---
**Chapter One: The Awakening**
Darkness. Cold. Silence.
Then—pain.
A searing pressure clamped around his skull, like his very thoughts were being torn apart and stitched back together. He tried to breathe but found no lungs. He tried to scream but had no mouth. Only one thing remained:
**Awareness.**
And then, just as quickly as it came, the pain stopped.
"—Tang San?"
The voice was soft, female, familiar. That name—*Tang San*—why did it strike a chord?
He opened his eyes slowly. The sunlight filtering through the old wooden rafters above him stung like needles. His body felt… smaller. Younger. Fragile, even.
A girl with gentle features and big eyes leaned over him, concern clear on her face. "You okay? You fainted during Master's lecture."
He blinked.
Xiao Wu.
His breath hitched. *No… this… this is impossible.* He shot up from the bed, disoriented.
The memories crashed in all at once. Tang San's childhood. His training in Tang Sect. His jump from the cliff. But overlaying those—his own life. A man named Liang Mu, a physicist who died alone surrounded by data and regrets. Killed in a lab accident while trying to unlock the secrets of multiversal existence.
Two sets of memories. Two souls. One body.
He gripped his chest. His heartbeat thundered like a drum.
**I've been… reborn? As *Tang San*?**
He stood slowly, feeling the way his muscles moved, the steady flow of spirit power within him. It was real. This wasn't a dream. The surroundings, the smells, even the weight of the hidden weapons beneath the bed—they all *fit*.
But something didn't. He felt… *more*.
*Observe.*
A strange mental prompt echoed in his mind, unbidden. He focused on Xiao Wu and—
> **Name**: Xiao Wu
> **Race**: 100,000-Year Soul Beast (Disguised)
> **Level**: 12
> **Potential Threat**: 2/5
> **Emotional Bond**: 3/5
He staggered backward.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Wu asked, tilting her head.
"Nothing. Just… tired."
She raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced, but let it go. "Master wants to see you when you're feeling better."
As she left, he sat back down, thoughts racing.
His mind, enhanced by both Tang San's genius and Liang Mu's scientific knowledge, began to process everything. He wasn't just Tang San—he was a fusion. Something new.
And then it appeared before him, written in glowing script only he could see.
> **You have awakened the Unique Soul Trait: [Quantum Core].**
> Function: Soul analysis, enhancement, and fusion.
> Synchronization: 17%… 35%… 71%… Complete.
> Welcome, Tang San of Two Worlds.
He smiled, a spark of ambition igniting in his chest.
*If I've been given a second chance… then I won't just follow the path of the gods. I'll surpass it.*