Seed of Dao

On a dark night.

A flash of lightning struck above the mountains. Faintly illuminating the trees in the forest, the dark atmosphere and the restless sounds of insects added to the gloom of the dark night.

"Cling"

A pillar of lightning suddenly struck the ground and the sound of thunder immediately silenced the frenzied insect sounds in the forest.

Among the trees and the sound of falling raindrops, a boy around fourteen to fifteen years old stood still among a pool of corpses, blood, and piles of cold bodies scattered on the ground.

His childish face was pale. But strangely, there was no anxiety in his eyes. No fear. No awkwardness like a boy his age seeing death for the first time. Witnessing dozens of corpses—old, young, men and women who were no longer alive around him—the boy only showed an empty and confused expression.

There was even a little... pleasure?

"Where am I..?"

In his confusion, his brow suddenly furrowed. Pain struck his head like a hammer.

"Argh.."

While holding his head, memories and various information flooded his mind. Memories that weren't his. From when the boy could remember until the age of fifteen, everything entered his head in an instant.

And that only made him more confused.

"Is this real?"

Sorting through everything in his memory, he finally had to acknowledge something absurd.

He had time traveled. Or more precisely, transmigrated.

Ye Chen, the fifteen-year-old boy whose body he currently occupied, was someone with the same name but a different body and soul. Two lives, two worlds, but equally tragic fates.

As an only child with both parents who were complete and loved him, the fifteen years of the boy Ye Chen's life were quite satisfactory. Although he lived in a remote and isolated village in the mountains, although life was just enough to get by, his family was happy. Unfortunately, that peace and tranquility shattered when a group of bandits suddenly arrived. Without cause or reason, they began looting, killing, and even raping the innocent residents of Siqing village.

In panic, Ye Chen and his parents immediately ran out of the village to save themselves. But unfortunately, during their escape, several bandits managed to chase them.

The result was predictable.

Meanwhile, the current Ye Chen, the soul occupying this boy's body, was a modern human from Earth. A special forces soldier who was on a mission in Africa, but an unexpected accident suddenly occurred. A massive explosion that should have killed him instead sent him here.

Time traveling that he had never imagined at all.

"Really...."

Sighing with a bit of helplessness, Ye Chen could only resign himself. But his brain kept working, analyzing the situation, looking for ways to survive, and thinking about the next steps.

Unconsciously, he turned toward two people, a man and woman lying lifeless a few steps away from him.

His heart suddenly throbbed.

Mother.. father..

These two were Ye Chen's parents in this world. Two people who for fifteen years had loved and cared for the boy Ye Chen with full affection and attention. Even if they lived just getting by, the two had never hit or yelled at him. Never neglected his needs. There was always warmth in their small home.

Ye Chen from Earth was an orphan. Raised in a military orphanage. Never felt a mother's embrace or laughter with a father. Death and loss were already part of his life.

But this boy's memories... memories of those fifteen years of simple happiness were now his too. And his chest felt tight because of it.

"They aren't my parents. But why does it feel like this?"

What a beautiful life it was.

Unfortunately...

He sighed again, trying to calm his seemingly sad heart. As a soldier, he was used to death. But as the fifteen-year-old Ye Chen, this was a loss that couldn't be ignored.

At least he had to bury them as redemption and this body's final obsession.

"Boom!"

An explosion suddenly sounded from the distance, stopping Ye Chen's movement.

His soldier reflexes immediately activated. His body crouched. Eyes sweeping around with ears sharpened.

"Are there people still alive?"

Ye Chen's brow furrowed. With a guess in his mind, he began to consider checking it out.

But...

He stared at his small hands. Thin arms. The body of an untrained fifteen-year-old boy. Even with his experience, what use was it if his body was like this?

At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded from the distance.

"Evil Demon! I will kill you!"

That seemingly very loud voice startled him. Ye Chen paused for a moment, looking toward the dark and oppressive forest, appearing hesitant to continue his steps.

He was certain that it was indeed a human voice. He could even understand the language clearly because the language was no different from what he spoke on Earth. He was also certain that from the sound that occurred, there must be a battle happening there.

As a soldier, of course he knew that appearing suddenly and startling others could be fatal. Moreover, he also didn't know what kind of world this was.

Besides, he also didn't know whether that person was part of the previous bandit group, or someone else.

From the words heard earlier, 'Evil Demon,' it seemed like someone else. But whether that person came here to save the villagers was still debatable. Furthermore, if there really was a battle, could he join the fight with his current body?

With this young body, which appeared weak and completely untrained?

But information is everything. To win a battle, know your friend and yourself.

"Boom!"

While Ye Chen was thinking, another explosion occurred from the scene. Besides the explosion sound, there were actually also lights and flashes that were faintly visible—orange, white, blue.

What kind of battle could result in loud explosions and light flashes like that? Was it a tank and artillery encounter?

Ye Chen was full of doubt, but with his curiosity and soldier instinct, he finally decided to take a closer look.

Just for information. Look, then retreat.

He moved slowly, sticking to the shadows, using the trees as cover. Movements that had become reflexes after years of infiltration missions.

When his distance got closer to the sound source, Ye Chen found that the sound was actually getting more intense. Even the leaves and trees around him seemed to sway and tremble. Judging from the sound waves produced, it seemed that fierce battle indeed couldn't possibly be caused by ordinary humans.

"Something's not right."

Finally, when he was ten meters from the scene, Ye Chen's body instantly stopped. His eyes opened wide.

"Impossible!"

Shocked, Ye Chen's eyes and mouth widened, stunned by what he saw!

Two people, or what he thought were people, were actually fighting in the air.

Floating in the air!

No cables. No jet pack. No tricks whatsoever. They just... floated.

Both appeared to be fighting fiercely. Actually, Ye Chen couldn't see their movements clearly at all because they were too fast, but faintly he could see both their silhouettes because suddenly there were fireballs, lightning, or white light that appeared out of nowhere and illuminated them.

And what was even crazier, there was a flying sword.

A truly flying sword!

A pale yellow glowing sword that continuously clashed with the opponent's weapon, a giant black hammer that also flew and moved on its own!

All the logic he knew, all knowledge about physics, about reality, collapsed in an instant.

IMMORTAL...

He didn't want to believe it, but a thought suddenly appeared in his memory.

Both of them were Immortal beings!