In a small, weathered hut perched atop the Mountain Heart Pavilion of the Azure Cloud Sect, a young man lay sprawled across a makeshift bed of dried leaves. The humble shelter offered little in the way of comfort—its wooden floorboards were cold and worn, the thin walls barely doing anything to hold back the mountain chill at bay—yet the boy remained motionless, vulnerable and unguarded, as if untouched by the harshness around him.
But the peaceful stillness didn't last.
Without warning, the young man's body began to twitch. And in no time, those subtle movements escalated into violent convulsions as sweat poured down his brows, soaking his simple clothes. His face twisted in agony, features contorted as though trapped in a nightmare that was so vivid and terrifying that it transcended the boundary between dreams and physical pain.
With a desperate gasp, he shot upright, his chest heaving as he gulped down air like a drowning man desperate to reach the water surface. His wide eyes darted frantically around the dim, unfamiliar room, confusion and panic evident from his every trembling breath.
After a few moments, his breathing calmed down enough for him to rasp, "Where am I?" His voice cracked, hoarse from disuse. "Wasn't I just at work?"
He placed his shaky hands against the rough floor and tried to stand. His limbs trembled beneath him like those of a newborn fawn. He stumbled not once but twice before finally managing to find his balance, swaying as he took cautious steps across the hut's worn and uneven planks.
Then, as he moved, something caught his attention—something in the small, distorted glass window pane, but clear enough to show a reflection that revealed a shocking truth.
The face staring back at him wasn't his own. Or rather, it was, but fundamentally altered. The bone structure was different, the features unfamiliar. It was him, but not him at the same time. The same consciousness was now trapped in a foreign body.
"What the hell is happening?" he croaked, the words barely escaping before a searing, white-hot pain tore through his skull, making him feel like molten metal was being poured directly into his brain.
Every nerve ending within him seemed to be screaming in protest. He clutched his head between his hands, a primal howl ripping from his throat as he collapsed to the floor. The agony was just too intense for him to remain conscious—his body writhed uncontrollably, convulsing against the hard floor as the torment consumed him, his limbs thrashing uncontrollably.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, the pain receded, leaving him panting and disoriented but mercifully clear-headed.
While still gasping for breath and drenched in sweat, he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. And with that came the terrible clarity in understanding.
He was Xiang Yu—not the historic general, but a painfully average office worker with a painfully average life.
He had been unceremoniously yanked from his dull yet comfortable, predictable existence and hurled into… whatever this place was.
He wasn't in just any different place either, rather, he was in an entirely different world. And not just any world—a cultivation world, where immortals soared across the skies and monsters roamed ancient forests.
This was supposed to be the dream scenario, wasn't it? The fantasy every bored office worker secretly dreams of while staring at the spreadsheets before their eyes?
Wrong!
This wasn't a dream. For Xiang Yu, this was a nightmare.
He had never asked for adventure, power, glory or destiny. All he had ever wanted was a simple life: to live quietly and grow old with a loving wife, to raise children. Now, however, he'd been tossed into a realm where the weak were crushed like ants.
One would think that Xiang Yu was overreacting; after all, couldn't he just live that normal life in this world as well? Sounds easy enough, right?
All he had to do was find a peaceful corner of the world and stay out of trouble.
Wrong!
How was he supposed to survive? How could a completely normal person without spiritual roots survive in a world bustling with immortals and demons?
He'd be instantly spawn killed the moment he set foot outside this pathetic hut.
Just as despair began to claw at him, a translucent blue screen materialized before his eyes.
[Infinite Awakening System is binding to the host…]
[Please wait…]
Xiang Yu blinked, staring in shocked silence as the glowing text hovered before his eyes. 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. It was real. 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.
And then, the understanding of the system flooded his consciousness within seconds, as though the knowledge had been directly uploaded to his brain.
His particular system wasn't about granting power instantly. It was centered around experience points, and when he was practicing cultivation techniques or studying scriptures, he would earn their respective exp.
Its true power lay in its core feature: every 24 hours, all the accumulated exp would double automatically.
Not once. Not twice. Indefinitely.
This would create a cycle of exponential growth that, in theory, 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 chase legendary opportunities, unearth ancient treasures, and eventually conquer this entire cultivation world, right?
Right?
Wrong again! So, so wrong!
Are you stupid?
The smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared. How exactly was he supposed to conquer anything when his profile clearly stated: No spiritual root whatsoever? Even with his exponential growth, zero multiplied even a thousand times was still a ZERO.
No amount of multiplication could transform nothing into something. That was basic math!
He sighed and massaged his temples. Still… maybe it wasn't entirely hopeless. Even without having any innate spiritual talent, there could be some external cultivation methods which he can rely on, like the physical refinement techniques that don'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, that exponential growth curve would carry him to power. Invincibility was only a matter of time.
