1: Chapter 1: Transmigrated into a Small-Time Thug?

A headache. It felt like someone was swinging a sledgehammer, smashing into his temples, strike after strike.

Lu Cheng opened his eyes abruptly, breathing heavily. The scene before him was initially a blur of yellowish light spots, but it slowly came into focus.

This was a dim alleyway.

The walls on both sides were mottled, damp, and blackened. The old streetlamp at the alley entrance seemed to have a loose connection, flickering on and off, casting long, wavering shadows on the ground.

The air was filled with the sour stench of rotting garbage and the choking scent of cheap tobacco.

"Brother Cheng, you're here too." A voice filled with obsequiousness rang out.

Lu Cheng instinctively looked up and saw several youths with dyed, messy hair standing in front of him. Their school uniform jackets were draped crookedly over their shoulders, cigarettes dangling from their mouths, their expressions leering.

They were surrounding a girl wearing the uniform of No. 3 High School in Rong City.

She stood with her back against the wall, clutching the straps of her school bag. Her face was a little pale, but she stood straight.

The light in the alley fell upon her profile, highlighting her cold and delicate features.

"Is this her?" one of the yellow-haired youths grinned. "The person who hired us said not to actually cripple her. Just scare her. It'd be best if she can't get out of bed tomorrow so she doesn't go to the test."

"Brother Cheng, do you want to go first?"

"This chick really is pretty."

The lewd comments exploded in his ears.

Lu Cheng's gaze paused slightly. The next second, countless unfamiliar memories flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.

His name was also Lu Cheng.

Seventeen years old, a high school student in Rong City.

His father died early, his mother was frail, and his family was dirt poor.

This was a high-martial arts world, but the original owner had mediocre martial arts talent and terrible grades.

Yet, he refused to accept his fate and ended up going down the wrong path. Relying on being taller and stronger than his peers, he formed a gang near the school and became a second-rate thug leader.

Today, on his way home from school, he happened to run into his lackeys blocking someone here.

They were entrusted by someone to "teach" a girl a lesson.

And this girl… A name surfaced in Lu Cheng's memory. Su Wan.

She was a well-known, aloof honor student at No. 3 High School, top-tier in academic subjects, with decent blood vitality scores. However, the school hadn't conducted talent awakening yet, so her combat power wasn't high.

Her family background was ordinary, yet she consistently outperformed many students with better resources. She was a top student in the teachers' eyes and a thorn in the side of many others.

The original owner, no matter what kind of scum he was, wouldn't have gotten involved in this; he just happened to be passing by today.

"Brother Cheng?" The yellow-haired youth saw he hadn't spoken and called out tentatively.

Lu Cheng slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping over them.

The lackeys were inexplicably stunned by his look.

For some reason, they felt that Brother Cheng's eyes were a bit different today.

In the past, when Lu Cheng looked at people, there was a sense of bravado and viciousness.

But now, there was an indescribable coldness in those eyes.

"You just said," Lu Cheng began, his voice raspy from the headache, "that you'd make sure she can't get out of bed tomorrow?"

The yellow-haired youth chuckled, "Yeah, just doing the job. Don't worry, Brother Cheng, we know our limits…"

Smack! Before he could finish, a loud slap landed on his face.

The yellow-haired youth was stunned, stumbling back two steps while clutching his face, his cigarette flying away.

"B-Brother Cheng?" The others were also dumbfounded.

No one expected that when Lu Cheng struck, it would be his own man.

Lu Cheng shook his numb hand. The headache persisted, but his mind became increasingly clear.

"You've got a lot of nerve." He walked forward step by step, his tone terrifyingly calm. "Blocking a student?"

"Brother Cheng, what do you mean by this?" A tall youth's expression turned ugly. "Isn't this what you always say? Take the money, do the job, and don't ask questions?"

"Did I say that?" Lu Cheng sneered. "Well, I've changed my mind now. Is that a problem?"

The group looked at each other.

The yellow-haired youth, clutching his face, was furious and embarrassed. "Lu Cheng, are you playing us?"

"So what if I am?"

As soon as these words were out, the atmosphere in the alley froze instantly.

The yellow-haired youth had been following the original owner, and though he was usually suppressed and perhaps not truly convinced, getting slapped now made his temper flare up.

"Damn it, do you really think you're the boss?" He spat. "Brothers, he's acting crazy today! Let's pin him down first!"

As he finished speaking, the group surrounded him.

Lu Cheng's eyes darkened.

Although the original owner had mediocre talent, he was, after all, a thug leader who fought year-round, so his physical foundation was stronger than the average student… At least stronger than these lackeys who only knew how to posture.

A youth with a buzzcut rushed up first, raising his hand to grab his collar.

Lu Cheng dodged to the side, grabbed the opponent's wrist, used the momentum of the opponent's charge to pull him hard, and then smashed his elbow into the opponent's chest.

Bang! The buzzcut youth grunted and slammed into the wall, unable to get up for a long time.

Another person swung a punch from the side. Lu Cheng blocked it with his arm, rammed his shoulder into him, causing the opponent to stumble backward, then kicked him in the abdomen, folding him over like a shrimp.

"Fuck!" The yellow-haired youth lunged forward with red eyes.

Lu Cheng didn't dodge; instead, he met him head-on, grabbed the collar of his school uniform, and drove his knee upward fiercely.

