Golden Finger Unlocked

—To become a Great Hero admired by everyone in the martial world!

"Hmm, this dying wish is fairly normal!"

Lin Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid the wish would be something impossible to fulfill, which would have meant he was doomed.

Becoming a martial arts expert, a Great Hero, or even the martial arts alliance leader—or becoming emperor—was nothing outrageous. Although becoming the alliance leader or emperor would be difficult, it was still within the realm of normalcy. What he feared were the unreliable, impossible wishes of some chuunibyou teenagers.

For example, if the native replaced by a Descender had once been hurt by a woman, and his dying wish was for every woman in the world to die, that would be a complete disaster.

Or perhaps some naive youths might wish—I want world peace. I want eternal life. I want to marry a hundred wives and have several hundred chubby sons, and so on...

Ahem. The last one would be troublesome, but theoretically achievable. It would just be a little exhausting, and his little brother might get tired. But that first wish, world peace... that truly could not be accomplished. Even becoming emperor would not make it possible to stop every conflict.

Fortunately, Lin Xiao's luck was decent. Becoming a Great Hero admired by everyone in the martial world was within the normal range of difficulty. As long as he...

"Not good. This body is too weak."

In just this short while, Lin Xiao felt himself growing weaker and weaker. The sun also seemed increasingly scorching, as though something were drawing the strength from his body. In less than fifteen minutes, he felt his hands and feet beginning to tremble.

"Damn it, I can't hold on."

He looked around. Although the other children were about as tall as he was, most of them still maintained normal standing postures, and none seemed to be showing signs of collapse.

"Damn it, am I going to be the first eliminated?"

Lin Xiao was speechless. He gritted his teeth and extracted what little strength remained in his body, barely holding himself up. But this body was simply too weak. Everyone knew that when a person was overly frail and roasted beneath the sun, they could directly faint.

This had nothing to do with willpower. Reality was not a novel. In novels or movies, the protagonist might be clearly weak yet continue enduring through sheer willpower, but that was complete bullshit. It was impossible. Even if your will could hold out, your body could not.

Lin Xiao's willpower was nothing exceptional, but he was not a spineless weakling either. At least he had not given up yet. However, after being sunbaked into a daze, his leg suddenly gave way, and he knelt on the ground without even realizing it.

A dark-skinned burly man observing from beneath a thatched shelter outside the training ground shook his head. A man beside him immediately stepped forward to drag Lin Xiao away. But before he could act, he saw the kneeling youth suddenly shoot upright as though he had taken Viagra. His tightly closed eyes snapped open in astonishment, then quickly closed again.

The burly man scratched his head, momentarily unsure whether he should continue dragging Lin Xiao away or not.

He turned around and glanced at the tall, muscular man beneath the shelter. When he saw that man shake his head, he withdrew.

Lin Xiao had no idea that he had nearly been eliminated. His mind was completely elsewhere. If he had not known that the current situation was inappropriate, he would almost have jumped up and cheered.

At the instant he had nearly fainted, a strange panel suddenly popped open before his closed eyes. Then a warm current surged from deep within his body, rapidly replenishing his weakness and filling him with strength.

Lin Xiao

Cultivation Method: None.

Potential Points: 7.

Heavens be praised! If Lin Xiao had known he possessed a Golden Finger, and that it would only awaken after he descended, he would have clamored to descend into the void three years ago.

Because his Golden Finger had not appeared, he had never dared to take up the dangerous profession of descending, and thus had only begun descending now.

Having read countless novels before transmigrating, Lin Xiao recognized at a glance that his Golden Finger was an ability for assigning attribute points. It was simple, crude, and powerful. As long as he had enough Potential Points, he could become a supreme expert in minutes.

Looking at this attribute ability panel, he could already imagine himself relying on attribute points to surge triumphantly forward and sweep across the world.

He had been wondering how he could complete this dying-wish mission, which seemed somewhat difficult. Now, it seemed that none of this was a problem.

The strength granted by the attribute panel left Lin Xiao refreshed and brimming with energy. Combined with the excellent mood brought by awakening his Golden Finger, he remained spirited throughout the blazing sun's torture that followed.

As time passed, one youth after another could no longer hold on and began swaying back and forth. From time to time, someone collapsed unconscious. The burly men around them would enter and drag every unconscious youth aside. Their fate was naturally elimination.

Apart from looking as though he might faint at the beginning, Lin Xiao remained full of energy and stood until the end. He heard people around him repeatedly collapse. Those who remained stood listlessly, swaying from side to side. Their numbers dwindled steadily, until after two hours—four hours—only forty or fifty of the original two hundred and seventy people had endured.

When the time was up, the dark-skinned burly man who had been sitting beneath the shelter returned with his hands behind his back. His pressure-filled gaze swept over the forty or fifty people still standing. He nodded and said:

"Congratulations on passing the first round of assessment. From now on, you are outer disciples of the Great River Gang. Now, follow me."

With that, he turned and left.

Lin Xiao and the other youths hurried after him. They were led to another large courtyard, where the tall, muscular man waited until they had all arrived. In a deep voice, he said:

"My name is Li Daoqi. You may call me Steward Li. From now on, all of you will be under my supervision. Rest for one day. Two people to a room. Gather here tomorrow morning."

With that, he turned and left without bothering with them further.

Once he was gone, all the youths breathed sighs of relief and scattered, rushing toward the rooms around the courtyard. Lin Xiao did the same. He casually found an empty room, threw himself onto the bed, and began snoring loudly.

Even though the Golden Finger had replenished his stamina, it had only done so once when it first awakened. It had not replenished him afterward, and he was still exhausted beyond measure.

He slept for more than half the night. When he woke, he discovered another youth sleeping on the other bed in the room. The boy had already awakened and was crouched at the table eating. Seeing Lin Xiao wake, the youth gave a simpleminded grin and said:

"There's lots of food in the kitchen. It's free."

Lin Xiao also put on a simpleminded grin appropriate to his age, pretending to be unable to wait as he hurried outside to find food.

It was already very dark outside, but the corridor beyond the door was hung with lanterns. Lin Xiao stood on the steps and looked out. Beyond this courtyard was a cluster of buildings, brightly lit inside, with shouts and loud laughter occasionally drifting over. Those were also properties of the Great River Gang, but only official members of the gang could go there. Outer disciples like them, who had just joined, could only stay in this small courtyard and could not leave without permission.

The Great River Gang treated its members fairly well. Even newcomers like them were served meat and fish, with steamed buns and stuffed buns available to eat their fill. Lin Xiao devoured two large bowls of meat, a pork knuckle, and seven large meat buns in one sitting before making up for the day's deficit.

It was worth mentioning that when they went to collect their food, there was a pale, plump-looking man standing nearby. Whenever a youth carried over a plate to receive food, he would grin and enthusiastically praise the Great River Gang.

"What are a few meat and fish dishes? Once you contribute to the gang in the future, great wealth and high status, gleaming silver, fresh and tender women, and a position above others will all be within easy reach."

Those coaxing words went in Lin Xiao's right ear and out his left. He simply pretended not to hear them. But to these youths, who came from poverty—some of them even from beggar backgrounds—they were thrilling enough to make them wish they could immediately devote themselves to the gang.

At that moment, the plump man's gaze swept over. Lin Xiao immediately put on an excited expression, looking as though he wished he could go serve the gang that very instant. Seeing this, Wang Jingyuan nodded in satisfaction.

After finishing his meal and returning to the room, Lin Xiao found that the other youth had already eaten and fallen asleep again. He glanced at the sky outside. Dawn was still far away, so he lay back down. Before sleeping, he opened the attribute panel once more, his heart filled with delight.