Chapter 1: Rebirth

In the pitch-black corridor, faint footsteps could be heard.

A young man wearing thin pajamas walked along this cold, silent corridor with lifeless eyes. Although the night’s chill and dew assailed his body, it didn’t make the young man stop his steps. He passed through the dark, quiet corridor and dilapidated stairs, arriving at an empty hall. But the young man didn’t stop. In front of him, the originally flat ground suddenly cracked, revealing a bottomless darkness.

A blue-green flame lit up, illuminating the darkness while revealing a mysterious path.
If it were an ordinary person, they would have some reaction seeing this scene, but faced with this strange sight before him, the young man remained as calm as a puppet. He didn’t stop his steps, but walked straight into the underground corridor. Behind him, the originally cracked ground closed up again, like a demon devouring its sacrifice, covering the young man’s figure once more.

Cold dew dropped on the young man’s face, making him pause. At the same time, those originally lifeless eyes suddenly regained their spirit.

“Where is this…”

The young man widened his eyes in surprise, unable to believe the scene before him.
In the vast underground hall, blue-green flames flickered and danced, illuminating the space. Elegant, mysterious patterns extended down from the surrounding walls, stone statues placed around, giving this place an eerie and mysterious atmosphere.

“What exactly happened?”

The young man shook his head, as if trying to understand everything happening before him, but he quickly found that his body was completely unable to move.
As if captured by some invisible force, he couldn’t even move a finger. Although he had clear and definite consciousness, his body was like a frozen ice sculpture, completely unresponsive.

“This, this is…!”

Faced with this unimaginable scene, the young man appeared anxious and uneasy. He clenched his teeth hard, instinctively wanting to break free from the restraints, but he simply couldn’t succeed. However, even so, the young man still didn’t give up. He concentrated, trying hard to regain control of his body. Because of this, the young man didn’t notice that the shadow swaying in the firelight was gradually lengthening. Like a poisonous snake condensed from shadows, it slowly and silently came to the young man’s side, then tightly wrapped around his body.

Bone-chilling, marrow-deep cold enveloped the young man’s body. The intense pain made the young man unable to bear it any longer. He opened his mouth wide, trying to cry out. But soon, the entwining shadow suddenly burst forth, completely enveloping the young man’s form. Along with the cry that had not yet been uttered, it was completely strangled in the dark abyss.

Then, the shadow dispersed.

The young man still stood quietly in place. The difference was that now his face no longer showed any expression of fear or unease, and those pitch-black eyes also revealed unprecedented calmness and leisure. If one looked carefully, one would notice other changes. Compared to the originally frail young man, the one before them now was obviously more robust, and that deep brown hair had completely changed to a pitch-black color. The thin face no longer revealed weakness, but confidence and pride.

The new body is not bad.

Julian flexed his fingers, looking with satisfaction at the last bit of brilliant soul light in his hand. This was the former owner of this body, and now, in Julian’s grasp, it was nothing more than a fragile soul flame. Although he struggled and wailed, trying to reclaim his body, unfortunately, Julian naturally wouldn’t let him succeed.

“This is the end. Thank you for your help.”

With a gentle smile, Julian closed his right hand, ending the last resistance of that fragile soul.

Walking out of the secret passage, looking at the dilapidated castle before him, Julian’s eyes couldn’t help but show a hint of helplessness. Upon obtaining this body, he had also merged with the young man’s memories, naturally understanding the background of this body – this young man was a descendant of a fallen noble family. By his generation, only the young man was left in the entire family. Three months ago, the young man’s parents were deceived by a great noble, exchanging their only property – that fertile manor – for this fief. After discovering they had been cheated, his parents tried to reason with that great noble, but instead were thrown into prison by the other party. Overcome with anger and grief, they both fell ill and died. Faced with this fact, the young man could only helplessly carry a heart full of grief and indignation. Under the “send-off” of those great nobles, he left his homeland and came to this desolate and barren fief on the border to start his new life.

Of course, all of this meant nothing to Julian. Although he could feel the young man’s resentment and anger from the memories, it had nothing to do with Julian himself. Obviously, this young man didn’t know that the castle he lived in was Julian’s property a long time ago, and at the same time, it was also a necessary tool prepared by Julian for his own revival.

And he became the necessary tool for Julian to return to this world.