Only then would he dare to venture into the chaos of the cultivation world.
Until then, survival meant adhering to Cultivation World Rules 101:
Rule#1: Don't bully any trash-talented boy named Chen Mo (inevitably, such a guy was the protagonist destined for greatness).
Rule#2: Don't insult servants named Lin Feng who perform odd jobs around sects (invariably, they were hidden dragons biding their time to reveal their true power).
And perhaps the most important.
Rule#3: Don't ever glance in the direction of any girl named Li Yao (who was guaranteed to be a future cultivation empress with a harem of powerful admirers).
Just as these thoughts were starting to pop 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—then his breath caught in his throat.
A vision of beauty stepped inside, so surreal that it was almost unreal.
Never in his mundane past life had he encountered someone so ethereally stunning, not that his position as a corporate drone offered him many opportunities to mingle with exceptional beauties.
The young woman wore flowing robes of layered silk, the outer garment layer a deep azure adorned with intricate silver cloud patterns that shimmered with every step she took and moment she made. Her jet-black hair had been gathered in an elaborate, styled bun, pinned with ornate hairpins that occasionally gleamed in the light. At one side of her slender waist hung a small pouch, balanced by a sheathed sword on her other hip—elegant, refined, and dangerous.
In a span of a few heartbeats, she crossed the distance between them and was suddenly all over him—her delicate hands patting his cheeks, his shoulders, and his chest with gentle but frantic urgency.
"Senior brother, are you okay? Did something happen? I heard a sound—are you hurt?" The questions poured from her lips in a breathless rush, her eyes filled with concern.
Xiang Yu struggled awkwardly and leaned back to create some distance, pushing against her shoulders. Was the concept of personal space not a thing in this cultivation world?
"Slow down—one question at a time," he managed to say, finally succeeding in holding her at arm's length. It was only then that he fully registered the way she had addressed him.
"Wait! Senior brother?"
A cold realization washed over him as fragmented memories surged forward, remnants of the body's original owner's life. This beautiful young woman before him was… his junior sister? If he recalled correctly, her name was…
"Li Yao," he blurted the name out aloud without thinking.
A delicate blush rose to the young woman's face, flushing her face pink. "Didn't you used to call me Yao Yao before? Senior brother, did something happen?"
Xiang Yu felt his entire body freeze. His blood in his veins turned to ice, and panic thundered in his chest. "I'm cooked!" he thought, his heart pounding.
It was only the first chapter of his newly transmigrated life, and he had already stumbled into a dangerous territory—being on casual intimate terms with what was clearly the main heroine of this cultivation world!
Wasn't he just signing his own death warrant?
Every male character who got too close to the female protagonist inevitably ended up as cannon fodder!
"Wait! No, no, it's not over yet!" he rallied. "I can't let it end like this!"
Determination surged through him, momentarily overpowering his fear.
Summoning all of his mental power, he pushed the blushing Li Yao away with gentle firmness, then deliberately turned his face aside, adopting what he hoped was an appropriately cool and aloof expression.
"Junior sister, this… this is not appropriate," he declared, trying to sound grave and composed.
Li Yao's eyebrows knitted together, confusion flashing in her eyes before shifting rapidly to dawning realization and finally settling on deadly vigilance. In one fluid motion, she stepped back and drew her sword, the blade gleaming under the faint 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 my Senior Brother."
The tip of her sword glinted dangerously as she brought it inches away from his throat. "What did you do to him?"
Xiang Yu stared at her in horror. 'She saw through me already? Was my acting that terrible? Or was she just that perceptive?'
'Am I truly going to die in the very first chapter of my transmigration story?'
One really couldn't touch the heroine and live to tell the tale.
But just as despair threatened to overwhelm his mind and thoughts, a spark of inspiration struck with unexpected clarity. If he wanted to live—if he wanted even a chance at cultivating—he had no choice but to violate one of the cardinal rules of Cultivation 101.
"Yao Yao, what are you talking about?" he murmured, his voice softening as he carefully reached out to gently 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 result was immediate.
Her guarded and deadly expression instantly dissolved like morning mist under a strong sun. With a soft click, the sword vanished, slipping back into its sheath. And before he could react, she had thrown herself into his arms in a tight embrace.
"I knew it! Senior brother loves me the most!" she declared with absolute conviction, snuggling against his chest with heartfelt joy.
Xiang Yu's thoughts whirled with renewed panic. 'I'm really cooked this time! How could my predecessor do this to me?!'
The body's original owner had clearly cultivated a relationship with Li Yao that went far beyond appropriate senior-junior interactions. This was a full-blown death flag of the highest order, waving like a banner.
'Can I get a reroll?' he begged silently to whatever cosmic entity might be watching him, desperately wishing for a reset button.
'Please? Just one more try?'