"Healing Light..."

  As the incantation was spoken, a soft white glow emerged and nded precisely on the hospital bed.

  The light carried the warmth of early spring, exuding an aura of renewal, as if pulling one into the very essence of life itself. The body does not lie, and the surreal scene before him forced Li Mu to swallow the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.

  What was unfolding before his eyes did not resemble a movie set. A prank? Even more unlikely. As an ordinary saried worker, Li Mu found it hard to believe that anyone would go to such eborate lengths for his sake.

  "I've transmigrated!"

  The moment this thought surfaced, an overwhelming flood of unfamiliar memories surged through his mind. Before he could resist, darkness consumed him, and he fainted in dramatic fashion.

  "Priest Quinn, how is Hudson?"

  A middle-aged man dressed in luxurious garments asked with concern. Beside him stood a noblewoman, her eyes swollen from crying. Her expression was complex—hopeful, yet tinged with resentment, though she masked it well, appearing only as a mother worried for her child.

  "Worry not, Baron Redman. The gods watch over their faithful. The backsh has been successfully cleared, and young master Hudson has awakened the Seed of Life. He is merely exhausted from the energy depletion and has temporarily lost consciousness."

  Priest Quinn's voice carried a hint of fatigue. Clearly, casting the healing spell had not been easy for him.

  After all, he was only a junior priest.

  Yet even as a junior priest, he was considered high-tier talent—at least within the modest town of Tielun.

  As the sole priest and alchemist in the territory, Quinn held a significant position. Ordinarily, he preferred to use his own concoctions when treating people, often experimenting in the process. Divine spells were reserved for only the most distinguished figures in the territory.

  "May the great Lord of the Dawn bless Hudson!"

  "Thank you, Priest Quinn..."

  Baron Redman exhaled in relief, his worry instantly fading. Had it not been for his noble bearing, his reaction might have been even more exaggerated.

  After seeing the priest off, Baron Redman turned to a maid and instructed, "Take good care of Hudson. Inform me the moment he wakes up."

  Noticing her husband's improved mood, the noblewoman beside him hesitated before pleading, "Redman, since Hudson is safe now, can we not show mercy to poor Lesuer?"

  As if struck in a sore spot, Baron Redman's face immediately darkened.

  "Silence! This is all because of your indulgence! Stealing his elder brother’s life essence—if word of this spreads, the thousand-year reputation of our Coslow family will be ruined by that wretched boy!

  If Hudson hadn’t been fortunate, I would have beaten that brat to death myself. Let him hang there. If anyone dares to take him down, hmph..."

  Tears are a woman’s greatest weapon, and under normal circumstances, Baron Redman might have relented. But now, things were different.

  Without sparing his wife another gnce, he stormed off, leaving her standing there, humiliated.

  Lying in the hospital bed, Li Mu slowly regained consciousness as the original host's memories fused with his own. He finally confirmed that he was not dreaming.

  Had he saved the universe in his past life? He must have, considering the bizarre luck that had befallen him—transmigration.

  If given a choice, Li Mu would have gdly returned to his mundane 9-to-5 existence. Anyone else who wanted this experience was welcome to it!

  "Hudson Coslow," the third son of Baron Redman, was now his new identity.

  While this background was not the pinnacle of nobility, it was still a status Li Mu could never have dreamed of attaining in his previous life. With hard work, he could undoubtedly carve out a remarkable future.

  But the real problem was—this world was anything but normal!

  Though its political structure resembled medieval Europe, that simirity was only superficial.

  Knights, magic, priests, wizards...

  Elves, dwarves, beastmen, sea folk, undead...

  All the fantastical elements of games and novels existed here in reality. A world like this was destined for chaos.

  Having lived in the peace and security of modern society, Li Mu found it difficult to accept his new reality—a brutal world ruled by the w of survival.

  He feared pain. He cked the courage to recklessly test his limits. After struggling through the night, he finally came to terms with his new identity.

  First, he needed a simple goal—survive.

  In a world dominated by religion and mythology, any odd behavior could result in dire consequences.

  To avoid being burned at the stake, he had to blend in as Hudson Coslow. Everything else could be managed, but imitating the original Hudson’s speech, mannerisms, and habits would be no small feat.

  Thinking about this, Hudson did not know whether to thank or curse his unfortunate younger brother, who was still hanging from the pilr.

  If not for that fool’s attempt to steal his life essence, this body’s original owner might still be alive. And perhaps, Li Mu would have never transmigrated here at all.

  But thanks to this fiasco, he now had a perfect excuse. After experiencing a brush with death, it was only natural for his behavior and habits to change.

  Sorting through the jumbled memories in his mind, Hudson gradually pieced together his situation.

  As the third son of Baron Redman, he had two older brothers, an elder sister, three younger brothers, and two younger sisters. The unfortunate reality? His stepmother was the current baroness.

  As was the case in many eras and cultures, having a stepmother rarely boded well. Otherwise, Lesuer’s audacious attempt to steal the life essence would never have happened.

  His only soce was that the baroness hailed from a merchant family. Though wealthy, she cked political influence.

  In this marriage of power and money, Baron Redman clearly held the upper hand. The fact that all of Hudson’s siblings had survived to adulthood was testament to that.

  Thanks to the kingdom’s strict inheritance ws, there was no possibility of title usurpation. No matter how persuasive the baroness was in private, Baron Redman would never dare to bypass his eldest son in favor of a younger one.

  While the title was out of reach, resources were still up for grabs. In this ruthless world, money was not everything—precious cultivation resources and political leverage could not be bought so easily.

  Within the noble hierarchy of Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron, the tter was at the lowest rung. How many resources could a baron possibly possess?

  To make matters worse, Baron Redman had an abundance of children. Dividing those limited resources fairly was a challenge.

  As his sons grew older, the competition for resources had only intensified. The life essence incident was simply one consequence of this escating tension.

  His two older brothers had successfully awakened their Seeds of Life, becoming knights in service to the kingdom.

  When Hudson’s turn came, complications arose. Life essence, a crucial catalyst for awakening the Seed of Life, was tightly controlled by the empire and the church.

  Even nobles had to abide by strict quotas. To secure the essence for Hudson, Baron Redman had pulled many strings, yet the process had still been deyed by a year.

  That dey had allowed Lesuer, barely younger than Hudson, to reach the age of awakening as well.

  Cutting in line was impossible. Even as the baron’s favored son, and despite his mother’s persuasion, Lesuer could not bypass family tradition.

  Desperate, he had made the reckless choice to steal the life essence for himself.

  The result? A catastrophe. And though the essence had been recovered, Hudson was certain it would no longer be his to use.