Success Opened a Cheat

Two years passed in the blink of an eye.

Over those two years, Xiao Bai's strength remained utterly stable.

Zero Stage Dou Qi!

No one in the Xiao Family came looking to trouble Xiao Bai anymore.

If it were an ant, you might still be interested in stepping on it. But if it was less than an ant, then you simply had no interest at all.

Xiao Bai was that guy who was less than an ant.

Ever since the Xiao Family discovered his Zero Stage Dou Qi, no one bothered with him anymore. They merely gave him 10 Gold Coins a year, enough to keep him from starving to death.

After all, Xiao Bai was still a member of the Xiao Family. They could hardly throw him out and let him starve to death on the streets; that would be a tremendous loss of face for the Xiao Family.

Over these two years, many geniuses had emerged among the Xiao Family's younger generation—or so they believed.

Xiao Xun'er, Stage Seven of Dou Qi.

Xiao Ning, Stage Five of Dou Qi.

Xiao Feng, Stage Five of Dou Qi.

Xiao Mei, Stage Four of Dou Qi.

Xiao Hu, Stage Four of Dou Qi.

And their greatest genius, Xiao Yan, broke through to become a Dou Zhe at the age of eleven, making him the youngest genius of the Xiao Family.

After becoming a Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan became even more arrogant. Since geniuses were never wrong, even more people suffered as a result. Countless people were punished by the family elders for all sorts of reasons.

Perhaps karma truly came full circle; heaven spared no one.

Yet after turning twelve, Xiao Yan's strength mysteriously vanished, leaving him at Stage Three of Dou Qi.

In the eyes of others, Xiao Yan was finished. Something had gone wrong with his cultivation.

But Xiao Bai knew that this bastard Xiao Yan was about to begin his Old Grandpa Mode. He was currently in the charging phase.

Because he knew this, Xiao Bai continued his daily, unchanging practice of Dou Qi.

In a secluded courtyard of the Xiao Family, a white-clothed youth was diligently gathering the Dou Qi within his body, making it steadily grow stronger and greater in quantity.

As time passed, no one knew how long it had been. The youth's expression suddenly changed, only for joy to quickly appear on his face.

Congratulations, your Cheat has officially gone online. To activate Cheat Mode, please consult the instructions.

Activate now?

Yes or No

Looking at the information on the Panel, Xiao Bai was ecstatic. He had waited several years for this Cheat. It had truly been arduous!

Fortunately, his good days were finally about to begin.

After checking it several times with great care and certainty, Xiao Bai's trembling finger tapped Yes, afraid that he might accidentally choose the stupid option instead.

Thankfully, everything ultimately proceeded according to plan, and he successfully activated the Cheat he had dreamed of day and night.

Xiao Bai admitted that these past two years had truly not been a life fit for a human. He had constantly suffered inhuman treatment.

Because he lacked strength, Xiao Bai had to do many things every day just to ensure his survival.

Cleaning, trimming the trees and branches in the family courtyard, running errands and delivering messages... In any case, every bitter and exhausting task was handed to him. That was the consequence of having no strength.

This world was a rather interesting one. It was called the Dou Qi Continent. There was no dazzling, colorful magic here—only the monotonous Dou Qi.

Dou Qi came in many attributes, mainly fire, wood, earth, water, wind...

There were also other attributes, such as light, darkness, lightning... People with these attributes were relatively rare.

Some people could even possess multiple attributes. For example, the most esteemed profession on this continent, Alchemists, all possessed both fire-attribute and wood-attribute Dou Qi. These were essential for an Alchemist.

As for the protagonist of this world, Xiao Yan, if Xiao Bai remembered correctly, his fire-attribute Dou Qi contained traces of wood attribute. That meant he could become a money-making machine—an Alchemist.

Xiao Bai was rather miserable by comparison. After activating the Cheat, he learned of his own attribute.

[Panel]

Xiao Bai

Age: 12

Attribute: Light

Strength: Zero (an extremely weak wimp)

Assets: 10 Gold Coins

...

Xiao Bai looked at the data on the enhancement Panel, his expression completely unmoved.

He had long guessed that his aptitude might be terrible, so he had already prepared himself mentally.

But when he truly saw his own situation, he still could not help feeling chilled to the bone. He really could not even compare to an ordinary person.

Xiao Bai's frustration did not last long. After all, he was a man with cheats.

It did not matter if he could not win under normal circumstances. As long as he could win with cheats, that was enough!

Having regained his confidence, Xiao Bai made some preparations before raising his question.

He had the cheat now, but how was he supposed to improve his strength?

This was a very serious problem!

Xiao Bai had already made up his mind. If this cheat could not solve this problem, he would take Cheat Daddy to hell with him.

If he could not have an easy time, then it should not expect one either.

Who knew? Maybe if he pulled something like that, some mysterious force would send him to another world.

At that thought, Xiao Bai was actually a little tempted!

But just then, Cheat Daddy seemed to sense the thoughts of its lunatic host and promptly responded.

The Panel displayed:

To increase your strength, please use Gold Coins or energy!

Stage One of Dou Qi, 1 Gold Coin

Stage Two of Dou Qi, 2 Gold Coins

Stage Three of Dou Qi, 3 Gold Coins

Stage Four of Dou Qi, 4 Gold Coins

Stage Five of Dou Qi, 5 Gold Coins

(The following levels require energy and will unlock once the required level is reached.)

Stage Six of Dou Qi, requires an unknown amount of energy

Stage Seven of Dou Qi, requires an unknown amount of energy

...

One Star Dou Zhe, sufficient energy.

Two Star Dou Zhe, sufficient energy.

(The same applies below.)

...

Looking at the Panel's display, Xiao Bai finally realized one fact.

This really was a Pay-to-Win Game!

In his daze, Xiao Bai seemed to see a figure constantly waving at him, saying the same sentence over and over.

"Kid, do you want to become stronger? If you do, then come spend money! Only spending money can make you stronger!"

Then Xiao Bai felt as though he had been hit by some incredibly powerful charm skill. He could no longer control his hands, and his mind was filled with only one thought: stronger, stronger!

Staring at his total assets of 10 Gold Coins, Xiao Bai's gaze sharpened. His hand trembled as he clicked on strengthening his power.

As he watched that number change from 10 to 0, Xiao Bai finally came back to his senses, and his expression changed drastically.

That had been his living expenses for the entire year! It had vanished just like that, without even any reaction.

Xiao Bai even suspected that the cheat was broken. Had he been scammed?

But Xiao Bai quickly dismissed his wild speculation.

A flash of light swept over Xiao Bai's body, and he immediately noticed the changes within himself.

He could feel a current of energy flowing through his body. Suddenly, his body was brimming with immense strength, something the old Xiao Bai had never possessed.

Xiao Bai knew that he had reached Stage Four of Dou Qi. This was the power he had once dreamed of obtaining.

As he felt the change in his strength, Xiao Bai quickly adapted to it. He did not need to worry about being unable to control his newfound power.

Xiao Bai knew that this was the power of cheats, the power of money...

After adapting to his strength, Xiao Bai became worried again. Strengthening himself required Gold Coins and energy, but he was now completely penniless. What was he supposed to do?