A Rotten Starting Hand

(Brain storage point—you're only reading a novel; who needed a brain? Just enjoy it. After ten chapters, it would truly take off!)

Dixuan Continent, Tianling Prefecture, somewhere within Yuanwu Kingdom, at a mine.

"Heavens, aren't you bullying me too much? Fine, I got transmigrated—but you even broke my cheat? This is simply bullying people beyond all reason!"

A scar-covered youth knelt on the ground, his face utterly devoid of hope as he looked up at the sky and roared. But the only answer he received was a whip.

It hurt. It hurt far too much.

"Lu Jiuyuan, what the hell are you barking about? Your workload is now two hundred jin today. If you don't finish digging it out, you don't eat!"

The youth looked up to see the overseer standing nearby, viciously swinging the whip in his hand as he spoke. Though the youth was furious, there was nothing he could do. He could only lower his head and continue with his labor.

His name was Lu Jiuyuan. He had originally been an exemplary young man on Earth, but one day, on his way home, he had been sent flying by an out-of-control heavy truck, thrown more than ten meters on the spot.

At the brink of death, Lu Jiuyuan successfully bound himself to a system. However, the system told him that if he wanted to live, he had to transmigrate to another world and gather source energy in order to heal his injuries.

Left with no choice, Lu Jiuyuan could only choose to transmigrate. Yet during the process, the system seemed to have been disrupted by some mysterious force, changing his intended destination from a low-level world into a high-martial world.

And the system seemed to have broken as well. Ever since he woke up, it had done nothing but buzz, buzz, buzz. No matter how Lu Jiuyuan called for it, the system ignored him.

In the end, after a full day of effort, Lu Jiuyuan still failed to dig up two hundred jin of coal. He did not even get a meal.

Dragging his exhausted body along, Lu Jiuyuan returned to his lodging. Calling it lodging was generous—it was practically a prison.

Lu Jiuyuan lay on the bed with a lifeless expression, while his stomach kept growling.

"Brother Lu, you haven't eaten yet, right? I still have a steamed bun here. Why don't you take it and eat first?"

A simple-looking head poked out from the side. Lu Jiuyuan looked at him, and only after thinking for quite a while did he find the other person's memories within the original owner's memories.

"Xiao Tie, thank you."

"Hehe, Brother Lu, when I first came here, I only managed to hold on because you took care of me. Maybe after twenty years, we'll even be able to leave this place."

Xiao Tie scratched his head as he spoke. When he first came to this coal mine, he had still been a little brat. With both parents dead and two younger siblings to support, he could only sell himself to the mine, hoping to take proper care of his brother and sister.

"Mm, don't worry. Once I soar into the skies someday, I definitely won't forget you."

Lu Jiuyuan spoke with a serious expression. What a joke. He was a transmigrator—how could he possibly spend his entire life cooped up in this tiny coal mine?

From Lu Jiuyuan's memories, the original owner had been sold into this sunless mine after his Lineage was wiped out. As for the mine's exact location, even the original owner did not know. After all, he had been sold here and had never gone outside.

If he wanted to leave, what awaited him was a brutal beating.

"Then I'll borrow your lucky words, Brother Lu."

Xiao Tie said this with a flash of white teeth. At only sixteen, he was already much bigger than Lu Jiuyuan, who was in his twenties. But considering this was a high-martial world, that was only normal.

After Xiao Tie left, Lu Jiuyuan lay on the bed alone, imagining his miserable future. Sigh. The system had malfunctioned, and before the original owner had been sold to the mine by his enemies, he had already been crippled. This was a bona fide rotten starting hand.

"System, if you don't pull yourself together, I'm really going to croak."

Lu Jiuyuan casually ate the steamed bun Xiao Tie had given him, and the hunger in his stomach finally eased somewhat.

Just as Lu Jiuyuan was about to fall asleep, the system's voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

Ding. This system sustained severe damage during transmigration and is about to be destroyed!

If you were going to say that, then I, Lu Jiuyuan, was no longer sleepy.

With a snap, Lu Jiuyuan sat straight up from the bed.

"No, System, are you kidding me here?"

Lu Jiuyuan hurriedly said. He was a cripple in this high-martial world. Without the system, wouldn't he be doomed? He did not believe he could build himself up from nothing. After all, a Golden Core Stage powerhouse guarded the entrance to the mine. How could a mere mortal like him escape beneath the nose of a Golden Core Stage powerhouse? Wasn't that a joke?

But no matter how Lu Jiuyuan called out afterward, the system gave no response. Finally, Lu Jiuyuan despaired.

"System, let's be reasonable here. Even if you're going to be destroyed, at least give me the newbie gift pack first, okay? Without a newbie gift pack, aren't you taking my life?"

As Lu Jiuyuan's words fell, the system finally reacted.

Ding. Opening the newbie gift pack.

Congratulations, Host. You have obtained Handsome Luck, Top-tier Background, and Extraordinary Comprehension.

Ding. The three great attributes will remain even after the system is destroyed.

Without time to think further, Lu Jiuyuan hurriedly opened the three attributes rewarded by the newbie gift pack to inspect them.

Handsome Luck: As a top-tier handsome man, your luck is better than that of everyone in the entire world.

Top-tier Background: After encountering an enemy whose background is deeper than yours, you will obtain a background even more terrifying than theirs.

Extraordinary Comprehension: Your comprehension is far better than that of others. You will often comprehend things that others cannot.

"Uh... I don't seem all that handsome, do I?"

Lu Jiuyuan muttered doubtfully as he touched his face. However, the people he was comparing himself to were cultivators, so naturally he could not measure up. Among mortals, though, Lu Jiuyuan was absolutely top-tier.

If he stepped onto the path of cultivation and underwent the cleansing of Qi Refinement, his looks would likely rise several more levels.

"But does this Top-tier Background thing really work? Didn't my background already get wiped out?"

Lu Jiuyuan recalled how his Lineage had been destroyed, and he could not help sighing. At that moment, the system, which was on the verge of destruction, thoughtfully reminded him.

Ding. The god-tier attribute will randomly generate a background for the Host, but it requires one day.

"So that's how it is."

Lu Jiuyuan suddenly understood.

As for Extraordinary Comprehension, Lu Jiuyuan understood it even without an explanation. When cultivating techniques, he would probably be far better than others—able to grasp things they could not.

And at that moment—

Ding. The system has been destroyed. Good luck, Host. Goodbye!

After saying that, no matter how Lu Jiuyuan called out, the system ignored him. The only things left to accompany him were those three attribute panels.

A new book had begun—please leave a five-star review!