After Su Chen realized he was dead, he found himself in a strange space.
The space was pitch-black.
"Damn it!"
"That old dog from the Xu Family actually had such luck!"
He thought of Xu Ba's final words.
Su Chen was filled with indignation. The City Lord's breakthrough to the Spirit Mark Realm should have been a sure thing.
Yet, it was the Xu Family who broke through first.
Such is the will of heaven; fate plays cruel tricks on people.
Just as the Xu Family's old ancestor had said, if the City Lord had broken through first, it would have been the Su Family's turn to storm the Xu Family's gates.
"Someone in the Su Family betrayed me!"
If one could see his face now, it would surely be as black as charcoal.
The ones who could be sent out were either his descendants or his sworn brothers.
But Su Chen had no time to dwell on these things now.
Because his "golden finger" had arrived. The cheat system he had longed for for a hundred years hadn't come, but it showed up after his death.
Could it be that his hundredth birthday activated it?
But he was dead now. What use was this golden finger?
Still, Su Chen obediently took a look.
It was a book. Su Chen took it in his hands and began to flip through it.
The first page read:
【First Life: You were wild and arrogant in your youth, making many mistakes. After running away from home, you endured countless hardships, fought in mercenary groups, rose to a position of great power, established a family, and became its ancestor, letting your lineage flourish. You left your mark on this world. Though you have died, legends of you still circulate within Changchuan City. Your life can be considered a spectacular one.
Evaluation: White Three-Star
Reward: 30 Fate Reversal Points】
【Please allocate your Fate Reversal Points and enter your second life.】
A prompt appeared before Su Chen.
【Aptitude: 0 (+)
Comprehension: 0 (+)
Family Background: 0 (+)
Mental State: 5】
【Note: Fate Reversal Points can be used immediately or saved for the next life. However, after each life, all stats except for Mental State will be reset to zero.】
Su Chen understood.
His golden finger was a life simulator!
Damn it, it could only be activated after death!
What a total scam!
Grumbling aside, he couldn't just not use the golden finger.
Su Chen used all 30 Fate Reversal Points in one go.
He allocated them as: Aptitude +15, Comprehension +10, Family Background +5.
Having cultivated for a whole lifetime, Su Chen understood that to advance quickly in the early stages, one needed aptitude. To break through realms in the later stages, one needed comprehension.
Without aptitude in the beginning, you get no resources. Without resources, there is no later stage.
That was why he added 5 more points to aptitude.
A vast white light flashed, and Su Chen entered his next life.
...
Beifeng City
A handsome young man stared, dumbfounded, at his own reflection in the mirror.
"Holy hell, my memories only awakened at seventeen? Damn it, couldn't you have woken up a bit earlier!"
Su Chen was speechless.
If he had awakened a year earlier, there would have been so much more he could have done.
For example, take the entrance exams for the top martial academies.
Or the entrance exams for the top sects.
In this life, his status was quite good. He was the son of Beifeng City's Lord. Su Chen had already been prepared to toil like an ox.
He never expected to be born into a family of officials.
The City Lord of Beifeng City was surnamed Jiang, and his given name was Li.
In this life, Su Chen had become Jiang Chen.
But there was good news: he was still in the Tianfeng Kingdom in this life.
Thinking of how the Su Family was annihilated in his past life, only twenty years had passed, and the Xu Family's old ancestor was still alive.
Su Chen felt that a grudge he couldn't avenge in his past life could just as well be settled in this one.
"Young Master Jiang Chen, the Master wishes to discuss something with you."
A girl in a goose-yellow dress with a cute, chubby face came running over with quick, small steps.
This was Su Chen's handmaiden in this life.
Su Chen nodded and followed the handmaiden to see his father of this life.
In the spacious room, Jiang Li had already instructed the servants to set out a meal.
A tall, rather stern-looking middle-aged man and a woman in a moon-white silk dress, her jet-black hair coiled up with a jade hairpin, sat waiting for Su Chen.
