Governor of the West Depot

The Divine Continent.

Ming, the West Depot Governor's Residence.

A young man dressed in a white python robe slowly opened his eyes, two cold gleams flashing through them.

Then they gave way to confusion...

"Have I... transmigrated?"

"I'm... Yu Huatian, governor of Ming's West Depot?"

After absorbing the memories in his mind, Yu Huatian froze.

He was Yu Huatian, yet he was not Yu Huatian.

To be precise, he was no longer the original Yu Huatian.

He had awakened to find himself in the body of this West Depot governor who shared his name, inheriting everything the body possessed, including its martial arts.

Yu Huatian was rather pleased to have caught the last bus to transmigration.

After all, this body's original owner was a character he had liked very much in his previous life.

The seal-bearing governor of Ming's Western Investigation Depot stood beneath one man and above ten thousand, wielding power over court and country.

His immortal-like beauty and proud, astute disposition had also earned him the nickname "the flower of the West Depot" in the show.

Yet after absorbing the original owner's memories, he felt somewhat at a loss.

This was not simply a world set in Ming.

The history of this world had diverged by a hundred million tiny degrees after the fall of Great Qin.

After centuries of turmoil, the realm had split into six.

Han, Sui, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing stood as six rival nations.

Many smaller nations, including Dali, Nanzhao, Tubo, Western Xia, Liao, and Jin, survived in the cracks between them.

Moreover, martial arts flourished in this world.

The martial factions were terrifyingly powerful!

This world was far more expansive than the China of his previous life, so even the original owner's knowledge was limited.

Yet Ming alone, where the original owner lived, contained many figures and martial sects familiar to Yu Huatian from his previous life-

There was the Shaolin Temple, with its ancient legacy and endless succession of masters.

There was the Wudang Sect, founded by the martial world's towering authority, Zhang Sanfeng.

There was the Dragon Guard Mountain Villa, presided over by Iron-Gall Marquis Zhu Wushi.

There was the Divine Sword Mountain Villa, which owed its fame to the Sword God, Xie Xiaofeng.

There was the Sun Moon Holy Cult, led by the demonic path's mighty overlord, Dongfang Bubai.

There were also numerous other martial factions, such as the Five Mountains Sword Sects, the Supreme Alliance, the Money Gang, Snowmoon City, and the Amity Flower Palace.

In neighboring Great Song, there were supposedly the Five Greats of the Central Plains, the Seven Quanzhen Masters, Divine Marquis Zhuge Zhengwo, the great hero Guo Jing, Beggar Gang leader Qiao Feng, and others.

In short, this seemed to be a world that combined various martial arts stories, called—the Divine Land!

If this had merely been a world set in Ming, Yu Huatian could have accepted the reality of his transmigration.

After all, in the original story, Yu Huatian was the show's foremost villain, impeccable in looks, martial prowess, and strategy alike.

Aside from his bodily deficiency, he could be called perfect in every respect!

With a little caution and advance knowledge of the plot, he might well eliminate the original owner's destined enemy, Zhao Huaian, and become Ming's second "Nine-Thousand-Year Lord" after Wei Zhongxian.

He might even contend for the supreme imperial throne.

But this was a world of merged martial arts stories!

Leaving aside the absurdly powerful protagonists and villains of those various stories, the original owner could not even blot out the sky with one hand in Ming alone.

At court, the East Depot led by Wan Yulou and the Embroidered Uniform Guard kept the West Depot in check.

And looming over all the officials like a mountain was Iron-Gall Marquis Zhu Wushi, who held an iron writ of immunity and an imperial sword of authority, and had established the Dragon Guard Mountain Villa by imperial decree to watch over the realm!

According to the original owner's memories, although he had become governor of the West Depot, and its rapid expansion over the past six months had begun to give it an edge over the East Depot, he remained deeply wary of the Iron Gallant Divine Marquis and did not dare provoke him.

What was more, the martial world was in utter chaos.

The Bright Moon Cult on Bright Peak constantly opposed the court under the banner of overthrowing incompetent rulers and carrying out Heaven's justice. The court had sent armies to encircle and suppress it several times, yet had never managed to eradicate it.

Within the martial world, the major orthodox sects fought endlessly against demonic factions such as the Sun Moon Holy Cult and the Demonic Cult, forces of the Demonic Gate.

The court could barely look after itself, let alone intervene in the martial world's affairs.

Sometimes, even when martial bloodshed accidentally claimed the lives of ordinary people, the matter ultimately went unresolved.

How could the word "chaos" alone do it justice?!

"Ah..."

Having sorted through the memories in his mind, Yu Huatian felt rather helpless.

With so many martial masters living in the same era, even fully assimilating the original owner's martial arts and memories might still leave him woefully outmatched...

[Ding!]

