"Young master, please place your hand on the testing stele to test your talent."
Hearing the old man's voice beside him, Chen Mu abruptly came to his senses.
His dull, lifeless eyes suddenly cleared.
Had I... been reborn?
He looked around at the scenes before him.
They stood in stark contrast to the bustling metropolis where he had lived in his previous life.
Chen Mu now realized he was standing on a stone platform.
Before him stood an enormous, mysterious stone stele engraved with intricate runes.
Below the platform, a crowd stood whispering among themselves, eagerly discussing what talent he would awaken.
Chen Mu knew this plot all too well!
It was the classic script of a useless weakling rising to greatness!
He would most likely awaken some trash talent, or even turn out to have an innate crippled constitution seen only once in a century, then get ruthlessly mocked.
"Sigh..." At that thought, Chen Mu couldn't help grumbling. I spent my whole life grinding. Now that I've finally been reborn, you want me to grind again?
"Young master?" The old man looked puzzled.
"Ah! It's nothing. I just put my hand on it, right?" Chen Mu stopped overthinking it. Since he was here, he might as well settle in.
Even if he had an innate crippled constitution, he could simply refuse to follow the script and slack off. Eat whenever there was food, sleep whenever there wasn't. That didn't sound bad, either.
"Yes." The old man nodded in confirmation.
"All right." Chen Mu raised his hand and placed it on the stone stele.
Immediately afterward, a blue light flashed, and the words "Low yellow-grade spiritual root" appeared on the stele.
Seeing those words, Chen Mu smiled instead of getting angry and said with relief, "Just as I thought..."
Bring it on. I'm ready. Go ahead and mock me!
"Don't lose heart, young master! Our Tianyuan Holy Land has vast wealth and resources. We're bound to find a way to improve your spiritual root!"
"Exactly! If the Heavenly Dao refuses to protect our young master, we'll defy the heavens themselves!"
"I believe in you, young master. Your spiritual root is only your starting point, not your finish line."
"That's right! It's not as though everyone who starts with a heavenly spiritual root achieves anything extraordinary later on."
"If I remember correctly, our patriarch once had an innate crippled constitution himself, the kind you wouldn't find once in a century. Hasn't he entered the Quasi-Emperor Realm now?"
"Keep going, young master! We'll always believe in you!"
"..." Hearing all this, Chen Mu knitted his brows, utterly bewildered.
Why aren't you people following the script?
While he stood there dumbfounded, a vast flood of unfamiliar memories suddenly poured into his mind.
They were the memories of this body's previous owner!
The Tianyuan Holy Land was one of the Great Cang World's three foremost holy lands. Its powerful cultivators and masters stood as thick as a forest, and its millions of disciples were scattered throughout Great Cang, with a presence in every field!
And he was the second son of Chen Tianlin, the Tianyuan Holy Land's current patriarch, as well as its sole, publicly designated successor!
Thinking back on the experiences of his Lineage's members, every one of them seemed more like a protagonist than he did.
Take Chen Tianlin, for example. When he attended his awakening ceremony at sixteen, he hadn't even possessed a spiritual root—a rarity seen only once in a century...
Yet in a mere hundred years, he had risen in defiance of heaven, his strength soaring until he successfully entered the Quasi-Emperor Realm. He had once single-handedly left a million corpses in his wake, earning the name "the Butcher"!
His older sister, Chen Juexin, might not have cultivated at a pace as monstrous as Chen Tianlin's, but when it came to business, she possessed exceptional—no, world-shaking talent!
Her chamber of commerce did business across the entire Great Cang World, raking in money so quickly that even empires could only gaze at the dust left in her wake.
She was truly wealthy enough to rival a nation!
If Chen Mu remembered correctly, quite a few monarchs had borrowed money from his older sister.
The Tianyuan Holy Land had no shortage whatsoever of geniuses like these.
His backing was outrageously powerful!
Chen Mu seriously suspected they had been using cheats behind his back.
Still, that was fine by him. The stronger they were, the more freely he could slack off and enjoy life.
The position of patriarch?
Chen Mu wouldn't mind handing it over to Chen Juexin.
