Meng Lin felt her consciousness awaken where she found herself engulfed by an all-consuming obscurity. Her mind, clouded and disoriented, struggled to make sense of her state. 

She could not feel her physical existence, her vital energy or qi, and even her spiritual consciousness seemed to no longer be there.

Then a sudden realization descended upon her, a horrific understanding of her predicament. "No no...," she repeated in her mind, as if in denial, she was taken over by a surge of terror, grief, and loathing, she grappled with her newfound reality. 

Her fear was borne out of her current state – the absence of perception, sensation, and existence was wholly alien and daunting. She was a nonexistent entity in the darkness, a thought that sent shivers down her non-existent form. 

Her ambitions of scaling to the peak of her potential, of witnessing the summit's offerings were gone, she had always considered herself exceptional – the one with the system, distinguished by her physique, and remarkable because of her wits.

But now it's all for nothing, hatred consumed her. She was filled with loathing for the demonic woman who had attacked her without warning. Had she been in a clearer state of mind, she might have connected the dots. However, the woman's image was seared into her consciousness, the perpetrator of her demise.

Her thoughts then drifted to her companions – the three girls. She pondered their fate and the heavenly oath she had sworn to them, an oath she was now incapable of fulfilling. She thought of her parents, and her life before even coming to the cultivation world.

Meng Lin remained in this state of shock, her time perception distorted, however, she felt that 6 entire days had passed, which confused her. This temporal confusion momentarily calmed her down before she started to think straight.

She questioned why she couldn't feel anything and she wondered why she was in this strange state. Logically, she should have encountered one of three post-mortem scenarios.

Either she would have been claimed by the heavenly oath due to her inability to fulfill it, or she would have been transported to a form of underworld, such as hell or the land of the dead. Neither of these had occurred.

The third scenario was the cessation of existence. However, she retained her consciousness and felt alive, albeit in a weird sense. 

As she felt another day slip by, she grew increasingly bewildered. She failed to understand her current predicament and sensed that she lost something with the passage of each day. 

If only she had her spiritual consciousness or her spiritual energy, believing it would provide some solace. However, she was suddenly struck by the realization that she suddenly forgot what her physique was called, she knew that it was linked to chaotic energy, but she couldn't comprehend why she was forgetting its name.

7 days slipped by, and Meng Lin came to experience another horrifying realization. With the passage of time in this state, she was losing her memories. She tried to devise a plan, but without access to any form of power, her efforts were futile. 

After the 18th day, she started questioning her own thoughts and memories. She forgot her identity momentarily and a day later, she realized she could no longer feel anything – no emotions, no desires, just an empty entity devoid of purpose. Fear became a distant memory, and she began to question the very nature of her existence.

On the 23rd Day, she began to forget her own name. She knew Meng was her family name, but her first name eluded her. She ceased to dwell on it, as she could not find any purpose in thinking anymore.

On the 24th day, Meng Lin didn't think.

On the 25th day, Meng Lin didn't think.

On the 26th day, Meng Lin suddenly asked herself out of the blue why she was able to know when a day passed, it became the only thing that she knew of, but with no sense of feelings, she quickly returned to thinking about nothing.

Four more days passed and on the 30th day, Meng Lin suddenly saw a bright ray of light that started small before spreading and engulfing her vision.

However, instead of showing a reaction to the fact that she was finally able to see light, Meng Lin didn't react or rather didn't think about the light as even within this light she could only see darkness.

****

Crack!!

Meng Lin's pasted body, which had already crystallized on the frozen pavement, began to crack before bursting apart and disintegrating to reform into the figure of a naked Meng Lin standing on the icy floor with her feet touching the icy ground.

She felt cold permit her feet and she opened her eyes, vacant and unseeing, and remained motionless for a few minutes, her gaze was dazed and lifeless.

Drop!!!

Suddenly, she noticed a drop of water splattering on the floor and her gaze followed the droplet, which had now formed a small wet patch on the icy floor, her gaze moved to the tiny crystal fragments on the floor before she expanded her line of sight, noticing white fog surrounding the cave walls.

She observed the fog for a few seconds and realized that it was the soul-confusing array that she had set up.

she began to think and remembered that the array was effective only on those below the soul-wandering realm, so it wouldn't affect the Crystal Lizard and the Crystal..," Hmm"

Suddenly Meng Lin's memories returned with a jolt and she covered her face in fright, she couldn't believe what had just happened. The memories flooded back, overwhelming her senses. She remembered her death and the demonic woman, she also remembered how she was in total darkness.

But how was she here now? How had she returned to her physical body? Meng Lin slowly lowered her hands, her mind racing with questions. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and make sense of the situation.

Looking around, she realized that she was still in the cave and the corpse of the crystal lizard was still lying on the floor as if nothing had happened.

As she took a step forward, her body felt weak and her muscles protested. It was as if she hadn't moved in ages, she stopped and suddenly realized that she didn't have her high-grade robe, not only that, she saw that all the types of equipment that she wore were gone including the storage rings and storage bags.