[The host has gained an initial understanding of this world. The Strongest Villain System has been successfully activated.]

[In consideration of the host's first transmigration, a beginner's gift package has been awarded. Open it?]

Yu Huatian paused, then joy rose in his heart.

The Strongest Villain System?

The indispensable cheat for transmigrators had arrived?!

Open it! Yu Huatian commanded silently.

Hero or villain-what mattered was keeping me alive in this dangerous world!

[Ding! Beginner's gift package successfully opened.]

[Congratulations, host. You have obtained complete mastery of the Sunflower Manual martial art. Instill it?]

The Sunflower Manual?

The strongest cultivation art exclusively for eunuchs!

Delighted, Yu Huatian immediately said, "Instill it!"

Boom!

In an instant, a flood of cultivation memories poured into Yu Huatian's mind, all concerning the essential methods of practicing the Sunflower Manual.

At the same time, an exceptionally pure stream of Sunflower True Energy sprang into existence within his dantian, nourishing every meridian in his body.

The original owner's internal power, which had stagnated for so long, actually began to rise slowly...

The Sunflower Manual cultivated both the internal and external aspects of martial arts and consisted of two volumes.

The first volume focused on cultivation and contained four stages. Complete mastery could bring one to the grandmaster realm.

The second volume focused on swordsmanship and contained the Seventy-Two Sword Forms, each one exquisite.

It also included methods for cultivating qi with medicine and practicing needle techniques.

It was said that even Dongfang Bubai, the peerlessly magnificent leader of the Sun Moon Holy Cult, practiced the Sunflower Manual, though his version was incomplete.

The "Sword Manual to Ward Off Evil," coveted by Yue Buqun, Yu Canghai, and numerous other masters in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, was merely a set of sword techniques that the Lin family's ancestor, Lin Yuantu, had derived from the Sunflower Manual's second volume.

That glimpse of a leopard through a narrow tube alone revealed how formidable complete mastery of the Sunflower Manual would be!

A long while passed.

Yu Huatian slowly opened his eyes and exhaled deeply, a trace of delight flashing in his gaze.

"I've broken through..."

The martial cultivation realms of this world, from lowest to highest, were the Houtian Realm, Xiantian Realm, grandmaster realm, Great Grandmaster Realm, and the legendary Heavenly Realm.

The Houtian Realm encompassed ordinary experts in unarmed combat and weapons. Although they were divided into third-rate, second-rate, and first-rate fighters, only those who developed internal power and broke through to the Xiantian Realm could barely qualify as true masters.

Those in the Heavenly Realm were also called Land Immortals, but people capable of reaching it were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Like divine dragons whose heads appeared but whose tails remained unseen, they were extraordinarily elusive.

At least in Ming, there were certainly no Land Immortals of the Heavenly Realm.

The original owner had possessed exceptional talent, reaching the grandmaster realm at the mere age of twenty.

However, his cultivation art had a low ceiling, so he had gone a long time without another breakthrough after becoming a grandmaster.

But after the system instilled complete mastery of the Sunflower Manual, he had now broken through to the middle stage of the grandmaster realm.

Once all the internal power in his dantian had been converted into the Sunflower Manual's Sunflower True Energy, he would at least reach Late Grandmaster, and perhaps even Peak Grandmaster!

A peak grandmaster would rank among the foremost masters of a region, even in the current Ming, where experts gathered like clouds.

After all, even the renowned Iron Gallant Divine Marquis, who towered over the officials at court, seemingly remained at this level and had not broken through to the Great Grandmaster Realm.

Yu Huatian turned his attention inward and asked, "System, is there a personal status panel?"

[Ding! Open the status panel?]

"Open it!"

[Ding!]

Host: Yu Huatian

Realm: Middle-stage grandmaster

Martial arts: Boy Skill (complete mastery), Sunflower Manual (complete mastery)

Plundered fate: None

A simple personal status panel appeared before Yu Huatian's eyes.

The Boy Skill was the cultivation method the original owner had previously practiced. Supposedly passed down by a eunuch in Ming's imperial palace, it was only suitable for eunuchs.

Yet over all these years, only the exceptionally gifted original owner had cultivated the Boy Skill to complete mastery.

Furthermore, the original owner had suspected that this Boy Skill might also be an incomplete version, with a rather low ceiling.

He had once attempted to complete it, but had never found any leads.

Yu Huatian set aside the Boy Skill for now and turned his gaze to the final field, plundered fate. "System, what does plundered fate mean?"

[Ding!]

[All living beings possess fate.]

[The host need only seize the fate of other living beings to draw prizes.]

[Prize draws have four tiers: bronze, silver, gold, and diamond.]

[They require one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, and one million units of fate, respectively.]

[The higher the draw tier, the more valuable the possible rewards.]

[Of all things between Heaven and Earth, nothing is beyond the prize pool.]

