Chapter 1
Pain. That was the only thing he felt, an excruciating amount of it, enough to make him believe he was dying. And yet, he soon realized, that is exactly what was happening, after all, he had just been shot. As to how? Well, he was- Ah, how rude of me! Well, "he" is me! Now that you know who is talking, let's go ahead and head back on track. So, I had been at my cousins wedding, when someone who had been on the news recently had burst through the doors of the church, gun in hand, seemingly lost,(As I later learned was given false information and was expecting an acquaintance that had money they had stolen) after he regained his bearings, since he figured the police would soon come and he would be recognized he decided to start shooting, in hopes of getting away in the chaos. In the carnage that followed I, in a final act of justice, jumped before several others, and ended up being shot.
Just like that, we've gotten back to where I am now, dying, with a full life left, full of regret for failing to do and accomplish so much, and yet, before I could truly start grieving for a life that was never fully lived, everything turned black. After what felt like an eternity, I finally found my "vision" returning. The sight that I saw was mind numbing, as there seemed to be an infinite line of ghost-like people, animals, enormous creatures, you name it, it was there. As soon as I registered that, I heard a voice next to me, "Oi YOU, HUMAN! GET A MOVE ON IT!" as soon as I heard that, I felt a whip-like pain, jolting me back to death. After that I started walking, following the line, and, as I now saw, the thing that whipped me appeared like a minotaur from Ancient Greece. 'What are those things?' I had thought as there wasn't just one, but many, often "encouraging" ghosts that lagged behind.
Soon after I started simply walked forwards, following the line, an enormous presence washed over every ghost in the line, freezing us in terror, with even our ever-present tormentors pausing in place with a terrified expression on each and every one of their faces. Almost immediately afterwards, a massive cloud rolled in, bringing forth a natural aura of majesty, causing each and every single being within its reach to feel the need to kneel. As the cloud finished coming into view, a titanic minotaur god looked down upon the ghosts staring up at it and said "Aaron Kahle!" the minotaur's voice, like rolling thunder brought down rays of light from its eyes which illuminated the aforementioned ghost. The light then seemed to wrap around him, causing him to instantly disappear and reappear in the god's palm. "Aaron Kahle." As the god spoke, he looked down to meet the shocked gaze of said person. "I have come at the orders of the Lord of Cui Palace to come receive you." As the minotaur spoke, the giant cloud he was upon started to float away, disappearing into the horizon.
In the Fengdu City of the Ghost World, Aaron was rather uncomfortable, as he was before a seemingly middle-aged man reading a book, in a library. Since the man was ignoring him, he came to the conclusion that he should look at his surroundings, and as he did, his gaze washed over the only decoration in the room-a painting of a goddess whose mere image calmed his heart. As the blue robed man looked up from his book, he revealed a look of surprise. "Oh! I didn't realize he would have such powers of perception." After he said that he shouted, "WAKE UP!" As he said that, an invisible ripple was emanated from the man's body, forcefully waking up the transparent ghost enamored with the painting of a goddess. As the man woke, he looked shocked, as he had completely forgotten his circumstances in his admiration of the painting. The blue robed man gently looked back at back, as though looking at a child whom he was fond of.
"Are you the Lord of Cui Palace?" Aaron eventually asked, as he thought it was only logical. "Why yes, I am!" The now titled Lord of Cui Palace responded cheerfully, unknowingly easing the tension that was previously there. "Why am I here?" Aaron asked. "Well, I Thought I would say hello and maybe give you a gift, considering we are from the same hometown!" "Wait, what?" Aaron once again spoke up, "How are we from the same hometown?" Aaron had a confused look on his face, as he didn't know how someone who was obviously an immortal could be from his hometown. "Well, we're both from Earth, aren't we, it's practically the same thing!" Aaron couldn't comprehend how that would work, so they simply moved on. "Wait', Aaron once more spoke up, "you said something about a gift, what did you mean?" "Ah, that, well, considering your superb comprehension skills I decided to bestow upon you an absolutely top-tier visualization technique, an image of Mother Nuwa, a technique considered supreme, even in the Heaven Realm." "Heaven Realm?" Aaron asked confused, as he had never heard of a Heaven Realm. "Right, I forgot, you are still just a mortal. The Three Realms are composed of the Heaven Realm, the Mortal Realm and the Netherworld Kingdom. The Heaven Realm is made up of Devas and Asuras, however, you did not rack up enough karmic merit to be reborn into the Heaven Realm, considering the karmic merit you did achieve you should be reborn into the Mortal Realm, however, your level of karmic merit is far too high for any ordinary inhabitant of the Mortal Realm, and as such, I have decided to allow you to retain your memories in exchange for the majority of your karmic merit, but you shall still be bestowed the panting of Mother Nuwa."
With this knowledge, Aaron had been thoroughly enlightened regarding the secrets of the universe. As the Lord of Cui Palace watched his face contort in awe, he suddenly lifted his finger and pointed towards him, instantly ingraining the painting of Mother Nuwa into his soul. "Well, I've done all I need to, and the rest will be up to you, and should you reach a certain threshold on strength, we may meet again. Now go, off you go, to the Six Paths of Reincarnation." Whoooosh. The Lord of Cui Palace waved his finger, and the figure who had been standing in awe suddenly disappeared, to be reincarnated.
A.N. Area: ok, first time i've ever written something of my own free will so yeah, also, apologies for its short length, didn't feel putting what would be the next chapter into it would be right so ye, enjoy (go read the original webnovel by I Eat Tomatoes)