Chapter 2

When Zhang Chengyuan's soul left the mortal world, a sudden clap of thunder echoed, and the night sky seemed to suddenly open up. A purple cloud mass abruptly appeared behind the originally grayish cloud layer, and immediately, lightning began to twist wildly in the sky, with some even piercing through the cloud layer to reach the ground.

Just as most of the people in Seoul were staring at the abnormally stormy sky in shock, a dark bolt of lightning struck the unfortunate Zhang Chengyuan almost unnoticed, delivering another terrible blow to his body.

Any normal person encountering such a situation would surely not have survived. One could say he was doomed!

At that moment, the vehicle that had accidentally hit Zhang Chengyuan suddenly stopped. A young man in his early twenties jumped out of the car, ran over in fear, and upon seeing Zhang Chengyuan's ghastly appearance, his face turned deathly pale. After a moment of shock, he scrambled back to the car and shouted to a middle-aged man wearing glasses, "Senior, we hit someone!"

The middle-aged man, who was already prepared mentally, sighed and quickly said, "Call the hospital's emergency number immediately, then report to the police." Seeing the young man still dazed, he bellowed, "Hurry up! Right now! We might still be able to save a life!"

Hearing this, the young man, as if injected with a stimulant, suddenly came to his senses, pulled out his phone, and quickly dialed the emergency number to seek help from the nearby hospital.

The middle-aged man turned to the four young girls in the back seat, who were already crying in fear, and comforted them, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

How could such a light-hearted reassurance calm the four girls, who had just entered society and were experiencing a car accident for the first time? Moreover, they had special identities as newly debuted singers. If the media exposed the accident tonight, regardless of their responsibility, they would inevitably face malicious slander from competitors. If the situation worsened, the company might put them on hold or even abandon them, which could destroy their budding careers. Thinking of this, how could they not be anxious?

The four girls cried with tears streaming down their faces, afraid that their sobs would anger the experienced agent, they all carefully covered their mouths and sobbed.

The middle-aged man, who had been dealing with these four girls almost every day for the past half year, understood their thoughts very well. He comforted them, "This incident has nothing to do with us. Our car was not driving fast, and it was that person who suddenly appeared and got hit. This bridge is equipped with many cameras, which will clearly record the entire incident. The media won't make a fuss about this. Remember, our DSP company is not a pushover. Also, you don't need to worry about how the company will treat you. The company has invested a lot in training you, Fin.K.L, and won't easily give up on you over such a small matter. Just relax, everything is under control! Hyeori, as the leader and the eldest, you should comfort your sisters."

Hyeori immediately wiped away her tears and answered crisply, "I will, please rest assured, Senior!"

At the 129 Central Emergency Center in Mapo District, Seoul, in a private high-end ward, Zhang Chengyuan lay motionless on a hospital bed, wrapped tightly, with only a small opening around his mouth and nose covered by an oxygen mask. Apart from a faint breath, he was almost indistinguishable from a dead person, known in modern medicine as a vegetative state, and in ancient times as a soul separation or soul loss condition.

At this moment, Zhang Chengyuan's soul or life energy had long departed with the car accident, replaced by the soul of a person named Xiao Yuan, who had traveled through time. This soul was somewhat special, far more advanced than an ordinary soul, an elevated version of a common soul, which ancient Chinese Taoists called the "Yuan Shen."

Xiao Yuan was originally a young Taoist from the early Northern Song Dynasty, a disciple of the first hidden cultivation sect "Xiao You Qing Xu Tian" on Wangwu Mountain. Since he had memory, he had been a disciple of the sect, regarded by the elders as the first genius disciple in five hundred years since the great change in the primordial energy of the universe. From the age of three, he began to cultivate and by the age of twenty, he had reached the realm of "Qi Transformation to Spirit," with his Yuan Shen formed, capable of night travel for a hundred miles and returning to his body with a single thought. Although the realm of "Qi Transformation to Spirit" was not significant in the ancient times, it was a rare achievement in the declining cultivation civilization of the Northern Song Dynasty.

In everyone's eyes, Xiao Yuan's future was almost limitless, and he might become the first immortal in five hundred years. Unfortunately! Just as he was about to enter the realm of "Spirit Transformation to Void," he was struck by an unexpected and far more powerful "Purple Ring Heavenly Thunder" during his heavenly tribulation, shattering him to pieces. If it weren't for the unique and resilient nature of his Yuan Shen, which he had cultivated through the secret technique "Fen Shen Jue" of Wangwu Mountain, he would have been destroyed along with his physical body.

Somehow, Xiao Yuan's Yuan Shen traveled through the purple heavenly thunder to the southern part of the Korean Peninsula at the end of the 20th century, coincidentally attaching to the nearly dead body of the extremely unlucky Zhang Chengyuan. His originally powerful Yuan Shen, severely injured, entered the body and, like a weary bird returning to its nest, entered the sea of consciousness in the brain, beginning to absorb the large amount of residual memory in Zhang Chengyuan's brain.

