The wind carried a fresh, crisp scent through the air, and the sky stretched endlessly above, painted in shades of blue and gold.
Li Tian's senses took their time catching up to the new reality around him.
His mind was fuzzy, like he'd been out for way too long.
The earth under him felt cool, but everything around him seemed sharper, more vivid than it should've been.
Wait... why was he laying on the grass?
He sat up slowly, squinting against the sunlight sneaking through the trees above.
The forest around him was bursting with life, way too much for anything he was used to.
The trees were huge, their leaves glowing a bright green, and the air hummed with energy, like it was alive.
"Where the hell am I?"
Something was off. Or rather, everything was off.
Looking around, realizing that he wasn't in his small apartment anymore,
Li Tian frowned as he slowly pushed himself up to stand, brushing off some weird, unfamiliar robes clinging to him.
His body felt a bit sluggish, but beneath that, there was this power surging through him with every breath, a strength he definitely didn't recognize.
His eyes swept over the forest, taking in the serene beauty of the landscape.
'What is this place?'
He walked towards somewhere...to find something or someone atleast.
He felt… powerful, but not like he suddenly got a boost. It felt like the strength had always been there.
"This is..." He stopped, his thoughts clicking into place.
This wasn't his world.
No, this...
This wasn't him...
Did he suddenly gain some powers?
Or
Had he transmigrated?
But how would he know? He hadn't even seen his reflection yet.
He paused,
He didn't dare to see anyone.
If this was really him then it's better to be cautious after all, he was suddenly here in an unfamiliar place gaining unfamiliar strength.
But if he had transmigrated,
'No, if someone finds out that the original owner of this body is dead and I have occupied it, wouldn't they kill me.'
Judging from the strength flowing through his body, he couldn't say for sure that no one would find out.
So, before knowing where he was he didn't dare to meet anyone.
Fortunately, he found something.
A room to be exact.
It was large but not luxurious.
But here, he found out exactly what he wanted...or needed.
Looking into the mirror, he was dumbfounded.
The man in front of the mirror had a good-looking appearance.. well.. good-looking would be an understatement because just his features, such as jade face, serene eyes and sword-like eyebrows were enough to tell that this was a person from a cultivation world.
Oh! how awesome ..
Being transmigrated into a world full of jade beauties, world where strength reigns supreme..
Most would be overjoyed after all, this was a standard protagonist start.
Unfortunately, Li Tian, who suddenly had a sense of Deja Vu wasn't one of those.
'This is... me.?'
Looking at the handsome face in front of the mirror,
Suddenly, memories began to flood his mind, but they weren't his own memories.
They were of this world, of a life he hadn't lived before.
He clutched his head, gritting his teeth as he tried to make sense of what was happening.
The realization hit him slowly, like a heavy weight settling in his chest.
'Li Tian.'
'No way, right?'
"Sword Fairy in the Cultivation World."
That was the novel he had read last night before it became his last.
To be honest, it was a simple cultivation story, filled with powerful martial artists, sects vying for dominance, and a protagonist destined to build a harem as he rose to power, typical novel with face slapping.
Even though it had a generic plot, there was one thing that irked him.
It was a Yuri Story.. Yuri harem to be exact.
No way, this was the first time he's had read something like that and he didn't know what to make of it.
He didn't want to speak about someone's beliefs and choices... but he read it.
The main protagonist meeting other female protagonists, helping them, then making friends with them and as she turned her preferences... having a harem with them.
Well.. that's all.
He didn't know what to say..
The name Sword Fairy was only used because the author didn't know how to give a proper name to his story.. other than that the story had nothing much to do with it.
Although the Main protagonist knew how to use a sword, that was it.
That was the main protagonist of a Xianxia novel, after all,
Would there be something she doesn't know?
But, let's not question authors choices after all, writing a novel is hard.
Anyway,
He had now transmigrated into the novel.
Unfortunately..no fortunately he was not the protagonist.
He was not even the villain.
No Li Tian was… someone else.
Someone far less important.
An NPC to be exact.
"Well, this is great," Li Tian muttered to himself, his voice laced with sarcasm.
Of all the characters in the story he could have become, he was just a side character—a Holy Son candidate, one of six.
From his high status, one might get the idea that he would be a supporting character or a lessor villain, however, he was a nobody.
One of the random NPC's author didn't even bother to describe.
If it weren't for his one time interaction with the Protagonist after the Holy Son Trial where they greeted each other, and the words count, because of which the author had to give him a name, he might have stayed nameless.
Of course, no one would care about a random Npc in the story...forgetting the name after reading.
He would have been same, after all, this guy was some random character, however, he remembered it...
Because this was his f*king name.
At that moment, he was not really surprised because he had already seen the author's lack of creativity and naming sense,
He even thought this guy might be his neighbour or something, who randomly used his name for some character.
Nevertheless, he remembered it.
