Chapter One: The Eagle Strikes

“So this is the world outside!” Sun Licheng stood dazed for a long while before finally uttering these words.

Before him stretched a silver expanse of snow and ice, with towering peaks rising in the distance. Endless snowfields shimmered beneath the sunlight, casting dazzling rays in all directions.

Sun Licheng stood atop a snowy mountain, behind him a dark, yawning cave. He exhaled softly, watching his breath immediately turn to a cloud of mist in the frigid air, lending the moment an unreal, dreamlike quality.

“Why don’t I feel cold? How odd this world is…” Sun Licheng instinctively ran a hand over his bare skin, voicing his confusion aloud.

Indeed, Sun Licheng had crossed over—he was now one among the countless legions of those who had transmigrated, and this world was clearly not the Earth, which had been beset by the troubles of global warming.

“How did I get here?” he wondered, repeating the question that had plagued him countless times.

“It must’ve started with drinking last night,” he muttered uncertainly.

Sun Licheng, a native of the imperial capital, had a gentle, virtuous wife and a mischievous son. Through hard work, he’d accumulated some modest wealth and now worked as a full-time stay-at-home dad, running a few small projects on the side. Beyond working and caring for his son, he loved the outdoors, reading web novels, and playing games—especially the “Heroes of Might and Magic” series, which he’d played obsessively for more than a decade without growing bored.

He sometimes fantasized about being a mighty wizard or knight, crossing into another world to woo women, seek adventure, and conquer. But he’d never imagined it would actually happen. And yet, something still felt off.

His memories up to that point were clear and connected, but after that, they became fragmented—a jumble of drunkenness, going home, bathing, sleeping, a cave, and the nearly rotted head of a zombie. These scenes flickered across his mind like a static-ridden old black-and-white television. Strange, thrilling, and utterly inexplicable.

He shook his aching head, trying to clear his thoughts. Even though he’d crossed over, what he wanted most was to return home. Yes, to go home.

After all, though anyone might wish for a fantastic new world, as a man with a happy family, who would want to be stranded alone in a place like this?

“Wait, I remember hitting the cave wall just now and hurting my hand…” Restless, Sun Licheng suddenly recalled this and quickly lifted his left hand. To his astonishment, his skin was green and spotlessly clean—there was no trace of any injury.

Looking closer, not only was his skin green, but his fingers were elongated and claw-like, resembling an eagle’s talons.

“Oh no, it can’t be!” Sun Licheng cried out, hurriedly looking down.

He was no longer in his tall, burly human body. Now, his entire form was emerald green, smooth-skinned, and slight of build. At least his masculine characteristics remained, but that was no comfort—for Sun Licheng was no longer human!

He raised a hand to his face—a hooked nose, large mouth, sharp fangs, a pair of pointed ears. He touched his head—at least he still had hair.

“What am I?” Sun Licheng panicked, his thoughts racing. Suddenly, an image surfaced in his mind.

“Am I… a goblin?!” he wailed in despair.

“Why is this happening?” Within Sun Licheng’s mind, a mass of energy erupted in a soul-wrenching scream.

The energy flickered twice, then took on the shape of a human, exuding an aura of unassailable majesty.

At this moment, the figure’s brow was tightly furrowed, his expression anxious, muttering, “This can’t be—why isn’t divine magic working? In the name of the Creator, how can a god’s magic fail? What is happening?”

This energy was, in fact, one of the oldest deities of this world. Here, where gods were numerous and sometimes waged terrible wars, he had fallen in a divine battle ten thousand years ago.

Yet, for a god, death did not mean the end. There were many methods of resurrection. Unfortunately, this god had been relentlessly hunted, and every attempt at return had failed.

With no options left, he conceived of creating a new body with divine power, then inhabiting it to return to life.

But whether as a mighty titan, a dragon in the sky, or a raging orc, he was hunted down and slain anew. Forced to lower his standards repeatedly, he fled all the way to this forsaken land, finally settling for the body of a goblin.

A goblin was better than nothing—survival came first. He hid here for thousands of years.

Though a goblin’s body could preserve his existence, it could not withstand the steady erosion of divine power. Every few centuries, he had to find a new body. After much hard experience, he resolved to craft a truly superior vessel, pouring immense effort into the task.

But in the end, after all his pains, the body was snatched away—a new soul entered the goblin brain on the stone altar and fused with it instantly.

This unexpected event drove the god to fury, but what truly terrified him was that the invader’s soul had rooted itself so deeply that, no matter what he tried, he could not dislodge it.

With his time running out, the god had no choice but to abandon his own decaying body and take refuge in Sun Licheng’s mind.

He had hoped to overpower Sun Licheng from within, but soon realized, to his despair, that he couldn’t understand a single thing within this man’s mind!

For divine magic to work, it had to penetrate Sun Licheng’s soul, which in turn required basic information about Sun Licheng himself—but he simply couldn’t comprehend it!

A god unable to fathom a mortal soul—such humiliation was unbearable.

And yet, the barrier was real—as if a towering wall of iron separated their souls, isolating them completely.

Now, the god’s fate was truly wretched—fallen, hunted for nearly ten millennia, deprived of his body, and now trapped inside Sun Licheng’s mind. It seemed all misfortune had befallen him.

He looked heavenward in silent despair, then suddenly had an idea.

“If I can’t invade his soul, what if I drive him to collapse on his own?”

The plan seemed sound: soul collapse is often caused by overwhelming terror—hence the saying, ‘scared out of one’s wits.’

His strategy was simple—drive Sun Licheng’s luck to rock bottom, pile on enough pressure, and the soul would shatter of its own accord.

“Scoundrel! If you dare steal a god’s body, you must face divine retribution!” the god cursed, shaking his fist, and began altering Sun Licheng’s body. While he couldn’t touch Sun Licheng’s soul, he could still affect the body.

Becoming a goblin was more than Sun Licheng could bear, but he had no choice. Survival was now the priority—he had to leave this snowy wilderness and at least find something to eat.

Steeling himself, he started down the mountainside, unaware that some ten kilometers away, a giant eagle was soaring toward him.

The Aebelsovt eagle was a fearsome predator, second only to the Parker Gold Eagle in ferocity. Nearly two meters tall, almost four meters long, and with a wingspan approaching ten meters, such an eagle could rule the skies over a hundred square kilometers.

However, this one had just battled a golden eagle and, badly wounded, had fled into this region in desperation. Surveying the endless snow mountains, it felt baffled by its own actions—until a potential prey caught its full attention.

Sun Licheng, descending the mountain, noticed nothing. A black dot streaked from the sky, accompanied by a rush of wind, and the eagle dove upon him.

With a piercing shriek, the eagle’s talons punched clean through Sun Licheng’s chest, sending a spray of blood into the snow.

Tormented by hunger, the eagle impatiently tore off Sun Licheng’s left arm at the root and swallowed it whole.

Sun Licheng was both unlucky and fortunate. Unlucky, because as a goblin he was immediately deprived of a limb, a testament to the goblin’s utterly feeble strength. Fortunate, because the prolonged mental strain and sudden agony overwhelmed him, and he lost consciousness, his mind retreating into protective oblivion.

As the eagle prepared to tear off another piece, a massive snow bear, its fur silver-white, rounded the mountain and appeared.

Sensing danger, the eagle seized Sun Licheng and soared into the sky.

With the howls of the snow bear and countless other beasts echoing behind, the eagle beat its wings in desperate haste, fleeing out over the snowfields.