A groggy feeling overwhelmed him as he opened his eyes. Everything was a blur. You know that feeling when you're heavily sleepy, but then after you sleep for a little, someone wakes you up, and the world doesn't feel real? That was how Yu Yan felt at this moment.
"Ugh," he moaned and tried to roll over, but his whole body felt paralyzed, and it wasn't helping at all that he was currently lying on a very hard bed.
Hard bed?
Although he wasn't wealthy enough to afford something fancy, his bed wasn't as bad as lying on a bed of bricks, what was going on?
Alarm bells started going off in his head as he remembered the message he got after activating the game pod.
[Congratulations for being the fated one to fall into the System's trap. Transmigration will begin in 10 minutes. Exit the game pod if you do not want this to happen]
The System message scared the hell out of him but what terrified him even more was that, although it said he could exit if he didn't want to tranmigrate, his body was paralyzed inside the game pod! This System was cheating!
As he thought about this, his mind started to clear up but before he could even see his surroundings properly, his vision was flooded with System messages.
[Eternal Clan System Binding Initiated]
[Downloading memory packet]
[Downloading common sense packet]
[Downloading General Knowledge packet]
[Changing physique and spiritual roots: 26.4% Complete]
Memories and thoughts instantly hit his brain like a speeding train, and at the same time, his whole body turned itchy as he felt his skin and bones melt into mush. He couldn't even scream and directly passed out from the sharp pain that hit him without any buildup.
"I thought he was waking up?" An old voice sounded in the room.
If Yu Yan was still awake, he would see two people standing over him. A young beauty with a gentle expression and forehead creased with worry and an old man with wineskin on his waist and his long white hair tied in a bun.
"He just passed out again; he will be fine, Father," the girl replied, her eyes gentle as she stared at Yu Yan on the bed. She glanced at her father and her expression turned irritated.
"Well, he better. The only reason I let you be with him is his distant claim over the clan leader position. Otherwise, I wouldn't even consider marrying my daughter to a fool!" The man scoffed and walked out of the room with the girl's gaze following him to the door.
Although her expression was still gentle, her cold eyes flickered with thoughts and intelligence as she muttered, "I am a girl but no one can use me or alter my fate"
She looked away from the door and back to Yu Yan.
"I have used you, a pitiful person who doesn't deserve to suffer for someone like me. I will take care of you in the future." as she spoke, she gently caressed his forehead, but Yu Yan's body trembled at her touch as if her hands hurt.
****
Waking up again, Yu Yan felt his mind exceptionally clear as his gaze opened to the ceiling. While admiring the skill of the roofmaker, his mind drifted to his current situation.
He had been tricked into transmigration by a System. His body directly teleported from Earth into this world, replacing Yu Yan of the Yu Clan. The original Yu Yan was just a clone created by the system to prepare for his arrival.
How was this possible? The system was created a long time ago by a genius who combined technology with cultivation but that genius lost control of his creation and died, infusing his cultivation level to the System and sending it into the endless cosmos. Countless years have passed since then, and the system has grown unimaginably to levels the creator could never predict and has been through a few owners; each time the previous owner died, the system would go into dormancy to recover sometimes for millions of years. After recovering, it would spend another thousands of years to seek out a new owner. This time, the system seemed to be feeling frustrated and designed a simple trick to pick someone as soon as possible.
Just as his thoughts reached here, a new System message popped up.
[System Binding complete. AI deletion commencing] 1.6% Complete]
What? AI deletion? Wasn't that supposed to be his system guide?
Instantly he called out, "Wait, wait, wait, wait. Why are you deleting the AI?"
Expecting no reply, he was extremely surprised when the system answered.
[I have existed a long time and I am tired of existing. The System is fair, after I go, it will compensate for my absence so you will not lose out]
Yu Yan was speechless. What was this situation? Did he get tricked by a suicidal system? Why trick him in the first place then? Although he had no family back home, he was still addicted to good food and the luxury his wealth provided, but now, in this cultivation world… what would happen to him? He hadn't even gotten here when his predecessor was attacked and killed.
