Yan Kingdom, Yan Nan State, on the edge of Feiyun Sect's Outer Court grounds, inside a dilapidated Small Wooden Hut.
"Where am I?" Ye Feng sat cross-legged on a plank bed, his face blank with confusion.
"Hiss!"
Ye Feng fiercely pinched his thigh. The clear pain that came from it forced him to accept the absurd reality of crossing over.
He, Ye Feng, a miserable programmer, had really crossed over!
As a loyal fan of online games, Ye Feng had unfortunately been born with the "unlucky" constitution. Whenever he played a game and drew for prizes, it was always "Thanks for participating," making him so furious that he nearly smashed his keyboard.
Relying on the little technical knowledge he had, Ye Feng had stayed up late in a fit of rage to write a cheat program, hoping to defy fate and trample those big spenders beneath his feet.
What he never expected was that just as the cheat program began running and the game screen started flashing wildly—seemingly at the very moment he was about to succeed in defying the heavens—his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
When Ye Feng awoke again, he had become a youth who was also named "Ye Feng."
The original owner was an Outer Court disciple of Feiyun Sect. He was only fifteen years old, with an aptitude so mediocre it could not possibly be any worse.
After fusing with the original owner's memories, Ye Feng gained a preliminary understanding of this world.
The world Ye Feng had crossed into was a different realm called the "Tianyuan Continent."
Here, sects stood like a forest, and the strong were revered.
The weak were ants whose fates were not their own; the strong, meanwhile, could churn the clouds and overturn the rain, roaming freely between heaven and earth.
The most crucial factor determining how far a person could go was talent.
Those with high talent cultivated a thousand li in a day, resources came rolling in, and ascending to immortality was within reach.
Those with poor talent might remain stuck for life despite putting in ten or a hundred times the effort, eventually sinking to the bottom. They might even die violently in the streets over a meager amount of cultivation resources.
"Damn..."
Ye Feng sighed and looked inward, sensing that faint strand of qi slowly flowing through his meridians.
His cultivation realm was clearly displayed in his perception.
Body Refining Fourth Level.
This realm?
Among the Outer Court disciples, it was unquestionably bottom-of-the-barrel.
It seemed the original owner had suffered no shortage of bullying from the other disciples because his talent was ordinary, his cultivation speed was as slow as a snail's, and his personality was somewhat cowardly.
"What kind of sin did I commit?" Ye Feng covered his face.
"Crossing over is fine, but couldn't you at least give me a prodigy template? Why do I still have an unlucky fate? With cultivation speed this slow, how is it any different from failing to draw good equipment in games in my previous life? When will this miserable life end?"
The more Ye Feng thought about it, the more stifled he felt. In his previous life, he had worked the programmer's 996 schedule, and just when he had finally wanted to enjoy himself in a game, he had been beaten up. Now that he had crossed over, he still had to keep struggling through hardship? It was as if even Heaven itself was targeting him!
"No! I absolutely refuse to accept this!" Ye Feng abruptly clenched his fists, a flash of defiance passing through his eyes.
"Even if my talent is ordinary, I'll find a way to become stronger! In my previous life, I was able to write a cheat and defy fate. In this life..."
Just as Ye Feng's emotions were surging, a cold, mechanical notification rang out in his mind:
[Ding! A strong desire has been detected in the host. Binding conditions met...] [The Date Modification System is activating...] [Activation successful! The "Date Modification System" has been bound to host Ye Feng!]
Ye Feng: "???"
A system?!
Ye Feng froze instantly, then his heart began pounding wildly!
He was all too familiar with those two words! This was the standard equipment of transmigrators, their greatest reliance for rising against the odds!
A cheat!
"A system? What system? The Date Modification System?" Ye Feng forcibly suppressed his excitement and silently recited the words in his mind.
[This system is called the "Date Modification System." Its core function: modify the production date of all things, achieving "turning new into old" or "turning old into new."]
The mechanical voice rang out again, accompanied by a stream of information that entered Ye Feng's mind.
Immediately afterward, the system's specific rules also surfaced:
[Rule One: The upper limit for date modification changes with the host's cultivation. The host's current cultivation is the Body Refining Realm, so the upper limit for date modification is ten years. At the Qi Gathering Realm, the limit is one hundred years; at the True Condensation realm, one thousand years; thereafter, it increases by powers of ten.] [Rule Two: The same item can only be modified once. After the host breaks through a major realm, the modification permissions for all items can be refreshed.] [Rule Three: The system's remaining functions must be explored by the host.]
As Ye Feng digested the information in his mind, his eyes widened further and further, and his breathing grew rapid.
Modify a production date? Turn new into old, and old into new? Wasn't this... wasn't this simply controlling time by another name?
In this fantasy world, the Law of Time was one of the supreme laws. It was said that only those standing at the very peak of the continent's pyramid might touch the slightest bit of it—and the slightest carelessness would bring terrifying temporal backlash, consigning them to eternal ruin!
Yet his system could actually grant him this ability right now? Although it had an upper limit and restrictions on the number of uses, that was already outrageously powerful!
"I've struck it rich! I've really struck it rich this time!"
Ye Feng was so excited that he nearly sprang from the bed. The dejection and unwillingness on his face were swept away, replaced by wild joy.
"Heaven really is fair! First it made me suffer by sending me across worlds, then it gave me such an incredible cheat! Hahaha!"
He had been complaining that he was cursed with an "unlucky" fate, but now it seemed he was practically possessed by the God of Luck! A system of this level would probably rank among the very best in the entire webnovel world!
After his brief excitement, Ye Feng forced himself to calm down.
The most urgent matter was figuring out exactly how this system worked and what effects it had.
"Modify the production date... production date..." Ye Feng muttered to himself, his gaze falling on his own body. "Does my cultivation count as a kind of 'product'? Can its 'production date' be modified?"
At that thought, Ye Feng's heartbeat accelerated again.
If it could...
Ye Feng took a deep breath, focused his mind, and communicated with the system. "System, I want to modify the production date of my own cultivation!"
[Host, please select the modification time.]
"Time..." Ye Feng's eyes flickered. "I'm currently at the Body Refining Fourth Level. According to the rules, I can modify up to ten years right now. If I change the time of my cultivation to... ten years from now, what will happen?"
With a trace of anticipation and nervousness, he silently recited: "Modify! Change the time of my cultivation to ten years from now!"
[Command received! Modifying the host's cultivation production date...] [Modification successful! The time has been set to ten years from now.]
Almost the instant the system's notification faded, Ye Feng clearly felt the faint strand of qi within his body surge wildly like a flood released from its gates!
A series of slight distending pains came from his meridians, but even more prominent was an unprecedented sense of fullness!
His limbs and bones seemed to be nourished by a warm force, and every cell was cheering with joy.
His bones crackled, his muscle fibers grew tougher, and the quantity of True Qi stored in his Dantian soared at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Body Refining Fourth Level... Fifth Level... Sixth Level...
The sensation of improvement was incomparably clear. Compared to the original owner's speed—painstakingly cultivating for several months or even a year just to advance one level—it was more than a thousand times faster!
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