Xiao Yuan remained unconscious for half a month. When he finally awoke, it took him a day to clearly realize that he had taken over Zhang Chengyuan's body and was not the real Zhang Chengyuan, although his mind was filled with Zhang Chengyuan's memories, and his own memories were scarce. However, being given a second chance at life was already a great favor from heaven, and Xiao Yuan no longer sought more.

Struggling to open his eyes, he saw a strangely dressed woman staring at him with joy. The memory in his mind immediately told him that she was a nurse. She whispered, "Ah, you're awake, I'll call the doctor right away."

Soon, a male doctor came to examine Zhang Chengyuan's eyes, heartbeat, and other conditions, said a few meaningless words, and hurriedly left, leaving the nurse to continue her care.

Although Zhang Chengyuan's consciousness was clear, his body was difficult to move, and he guessed that he had been given an anesthetic. Looking around the ward, he found it initially interesting but soon realized there was nothing much to see. Wanting to ask the nurse a question to pass the time, he found his tongue unresponsive. Frustrated, he closed his eyes and focused on resting, planning to use his energy to heal his injuries.

When he tried to gather his energy, he found his dantian empty and his meridians broken. He could not sense any true qi. Realizing he had taken over a new and severely damaged body, he sighed deeply, calmed himself, and recalled the healing methods from his previous life. He then adjusted his breathing, preparing to absorb some of the earth's qi to heal his body.

With his currently damaged Yuan Shen, he knew it was impossible to use powerful spells, but he was confident he could easily gather the surrounding qi. However, after a while, he only managed to absorb a few strands of qi as thin as hair, which surprised and disappointed him. Compared to the ancient times, even in his previous life, the concentration of qi was thousands of times greater. If in his previous life he could recover his full cultivation in three months without relying on medicinal herbs, it would now take at least 250 years, by which time he would have been reincarnated several times.

Zhang Chengyuan sighed again, feeling helpless, but did not give up on the idea of healing himself. For now, every day he could recover was a day gained.

By evening, Zhang Chengyuan heard a faint and chaotic sound of footsteps. Soon, a middle-aged man and four young women entered the room. The man wore glasses, had an average build, a slightly round face, and a gentle expression.

The four young women looked to be under twenty, dressed fashionably, and were charming and lovely. Zhang Chengyuan found them very familiar. After a moment of thought, he realized they were the newly debuted Fin.K.L, who had caused a sensation in Korea. He felt very puzzled: why would singers come to visit him?

The middle-aged man spoke softly to the nurse, and after she left, he approached Zhang Chengyuan's bed and asked, "Young man, what's your name?"

Zhang Chengyuan stared at him for a while, unable to recall if he had ever met him, and didn't feel the need to respond.

The middle-aged man immediately sensed Zhang Chengyuan's wariness and introduced himself, "I am Ji Zhonghua, a director at DSP Entertainment, and the one who brought you to this hospital."

Zhang Chengyuan subconsciously replied, "DSP? What's that?" Only after speaking did he realize he could talk.

It turned out that after several consecutive surgeries over the past ten days, Zhang Chengyuan had been given multiple anesthetics. Due to his severe injuries, his entire body was heavily anesthetized. When he woke up, most of the anesthetics were still effective, so he couldn't speak. If he had rested for another hour, he would have been free from the anesthetic's effects. However, Zhang Chengyuan, unaware of this, was focused on adjusting his breathing and didn't notice the abnormality. The nurse, seeing Zhang Chengyuan with his eyes closed, assumed he was sleeping and didn't try to talk to him.

Ji Zhonghua, seeing that Zhang Chengyuan didn't use respectful language and seemed to disdain DSP, felt somewhat angry. If Zhang Chengyuan weren't a severely injured patient, he would have scolded him. However, the current Zhang Chengyuan, though he could speak fluent Korean, was not yet accustomed to Korean etiquette and naturally didn't greet him respectfully.

Ji Zhonghua, trying to be patient, said, "DSP Entertainment is a company that specializes in training pop singers and spreading K-POP culture. Have you heard of Sechs.Kies?"

Zhang Chengyuan shook his head, not speaking. Although Sechs.Kies was popular among young Koreans, especially female students, Zhang Chengyuan, with his peculiar personality, had no interest in boy bands. He had heard of H.O.T., the dominant force in Korean pop, but Sechs.Kies, who were always overshadowed by H.O.T., didn't interest him.

Ji Zhonghua was taken aback: young people who didn't follow trends were as rare as a hundred-year-old ginseng. Who was this boy? How could he not know the famous DSP? Unwilling to give up, he probed, "What about Fin.K.L? They are also singers from DSP Entertainment."

Zhang Chengyuan nodded slightly, "Fin.K.L? Of course, I know. You should have said that earlier. I'm very tired from talking."

Ji Zhonghua's anger flared: "This guy is becoming more and more impolite! Forget it! It's beneath me to argue with a patient." Feeling frustrated, he turned and said, "Hyeori, take care of this guy. Find out his background and contact his family."

Due to the lightning strike, Zhang Chengyuan's face was unrecognizable, and his student ID was also damaged. Apart from knowing he was a high school student, nothing else was known. All the matters had been handled by DSP, or rather, Ji Zhonghua, who had to accept his bad luck.