(A/N: The first story posted on so please point out plotholes, inconsistencies, and other problems that you see in the story. Please don't be a dick about it though.)
Chapter 1
I sighed with boredom. Well not really sighing as I couldn't, more like imitating the action of sighing. You see I was very bored and very, very dead. I was so dead in fact, that I was see-through and glowing a soft yellow. I also didn't have any facial features except for a mouth. The reason I was bored was that I was in a line with many more of what I named 'Souls'.
I was in this line for quite a long time. I had lost track at year 10. Since then I have just been shuffling forward absentmindedly. The surroundings were also quite plain and boring. Just a blue gradient with a few wisps of white now and then.
I thought back to my life again and a bittersweet melancholy wafted over me. I would say I lived a pretty normal life. Good job. Nice girlfriend/wife. Kids. Hobbies. Nothing really to write home about. I will say that it was quite enjoyable and I didn't really have any regrets. As for how I died? I couldn't really remember. It seemed the memories of the event were quite fuzzy and parts of it were missing. I could, however, remember the events of my life with perfect clarity like an incredibly advanced futuristic VR simulation, even the more useless and old ones from when I was a toddler and baby. I wasn't sure how I was able to remember that as I was sure that was impossible. I just attribute it now no longer having a body and the forgetful brain that came along with it.
I staggered forward as I felt a shove to my back.
"Move, you jackass!" The Soul in line behind me cried out angrily. I rushed forward slightly, getting back in my place on the line. It seemed me going on a trip down memory lane had caused a bit of a pileup behind me. I would apologize if I had really cared, but by this point, I wasn't really sure if we were even going anywhere.
Afterlife on the line quickly fell back into the routine, all of us quietly shuffling forward. The monotonous cycle continuing endlessly. It was mind-numbingly boring. Even torture in hell would be better than this. At least you get some form of stimulation there.
One day I was bumming around, as usual, picking the non-existent grime from between my ethereal teeth When I saw a sharp turning point in the line. I was quite confused so I turned my head toward where the line was headed. I was shocked! It was the end of the line! I and the souls around me felt excitement coursing through us. The line seemed to end by what seemed to be a few normal wood doors and a figure. As I got closer and closer I could make out more details.
The figure appeared to be in his late teens with bad acne and a store manager uniform. He wore a blue collar-shirt with a name tag, khaki pants, a red cap, Nike sneakers, and a wristwatch. The name tag identified the stranger as Melvin. The most remarkable thing about Melvin was that he had glowing angel wings. If it were me many years ago I would have been shocked and in awe, but now I didn't care I just wanted out of here.
Eventually, I reached the front of the line. Melvin looked at me for a few seconds before turning toward his watch and turning it a few times like an Omnitrix. The doors changed to a different color scheme of peach and dark brown. He then pulled out a dice of the same color scheme.
"Pick a number from 1 to 6," he said.
"2." He then shook the dice in his hands lightly and rolled it over the floor. It landed on 2. He looked mildly surprised.
"Seems you're a lucky bastard. Head on over to door two." I nodded in confusion and opened the door to then step inside. What exactly was this about? Hopefully, it's the way out. I was greeted by the sight of another angel with a similar getup to Melvin.
"Ok, Adrian Afton, Age 57 at time of death, been on the line for a few millennia," Said the angel as he looked down to an electronic tablet. He looked around his mid-30s with ginger hair, a lot of freckles, was short, had a weak chin, and a lot of stubble on his face. He had a very prominent 'loser' aura all around him, it wasn't even his appearance that caused it, more like years of being conned/taken advantage of or something. His name tag said his name was Florence. I felt kinda bad for him if I'm honest. Most women won't date someone shorter than them and he seemed to be around 5 foot give or take a few inches.
After I had my thought his face went bright red in anger. Seems he can read my mind.
"I am not a LOSER!" he hissed. I seemed to have struck a very sensitive nerve. He let out a long depressed sigh and went over to the other side of the room. A massive wheel appeared which he then proceeded to spin. It landed on an icon of a circle with a star on it. He turned to me.
"You really are a lucky bastard. Alright, come over here." I stood next to him, watching as he did whatever. I am incredibly unsure as to what is going on but I just roll with it. Florence grabbed the token off the wheel and threw it to the ground. A burst of golden light erupted from the token, blinding us and blowing us back. I regained my sight soon later and watched as lightning exploded everywhere as seven orange orbs appear on the ground where the token once was. All were numbered one to seven with bright red stars.
"The dragon balls!" I cried out, astonished. Florence rolled his eyes and summoned the dragon.
"Eternal dragon, come forth and grant my wish!" A beautiful beam of light exploded far into the sky as Shenron emerged, although he looked different. The usual green scales were gone in place of golden ones and his eyes shone azure instead of the usual crimson. Florence turned to me.
