The first thing Li Yun Tian felt was pain.
Just a dull ache that seeped into his bones, heavy and persistent, as if the body itself was reminding him of its limits. His eyelids fluttered open to a familiar sight: a low wooden ceiling, cracked with age, faint dust drifting down with every breath.
This room was small.
He lay still for several breaths, staring upward, letting the foreign sensations settle—the thin mattress beneath him, the faint smell of medicinal herbs, the quiet murmur of disciples outside.
Then memories surfaced.
Not his.
High Heaven Pavilion.
Outer Disciple Courtyard.
Su Mu.
Li Yun Tian's eyes narrowed slightly.
So this was where he had landed.
In his previous life, death had come abruptly. One instant of awareness, then darkness. He had expected nothing after that. Oblivion, perhaps.
Instead, he woke up here.
As a side character—Li Yun Tian.
A name that barely existed in the vast history of High Heaven Pavilion.
He sat up slowly and looked at his hands. They were lean, calloused, clearly used to training but lacking any real strength. When he circulated the faint Qi within his body, it responded sluggishly.
Body Tempering, seventh stage.
Barely passable.
A sigh escaped him—not in despair, but in quiet acceptance.
"Of all people…" he muttered.
Li Yun Tian remembered this body's future.
No—more accurately, its lack of one.
In the original flow of fate, Li Yun Tian was nothing more than a stepping stone. A lackey who followed Su Mu around, barking when told to bark. Someone who wasted contribution points just to challenge Yang Kai, only to be defeated cleanly and humiliated publicly.
After that?
Obscurity.
He would fade into the background of the Pavilion, occasionally mentioned in passing, until one day his name would simply stop appearing altogether.
He stood up and walked toward the small bronze mirror hanging on the wall.
The reflection staring back at him was plain. Sharp eyes, but no confidence behind them. A face that could be forgotten after a single glance.
He understood now.
The lowest tier.
Ordinary. Replaceable. Disposable.
At that moment, something flickered at the edge of his vision.
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Information.
[Host: Li Yun Tian]
Identity: Outer Disciple — High Heaven Pavilion
Cultivation: Body Tempering 7th Stage
Bloodline: None
Technique: None
Fate Value: 50
Fortune Value: 30 (Black)
System Shop: Unavailable
(Automatically unlocks when Fate Value reaches 1000)
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The interface vanished as quickly as it appeared.
Li Yun Tian stared at the empty air where it had been, his expression unchanged.
"So this is my golden finger," he said quietly.
He sat back down on the edge of the bed and sorted through the remaining memories of this body—the need to impress Su Mu.
Li Yun Tian let out a short breath, almost a laugh.
Then he thought of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai truly was Heaven's chosen. He had obtained the Black Book by doing nothing at all.
"I'll steal every one of your opportunities," Li Yun Tian said to himself. "I'll let you grow… and kill you later."
His first plan formed quickly.
Go to Yang Kai's house.
Steal the Black Book.
He set out immediately.
On the way, he saw Yang Kai being beaten by another disciple.
Li Yun Tian didn't intervene.
Instead, he used the opportunity to slip away quietly and head straight for Yang Kai's residence.
When he arrived, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Yang Kai's house was simple—bare wooden walls, a narrow bed pushed against the corner, a small table cluttered with worn cultivation manuals, and a faint scent of old paper and dust lingering in the air. Nothing about it suggested fortune or destiny.
Li Yun Tian searched quickly.
Eventually, he found it.
The Black Book.
He took it at once and hid it within his clothes.
Moments later, the door creaked open.
Yang Kai stumbled in, bruised and roughened, his breathing uneven.
"What are you doing in my house?" Yang Kai demanded.
Li Yun Tian turned calmly.
"Oh," he said, acting surprised, "I was looking for something and got lost. I decided to rest here for a moment. Pardon my intrusion."
Yang Kai looked suspicious, but after a moment, he let it go.
Li Yun Tian, however, was focused on something else.
He checked Yang Kai's Fortune Value.
Green.
Blooming with light.
He really was Heaven's chosen.
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Word count:724
A/N: Don't worry, the chapters won't be too short going forward.