The first time I saw a man was when he was about to die.
"Hiss, it hurts!"
A sharp headache jolted Fang Xuan awake instantly.
Opening his eyes and surveying the unfamiliar environment around him, Fang Xuan was completely confused.
He clearly remembered that he had been sleeping in the dormitory, but this was no familiar dormitory now.
"Where is this?"
"I'm not dreaming!"
Suddenly, a flood of strange memories rushed into Fang Xuan's mind, overwhelming him.
At that moment, Fang Xuan understood: he had crossed through time and space to a strange world.
This world didn't possess overwhelming high technology; instead, it was one of martial arts, where civilization had reached its peak. In this world, everyone practiced martial arts, striving to reach the pinnacle and dominate the world.
The martial arts realms of Tianxuan Continent ranged from low to high: martial apprentice, martial artist, martial master, martial king, martial emperor, martial sage... Each of these major realms was divided into nine minor realms, from the first to the ninth grade.
The body Fang Xuan inhabited was called Ye Yu, and he was the young master of the city lord of Songyang City.
Yesterday, his confidant, Xiao Dezi, had informed him of the discovery of a fourth-grade spiritual herb, the Bingling Flower, in the Tianduan Mountains just outside the city. Upon hearing this, Ye Yu decided to go pick the Bingling Flower and present it to his fiancée, Liu Ruyan.
In order to keep the news quiet, Ye Yu only brought Xiao Dezi with him on a covert trip to the Tianduan Mountains.
Poor Ye Yu, this fool, had no idea that it was all a trap.
Not only were the Tianduan Mountains filled with dangerous monsters, but he—merely a first-grade martial apprentice—along with Xiao Dezi, a third-grade martial apprentice, had foolishly ventured into these mountains. It was as if he were an old birthday star eating arsenic, hoping for a swift death.
Even if the Bingling Flower had truly appeared in the Tianduan Mountains, the prominent families in Songyang City had already converged there. How could Ye Yu, about to meet his demise, have known about it?
As expected, before he could even face the monsters, he was ambushed by Wang Chong, the head of the Wang family, one of the four great families of Songyang City. In the end, Ye Yu's body and head were separated.
Perhaps by some stroke of luck, the strong scent of blood didn't attract the monsters to immediately devour his body. This allowed Ye Yu's soul to enter the body and survive.
Uh!
This was truly a hellish beginning!
Although his arrival brought a glimmer of life to this body, his injuries had yet to heal. He was now unable to move. If no one found him, he would likely be exposed in the wilderness once more.
Wait!
As a traveler, shouldn't he have a golden finger?
He tried to call out: "System? Are you there? Grandpa? Are you there? Grandma? Are you there?"
However, there was no response.
Oh my God!
This was not just a start to the collapse of the sky; it was the start of hell!
Sure enough, everything they wrote about in novels was a lie. There are no children of destiny—I'm just an ordinary passerby, an NPC, and I'll be killed as soon as I cross over.
Alas!
Just when Ye Yu was about to give in to despair, preparing to close his eyes and await death…
"Ding! The strongest system in the world is binding, 1%, 2%, 3%,..."
The mechanical voice was like the sound of nature, making Ye Yu snap out of his bleak state and sit up in shock.
Sure enough, even though the system may be late, it always arrives in the end.
How could a traveler be without the big, thick golden finger of the system?
"The strongest system in the world"—the name alone sounded extremely impressive. Ye Yu could already imagine the day he'd be drunk in the lap of a beauty, waking up to possess the power of the world.
"97%, 98%, 99%,....."
As the binding process neared completion, Ye Yu could hardly contain his excitement.
Suddenly, a strange mechanical voice interrupted: "Wait, something seems wrong, the program is incorrect, and the wrong host was found!"
This voice forced Ye Yu's excitement to subside.
"Fuck!"
Ye Yu was stunned. It was already the last moment! How could it stop just like that? You can't do this to me!
What if the system leaves?
"The strongest system in the world is being unbound."
Then, the binding process, which was almost complete, plummeted back to the bottom like a roller coaster.
Ye Yu yelled: "System, don't even think about leaving! You brought me to this world without a word, and now you want to dump me with a light excuse of finding the wrong host? There's no such thing in this world! You must give me an explanation!"
Hearing this, the system recognized its error.
"In light of the mistakes made by this system, I will give you a compensation package. So, from now on, you and I will no longer owe each other anything, and we will never meet again."
At that moment, the system flew into the sky, and a nine-colored light ball appeared in front of Ye Yu.
"Forget it, I know what this shit is. It's better to have a golden finger than none."
Ye Yu reached out and touched the nine-colored light ball. Slowly, the light entered his body. Ye Yu felt a jolt throughout his body, and a terrifying power surged within him.
A line of distorted text appeared in Ye Yu's mind: "Compensation package: invincible cultivation (including alchemy and refining knowledge)."
Immediately, this overwhelming power flowed into his meridians, and Ye Yu's injuries healed instantly. He felt as though he had transcended.
Ye Yu stood up, feeling the power coursing through him, and couldn't believe it. Just moments ago, he was a miserable passerby about to die, but now he stood on the peak of martial arts.
Invincible!
I'm invincible now!
Now, whoever tries to fuck with me, I'll fuck them instead, male or female, it doesn't matter!
Ye Yu laughed loudly. No matter how powerful your martial arts or physique is, you will kneel before me with just one slap!
Ye Yu glanced at the sky again. This world seemed to be under his control. Even the way of heaven seemed to tremble faintly. Is this the man who holds the sun and moon in his hands, who picks the stars at will? There's no one like me in this world!
Suddenly, a wave of emotion stirred deep within his soul, and the obsession of the original body, which had not dissipated, resurfaced.
"Don't worry, I'll avenge you and live for you." It seemed that upon hearing these words, the original body's obsession was finally put to rest.
From now on, he was Ye Yu.
As for those who had attacked the original body, he would make them pay—no one would escape.
The betrayer, Xiao Dezi, would be punished even more severely.
The original body—such a fool—had listened to Xiao Dezi's revelations about the Bingling Flower and rushed into the Tianduan Mountains without a second thought.
He wasn't even worthy of obtaining such a treasure!
Well, those troubles would be dealt with later.
Waving his sleeves to scatter the filth and blood on his body, Ye Yu walked calmly out of the Tianduan Mountains.
The monsters around him seemed to sense the overwhelming aura Ye Yu unknowingly exuded and scattered in all directions.
Songyang City, City Lord's Mansion.
A middle-aged man with a dignified appearance was furious.
"You bunch of useless idiots, you even lost Yu'er—what good are you to me!"
A large group of servants and housekeepers knelt, trembling on the ground.
This middle-aged man was Ye Hao, the city lord of Songyang City, the only seventh-grade martial artist in the entire city, and Ye Yu's father.
Ye Hao had always been approachable and rarely lost his temper. However, his son was his lifeblood—his very bottom line. If anyone dared to harm his son, Ye Hao would fight them to the death. It was clear how angry the city lord was at the disappearance of his son.
"Go find them! Find them!" Ye Hao roared.
"Lord City Lord, the heads of the Wang and Liu families are here." A servant entered, trembling despite Ye Hao's fury.
"No, no! Don't you see I'm busy!"
"Brother Ye looks like he's in a bad mood today," said Wang Long, the head of the Wang family, and Liu Xi, the head of the Liu family, as they led a group of people into the inner hall before Ye Hao could finish speaking.
Leading the group was an ordinary-looking old man, yet the overwhelming aura emanating from his body caused everyone present to tremble in respect.
Just looking at the posture, anyone can tell that he was not someone to be underestimated at all!