Chapter 1: Cultivation 101
In a small, weathered hut perched on the Mountain Heart Pavilion of the Azure Cloud Sect, a young man lay sprawled across a makeshift bed of dried leaves. The humble dwelling offered little comfort—its wooden floors worn and cold, the walls barely keeping the mountain chill at bay—yet the boy remained motionless, vulnerable and unguarded as if impervious to his harsh surroundings.
The peaceful scene didn't last. Without warning, the young man's body began to twitch. Subtle movements escalated into violent convulsions as sweat beaded across his forehead, drenching his simple garments. His face contorted in agony, features twisted as if trapped in a nightmare so terrifying it transcended the boundary between dreams and physical pain.
With a desperate gasp, he bolted upright, chest heaving as he gulped down air like a drowning man breaking the surface. His wide eyes darted frantically around the unfamiliar space, confusion evident in every panicked breath. After several moments, his breathing steadied enough for him to speak.
"Where am I?" he whispered hoarsely, voice cracking from disuse. "Wasn't I just at work?"
He braced himself against the rough floor and attempted to stand, his limbs trembling beneath him like a newborn fawn's. Once, twice he stumbled before finally finding his balance, taking tentative steps across the hut's worn planks. As he moved, something caught his attention—a reflection in the small glass window pane, distorted but clear enough to reveal a shocking truth.
The face staring back wasn't his own. Or rather, it was, but fundamentally altered. Different bone structure, different features, the same consciousness trapped in foreign flesh.
"What the hell is happening?" he croaked, the words barely escaping before white-hot pain lanced through his skull. It felt like molten metal being poured directly into his brain, every nerve ending screaming in protest. He clutched his head between his hands, a primal howl tearing from his throat as he collapsed to his knees. The agony was too intense to remain conscious through—his body convulsed violently against the hard floor, limbs thrashing uncontrollably.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the pain receded, leaving him panting and disoriented but mercifully clear-headed. Slowly, he pulled himself into a sitting position, understanding dawning with terrible clarity.
He was Xiang Yu—not the historic general, but a painfully average office worker with an equally average life. A man who had been unceremoniously yanked from his comfortable, predictable existence and hurled into... whatever this place was. This place was actually a different world entirely, and not just any world—a cultivation world, where immortals soared through the skies and monsters lurked in ancient forests.
This was supposed to be the dream scenario, wasn't it? The fantasy every bored office worker secretly harbored while staring at spreadsheets? Wrong! This was Xiang Yu's personal nightmare. He hadn't asked for adventure or power or destiny. His dreams had been simple: to live quietly, to grow old with a loving wife, to raise children in peace. Now he'd been cast into a realm where the weak perished without ceremony.
One would think that Xiang Yu was overreacting, after all, couldn't he just live that normal life in this world? Sounds easy enough right? Wrong! How was he supposed to survive? A normal person without spiritual roots in a world of immortals and demons? He'd be instantly spawn killed the moment he set foot outside this pathetic hut. As despair threatened to overwhelm him, a translucent blue screen materialized before his eyes.
[Infinite Awakening System is binding to the host]
[Please wait...]
Xiang Yu stared in shocked silence as the text hovered in mid-air. After a few seconds, another notification appeared:
[System bound successfully]
The screen expanded, displaying his pitiful status:
[Name: Xiang Yu]
[Realm: Mortal]
[Species: Human]
[Spiritual Root: null]
[Techniques: null]
[Scriptures: null]
[System Function: Double Exp (Cooldown: 24hrs)]
...
Xiang Yu stared at the glowing interface hovering before him, his mouth agape with disbelief. The transparent blue screen confirmed what countless webnovel protagonists had experienced—he'd actually received a system upon transmigration. The webnovel gods hadn't been lying after all.
Within seconds, understanding of the system flooded his consciousness, as though the knowledge had been directly uploaded to his brain. His particular system centered around experience points—when practicing cultivation techniques or studying scriptures, he would earn their respective exp. The true power lay in its unique function: every 24 hours, all accumulated exp would double automatically. And this doubling would continue indefinitely, creating exponential growth that, theoretically, could reach astronomical levels.
A hesitant smile tugged at the corner of his lips. This changed everything, didn't it? With a system backing him, surely he could seek out legendary opportunities, unearth ancient treasures, and eventually conquer this cultivation world, right?
Wrong again! Are you stupid?
The smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. How exactly was he supposed to conquer anything when his profile clearly showed no spiritual root whatsoever? Even with exponential growth, double zero was still precisely zero. No amount of multiplication could transform nothing into something.