"Alright, tell me your wish. You can wish whatever you want so long as it hasn't been wished before, and with a time limit of 30 seconds. Normally it would be five minutes but you were a jerk to me so get fucked," said Florence, disinterested, as he picked his nose. I immediately panicked and went for all the obvious choices, quick-firing all my answers.
"To become all-powerful!"
"No."
"To be Almighty!"
"No."
"To be God!"
"No."
"To have Omnipotence!"
"No."
"True Immortality!"
"No."
"An all-powerful system!"
"No."
"A slightly weaker system!"
"No."
"A significantly weaker system!"
"No."
"A gamer system!"
"Stop with all the systems, dude."
"Mastery of the Law of Nothingness!"
"No."
"Instant mastery!"
"No."
"Uh, Arc of Embodiment?"
"No."
"Boundary powers!"
"No."
"Saiyan bloodline!"
"No."
"Kryptonian bloodline!"
"No."
"Otsutsuki bloodline!"
"No."
"Legendary Super Saiyan bloodline!"
"No."
"Your mom!"
"Fuck off!"
I racked my brains trying to figure out something, anything! The countdown ticking was down and down, amplifying my distress. With only a few seconds to spare, I blurted out the only thing I could think of.
"Uh, I wish to know everything about ki and martial arts!?" Because I was panicking and the literal dragon balls were right in front of my face, the only powers I could think of were included in Dragonball.
"Hah, It seems your luck has run out shithead, get fu-" He abruptly stopped and his face contorted in confusion. He summoned his tablet and started frantically scrolling up and down. After searching for a few minutes he looked back at me with a defeated expression.
"Ok, it's granted. Fucking lucky bastard." Shenron's eyes glowed as knowledge streamed into my mind. It seamlessly integrated into me as my eyes lit up. Before I had a chance to do anything Florence dragged me back to the desk in the corner of the room that I hadn't seen before. He sat down and pulled from a drawer a deck of cards. He quickly shuffled them.
"Pick one of the cards." I picked up a random card. "Ok look at it." I did. The card turned into particles of light and went into my nonexistent face. I had no idea what it was as I didn't learn anything. Sensing my confusion, Florence explained.
"When you get transmigrated/reincarnated or whatever it should load, though it might take a year or two. I don't know why but that is apparently how secondary powers work or something. I think his Almightiness was drunk or high when he decided that rule." His absentminded words confirmed something for me.
"So, this is the classic scenario where for no reason some ROB(random omnipotent being) gives whoever a bunch of powers/cheats and then gets sent to another world cause he's bored or something?" I said. Florence looked at me as if I was some wise sage who had just imparted unto him the true meaning of life.
"What? Was that supposed to be some secret? It was obvious." I don't understand why he is so surprised, I mean he literally just made me select powers and wishes. Maybe he is an idiot? Shaking off his stupor, he led me to a new room that held another wheel. He spun it and it eventually landed on a little round token with the abbreviation N.T.X.S. below that was the abbreviation P.C.
"It seems your going to someplace call the Primal Chaos alternate -46`/," Florence said as he then pointed to a pad near the door, "Step on the pad over there so I can finally be rid of you and continue slacking off again." I quickly obliged him, excited for a chance at a new life. Anything is better than being on the line.
"Before I send you off take this." Florence pointed at me and a kiddie tattoo of a transformer appeared on the back of my soul's hand.
"Tap that spot on the back of your hand twice to get a bit of info on that world your going to as well as to unlock that other ability." I nodded at him in confirmation and he pressed a button on his tablet.
The next moment I appeared in the middle of an alleyway. Immediately, I crouched down and hid behind a few discarded and rancid wooden crates. I had no clue where I was and a potential threat could have spotted me if I continued standing there like an idiot.
I looked down and observed my reflection in a small puddle next to me. It seemed I had my body from my previous life only a lot younger, around 15-16. I was wearing sneakers, dark gray sweatpants, a white t-shirt, and a dark blue hoodie sweatshirt with an 'I ❤️ NY' design on it.
It was a little jarring not seeing the wrinkles and gray hairs I was previously accustomed to. My glorious beard was also replaced by smooth skin. I peered out from behind the cover and carefully looked around in a 360 motion. Seeing nothing in the immediate area I looked into the sky and saw that the sun had just risen. Seeing no danger, I crept out and peered into the world outside the alley.
I peered out and looked at what appeared to be a very busy marketplace. All manner of people with different dispositions roamed the streets. From dignified old men with long snow-white hair and beards wearing expensive-looking embroidered robes to muscular, dirty, and rough-looking bandits marred with scars. After taking a few more glances I crept back into the alley. As I did so I thought back to Florence's words.