It appeared that not even those survived the attack of the demonic woman, Meng Lin became depressed thinking about all the items that were inside her storage rings, as well as the self-repairing robe that she was so fond of.

In the end, she only shook her head and quickly took out a new robe from her inventory, after wearing it she sat down crossed-legged to circulate her qi.

Slowly, she felt her spiritual energy awakening, like a dormant flame reigniting within her, as her qi circulated, Meng Lin could feel the familiar surge of qi flowing through her body. She could sense the world around her, the subtle energies that permeated the cave and she no longer felt lost in the darkness.

"System," Meng Lin said as she felt that the system might hold the answers to her questions, and just as she had thought panel after panel began to appear before her, some of them dating back to when she defeated the two overlords of this region.

[Congratulations for defeating a foe from a realm higher than you]

[You have received 3 Taoist gacha wheel tickets]

[You have received 1 immortal jade]

[You have received a unique skill: Immortal Flesh]

Meng Lin was stunned after reading the first panel, she had completely forgotten that she had indeed defeated beasts of a higher realm, meaning that she would be rewarded for that.

The last time she defeated a foe at a higher realm she had speculated that if she were to do it again then she would receive rewards and it seems that she was correct in thinking that.

'It's a skill, not a technique: Meng Lin thought as she realized that she was automatically granted the skill and she didn't even have to learn it through a book.

Thinking about all the information that this skill has Meng Lin was surprised to see a panel clearly explaining the skill in detail.

[Immortal Flesh]

This skill enables the user to regenerate their body completely as long as they have sufficient time and energy. Regardless of the extent of physical damage, the user's body can recover to its pre-attack state. Currently, based on the user's realm the recovery period is 30 days. 

Limitations 

If the user's soul suffers any injuries, this technique is unable to mend them. Secondly,  The user cannot regenerate repeatedly within a short timeframe and the length of regeneration increases the stronger the user becomes.

Cooldown 7 days.

Skill limit Nascent Soul Realm.

'So that's why I didn't die' Meng Lin thought to herself, as a sense of understanding dawned on her. She had been given a second chance at life due to the Immortal Flesh skill that she had obtained. Her body had regenerated over the course of 30 days, leading to her current state.

Just as she was pondering over her newfound knowledge, another panel appeared, revealing other achievements and rewards that she received.

[Congratulations for understanding 0.02% of the Dao of Death]

[Congratulations for understanding the Elemental Qi of Darkness]

[Congratulations for having experienced a moment of enlightenment]

[you have received a reward for understanding a Dao for the first time]

[You have received Taoist 12 gacha wheel tickets]

[You have received 4 immortal jades]

[received the Low-Grade Sacred Weapon Void-State Tablet]

[Do you wish to accept the rewards]

For a moment Meng Lin was stunned, she looked at the panels before her in disbelief. The concept of Dao was something that she knows of but also something that she doesn't understand. 

In the 500 years of knowledge from the ancestral symbol, she didn't hear or read about the heavenly Daos, meaning it was something that was way out of her league.

The fact that she had comprehended even a small percentage of it was probably the result of the Talent Nurturing Fruit, otherwise, she knew she would not be able to understand even a fraction of it 

The gacha wheel tickets and the immortal jades were valuable in their own rights however and she was even pleased with the Elemental Qi of Darkness however it was the Void-State Tablet that truly caught her attention.

The Void-State Tablet seemed to have gone over the stage of spiritual weapons and into a Sacred Weapon, something even Narscent Soul Cultivators wouldn't have the chance to see, let alone use.

Meng Lin had only heard of one other Sacred Weapon and that was the sect artifact, and even then she didn't know anything else about it, everything about the artifact was a mystery to her.

"Yes" With a mix of excitement and caution, Meng Lin made up her mind. She accepted the rewards, knowing that they came with great responsibility. As she confirmed her decision, a blinding light engulfed the room. When the light faded, a majestic weapon materialized before her.

The Void-State Tablet was unlike anything she had ever seen. It was a sleek, black tablet with intricate patterns etched onto its surface.

As she knew it would take a long time to refine it, Meng Lin stored it within the system inventory before thinking about the artifact.

As she reached out to touch it, she felt a dark aura repelling her hand, as if the weapon not finding her worthy, it made her realize that there seemed to be a presence within the tablet.

It was faint and barely there, like a weak flame flickering in the wind. She knew instinctively that it was the spirit of the weapon. It was feeble and only seemed to have instincts rather than thoughts.

Meng Lin was slightly taken aback. She didn't know that there were weapon spirits within sacred weapons, but seeing how feeble it was she concluded that it was not a fully awakened spirit. 

Nevertheless, Meng Lin didn't think too much about it, she would have to nurture the spirit until it reached the level of consciousness.

She stored the weapon within her inventory and called out once more. "System".