Reborn in the Heavenly Spirit

"Ugh, my head hurts. My whole body hurts... Why is it so noisy?" In his haze, Huo Hai seemed to hear countless voices clamoring by his ears, like a swarm of flies buzzing. Yet for some reason, he could never quite grasp them.

After a while, the voices by Huo Hai's ear gradually faded. No—rather, Huo Hai had fallen unconscious again.

Inside a grand residence, in the largest and most luxurious room at its center, a young man lay on a lavish bed draped in silk, his eyes tightly shut. Even in his sleep, his brows occasionally furrowed, as though he were enduring some terrible pain. Such an expression on that handsome, delicate face was enough to wrench the heart.

"What happened to Xiao Hai? He went out once, and when he came back, he was like this!" A dignified middle-aged man paced back and forth through the room, his face full of anxiety.

The servants in the room kept their heads lowered, not daring to say a word. Only the women attending the young man busied themselves as diligently as little bees. From time to time, they wiped away his sweat or replaced the cold towel on his forehead.

Facing the bed, two guards stood with their heads bowed, their faces full of shame. "Speak. What exactly happened?" The middle-aged man wanted to roar at them, but mindful of the young man on the bed, he forcibly lowered his voice.

The two guards exchanged a glance before finally saying helplessly, "Reporting to the Lineage Head, Young Master... Young Master said earlier that he wanted to personally capture a spirit beast as a birthday gift for the old madam. But in the forest, we encountered a Thunderbolt Rat that had reached the Spirit Blood Realm. Young Master refused our help and rushed forward on his own. Then... then..."

The matter was already clear. That brat had overestimated himself and gone after a spirit beast of the Spirit Blood Realm when he himself was only at the Spirit Body Realm—no, he had not even fully entered the Spirit Body Realm yet. If that was not courting death, what was?

To be struck down by one bolt of lightning from the Thunderbolt Rat and still make it back alive was already no small feat. As the Huo Family's head, the middle-aged man had a breath of anger trapped in his chest that simply would not come out, choking him with discomfort. With a wave of his hand, he roared, "Get out, all of you! Seeing you standing around here makes my blood boil!" As if granted a pardon, the two guards did not even dare raise their heads before hurrying away.

Outside the door, the servants whispered among themselves, but not one dared step forward. Forget servants like them—even in the entire Huo Family estate, no one dared provoke the Lineage Head when he was in a foul mood.

No, that was not quite true. Here came one. An elderly woman with a head full of white hair leaned on a dragon-headed cane and said unhappily, "Why are you yelling like a blind fool? If you frighten my grandson, can you afford to pay for it? Oh, Xiao Hai, how did you get hurt so badly?"

The old woman looked as though she were about to start crying. She was the Lineage Head's own mother; once his mother started shedding tears, even the Lineage Head could not withstand it. Huo Kai hurried forward to comfort her. "Mother, don't worry. I already invited a Spirit Master to examine him. Xiao Hai is fine. He has already been treated once, and he should wake up soon."

Hearing this, the old woman finally stopped crying. She opened her eyes wide and glared fiercely at Huo Kai. "You bastard! How did I raise such a worthless son? Now that you've become Lineage Head, you no longer care about my grandson..."

When the old woman started scolding someone, it was earth-shaking and ghost-weeping. The servants in the room immediately lowered their heads, pretending they had heard nothing. Those outside moved even farther away. The spectacle of an old mother teaching her son a lesson played out in the household every few days, and this time was especially severe. After all, Huo Hai was the Huo Family's only heir.

After being nagged for who knew how long, Huo Kai could only hang his head and listen. He had long been prepared for his mother's ability to nag. She could go on for several hours without repeating herself or pausing once, more fluent than someone reciting a text from memory.

Suddenly, delight appeared on Huo Kai's face, and he hurriedly interrupted his mother's scolding. "Mother, Mother, wait a moment. Xiao Hai seems to be awake." In his heart, Huo Kai thanked heaven and earth for Xiao Hai waking up at such a critical juncture.

With a flicker of movement, she arrived beside the bed. Knowing that her precious grandson had awakened, the old woman no longer bothered nagging her worthless son. Her grandson was better—he had known to prepare a birthday gift for her, yet he had gotten himself so badly injured. A wave of sorrow rose in her heart.

"Mm, why is it still so noisy? Wait, this isn't a hospital. Didn't I die?" Huo Hai slowly opened his eyes, but what were these things before him? One was the face of a middle-aged man, and the other was a genuinely old face. But why were they looking at him with such affection and concern? Huo Hai recalled that he had only ever felt this way from his parents.

The surroundings were strange as well. Huo Hai clearly remembered being flung away by a car. Even if he woke up, should he not have been in a hospital? What was going on? Why did all the buildings around him look so old-fashioned?

