Sunlight spilled across the forest, bringing boundless radiance and pleasant warmth. (New author, new book; the early writing was rather immature, so please forgive me.)
Lin Changqiang woke comfortably once again. As he recalled the pleasant dream from last night, he opened his eyes and looked at his own sun through the gaps between his fingers...
The sun?
"??? What the hell, where's my ceiling?"
He froze for a moment, then sat up with a bewildered look and glanced around. He found himself on a towering mountain, with a vast forest atop it. At the road leading into the forest, a group of youths around ten years old had gathered together, noisily arguing about something.
"The medicine is mine, and I'm beating someone up today too!"
A somewhat childish yet forceful voice suddenly rang out from within the crowd. Lin Changqiang looked over and saw a boy holding a girl's hand as he confronted several smirking fellows in front of him.
Though young, the boy had a resolute face. He was not particularly handsome, but his well-proportioned features and the calmness between his brows revealed the confidence in his heart.
The girl he held was even more outstanding. She looked no older than twelve or thirteen, yet her picturesque brows and eyes and waterfall-like black hair were truly stunning.
"Lin Dong, did I hit your head too hard during our last sparring match and break your brain?"
At the front of the crowd, Lin Shan, who was clearly much stockier than his peers, walked out with his arms folded, swaying with every step. The onlookers either sneered or shook their heads sympathetically, as though they could already see the miserable scene about to unfold.
"Brother, don't fight him. I don't want the Crimson Sun Grass anymore."
Knowing that her brother was no match for Lin Shan, Qing Tan hurriedly tugged at his sleeve, her beautiful eyes filled with urgency.
"Lin Dong? Crimson Sun Grass?" Putting the two together, Lin Changqiang's eyes widened in disbelief. "Could this be the world of Martial Universe? Then that big idiot over there is Lin Shan, and the girl is Lin Qingtian?"
"You don't want it now? Too late!"
Seeing Qing Tan's anxious expression, Lin Shan crooked his mouth into a grin. He stomped his right foot hard and rushed toward Lin Dong in several great strides.
Then he swung his fist at Lin Dong's chest. A low whistle of wind sounded, and the punch appeared especially formidable.
Yet faced with that powerful blow, Lin Dong neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, a calm smile slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Smack!
Before everyone's astonished eyes, Lin Dong merely reached out with his right hand and casually grabbed Lin Shan's fist, easily stopping his attack. Then, as Lin Dong's grip gradually tightened, Lin Shan could not even pull his fist free!
"Body Tempering Stage Four?!"
Everyone around them was stunned. They all knew that Lin Dong had only reached Body Tempering Stage Two after half a year of cultivation, yet barely more than ten days had passed. How had he suddenly jumped straight to the fourth stage?
"Looks like Lin Dong has already obtained the Ancestral Stone."
Knowing the plot well, Lin Changqiang could not help frowning in disappointment. Clearly, he had arrived several days too late.
The Ancestral Stone was the second-ranked divine artifact on the Tianxuan Continent, surpassed only by the Plane Embryo. At the same time, it had been the easiest treasure for him to acquire.
Since the Ancestral Stone was gone, he could only find another way in.
Lin Changqiang frowned as he recalled the other opportunities in the nearby towns. Yet after thinking for a long while, everything he came up with required sufficient strength to obtain.
With his current cultivation, he was basically a ninety-year-old man visiting a teahouse—utterly out of place.
"If I want to increase my strength, I need opportunities. But if I want opportunities, I first need to increase my strength?" Feeling the feeble power within his body, Lin Changqiang's mouth twitched slightly.
"Changqiang, Changqiang? Why are you still standing here?"
Lin Dong stretched out his right hand and waved it twice in front of Lin Changqiang's eyes. Among the younger generation of the Lin Family, Lin Changqiang was the only one he got along with reasonably well, so Lin Dong was fairly concerned about him.
Besides, if Lin Changqiang had not warned them in time just now, Qing Tan would have been bullied by that bastard Lin Shan.
The voice in his ears disrupted Lin Changqiang's thoughts. He came back to his senses and realized that Lin Dong had already driven Lin Shan away. Even the spectators had dispersed, leaving only him standing there like a stone statue.
"Hey, I was just stunned by how strong you've become." He blinked and smoothly made up an excuse without even blushing.
"You're just too lazy. If you cultivated seriously every day like I do, how could you still be at Body Tempering Stage Two?"
Lin Dong shook his head and helplessly patted Lin Changqiang's shoulder. Though he was grateful that Lin Changqiang always helped him and Qing Tan, he truly could not appreciate Lin Changqiang's lazy, gluttonous nature.
Not to mention...
This brat actually liked Qing Tan!
At that thought, Lin Dong narrowed his eyes. Then he did not linger any longer. After saying goodbye to Lin Changqiang, he hurriedly left the Back Mountain with Qing Tan.
Only after the two of them had run out of sight did Lin Changqiang curl his lip. "Hello? Could you put away the cheat first?"
The second-ranked divine artifact on the Tianxuan Continent—was that really something an ordinary person with terrible talent like him could catch up to through hard work alone?
Of course, complaints were complaints. He would not truly become jealous of Lin Dong because of it. After all, even if someone obtained the Ancestral Stone, how many could work as desperately as Lin Dong?
That guy trained like mad for the entire day, barely stopping at all. Only when he had truly run out of strength would he soak in Spirit Liquid from the Ancestral Stone and rest for a while.
But the moment he was fully recovered, he would start cultivating again.
Not only that, even when he slept at night, he practiced martial arts or trained his Spiritual Power in the Ancestral Stone's mental space. Of the twelve hours in a day, he spent nearly ten cultivating!
This damn guy was a true grind emperor, the kind made entirely of grind!
Besides grinding, Lin Dong's tolerance for pain had also reached an unbelievable level. Crushing his mind with a millstone, recovering, then repeating it over and over; tempering his body with heavenly lightning, tempering it with Gang Wind...
Just thinking about it carefully made Lin Changqiang's scalp go numb.
"System? System? Are you there?"
His tentative calls received no response. Lin Changqiang lowered his head in disappointment, then stretched out both hands and randomly felt around his body.
Yet he returned empty-handed once more.
There were no skills from magical beast heroes, no ring concealing an old grandpa, and no black paper inside his body...
"After finally transmigrating once, am I really only going to cower in this tiny Qingyang Town and watch Lin Dong fight the Demon Emperor alone...?" Lin Changqiang's eyes flickered, and his mood sank somewhat.
Nearly every young man had once held some unrealistic dreams in his heart: wandering the world with a sword, ruling all beneath heaven, or countless other things. Naturally, Lin Changqiang was no exception.
Ding. Detecting the host's intense desire. The Glory of All Heavens System has been bound. May your path of martial arts flourish.
"What is this, better late than never?"
The young man took a deep breath, and his eyes suddenly filled with delight.
Looking back now, the writing at the beginning really felt so immature.
Before you continue