Through the young man’s memories, Julian also gained a detailed understanding of the current situation.
This castle was once one of the castles owned by Julian. After his death, it changed hands several times. The first owner was the commander of the border legion, and he lived here for only three months before dying of a sudden illness. Afterwards, the commander’s family left this castle and sold it to a nearby wealthy merchant. Although strictly speaking, merchants were not allowed to purchase military buildings like castles, this place was far from the emperor’s reach, and no one cared about it, so it was finally settled. That wealthy merchant didn’t last much longer than the previous commander after moving into this castle – he stayed for only half a year before suddenly dying in the study. This time, even the healer couldn’t tell the cause of his death. The merchant’s family also made the same decision as the previous residents – they immediately left this castle and auctioned it off again.

But this time, not many people were willing to buy it. After all, a castle where two consecutive owners had died seemed rather ominous. But as the saying goes, men die for wealth, birds die for food. A count who had just moved from another place bought this castle and tried to build it into his base. Then, as people predicted, this count also died four months later, hit on the head by a loose stone tile that fell from the ceiling.

This time people finally understood – this castle was simply a haunted house. So after this, no one dared to set their sights on it anymore. The ownership of this castle also returned to the hands of the great nobles. Although those nobles wouldn’t personally come to live here, hearing the rumors, they naturally had better ways to use it. The last two owners of this castle were both used and deceived by those great nobles, sent here, and then mysteriously died – after all, it didn’t dirty their hands, so why not use such an easy method to eliminate potential enemies?

The original owner of Julian’s current body was the same. Those nobles didn’t want to bear the accusation of murder, so they left this kid behind, and even “generously” gave him this fief as a reward and consolation – to those who didn’t know the inside story, this indeed seemed like a humane approach.
Only Julian knew the true cause of death of these people.

Walking up the stairs, Julian turned back to look at the dead, silent hall, then he raised his right hand and lightly snapped his fingers.
“Snap!”

In the pitch-black corridor, faint footsteps could be heard.A young man wearing thin pajamas walked along this cold, silent corridor with lifeless eyes. Although the night’s chill and dew assailed his body, it didn’t make the young man stop his steps. He passed through the dark, quiet corridor and dilapidated stairs, arriving at an empty hall. But the young man didn’t stop. In front of him, the originally flat ground suddenly cracked, revealing a bottomless darkness.

A blue-green flame lit up, illuminating the darkness while revealing a mysterious path.If it were an ordinary person, they would have some reaction seeing this scene, but faced with this strange sight before him, the young man remained as calm as a puppet. He didn’t stop his steps, but walked straight into the underground corridor. Behind him, the originally cracked ground closed up again, like a demon devouring its sacrifice, covering the young man’s figure once more.

Cold dew dropped on the young man’s face, making him pause. At the same time, those originally lifeless eyes suddenly regained their spirit.”Where is this…”

The young man widened his eyes in surprise, unable to believe the scene before him.In the vast underground hall, blue-green flames flickered and danced, illuminating the space. Elegant, mysterious patterns extended down from the surrounding walls, stone statues placed around, giving this place an eerie and mysterious atmosphere.

“What exactly happened?”

The young man shook his head, as if trying to understand everything happening before him, but he quickly found that his body was completely unable to move.As if captured by some invisible force, he couldn’t even move a finger. Although he had clear and definite consciousness, his body was like a frozen ice sculpture, completely unresponsive.”This, this is…!”

Faced with this unimaginable scene, the young man appeared anxious and uneasy. He clenched his teeth hard, instinctively wanting to break free from the restraints, but he simply couldn’t succeed. However, even so, the young man still didn’t give up. He concentrated, trying hard to regain control of his body. Because of this, the young man didn’t notice that the shadow swaying in the firelight was gradually lengthening. Like a poisonous snake condensed from shadows, it slowly and silently came to the young man’s side, then tightly wrapped around his body.

Bone-chilling, marrow-deep cold enveloped the young man’s body. The intense pain made the young man unable to bear it any longer. He opened his mouth wide, trying to cry out. But soon, the entwining shadow suddenly burst forth, completely enveloping the young man’s form. Along with the cry that had not yet been uttered, it was completely strangled in the dark abyss.

Then, the shadow dispersed.

The young man still stood quietly in place. The difference was that now his face no longer showed any expression of fear or unease, and those pitch-black eyes also revealed unprecedented calmness and leisure. If one looked carefully, one would notice other changes. Compared to the originally frail young man, the one before them now was obviously more robust, and that deep brown hair had completely changed to a pitch-black color. The thin face no longer revealed weakness, but confidence and pride.

