Chapter 1: Transmigration

A golden sunset descended in the west, shining through the broken window of a thatched cottage and illuminating the face of a young man lying on a wooden bed.

The youth had dark skin, a thin face, and bruises of green and purple on his face. His hair was unkempt, and he wore a tattered gray hemp garment with bare feet covered in black dirt.

Beside the wooden bed lay a skinny old yellow dog, which looked like a guardian protecting the young man, waiting for him to wake up.

It was getting darker outside, with no moon in the sky, making it pitch black. The cool autumn breeze blew over the mountain where the thatched cottage was located, causing countless leaves to fall and rustle on the ground and the thatched roof.

The young man lying on the bed remained motionless, and the old yellow dog, which was hungry and weak, shivered and struggled to get up, dragging its weak body to the door of the cottage. It bit the thatched door made of grass and pulled it shut as much as possible to keep the cold wind out and prevent the young man from freezing.

This scene would move anyone who saw it, but the old yellow dog did not know that its little master had already passed away.

Around midnight, a dazzling stream of light shot through the void and penetrated the thatched roof of the cottage, entering the young man's body. Then, colorful rays of light were released from his body, illuminating the entire cottage in a splendid display of color.

The old yellow dog, which had been waiting by the door of the cottage, was frightened by this sight and dared not approach. It struggled to get up and barked at the young man, who was now releasing colorful rays of light.

This scene lasted only a short while before disappearing. The young man, who had closed his eyes, slowly opened them as the colorful light dissipated and the cottage returned to darkness.

When he saw that everything was pitch black and heard the sound of a dog barking nearby, with the chilly wind blowing over him, the awakened youth was suddenly shocked and thought to himself, "Where am I? Am I dreaming? How could a dream feel so real?"

Feeling around, he sat up and realized that he was lying on a wooden plank. He became even more puzzled and thought, "I clearly remember that I was just working on upgrading the magical artifacts program in the office. How could I suddenly appear here? What's going on? It must be a dream. I must have worked too hard and fell asleep at my desk, entering into a dream."

This person, who thought he was just dreaming, was named Mu Xuyang, a game programmer for a computer game company. However, he did not know that he was no longer in his original world, but had been transported to a completely unfamiliar one.

While Mu Xuyang thought he was dreaming, the old yellow dog, weak and feeble, rushed to the edge of the wooden plank bed and vigorously wagged its tail, barking at Mu Xuyang in a way that seemed to express its happiness.

However, Mu Xuyang could not see any of the dog's actions, only hearing its barks. As he listened to the dog's cries, he seemed to remember something. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong because the memories he recalled had nothing to do with his past experiences. Instead, they were memories of a difficult time when a young boy and a dog struggled to survive together, begging for a living, and being despised and bullied by others.

"Why do I have these memories of a hard life with a yellow dog, begging for a living and being abused? Is this from a novel I read before? No, it seems more like a personal experience," Mu Xuyang thought to himself.

As Mu Xuyang was lost in thought and reminiscing, faint rays of light shone through the broken window and the holes in the thatched roof, allowing him to see the environment he was in. His gaze lingered on the old yellow dog for a moment before quickly examining himself under the light. He saw that he was dressed in rags, and his body shape had completely changed to match that of the boy from his memories. It was then that Mu Xuyang seemed to understand what was going on, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Just then, there was a "thump" sound outside the thatched hut. The old yellow dog, previously quiet, immediately turned around and barked loudly towards the door.

Upon hearing the dog's barks, Mu Xuyang was about to get up and investigate, but then he heard a man's voice from outside the door. "There's a dog barking in this hut. Someone must be living here. Why don't we go in and ask if the person inside has seen the treasure that fell from the sky the other day and landed on a mountain?"

"Treasures that fall from the sky often have extraordinary origins. If we can obtain it, we may be able to ascend to the heavens in one step. Time is running out. Once other sects arrive, our chances of finding that treasure will be greatly reduced."

As soon as the other man's voice fell, Mu Xuyang saw a middle-aged man with a sword on his back kick open the door of the thatched hut and enter.

As soon as the middle-aged man entered the room, the old yellow dog trembled with fear but still tried to put up a fierce posture and continued barking at him.

"You're asking for death," the middle-aged man growled, annoyed by the dog's barking. He flicked his fingers and shot out a blue crystal light that instantly froze the old yellow dog, turning it into an ice sculpture that stood motionless.

Mu Xuyang, who was just a game programmer and had never seen such a scene before, immediately realized how dangerous the situation was. Perhaps because he had some memories from the beggar boy, he felt a bit uneasy seeing the old yellow dog being frozen by the middle-aged man's technique.

Before the middle-aged man could ask any questions, Mu Xuyang bravely spoke up and asked, "Who are you? Why are you treating Ah Huang like this?"

"Because it annoyed me with its barking. Don't worry, as long as you answer my question honestly, I will release the ice on it." The middle-aged man sneered. "Now, tell me, did you see a beam of treasure light falling just now?"

"Save Ah Huang first, and then I'll tell you," Mu Xuyang replied.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but don't try anything funny. I'll release the ice now," the middle-aged man said, shooting another blue crystal light into the old yellow dog's body, unfreezing it from its previous icy state. He then turned to Mu Xuyang and said, "The ice is gone, but it won't be able to bark for a while. Now, answer my question truthfully."

"Okay, I'll tell you the truth." Mu Xuyang sat up straight and said seriously, "I was sleeping just now when I heard Ah Huang barking loudly. I woke up and saw you coming in, but I didn't see any treasure light falling."

Mu Xuyang was telling the truth. The beam of treasure light was an anomaly he had created when he traveled through time and entered the body of the beggar boy. He had not actually seen the anomaly himself.

"You little brat, you're playing me. You're asking for death!" The middle-aged man was furious and seemed to think that Mu Xuyang was playing tricks on him. He was about to kill him when another man's voice came from outside the hut. "People from other sects have arrived. Don't waste time here. Let's leave this mountain and look for it elsewhere."

"You little brat, I have other important things to do. If I finish what I need to do, I'll come back and kill your dog." The middle-aged man sneered at Ye Tianxiang, then turned and left the hut, his figure flashing away.

After the middle-aged man left, Mu Xuyang quickly got off the bed and checked on the old yellow dog. He saw that the dog was still alive but unable to make any sound. He felt very angry but had no choice but to immediately pick up the old yellow dog and rush out of the hut to find a doctor in the village to help with the treatment.

As he stepped outside, Mu Xuyang saw various colored lights flying in the sky. When he looked in the direction the two middle-aged men had left, he saw them flying towards another mountain on swords emitting red and blue lights. He realized that the flashing lights in the sky were from cultivators who had come to this area to search for treasures. He felt envious of their ability to fly on swords and thought to himself, "Flying on a sword, people in this world have the same ability as the characters in the fantasy game world I designed. If I could fly on a sword one day, that would be a wonderful thing!"

While he was envious of those flying on swords, he did not stop and continued to carry the old yellow dog and run down the uneven path using the faint light from above to guide him. The darkness made it difficult to see, and he was worried about stepping on something or tripping and falling down the slope, which made his progress slower than usual.

The whole night passed by like this, and when it started to get light outside, Mu Xuyang finally reached the foot of the mountain. However, his path was blocked by ten or so young men dressed in gray Daoist robes, holding iron swords.