Rainy night.
Outside Shouchun City, Nanyang Prefecture, in a dilapidated temple.
“Young Master, when you get to the King of Hell, don’t complain about us brothers. If you must complain, complain about your foolish parents.”
“Next life, don’t get stuck with people like them as parents.”
“He’s a corpse, why are you talking so much to him?”
“Hurry up and gather some dry firewood to burn him. That’ll be the end of it.”
Two servants dressed in blue cloth and burlap robes coldly glanced at the young man’s corpse lying on the ground, then walked away.
Just as their feet stepped over the threshold, a sound was heard.
Thump, thump!
The heart that had stopped beating in the corpse on the ground had, at some unknown point, begun to beat again.
“Pain!”
“So much pain!”
Lu Ming slowly lifted his heavy eyelids, and what greeted his sight was a desolate, dilapidated temple.
His body felt as if it had been stabbed eighteen times, and several of his ribs were broken.
His breath still carried the scent of blood in his nasal cavity.
What’s going on?
Didn’t he go with his good brother to a legitimate establishment last night and order a 198 back massage?
Oh, he remembered.
It was that damned 198.
She really weighed 198 catties.
At the time, Lu Ming wanted to escape, but his good brother’s warm invitation was hard to refuse, so he gave it a try.
The result of trying was death.
That’s right, a trampling incident occurred. Lu Ming only heard a crunch behind him, and then he bore a weight that no life should bear.
Everything went black, and when he woke up, he was here.
He’d never go to a legitimate place again!
Lu Ming swore with tears in his eyes.
Just then, a sharp pain shot through his brain, and a wave of unfamiliar memories flooded his mind.
“I’ve transmigrated?”
Lu Ming sorted through the contents of his mind.
This was a world where Martial Artists reigned supreme, where the Martial Dao flourished, and powerful experts could cleave rivers with a single sword and leave no trace on snow.
The original owner, however, was a small-time grunt in the Cao Gang, living at the very bottom, supporting his parents with a meager salary.
Life had been uneventful until half a year ago, when a magnificent carriage arrived at their home.
The carriage came from Sword King City, and out stepped Su Zhengfeng, the Su Family Head of Sword King City, and his wife, Liu Yan.
The original owner didn’t know the Su Family; he was just a low-level person, had never even left Shouchun City, but he knew these two were important figures, so he was very cautious.
However, Su Zhengfeng told him a shocking secret—he, Lu Ming, was actually the son of the Su Family Head of Sword King City.
He had been sent here since childhood to temper himself.
Now they had returned, but they didn’t take Lu Ming with them.
They bought a huge, opulent mansion in the wealthy area of the city, but there wasn’t a single room for Lu Ming in that mansion.
Because they wanted Lu Ming to temper himself and shed his commoner’s demeanor, otherwise, a poor person suddenly becoming rich would disgrace their Su Family of Sword King City.
So, although Lu Ming had acknowledged his biological parents, it wasn’t really an acknowledgment.
Except for going to pay respects to the two members of the Su Family every morning and evening, everything else remained the same. He still lived with his adoptive parents, went to the Cao Gang every day to do odd jobs, earned a meager salary, and supported his adoptive parents.
He didn’t receive a single coin from the Su Family.
In fact, the Su Family had never publicly announced his identity.
Only the servants in that mansion knew that the young man who dressed shabbily every day and entered and exited the residence was their Young Master.
But even so, in that mansion, Lu Ming was still subjected to the disdain, cold stares, and reprimands from his biological parents every day.
They detested Lu Ming because he was weak, humble, and even fawning in front of people.
How could such a person be worthy of being their son?
Their son was confident, noble, and brave, just like his younger brother—Su Jing.
After sending Lu Ming away, the Su Family secretly adopted a boy to replace Lu Ming through deception.
That boy was Su Jing, which Lu Ming heard from a servant who had followed Su Zhengfeng from Sword King City.
To prevent the infant from growing up lonely, they adopted seven more girls to be his older sisters.
They exhausted the entire clan’s resources to support this one child.
And his growth did not disappoint Su Zhengfeng and his wife; now, at only twenty years old, he had already unblocked his Ren and Du Meridians, becoming a Sixth-Rank expert.
He was the most dazzling young Prodigy in Sword King City today, and a rising star in the current Martial Forest.
Compared to him, Lu Ming was as lowly as a stray dog by the roadside.
After learning this truth, Lu Ming gave up the idea of returning to the Su Family; he felt that he didn’t belong to that unknown Su Family, he belonged to Shouchun City, an ordinary laborer of the Cao Gang.