Seeing the two, Su Chen smiled and said respectfully, "Greetings, Father and Mother."
Wang Hanyu pulled Su Chen over at once. "You child, come and sit down. There's no need for so many formalities at home."
Su Chen took the opportunity to sit.
Jiang Li said, "Let's eat first. We can talk after the meal."
Su Chen obediently finished his meal. Only then did Jiang Li begin to explain why he had summoned him.
This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
"Chen'er, you are now at the peak of the ninth level of Spirit Awakening, just one step away from the Spirit Gathering Realm."
"This Spirit Gathering Pill might be able to give you the push you need."
After the meal, Jiang Li took out an exquisite box. Inside lay a medicinal pill—a Spirit Gathering Pill.
A single Spirit Gathering Pill could help a person break through from the peak of Spirit Awakening to the Spirit Gathering Realm. The refining method was known only to the top factions. Not only was it expensive, but more importantly, money couldn't guarantee you could buy one!
Although Jiang Li was the lord of a city and a Spirit Mark Realm expert, it was not easy for him to obtain a Spirit Gathering Pill either.
Su Chen was touched.
Three days later, Su Chen had reached the Spirit Gathering Realm. He was still only seventeen.
In his previous life, after leaving his family, he had been a full twenty-five years old before he reached this stage. Now, he was eight years ahead.
The future was full of promise.
After his breakthrough, Su Chen returned to Lingyun Martial Academy in high spirits.
Although Lingyun Martial Academy was far from being on par with the two top-tier martial academies, it was still one of the ten great martial academies in the Tianfeng Kingdom.
Upon his return, Su Chen's breakthrough to the Spirit Gathering Realm caused quite a stir.
After all, reaching the Spirit Gathering Realm at seventeen was worthy of being called a genius. Even in Lingyun Martial Academy, a place teeming with geniuses, only a small handful possessed such talent.
Su Chen also entered the inner courtyard ahead of schedule and chose an Elder as his mentor.
The Elder Su Chen chose was named Jiang Xiangyang, a powerful expert at the seventh level of the Spirit Mark Realm, four levels higher than his current father, Jiang Li.
Jiang Xiangyang was a sloppy old man. He took Su Chen on as a disciple partly because they shared the same surname, Jiang.
Just like that, Su Chen gained another powerful backer.
That evening, at the urging of his friends, Su Chen held a banquet to celebrate entering the inner courtyard and successfully becoming Jiang Xiangyang's disciple.
After all, the journey had not been easy.
Su Chen was nearly beaten up by his mischievous friends. In their eyes, his life was basically on easy mode.
A father who was a city lord, successfully reaching the Spirit Gathering Realm at seventeen, entering the inner courtyard, and becoming Elder Jiang Xiangyang's disciple.
If that wasn't a winner in life, what was?
"You don't understand. You don't understand anything."
Su Chen just shook his head. How could they possibly understand how difficult his journey had been?
Even if that was in his past life.
After leaving the tavern, under the hazy moonlight, a sudden chill ran through Su Chen.
He saw a familiar face.
Someone who looked like an old acquaintance.
This "old acquaintance" was an enemy—from the Xu Family!
"Li Ming, do me a favor."
Su Chen looked seriously at the drunken man beside him. Seeing Su Chen's grave expression, the man instantly sobered up.
"I damn well knew you were pretending to be drunk!"
Seeing Li Ming sober up in an instant, Su Chen was exasperated.
Li Ming gave an awkward smile. It wasn't that he didn't want to help Su Chen, but if he hadn't pretended to be drunk back then, he might have ended up dead in the tavern.
"Weren't you pretending to be drunk too?" Li Ming muttered under his breath.
Su Chen didn't dwell on it. Back in his mercenary days, he could drink this much alcohol like water. It was just that now, he couldn't show too much of his unusual abilities.
"Help me investigate someone."
Su Chen pointed his finger at the young man who looked like an old acquaintance.
The young man turned his head and even smiled at Su Chen.
Proofreader: Peter Pan