Transmigration

"Snap to it!"

"You all look like limp noodles—did you forget to eat today?"

On a wide, open training ground atop Luoyan Peak of Mount Hua, a young man of about eighteen or nineteen was leading a group of youths in sword practice. His demeanor was as severe as a great demon king.

Perhaps it was just an illusion, but there was always a hint of sorrow between the young man's brows, as if the sky were about to collapse.

The matter began three months ago. Whether it was the blessing of some unknown deity, Li Mu had stumbled into the low-probability event of transmigration.

As a corporate slave of the new century, accustomed to the "996" blessing and the "007" lifestyle, Li Mu had reached the age of thirty without climbing the ladder, becoming a thorn in the side of HR.

To avoid giving the company an excuse to "optimize" him out, he had lived every workday in fear, walking on thin ice.

To describe it in one sentence: "Rising earlier than the chickens, sleeping later than the dogs, working harder than the oxen, and earning less than..."

After seven or eight years of exhausting labor, scrimping and saving, he had finally, with his parents' help, become a glorious "mortgage slave."

Everything had been so mundane, yet he never expected that after a few extra drinks at a company team-building event, he would wake up in a different world.

He wondered if this counted as a work-related injury; he could likely get the compensation, as he had been insured. His parents' retirement funds were at least secured.

Thinking of this, Li Mu had to admire their foresight—they had known early on they couldn't count on him and had "started a new account" ahead of time.

Having been battered by society, Li Mu quickly accepted reality after the initial confusion of realizing he couldn't go back.

Since he was here, he might as well settle in. Regardless, returning to his youth from the age of thirty was a gain. Moreover, he had incidentally fulfilled his childhood martial arts dream.

But what was the deal with "Feng Qingyang," "Feng Buping," "Yue Buqun," and "Ning Zhongze"? After organizing the original owner's memories, Li Mu fell into total despair.

The "Five Mountains Sword Sects," "Shaolin Temple," "Wudang Sect," and "Sun Moon Divine Cult"... all indicated that this was a familiar martial arts world, essentially a prequel to the Smiling Proud Wanderer.

The Sword and Qi Sects had not yet come to blows, and the Mount Hua Sect was still the formidable leader of the Five Mountains, though the atmosphere on the mountain was already tense.

In the past three short months, the disciples of the Sword and Qi Sects had broken into at least five brawls, though they had all been suppressed by their elders.

If he hadn't dodged quickly enough, Li Mu would have been dragged into them as well. Now, Li Mu had begun to take precautions, preparing to run away.

That's right, run away.

At its peak, the Mount Hua Sect's strength rivaled that of Shaolin and Wudang, boasting over thirty first-rate experts alone.

As an elite inner-sect disciple like Li Mu, there were hundreds of others just like him; he had no say in the major affairs of the sect. Trying to stop the conflict between the Sword and Qi Sects? Keep dreaming!

One had to understand that the conflict between the Sword and Qi Sects was not merely a surface-level dispute over philosophy; more importantly, it was about the distribution of benefits and a struggle for power.

"Poor scholars, rich warriors" was no joke. People in the pugilistic world were not as glamorous as imagined; practicing martial arts consumed not only money but also resources.

Those who picked up a manual and mastered a peerless technique were protagonists protected by the heavens.

For ordinary martial arts practice, not only did the techniques require oral instruction from a master, but if one's nutrition couldn't keep up, it could be fatal.

This was the difference between major sects and small families. Many in the martial arts world didn't understand these nuances, or rather, lacked the conditions; they would injure their bodies while training in their youth, and problems would arise as they aged.

Both the Sword and Qi Sects had large groups of disciples, making the competition for resources inevitable. The dispute over martial arts philosophy was merely a fig leaf; the real reason was the conflict between two interest groups.

Before this, the Qi Sect had always been stronger, holding the lineage of the Sect Leader. In the martial arts world, strength was respected, so it was natural for the stronger side to take the larger share.

However, in the last dozen years, the situation had changed. The Sword Sect had produced many talents, and the strength of both sides had gradually balanced, leading to conflict.

As their strength grew, the Sword Sect was unwilling to keep taking the smaller share and wanted to change the distribution of benefits. Naturally, the Qi Sect would not agree, and thus the conflict arose.

Beyond benefits, it might also involve a power struggle. However, Li Mu's status was too low to touch upon that.

Having lived two lives, Li Mu understood the value of life even more. To avoid becoming cannon fodder in the upcoming Sword-Qi conflict, Li Mu decisively chose to be cautious.

There was no helping it; his strength was too weak. After transmigrating, Li Mu had worked very hard at his training, but the time was too short. Even with his golden finger, he had only just broken through to the second-rate realm.

(Martial Arts Realm Classification: Unranked, Third-rate, Second-rate, First-rate, Peerless, Innate)

Among his generation of disciples, this was already considered excellent, with hope of breaking into the first-rate realm before thirty to become a pillar of the sect.

If he were lucky, he might even get a glimpse of the peerless realm. As for the higher Innate realm, no one had stepped into it for a hundred years.

In fact, the aptitude of disciples who could enter the Mount Hua inner sect was never too poor.

While the "counterattack of the trash" might exist, the resources required to cultivate a piece of trash into an expert were often dozens or even hundreds of times greater than those needed for a genius.

Everyone could do that math.

In this world where the weak were prey to the strong, weakness was an original sin. If their descendants had poor martial aptitude, their elders usually wouldn't let them enter the pugilistic world.

"Junior Brother Li, Master is calling for you."

After nodding to the man, Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Stop!"

"Practice on your own for now. Take it seriously—if you fail the assessment later, you know the consequences!"

On the way, Li Mu asked, "Senior Brother Liu, do you know why Master is calling for me?"

After thinking for a moment, Liu Bufan replied, "Master didn't say, but listening to his conversation with Uncle Yu, it seems to be about the sect's grand competition."

Hearing the words "grand competition," Li Mu's nerves tightened instantly. He couldn't help but panic; it seemed the bloody clash between the Sword and Qi Sects was triggered by a competition.

The original work didn't describe the specific details, only Yue Buqun's account: "The Sword and Qi Sects of Mount Hua agreed to a competition at Jade Maiden Peak. The Sword Sect was utterly defeated and, in their shame, drew their swords and committed suicide. The Qi Sect restored order and became the orthodox lineage of Mount Hua..."

History was always written by the victors; Li Mu clearly could not accept such a perfunctory answer.

Even if the Sword Sect disciples were all blockheads who committed suicide out of shame and grief after losing the competition, surely the Qi Sect disciples, as the victors, couldn't have all followed suit?

Yet, looking at the start of Smiling Proud Wanderer, only a handful of people were left in the Mount Hua Sect after the Sword-Qi conflict, which clearly didn't add up.