Reading System

"Ugh..."

Xiao Tianci struggled to open his eyes.

What greeted him was a rather crude roof beam and an empty ceiling.

The blazing sunlight poured down, making Xiao Tianci squint instinctively.

Though he had only glanced around briefly, he was certain this was not his room.

A rough wooden table, worn-out decorations, scarcely any furniture, and not a single electronic device.

The only thing that looked remotely valuable was a transparent jade bottle on the table.

"Was I... saved by someone?"

The thought surfaced uncontrollably in Xiao Tianci's mind.

Yet at that moment, an enormous flood of memories emerged from the depths of his mind and began frantically merging with his own.

Instantly, intense pain spread through every corner of his head.

Xiao Tianci's body trembled, his eyes rolled back, and his brain triggered its protective mechanism. He passed out on the spot.

By the time he woke again, who knew how much time had passed.

Xiao Tianci sat up on the bed with a dazed look in his eyes.

The vast memories had completely fused with him. He knew that he had transmigrated.

"What a shame about my company, which had only just gotten on track." Xiao Tianci sighed.

In his previous life, not long after graduating from university, he had started an electrical company. He had just survived the hardest period and was about to secure enough orders at a business dinner to make a leap in social standing. Instead, he drank too much and died of alcohol poisoning.

A trace of unwillingness surfaced in the depths of his eyes.

Without him, his company would probably go bankrupt.

"I really want to go back!" Xiao Tianci slapped the bed hard.

But then, an image appeared in his mind.

It was a scene from his previous life. His former body was pushed into a cremation furnace, then turned into ashes in a box that someone carried out.

"Damn it!"

Xiao Tianci nearly cried. He had already been reduced to a box of ashes—how was he supposed to go back?!

That damned heaven.

After collecting himself, Xiao Tianci could only unwillingly accept reality.

He then began examining his current circumstances.

He had transmigrated into the body of someone on the Dou Qi Continent who shared his name, surname, and appearance.

Even more coincidentally, his current identity was that of a member of the Xiao Clan in Wutan City, Jia Ma Empire.

That was right—the clan where Xiao Yan was from.

As Xiao Tianci continued recalling his memories, more and more of them surfaced in his mind.

His father had had him late in life, so he named him Tianci. The name was quite imposing, but unfortunately, his talent was so poor that it was painful to look at.

When he was seven, his parents had gone hunting in the Magical Beast Mountain Range and never returned. Xiao Tianci had become an orphan.

Without parents, and with utterly dreadful talent, Xiao Tianci naturally became a fringe figure in the entire Xiao Clan, with practically no presence at all.

Fortunately, he could receive the clan's basic monthly allowance, which had allowed him to live without worrying about food or clothing.

Aside from that allowance, there was hardly any cultivation support worth mentioning. It was so meager that even a rat would leave in tears.

Coupled with Xiao Tianci's indescribably poor talent, after all these years of cultivation, his strength had barely improved at all.

Even the low-grade Yellow-class Rolling Stone Fist had been practiced for a full month, yet he had not even begun to grasp its basics.

With this level of strength, it was only because the Xiao Clan was large and wealthy enough not to begrudge him a meal. If he had been born into an ordinary family, he would probably have been sent out to work long ago.

"This is simply a hellish start." After roughly sorting through his current situation, Xiao Tianci sighed.

In his previous life, he had never been the type to submit to others. Otherwise, he would not have started his own company right after graduation in an attempt to rise through the social ranks.

And now, heaven had given him such an opportunity to transmigrate. If he could only live an ordinary life, muddling through and waiting for death, Xiao Tianci was truly unwilling to accept it!

But unfortunately, he had neither talent nor strength. Why would the clan grant him preferential treatment?

The only thing that could offer him some comfort was likely the existence of Xiao Yan, the child of destiny, within the clan. If he could build a good relationship with Xiao Yan, then given Xiao Yan's character, he might receive a few opportunities from him. Forget astonishing the entire Dou Qi Continent—even becoming a famous local tyrant ruling over a region would not be bad.

However, Xiao Tianci's expression froze the next instant.

The feedback from his memories told him that Xiao Yan had already emerged from several years of decline and Nalan Yanran's broken engagement. He had risen again, returned to the clan's attention, and had now broken through to the Dou Zhe realm.

Although the original owner had not mocked Xiao Yan during those years of decline, his relationship with Xiao Yan had only ever been that of casual acquaintances who nodded to each other.

Now that Xiao Yan was gradually soaring to great heights, if he went to approach him, not only would it likely have no effect, but Xiao Yan might even see him as someone who fawned on the powerful.

"This is troublesome. Yao Lao has already awakened, and Xiao Yan has cultivated the Burning Mantra and gradually gotten back on track. He'll probably start dazzling everyone soon."

Xiao Tianci frowned. This was truly an unfavorable start.

Before his plan had even begun, it had officially gone bankrupt.

If Yao Lao had not awakened yet, then perhaps he could have used his silver tongue to swindle that ring away.

But now, that possibility was infinitely close to zero.

The only opportunity he might have obtained was gone.

"Could it be that I am destined to become Xiao Yan's foil?" Unwillingness also appeared in Xiao Tianci's eyes.

No, judging by his current situation, he was probably not even worthy of being a foil.

The prerequisite for being a foil was at least having similar cultivation, but the gap between him and Xiao Yan was probably as vast as heaven and earth.

After recognizing the situation clearly, Xiao Tianci sighed and weakly turned to look at the table.

There were the cultivation resources the original owner had received for this month just yesterday.

A pitch-black pill lay quietly inside the jade bottle. Its surface was riddled with pits and blemishes, clearly refined carelessly. Calling it a pill was already giving it too much credit.

"Whew."

Xiao Tianci took a deep breath.

But at that moment, a heavenly voice rang out in his mind.

"Ding dong. Congratulations, Host. Your system has arrived. Please check and receive it."

The sudden voice stunned Xiao Tianci for a moment.

Then wild joy appeared on his face.

The standard cheat for transmigrators had arrived!

A sharp gleam flashed through Lin Tianci's eyes. Wasn't this his chance to turn things around?!

As the system's voice faded, a pale blue panel appeared before Lin Tianci.

Lin Tianci hurriedly looked over and saw the system's name displayed on the panel.

Reading System!

As the name implied, he could grow stronger simply by reading.