Chapter One: The Xuanwu Continent
Xuanwu Continent, Great Chu Empire, outside Xuanzhou City, within a desolate mountain!
Bang!
A pale hand stretched up from beneath the earth, soon followed by another. Both hands clutched at the soil, and then a bewildered young man slowly crawled out from underground.
His face was ashen, hair disheveled and caked with dirt. His clothes were in tatters, stained with mud and traces of blood.
“Me?”
“Where am I?”
He scanned his surroundings, everything utterly unfamiliar, his voice trembling with confusion and fear.
“These aren’t my hands!”
“This isn’t my body!”
“Is this possession? Reincarnation?”
“Have I traveled through time?”
“Am I still on Earth?”
Qin Feng sat on the cold ground, gazing about in a daze.
He remembered dying. Why was he alive?
Suddenly, Qin Feng let out a muffled groan, veins bulging on his forehead.
It was as if a torrent of memories was being forcibly stuffed into his mind.
Waves of recollection surged through him, images flashing one after another.
Xuanwu Continent, Great Chu Empire, Xuanzhou City, Qin Feng, third young master of the Qin family in Tianyang City!
...
After about two hours, the pain gradually faded from Qin Feng’s face—he had absorbed the memories of this body’s former owner.
He truly had traversed worlds.
This was no longer Earth, but the Xuanwu Continent.
It resembled ancient times on Earth, but there were differences. According to the inherited memories, this land possessed extraordinary power—martial artists.
There were three known stages: Open Strength, Hidden Strength, and Transformative Strength, and then the venerated Grandmasters.
Open, Hidden, and Transformative Strength martial artists were known to the public, but Grandmasters were revered by all. It was said that the powerful families of Xuanzhou and Tianyang Cities were backed by Grandmasters.
Legend claimed that Grandmasters could split boulders, rend tigers and leopards with their bare hands, and stand unchallenged by a thousand men.
But these were only legends; Grandmasters were as elusive as dragons, and the former owner of the body had never seen one.
The most powerful martial artist he had known was the patriarch of the Qin family—his grandfather, Qin Tianyun—a Hidden Strength expert who had once slain thirty-three bandits single-handedly.
The reason the former Qin Feng came to Xuanzhou was to learn martial arts.
Xuanzhou City, Xuanhai Martial Hall, presided over by Master Chen Xuanhao, a Hidden Strength martial artist and a sworn brother of Qin Feng’s father—an old and deep bond.
The former Qin Feng’s burial in this wasteland was related to Xuanhai Martial Hall.
Chen Xuanhao had a daughter, Chen Yunyun: tall, beautiful, and the moment the former Qin Feng arrived, he fell hopelessly in love with her.
Chen Xuanhao, because of his friendship with Qin Feng’s father, had intended to match them.
However, Chen Yunyun’s mother hailed from a noble house, her family’s power immense. Chen Yunyun’s ambitions were lofty; she looked down on Qin Feng.
Chen Yunyun, famed for her pedigree, drew many admirers.
Among them, Shen Huaidong, second young master of the Shen family, had repeatedly threatened Qin Feng to stay away from Chen Yunyun.
But the former Qin Feng paid no heed.
One day, when he was out, two strong men killed him—a cold sword ran him through the chest.
Even recalling this, Qin Feng felt a chill run through his body.
After the attack, the mortally wounded Qin Feng managed to reveal that Shen Huaidong had hired assassins.
Wait, the sword pierced his chest—the wound!
Qin Feng’s expression froze. If the sword had pierced through, the wound should still be there—and fatal!
Had he just crossed over, only to die again?
He hurriedly tore open his shirt. There, a ten-centimeter-long, hideous scar met his eyes.
It had already scarred over?
That should mean he was safe, right?
He probed the wound—apart from a dull ache, he felt nothing else.
Is this a benefit of crossing over?
He could only ascribe it to some miraculous advantage of his transmigration.
He glanced around. The soil covering him was still fresh—not much time had passed since his burial.
Xuanzhou City? Tianyang City?
Now that his life was no longer in immediate danger, Qin Feng weighed his options: return to Xuanzhou City or go back to Tianyang City.
If he returned to Xuanzhou, he would inevitably face Shen Huaidong’s schemes, even the wrath of the Shen family, putting his life at risk.
If he went back to Tianyang, he could avoid the Shen family’s pursuit.
But after a moment, he made up his mind—he would go to Xuanzhou City.
Returning to the Qin family in Tianyang would keep him safe, but it left him aggrieved.
If you want to kill me, then I will kill you.
Even if I can’t kill you, I’ll at least take a bite out of your flesh.
What’s this?
As he set off toward Xuanzhou, he noticed a plus sign in his right eye’s vision, one that remained no matter where he looked.
He frowned. The former owner’s memories held nothing about this.
A golden finger?
The thought flashed in his mind—the fabled cheat of those who crossed worlds. Perhaps this plus sign was it.
He reached out and touched the plus sign.
The moment he did, it opened, displaying a line of text before his eyes:
Name: Qin Feng
Strength: +
What does this mean?
Puzzled, he tapped the plus sign again.
+1
A line of text appeared after “Strength: +”, then vanished.
Does it increase strength?
He tapped again.
+1
+1
+1
...
As he continued, he could feel his body growing stronger—stronger with each tap.
There seemed to be no limit. Did this mean he could increase his strength endlessly, becoming infinitely powerful?
His eyes widened in delirious joy. He simply sat down and tapped repeatedly.
+1
+1
+1
...
So powerful!
He could feel the surge of strength, as if he could kill an ox with a single punch.
But then—a sharp pain shot through his entire body.
Hiss!
It hurt! What’s happening?
He tried to move and gasped. His muscles felt as if they were being torn apart—agonizing pain.
Strength +?
Could it be that the sudden increase in strength had pushed his body beyond its limits?
Yes, that must be it. Like pouring water into a sealed barrel until it bursts.
Better get back to Xuanzhou City first.
Smiling wryly at his own recklessness, Qin Feng stood up slowly, ready to walk down the mountain toward Xuanzhou City.