shi Yan stood there, continuing to piece together the fragmented memories in his mind...

The original owner of this body came from the Shi family, a prominent clan within the Merchant Alliance. The Shi family possessed the "Petrification" Martial Soul, which allowed their bodies to harden like stone during battle, rendering them almost impervious to injury. As their cultivation advanced, the "Petrification" Martial Soul became even more formidable, making them nearly invulnerable.

Unfortunately, this Shi Yan did not inherit the "Petrification" Martial Soul, leading the Shi family to deem him unfit for the martial path. He had little interest in martial arts and had never studied it, instead dedicating his energy to exploring ancient ruins.

This expedition was driven by an old, tattered map that had led him to this ancient, hidden cave, buried deep within a dense forest. Without the map's guidance, he would never have found this place.

"Woo... Woo..."

A ghostly wail echoed through the cave, startling Shi Yan. He quickly turned to look at the source of the sound—a blood pool.

The blood pool, situated in the center of the cave, was about ten square meters in size, filled with a sinister red liquid that bubbled ominously, releasing terrifying howls as the bubbles burst, echoing through the cave like the cries of tortured souls.

He knew that the recently deceased bodyguards had gone mad and slaughtered each other, driven to insanity by the sounds from the blood pool. The other Shi Yan had also succumbed to these dreadful howls, collapsing into unconsciousness.

All because of the blood pool!

Shi Yan stared at the blood pool, his expression grave. The relentless howls from the pool gnawed at his nerves, stirring a deep-seated urge to kill, a desire to slaughter everything around him.

His head still throbbed, the howls from the blood pool tormenting him, making it difficult to focus.

There was undoubtedly something strange about this blood pool!

Shi Yan's face was stern as he struggled to maintain control. The steely nerves he had honed through years of extreme challenges were his only defense against the maddening howls. Despite his intense headache, he remained calm, slowly approaching the blood pool.

"Crack! Crack!"

With each step, the dry, gray bones beneath his feet crumbled. Shi Yan's expression grew more serious. Judging by the numerous bones scattered throughout the cave, it was clear that many had died here long before they arrived. The blood pool was the source of this carnage, and seeking to uncover its secrets was surely courting death.

The closer he got to the blood pool, the more intense the howls became, as if sharp knives were stabbing into his mind. The murderous intent embedded in the howls threatened to shatter his sanity and destroy his composure. Had he not forged his resilience through years of confronting death, he would have succumbed long ago.

The ground around the blood pool was littered with bones, and within the pool itself, milky white bones were faintly visible. This small blood pool seemed like an infernal sea, having devoured countless lives.

Shi Yan had a hunch that his soul had been drawn to this place because of the eerie blood pool. He believed that if he could unravel its mysteries, he might find a way back to his world, back to the Blue Hole in the Bahamas.

As he moved closer, Shi Yan noticed something peculiar—the blood in the pool was thick and crimson, yet there was no smell of blood.

On the contrary, the air was fresh, even faintly fragrant, an aroma that seemed to emanate from the blood pool itself.

Shi Yan's curiosity was piqued, reinforcing his belief that the blood pool was indeed extraordinary.

As he took a few more steps, a vast sea of blood suddenly appeared in his mind, a vision of endless crimson waves and islands made of piled bones. Some of these bones were as large as mountains, like the fossils of dinosaurs from the Jurassic era. A voice seemed to