He had an ordinary family, his adoptive parents gave him all their love, and once he saved enough for a dowry, he would probably marry Liu Cui Cui, the daughter of Auntie Liu from the next alley.
Then, they would live a stable life.
And the facts were pretty much as he expected. After half a year, Su Zhengfeng and Liu Yan finally lost all patience, and at the same time, they were deeply disappointed.
They were leaving, and they didn’t take Lu Ming with them.
Lu Ming stood at the entrance of that grand mansion, respectfully bidding them farewell.
This happened this morning, and the tragedy occurred this evening.
In the evening, after dinner, Lu Ming and his adoptive parents were sitting under the eaves, enjoying the cool air, when suddenly, there was a knock at the door and the barking of dogs from the courtyard.
Lu Ming’s adoptive mother went to open the door, only to be cut down by the person who arrived.
The people who came were assassins, and also familiar faces.
They were precisely the two servants from Su Zhengfeng’s mansion, with whom Lu Ming had interacted several times.
“Run, Ming’er!”
His adoptive father used his body to block the two assassins, buying Lu Ming a slim chance to escape.
He was very young and agile, but he hadn't yet reached a rank in Martial Arts.
However, climbing over the courtyard wall to escape was no problem.
The moment he leaped over the courtyard wall, his tear-filled eyes saw a sharp blade pierce through his adoptive father’s chest, blood splattering in the courtyard.
He ran for his life, but he was still caught in this dilapidated temple.
He died.
He was stabbed eighteen times and had several ribs broken by a kick.
“What a terrible background!” Lu Ming commented in his heart.
However, he was just laughing at the pot calling the kettle black. Looking at his injuries, he wouldn’t last more than half an hour before kicking the bucket.
Moreover, those two assassins were clearly also vicious people; not only did they kill, but they also planned to burn the body.
How ruthless!
There was no way out now, only death.
Unless…
“System!”
Lu Ming called out in his mind.
【Ding!】
【Attribute Point System loading… Loading complete!】
【Detected that the Host has a Novice Gift Pack. Do you wish to claim it immediately?】
“Holy crap~ No way, you really have one!”
Lu Ming’s face was filled with excitement, like a drowning man grasping at the last straw.
“Claim!”
【Ding! Congratulations to Host for obtaining the Martial Skill ‘Shen Zhao Sutra’ and Five Tigers Severing Door Saber! And 1000 Slaughter Points!】
【Shen Zhao Sutra (1/100), Five Tigers Severing Door Saber (1/100), Mountain-Opening Fist (30/100)】
Yo-ho!
My goodness…
This gift pack is too powerful. Isn’t this more sincere than ‘brothers come hack me’?
Crucially, it contains the Shen Zhao Sutra.
This thing is a divine Cultivation Technique that can bring the dead back to life. Ding Dian was impaled through his shoulder blades, and even Di Yun, who hanged himself, could be saved.
For his injuries, recovering would be a matter of minutes.
“System, add points. Consume five hundred Slaughter Points to add to the Shen Zhao Sutra!”
【Ding, points added successfully. Shen Zhao Sutra (6/100)】
Buzz!
Lu Ming’s body began to feel hot and itchy. From the outside, he was completely red, like a boiled shrimp.
Warm currents flowed from his Dantian, passing through his limbs and bones, repairing the wounds on his body, and also healing the many hidden injuries within him.
In an instant, it was as if he had cultivated the Shen Zhao Sutra for several years, and a pure Internal Energy surged from his Dantian.
Crack!
He had entered a rank!
Poor in literature, rich in martial arts!
The original owner had cultivated for several years, but without money to buy ingredients and medicinal herbs for nourishment, he had been unable to enter a rank for a long time. He never expected to enter a rank in such an instant.
Lu Ming’s eyes were filled with shock.
Wham!
He stood up and suddenly threw a punch, immediately producing a sonic boom that stirred up dust on the ground.
Early Stage Ninth-Rank, terrifying indeed!
The original owner’s Mountain-Opening Fist was just a common Cultivation Technique; almost all Disciples in the Cao Gang practiced this Cultivation Technique, but its power was truly nothing to write home about.
However, with the Shen Zhao Sutra as the foundation for Internal Skill, even such an ordinary fist technique was enough to turn decay into wonder.
Qiao Bangzhu had already demonstrated this to Lu Ming.
Just then, a crack!
The sound of wood falling to the ground came.
“You, are you human or a ghost?”
The two servants who had returned, their eyes filled with shock, pointed at Lu Ming and demanded in a deep voice.
At the same time, one hand was already pressed on the hilt of the saber at their waist.