The new body is not bad.

Julian flexed his fingers, looking with satisfaction at the last bit of brilliant soul light in his hand. This was the former owner of this body, and now, in Julian’s grasp, it was nothing more than a fragile soul flame. Although he struggled and wailed, trying to reclaim his body, unfortunately, Julian naturally wouldn’t let him succeed.”This is the end. Thank you for your help.”

With a gentle smile, Julian closed his right hand, ending the last resistance of that fragile soul.

Walking out of the secret passage, looking at the dilapidated castle before him, Julian’s eyes couldn’t help but show a hint of helplessness. Upon obtaining this body, he had also merged with the young man’s memories, naturally understanding the background of this body – this young man was a descendant of a fallen noble family. By his generation, only the young man was left in the entire family. Three months ago, the young man’s parents were deceived by a great noble, exchanging their only property – that fertile manor – for this fief. After discovering they had been cheated, his parents tried to reason with that great noble, but instead were thrown into prison by the other party. Overcome with anger and grief, they both fell ill and died. Faced with this fact, the young man could only helplessly carry a heart full of grief and indignation. Under the “send-off” of those great nobles, he left his homeland and came to this desolate and barren fief on the border to start his new life.

Of course, all of this meant nothing to Julian. Although he could feel the young man’s resentment and anger from the memories, it had nothing to do with Julian himself. Obviously, this young man didn’t know that the castle he lived in was Julian’s property a long time ago, and at the same time, it was also a necessary tool prepared by Julian for his own revival.

And he became the necessary tool for Julian to return to this world.

Through the young man’s memories, Julian also gained a detailed understanding of the current situation.This castle was once one of the castles owned by Julian. After his death, it changed hands several times. The first owner was the commander of the border legion, and he lived here for only three months before dying of a sudden illness. Afterwards, the commander’s family left this castle and sold it to a nearby wealthy merchant. Although strictly speaking, merchants were not allowed to purchase military buildings like castles, this place was far from the emperor’s reach, and no one cared about it, so it was finally settled. That wealthy merchant didn’t last much longer than the previous commander after moving into this castle – he stayed for only half a year before suddenly dying in the study. This time, even the healer couldn’t tell the cause of his death. The merchant’s family also made the same decision as the previous residents – they immediately left this castle and auctioned it off again.

But this time, not many people were willing to buy it. After all, a castle where two consecutive owners had died seemed rather ominous. But as the saying goes, men die for wealth, birds die for food. A count who had just moved from another place bought this castle and tried to build it into his base. Then, as people predicted, this count also died four months later, hit on the head by a loose stone tile that fell from the ceiling.

This time people finally understood – this castle was simply a haunted house. So after this, no one dared to set their sights on it anymore. The ownership of this castle also returned to the hands of the great nobles. Although those nobles wouldn’t personally come to live here, hearing the rumors, they naturally had better ways to use it. The last two owners of this castle were both used and deceived by those great nobles, sent here, and then mysteriously died – after all, it didn’t dirty their hands, so why not use such an easy method to eliminate potential enemies?

The original owner of Julian’s current body was the same. Those nobles didn’t want to bear the accusation of murder, so they left this kid behind, and even “generously” gave him this fief as a reward and consolation – to those who didn’t know the inside story, this indeed seemed like a humane approach.Only Julian knew the true cause of death of these people.

Walking up the stairs, Julian turned back to look at the dead, silent hall, then he raised his right hand and lightly snapped his fingers.”Snap!”

Blue-green flames burst into life, illuminating the space before him. On the walls, countless intertwining black shadows appeared. They emitted roars and murmurs incomprehensible and inaudible to ordinary people, surrounding Julian. These were the most mysterious guardians inside the castle – the Wraith Warriors. They wandered within the castle, protecting this place and mercilessly eliminating all intruders. Until their master returned. Although the breath and flesh of the living were close at hand, these frenzied souls didn’t make more dangerous moves as usual, because they clearly sensed the strong and terrifying soul aura emanating from this body. This not only made them feel terrified but also gave them deep fear and respect.”I’m back. Clean this place up.”

Looking at the Wraith Warriors before him, Julian gave the order, then he turned around and comfortably stretched.Indeed, having a body is still the best… Next, it’s time to have a good sleep.

Looking at the Wraith Warriors before him, Julian gave the order, then he turned around and comfortably stretched.
Indeed, having a body is still the best… Next, it’s time to have a good sleep.