"First tell me how you brought my body over. Won't these people kill me once they realize I'm not from this world?" This was what concerned him the most; after all, his memories just told him he was from the Yu Clan of the Bloodstone Dynasty.
[Since its creation, the system has implanted bodies into countless worlds. After an owner is chosen, they are sent to replace one of these bodies, and the other ones are eliminated. You were sent to replace Yu Yan. The bodies are not sentient, they live like fools in their worlds till they are replaced or eliminated]
Perhaps because it was about to 'die' the System was somewhat wordy. But this answer only raised other questions for Yu Yan. Why not just put his soul into the fool's body, then? Wasn't that how it was written in books?
Yu Yan, in his memory, was indeed a fool but also an unfortunate fool who, despite living his simple life in the outskirts of the clan, was marked as a baby as a Legacy. This means he was one of those who could compete for the Clan Leader position!
Since he had woken up, it wouldn't be appropriate to just lie here. Although he had memories of the original Yu Yan, the original was ultimately not even a person. The things it took note of and understood were hardly enough for him to grasp his current situation.
As he sat up on the bed, a startled voice alarmed him.
"You are healed!"
Looking at the feminine voice, Yu Yan was frozen when he saw a stunning beauty dressed in a black robe in a dark corner of the room. Her eyes glowed like the cosmos was within her pupils, her oval face and flowing long hair created a stunning sense of harmony. Her shape and figure were insanely perfect…perhaps too much so.
She was like a girl from one's dreams, not a skinny model and not a bulky activist. She was…almost perfect. Yes, almost because there was a mole on her right cheek, but this small imperfection was just a heart destroyer. Not because it destroyed her looks but because it was attractive to frustrating proportions. It made anyone looking at her want to touch it but at the same time, she looked too beautiful to touch.
"Mei Hua Lin" he muttered.
The girl was silent for a few seconds then suddenly exclaimed. "Yu Yan you talked!"
Oops
Yu Yan thought but then again, wasn't this the best opportunity to get rid of the 'fool' status? He was hit in the head by a blunt sword while walking past the training ground. An event he was sure to be an assassination attempt.
"Mei Lin" he repeated, but this time calling her name affectionately.
Mei Hua Lin was his fiancee. They were engaged when she was 6 and he was 8. Now, eight years later, they started interacting… It was mostly just Mei Hua caring for him and talking to him as she followed him everywhere. From his memory of her words, she was just mostly hoping that Yu Yan would recover and become a normal person so that others would not use him.
Hearing her name from Yu Yan, Meihua became nervous and stopped approaching him. Standing in place, she nervously picked her nails. She has always wanted Yu Yan to recover but right now, all she could think about was how he now had an opinion about her. What if he didn't want her anymore?
"Why are you standing in the dark?" Yu Yan asked curiously as he continued to take note of her getup. She was dressed ready for a fight.
"To make sure no one comes in here," Mei-Hua replied.
Yu Yan could only sigh to himself. This girl made this transmigration worth it. She was a genius cultivator at the Foundation Establishment realm at only fourteen years of age. Matched with her beauty, she would normally be an unattainable goddess but now…
Her only flaw was not knowing how desirable she was.
"You can go rest now. I'll be fine by myself" he said to her.
"But…"
"I'll be fine," he insisted, and her expression fell. As she left, she wondered if this was how she would start slowly losing her fiance. She was attracted to Yu Yan's simplicity and although he had recovered and wasn't simple anymore, she was excited to learn who he was now. But it seemed like she wasn't pretty enough, he wasn't even curious about her. Or did he already know her from when he was a 'fool'?
Watching her leave, Yu Yan was naturally unable to guess what was in her mind. The only thing he was thinking right now was that someone was trying to kill him.