That's why, he also remembered that this guy was introduced after Holy Son Trial and was soon forgotten afterwards.
He didn't win the trial,
No..he didn't even qualify for the semifinal so, he wasn't even promoted to a cannon fodder.
By using critical thinking,
It could be said that he lost to some Holy Son NPC in a sect-wide competition before that Holy Son NPC lost to another Holy Son NPC, who then went on to lose to the low-tier villain.
As for why a villain not a supporting character.
Well, it would be revealed later.
Anyway,
The world of Feng Aotion was vast and complex, filled with powerful sects, hidden realms, and endless opportunities for cultivation.
He recognized this place as the outskirts of the Heavenly Spirit Sect, one of the largest and most powerful sects in the world.
But unlike the protagonist, he wasn't fated to rise to power or gather a harem of devoted women.
He was… an NPC.
Li Tian let out a long breath, trying to steady his thoughts.
He wasn't going to panic just yet.
After all, he had knowledge of this world.
He knew how events were supposed to happen, who the key players were, and where the dangers lay.
Maybe being an NPC wasn't the worst thing in the world.
As long as he stayed out of the main story, avoided the protagonist and her future harem, and kept a low profile, he could live a peaceful life.
But just as he was about to relax, a soft chime echoed in his mind.
[NPC System Activated.]
The message appeared before his eyes, glowing faintly in the air.
He blinked, momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of the screen.
But then, as a fan of transmigration stories, he quickly understood.
A system.
His own personal cheat, his "goldfinger," as it was often called in stories like this.
The system would give him tasks and rewards, allowing him to grow stronger, faster than he otherwise would have.
The message continued to unfold before him, and Li Tian couldn't help but ask.
"System, so what do you do?"
[Host, this is an NPC system.
As you know you have transmigrated into a novel world as a random NPC.
So, this system will support and assist you.]
"What kind of support?"
To be honest, while he was happy that he had something that would make him stronger, he wasn't very keen on having systems or so.
Because from the novel he'd seen these systems basically forces their hosts to join plots in exchange for giving them rewards.
Something like complete the brainless plot, write a diary or something...was that something a serious person came up with?
Though those stories are funny and ends with harem of something like that but still... if he doesn't want to then why are you forcing him?
Although he wasn't entirely opposed, considering he was just an NPC, who might die any moment and no one would care.
However, he has already made up his mind to stay away from the protagonist and her harem and he didn't want to have a system that would force him to interact with them.
[Don't worry, Host.
This system will not force you to do anything.
Hosts will recieve tasks, and whether he wants to complete them or not, is entirely up to you.]
This was better.
To be honest, he wasn't entirely opposed to it.
After all, this was something that would make him stronger, something that was necessary to survive in this chaotic world.
So, if the choice laid on his thoughts, he very much welcomed it.
"And, what about the task?
[Host, your task is simple: Survive.]
[The longer you survive, the greater your rewards.]
[First task: Survive for 30 days]
[Reward: Heavenly Veins Constitution.
Your cultivation potential would be greatly increased.]
______________
End...
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P.S.: As for why I know that he had a jade face, sword-like eyebrows, and the mandatory flowing black hair that defies gravity, despite him barely being mentioned in the story?
Well, we have the fine scholars of the comment section to thank for that.
You see, the author didn't really feel the need to describe an NPC in detail—after all, why waste time on a character whose only job is to breathe and disappear in the background, right?
But the comment section heroes?
Oh, they went all out.
They kindly provided concept images of every character, right down to the NPC with eyes that gleamed like the brightest stars and hair that cascaded like a waterfall (because what self-respecting cultivator doesn't have legendary hair?).
The author might've just thrown him in with two lines of dialogue, but the fans?
They blessed him with the full Xianxia makeover.
You want to know what some random NPC looked like?
Someone's already sketched it out and uploaded it with all, even adding the chiseled jawline that could cut through mountains, or the divine aura that practically radiates from the mere act of standing still.
After all, how else would he qualify as a Holy Son candidate?
You know how it goes in these worlds—if you don't have the full package of jade-like skin, sharp, penetrating eyes, and ethereal hair, you're not even qualified to be a pebble on the path, let alone a named character.
If you're not breathtakingly beautiful or otherworldly handsome, why even bother showing up?
It's like those millions of random cultivators that get wiped out by a villain's casual wave of the hand, just to show how terrifying they are.
No way, they didn't even qualify as a character, statistics, numbers the author threw in for dramatic effect. One hundred? A thousand?
A million faceless extras vaporized in one go. It didn't matter.
If you didn't have at least three defining features, were you even in the story to begin with?
So yeah, a big shout-out to the comment section warriors for letting this NPC find his visual identity.
Without you guys, he'd still be wandering the world with the appearance of a vague silhouette and the personality of a training dummy.
Really, a heartfelt thank you for giving this poor NPC the validation the author didn't bother with.