No, wait. Why did the people beside him, along with their clothing, all look so old-fashioned too? Who was playing such a joke on him? Setting up a scene like this must have cost a pretty penny. Who would spend that much just to toy with a poor boy like him? Wait, could it be that old man? Had he stolen his girlfriend and come to humiliate him too?

At that thought, a surge of resentment rose in Huo Hai's heart. He did not know what that resentment had stirred, but his head suddenly erupted in pain, and he fainted again. The moment he fell unconscious, the two people beside him were terrified.

"What is going on? Didn't you say Xiao Hai was already fine? You unfilial son, are you trying to anger me to death?"

Huo Kai grew anxious as well and shouted, "Quick! Go invite the Spirit Master back, no matter how much it costs! Hurry!" With the Lineage Head giving the order, how could the servants dare delay? Several figures immediately rushed outside. It seemed the Spirit Master who had only just left would have to make another trip back.

At this moment, however, Huo Hai was undergoing something extraordinarily strange. He knew that he had come from Earth, and that this place was no longer Earth. Memories that had appeared from nowhere told Huo Hai that the place he was in was the Spirit Realm Continent—or rather, a very remote corner of the Spirit Realm Continent.

The country he was in was the Southern Cloud Kingdom, one of the Thirteen Southern Kingdoms, located in the south of the Spirit Realm Continent. As for exactly where, he did not know. And this person even had the same name as him: Huo Hai.

He just did not know whether Huo Hai's family had had the same thought as his own grandfather when they gave him that name. In a few days, it would be Huo Hai's grandmother's ninetieth birthday. Huo Hai had left home intending to personally capture a spirit beast.

Unfortunately, his eyesight had not been very good, and he had actually provoked a Thunderbolt Rat of the Spirit Blood Realm. In the end, his soul had been shattered. These two brothers in misfortune—one had lost his body, while the other had lost his soul. Who knew how it had happened, but his soul had entered this Huo Hai's body and completely taken his place. What was this, borrowing a corpse to return a soul?

And this seemed to be soul transmigration. Did transmigration truly exist in this world? Waves of doubt rose in Huo Hai's heart.

The one thing he could be certain of was that this fellow named Huo Hai, like himself, had read the books of sages and was a genuine good person. He had never had the chance to do great good deeds, but he had never lacked for small ones.

In the servants' eyes, Huo Hai was an exceptionally good young master, deeply respected by the servants. This time, seeing him injured so badly, the two guards who had accompanied him were also suffering greatly. They were currently punishing themselves to apologize to Huo Hai.

"Ah, do good people really die young? The two of us are birds of a feather. Fine. I already swore that if there were another life, I would absolutely not be a good person. Let me be the villain for both of us." Huo Hai made up his mind to become a bad person. As for how exactly to do that, he would have to study it slowly later. He had no experience in that area.

Who knew how much time passed before the Huo Hai of the Spirit Realm Continent finally fused all the fragments of soul into Huo Hai's soul.

Perhaps because his soul had been shattered by lightning earlier, the memories Huo Hai received came in broken fragments. All memories from before the age of ten had vanished, leaving only those from the past few years.

Even so, the closer the memories were to the present, the clearer they became; much had already disappeared. What he remembered most clearly was probably the cause of his death. "Hmph, Thunderbolt Rat. I'll avenge you."

Huo Hai shouted in his heart, "From now on, I am Huo Hai of the Huo Family. Rest assured, I will live your share of life for you as well. I will take care of your family." After saying this, Huo Hai felt a burst of ease in his heart. He did not know whether it had resonated with the dead Huo Hai or whether he truly felt relieved, but even his body felt much better.

When Huo Hai opened his eyes again, two familiar yet unfamiliar faces appeared before him once more. There was also an old man he did not know, holding one hand toward him as faint green light flickered unsteadily.

Under that light, Huo Hai felt warm all over, and the pain from before seemed to have disappeared completely. Seeing Huo Hai awaken, the old man also let out a sigh of relief, withdrew his spirit power, and wiped away his sweat.

"Fortunately, I did not fail my mission. Your son has awakened." The old man clasped his hands and bowed to the Huo Family's Lineage Head. He was the Huo Family's spirit physician.

Huo Kai nodded. "You've worked hard. Go rest first. Xiao Cui, take the old gentleman to collect ten Spirit Stones." At Huo Kai's call, a servant led the Spirit Master away. Huo Kai himself, along with the old woman, continued staring at Huo Hai nervously, afraid that he might feel unwell again. Huo Hai had truly frightened the two of them badly.

Looking at the two people gazing at him with such concern, Huo Hai felt warmth rise in his heart. But what should he say? The memories his predecessor had left him were too few. Huo Hai organized his words, considering what he ought to say.