Apparently, this reality is called Primal Chaos. So, it was kinda safe to assume that I was in the not-so-fictional world of Against the Gods. That token that the wheel landed on was also quite telling as it had the abbreviation for the Chinese spelling of it using Latin characters, N.T.X.S. or Ni Tien Xie Shen. Not sure how that translates to 'Against the Gods' but what I do know is that this is a Chinese cultivation world, worlds like these are ruthless. It's a practically lawless hellhole, where the law of the jungle reigns supreme and the evils of humanity run rampant. Where the strong crush and trample the weak. Horrendous crimes and taboos such as murder and rape are commonplace and if you have a strong backing you can do anything to the common peasants.
I really need to get stronger fast so the next thing I know a clan's silk pants Young Master doesn't start spouting that I'm 'courting death' simply for glancing at him In a 'wrong' manner and start an endless and petty quest to kill me out of nothing but pure spite and arrogance. Even if I do manage to kill or beat this hypothetical villain before he kills me, it will start a chain of events where eventually his great grand ancestor crawls out from his tomb to save face for his clan/sect, avenge his descendant, and kill me.
Breaking away from my musings, I thought back to how I was going to get stronger. The people of Primal Chaos are cultivators so they specialize in absorbing the surrounding energy into their bodies. All of them follow a cultivation art passed down from the ancient gods of old called 'The Profound Way'. However, I cannot practice cultivation as I do not possess the proper biological structures. Every ordinary mortal is gifted with a set of innate profound veins which connect them to the laws of the universe in addition to things called meridians and dantians. I was born on normal plain earth so I don't have these.
Cultivation is all about diligence, patience, and talent. It takes years for people to slowly accumulate energy and advance to greater realms. The realms go as follows. Elementary profound realm, Nascent profound realm, True profound realm, Spirit profound realm, Earth profound realm, Sky profound realm, Emperor profound realm, Tyrant profound realm, and the peak of mortal achievement, Sovereign profound realm. Each realm is also further divided into ten stages.
In the Elementary realm, you are absorbing the vitality of heaven and earth to increase your physical parameters far into the realm of superhuman. When you enter the Nascent realm you can be considered a true practitioner of The Profound Way. The vital energy you cultivated in the lower realm will be converted into profound energy, granting you 'Profound Strength' and an immense increase in power. In the True profound realm, you can be considered the average cultivator. In the spirit and earth profound realm, you can be considered slightly above to monstrously above average depending on age and location(Someone who is 16 and at the earth realm is far above average as opposed to someone who is 200 and in the same realm). In sky profound realm you can finally be considered among the bottom of the top brass, being able to fly be sure not to underestimate them though, they are still very strong.
At the Emperor realm, otherwise known as 'Throne' your strength is unquestionable to the people in the realms below you and you can use the power of the Domain. In the tyrant realm, those who reach this level are referred to as 'Overlords' at this level you can be considered among those at the peak of the world. At Sovereign, you are basically a god amongst men, able to effortlessly destroy whole mountain ranges without batting an eye, those who reach this level are referred to as Monarchs and are able to use the power of space to create their own pocket dimensions to store their belongings. At spirit profound and higher the difference between stages is almost insurmountable.
It is a good thing I got that wish, only now am I realizing just how good I got it. That wish was very broad so it encompassed a lot more knowledge than just the Dragonball world. If I hadn't gotten that wish, I would probably not last long. Ki is a very simple yet powerful form of energy. Ki is essentially energy itself. It flows through all of us and exists almost everywhere.
Ki is very wondrous and powerful, however, the prerequisite for practicing the different types of Ki manipulation is a strong body. Ideally, you should be at the peak of your body's potential before beginning practice to maximize the effectiveness of your Ki. Of course, that is quite a tall order and you don't have to, that's why I said Ideally. If you wanted to, you could unlock Concentrated Ki manipulation as soon as you're able and train your body to its peak later, however, doing so would make it far harder.
I was interrupted from my thinking by a rumble coming from my stomach. Right. I can't even begin to think of training when I have no food, water, or shelter. I take a look at the Optimus Prime tattoo and tap it twice. Hopefully, Florence isn't a complete ass and included some type of food. When I did a brown pouch appeared along with a letter. The letter informed me about the power system, which I already knew. It also talks about the world in general. Apparently, this is an alternate version of the canon where everyone is far stronger than normal. Shit.
The Tattoo also seems to be protecting me from the increased gravity of the planet, The Blue Pole Star. It seems though that the protection would start to weaken gradually by the one-year anniversary of my arrival to this world. The Blue Pole Star's gravity is ten times that of the earth so it will be a pain in the ass to live here if I don't get stronger. The inhabitants don't seem to be affected to due them being used to it to an extent but mostly due to the presence of the profound energy and veins. I'm not sure how that works but I don't really care to find out.
I started walking around the alley system, doing my best to not attract attention. As I was doing so, I marveled at the natural environment. The mountains far off in the distance were enormous, probably many times the size of . The even more shocking part is that in this world these mountains are considered small. Just goes to show you the levels of exaggeratedness of the cultivation world. Just what have a gotten myself into.