He sighed, massaging his temples. Still, it wasn't entirely hopeless. Even without innate spiritual talent, he could still cultivate external techniques—physical refinement methods that didn't require spiritual roots. As long as he had the system, it didn't matter if it took a thousand years or even a billion—eventually, the exponential growth would make him invincible. Only then would he dare to venture into the chaos of the cultivation world.
For now, survival meant adhering to Cultivation World Rules 101: Don't bully any trash-talented boy named Chen Mo (inevitably the protagonist destined for greatness). Don't insult servants named Lin Feng who perform odd jobs around sects (invariably concealed dragons waiting to reveal their true power). And most importantly, don't even glance in the direction of any lady named Li Yao (guaranteed future cultivation empress with a harem of powerful admirers).
Just as these thoughts crystallized in his mind, a soft, feminine voice cut through his ruminations.
"Senior brother, I'm coming in."
Before Xiang Yu could process what was happening, the door swung open to reveal a vision of beauty that made his breath catch in his throat. Never in his mundane previous life had he encountered someone so ethereally stunning—not that his position as a corporate drone had afforded many opportunities to mingle with exceptional beauties.
The young woman wore flowing robes of layered silk, the outer garment a deep azure embellished with intricate silver cloud patterns that seemed to ripple with her every movement. Her glossy black hair had been gathered in an elaborate style atop her head, secured with ornate hairpins that occasionally caught the light. A small pouch hung from one side of her slender waist, balanced by an elegant sword sheathed on the opposite hip.
Within heartbeats, she crossed the distance between them and was suddenly all over him—her delicate hands patting his face, shoulders, and chest with obvious concern.
"Senior brother, are you okay? Did something happen? I heard a sound—were you hurt?" The questions poured from her lips in a breathless cascade of worry.
Xiang Yu struggled awkwardly to create some distance, pushing against her shoulders. Was personal space not a concept in this cultivation world?
"One question at a time," he managed to say, finally succeeding in holding her at arm's length. It was only then that her form of address registered in his brain.
"Wait! Senior brother?"
A cold realization washed over him as fragmented memories from the body's original owner surfaced. This beautiful young woman was... his junior sister? If he recalled correctly, her name was...
"Li Yao," he spoke the name aloud without thinking.
The young woman's cheeks flushed delicately pink. "Didn't you call me Yao Yao before? Brother, did something happen?"
Xiang Yu felt his entire body freeze, blood turning to ice in his veins. "I'm cooked!" his mind screamed in panic. Only the first Chapter of his new life, and he was already casually intimate with the obvious main heroine of this cultivation world! Wasn't he basically signing his own death warrant? Every male character who got too close to the female protagonist inevitably ended up as cannon fodder!
"Wait! It's not over yet! I can't let it end like this!" Determination surged through him, momentarily overpowering his fear.
He pushed the blushing Li Yao away with gentle firmness, then deliberately turned his face aside, adopting what he hoped was an appropriately aloof expression.
"Junior sister, this is not appropriate," he declared with forced solemnity.
Li Yao's eyebrows drew together in suspicion. Her expression shifted rapidly from confusion to dawning realization and finally settled on deadly vigilance. In one fluid motion, she drew her sword, the blade catching the meager light filtering through the window.
"You," she began, the single syllable dripping with menace that sent shivers down Xiang Yu's spine. "You're not senior brother."
The sword glinted dangerously as she brought it closer. "What did you do to senior brother?"
Xiang Yu stared at her in horror. She had figured him out already? Was his acting that terrible, or was she just that perceptive? Was he truly going to die in the first Chapter of his transmigration story? One really couldn't touch the heroine and live to tell the tale.
But just as despair threatened to overwhelm him, inspiration struck with unexpected clarity. Since he didn't want to die—not here, not now, not without even having the chance to cultivate—he would have to violate one of the cardinal rules of Cultivation 101.
"Yao Yao, what are you talking about?" His voice softened to a gentle murmur as he carefully reached out to pat her head, the way one might comfort a beloved younger sister. "I'm just a little tired and said something weird. I'm sorry."
The transformation was instantaneous. Her deadly expression melted away like morning mist under a strong sun. The sword vanished back into its sheath with a whisper of metal, and before he could react, she had flung herself against him in a tight embrace.
"I knew it! Senior brother loves me the most!" she declared with absolute conviction, her face pressed against his chest.
Xiang Yu's thoughts spiraled into renewed panic. "I'm really cooked this time! How could my predecessor do this to me?" The original body's owner had clearly cultivated a relationship with Li Yao that went far beyond appropriate senior-junior interactions. This was a death flag of the highest order.
"Can I do another roll?" he silently pleaded to whatever cosmic entity might be listening, desperately wishing for a reset button.