Managing an enormous Lineage of several million people? The mere thought left him exhausted in body and mind.
He stepped down from the testing platform.
Amid everyone's repeated words of comfort, Chen Mu left looking dejected, though inwardly his heart was blossoming with joy.
He had already decided that a trash low-grade spiritual root wouldn't matter. Who would have thought the heavens had arranged an invincible Lineage to back him up?
Most importantly, everyone in the Tianyuan Holy Land was exceptionally united!
His sister Chen Juexin spoiled him beyond measure. Ever since his birth, she had been an absolute fanatic about protecting her little brother.
She had even given Chen Mu her chamber of commerce's highest-tier gold card.
With that gold card, Chen Mu didn't have to spend a thing at any store belonging to the Chen Clan Chamber of Commerce. Whatever caught his eye, he could take—as much as his hands could carry!
Spirit stones? He could withdraw as many as he pleased!
It was even more outrageous than the black cards of his previous life!
Before long.
He returned to Qingyun, the residence his Lineage had assigned him.
Chen Mu headed straight for a recliner, lay down, and wore an expression of leisurely contentment.
"A useless weakling's rise to greatness? Whoever wants that can have it. I just want to eat, drink, have fun, and enjoy a carefree life."
The moment he finished speaking, a seemingly synthesized voice rang out in his mind.
[Name: Chen Mu, gender: male, age...] [Identity verified! Binding the Invincible Rise System...] [Invincible Rise System successfully bound!]
A system?
Chen Mu knew those all too well.
At the moment, though, having a system bind to him stirred absolutely nothing in his heart.
[Would you like to accept the beginner mission? Complete the beginner mission to receive generous rewards!]
"Nope." Chen Mu waved a hand, his voice languid.
[...]
After several seconds of silence, the system's voice sounded again: [Host, are you truly willing to remain useless, be looked down upon and trampled underfoot, and live your entire life in miserable humiliation?]
"System, I have to set you straight here. Does a person really have to spend their whole life caring about what others think? My life is my own. As long as I'm happy and carefree, isn't that enough?"
"Whether they respect me or look down on me, what does that matter to me?"
[...]
This time, the system fell silent for a full minute.
It had intended to teach Chen Mu some profound lessons about life and ignite his fighting spirit. Who would have thought he would turn around and lecture it instead?
[Host, even if you do not care what others think, an ordinary person lives for only a hundred years. Only by becoming stronger can you reach the summit and attain immortality!]
"Why would I want to live that long?"
[...]
The system remained silent for nearly as long as it took to drink a cup of tea.
Finding the atmosphere a little awkward, Chen Mu took the initiative to break the deadlock. "What functions do you have?"
He was only looking for something to relieve his boredom.
The system: [Complete missions through this system to obtain vast rewards: cultivation techniques, money, divine artifacts... everything you could want, making you invincible!]
"Cultivation techniques? If I remember correctly, my eldest uncle is the number-one creator of cultivation techniques. A few casual strokes of his brush, and he has one of the finest techniques in the world."
"Money? My older sister's chamber of commerce does business across the entire Great Cang World. She's wealthy enough to rival a nation and holds the title of Empress of Gold."
"Divine artifacts? My younger cousin is fourteen and already a renowned master artificer. He made this toothpick for me. It's top heaven-grade. Apparently, it won't damage my teeth, and its cleaning power is second to none."
He had initially thought he might keep the system around for occasional entertainment, to while away his boredom.
But on closer consideration, this system seemed completely useless to him!
[...] [...]
"The relatives backing me are just too invincible. There really is no point in keeping you."
"How about you just unbind yourself? I wore myself out grinding in my previous life. Now that I have another life, I really don't want to do it again. Here's to mutual understanding!"
Chen Mu spoke from the heart.
Could working himself to death completing all sorts of tedious missions for rewards possibly feel as good as lying here basking in the sun?
[...] [System attempting to unbind...] [Warning!!! A critical system error has occurred!!!] [System failed to unbind!!!]
Failed to unbind?
"..."
Chen Mu frowned. Had he been too harsh and given the system a mental breakdown?
Before you continue