"So that's how it works..."

Yu Huatian understood.

He knew what fate was without needing the system to explain.

This system allowed him to seize the fate of other living beings and use it for prize draws, making himself stronger.

As for how to seize fate, naturally, there was only one way-kill!

"It really is a villain system..."

Yu Huatian murmured.

This world merged numerous martial arts worlds, and there was no shortage of their children of destiny-their protagonists...

"Still, since I've come, I might as well settle in!"

"Besides, I was never a good person to begin with!"

"A villain?"

"Then a villain it is!"

A trace of resolve flashed in Yu Huatian's eyes.

He rose, walked over to the bronze mirror, and looked at his reflection.

The young man in the mirror appeared to be around twenty, with delicately handsome features, like an immortal banished to the mortal world. Draped in a silver-white python robe, he looked stately and luxurious, exuding an imperious authority without a hint of anger, along with an aloof, ethereal air that kept others at a distance.

Yu Huatian studied himself in the mirror.

In his previous life, his assessment of the character Yu Huatian had been: proud and aloof, meticulous, ambitious, cold and cruel, willing to use any means to achieve his ends.

But after assimilating the original owner's memories, Yu Huatian discovered that, ambitious though he was, the man also held the realm in his heart.

He, too, had been dissatisfied with this incompetent, unjust court.

He had become the detested governor of the West Depot because he wanted to use that power of standing "beneath one man and above ten thousand" to change the world.

That had been the original owner's greatest aspiration!

"From this day on, I am Yu Huatian, governor of the West Depot!"

Looking at his reflection, Yu Huatian murmured, "Rest assured. I'll finish what you left undone..."

After briefly washing and tidying himself, Yu Huatian pushed open the door, intending to visit his workplace.

Just then, a pale-faced man with a beauty mark on his face approached, undisguised delight in his eyes.

"Your subordinate pays his respects, Governor!"

This was none other than Tan Luzi, the West Depot's second division chief.

He was the West Depot's third-ranking figure, gloomy by nature, brave but lacking in strategy.

Yu Huatian resumed his usual cold, detached demeanor and asked calmly, "What is it?"

Unable to conceal his excitement, Tan Luzi cupped his hands. "Governor, Wan Yulou is dead!"

Yu Huatian's expression shifted slightly.

Wan Yulou was governor of the East Depot and Yu Huatian's greatest rival at court.

Yu Huatian frowned. "How did he die?"

Tan Luzi replied, "Wan Yulou intended to execute the officials who had recently opposed him at court at the Longjiang Naval Shipyard, but several wandering martial heroes rescued them. Even Wan Yulou died at the hands of a swordsman named Zhao Huaian!"

Zhao Huaian!

Yu Huatian's heart jolted.

His destined enemy had appeared after all!

Tan Luzi said excitedly, "Governor, Wan Yulou's sudden death gives us the perfect opportunity to suppress the East Depot. We might even install our own people and take complete control of it!"

Yu Huatian nodded slightly. "What movements have the East Depot's people made?"

A trace of disdain flashed in Tan Luzi's eyes. "Over the past six months, those martial bandits have slaughtered every one of the so-called experts under Wan Yulou-the ceremonial supervisor, the overseer, and the seal-office chief. Now Wan Yulou is dead too."

"Word is that those pugilistic scoundrels sneaked into the capital these past few days and have been specializing in killing men from the East Depot. Now, a group from the East Depot led by Deputy Superintendent Li Zhong has all gone into hiding at the Great Enlightenment Temple."

Yu Huatian's gaze shifted slightly. "Did Zhao Huaian come too?"

Tan Luzi nodded slightly and said, "Zhao Huaian rescued Can Qianzhi, an assistant commissioner of the Five Military Command Offices, along with two officials from the Ministry of Rites. He also secretly rescued their families. He must have been worried about the East Depot hunting them down. To overawe the East Depot, he sneaked right into the capital and killed quite a few of their men."

Yu Huatian let out a cold snort. "A few pugilistic swordsmen have them jumping at shadows to the point where they dare not even step through their own front gates. Utter trash!"

Tan Luzi nodded in agreement, then asked, "Superintendent, should we seize this chance to move against the East Depot? Now that Wan Yulou is dead, Deputy Superintendent Li Zhong is the most likely candidate to become superintendent. If we seize the moment to kill him, won't the few small fry left in the East Depot be ours to manipulate at will?"

"No!"

Yu Huatian waved a hand and said, "Send men to leak the whereabouts of Li Zhong and the others first!"

Tan Luzi's eyes flashed as he asked, "Does the superintendent mean..."

With a sweep of his long robes, boundless dominance surged into Yu Huatian's eyes.

"This time, this seat shall not only suppress the East Depot, but also sweep up those daring pugilistic scoundrels in one fell swoop!"