The yellow-haired youth screamed, his face turning pale. His legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground.

The last remaining youth stood there, his face ashen, not knowing whether to advance or retreat.

"Still coming?" Lu Cheng looked at him.

The man's Adam's apple bobbed, and he shook his head hurriedly.

Lu Cheng released the yellow-haired youth, letting him collapse on the ground, and swept his gaze over the group. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sense of oppression.

"Get lost."

"If I see you doing this kind of thing again, I'll cripple you first."

The group, beaten to a pulp, didn't dare to talk back and scrambled toward the alley entrance.

Before leaving, the yellow-haired youth shot him a resentful look, but the moment Lu Cheng's gaze swept over, he immediately shrank his neck.

Soon, the alley quieted down, leaving only the buzzing sound of the electric current from the streetlamp.

Lu Cheng exhaled slowly, then turned around to look at the girl standing against the wall.

"Are you okay?"

Su Wan raised her eyes. Her eyes were very dark and very still, like the surface of a windless lake in the dead of night.

Normally, a girl who had just escaped from being cornered, even if she didn't lose her composure, should be a little shaken.

But she wasn't.

She looked at Lu Cheng quietly. There was no panic of an ordinary victim in her gaze; instead, it held a calmness that was almost like scrutiny, as if she were confirming something.

Lu Cheng felt a slight stir in his heart.

"I'm fine." Su Wan spoke, her voice light and calm. "Thank you."

She said thank you, but her tone wasn't warm; it even carried a hint of aloofness.

Lu Cheng wasn't surprised.

After all, given the original owner's rotten-to-the-core reputation, it was already polite of Su Wan not to mistake him for an accomplice.

"Let's get out of here first." Lu Cheng rubbed his throbbing temple. "They might call for more people."

Su Wan nodded.

The two walked out of the alley, one after the other.

Outside the alley were the streets of the old district. The sky was completely dark, the light signs of street vendors were on, and in the distance, the low hum of patrol cars passing by could occasionally be heard.

The nights in Rong City were not peaceful, especially in this old district where half the surveillance cameras were broken and public safety relied entirely on luck.

After walking a dozen steps, Lu Cheng spoke: "If I say I wasn't involved in this, do you believe me?"

Su Wan was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Why did you save me?"

Lu Cheng was stunned.

Why? Because he wasn't the original owner, because he couldn't stand by and watch a group of people bully a girl, because no matter how rotten a life was, it shouldn't start with something like this? And because… in his past life, he couldn't stand people who bullied others?

Lu Cheng didn't know how to say these words, so he just said, "I didn't like what I saw."

Su Wan looked at him, and a ripple seemed to flash in her eyes.

"Lu Cheng." She suddenly called his name.

"Huh? How do you know my name is Lu Cheng?"

Su Wan rolled her eyes at him. "Didn't that yellow-haired guy just call your name?"

"Oh… is something wrong?"

"You seem a bit different…"

Lu Cheng's heart skipped a beat, but he kept his expression calm. "People always change."

Su Wan didn't pursue the question, just nodded lightly. "Maybe."

She was calm on the outside, but inside, a storm was already raging.

She was a reincarnator. In her past life, she had reached the Ninth Heaven of the Destiny Realm and was revered by the world as the Ice Emperor.

Unfortunately, later, while fighting against foreign races, she was backstabbed by her own people…

Intense regret had triggered a mysterious pendant, and she hadn't expected it to bring her back to this time.

Tonight in her past life, she had indeed been cornered here.

She had prepared for the worst, thinking about how to minimize the impact on tomorrow's awakening and test.

In her past life, no one had come to save her.

And this Lu Cheng, in her memory, was a total piece of trash who ran rampant relying on his brute strength and some street experience. Later, he went further and further down the wrong path and eventually died in some unknown corner of the Wasteland Zone.

And she, because of the injury that night, had missed that extremely critical school-based awakening and test.

One wrong step, every step wrong.

The resources she should have secured were gone, the training list she should have entered was gone, and her later life trajectory had completely veered in another direction.

But now, everything had changed.

Lu Cheng hadn't just come; he had beaten away those people and was even… protecting her?

Su Wan's fingertips tightened slightly, but her face remained calm.

Just then, the old necklace she had been wearing close to her chest suddenly emitted a faint but distinct burning sensation.

It was as if something that had been dormant for countless years had been quietly awakened by some force.

The next instant, a pale golden light screen, visible only to her, slowly unfolded before her eyes.

[Peerless Prodigy System, binding in progress…]

[Binding successful.]

Su Wan's pupils shrank abruptly.

System?

Even with the mindset of someone who had lived two lives, her heart couldn't help but tremble violently at this moment.

In her past life, she had traversed various realms, seen countless fortuitous encounters and treasures, and had heard of "Destiny Carriers" and "Great Dao Artifact Spirits" mentioned in some ancient legacies, but she had never heard of anything like this.

Before she could think it through, the light screen before her changed again.

[This system will help the host forge a path of invincibility!]

[The system will lock onto prodigies of the same level (targets currently determined by the system as unable to be defeated). Defeating various prodigies will earn you rich rewards! However, if you fail to defeat them, you will receive punishment from the system.]

[Current bound target: Lu Cheng]

[The first comparison will begin in one week, and will occur once every month thereafter. Please work hard on your cultivation, Host!]

Su Wan's gaze paused imperceptibly, landing on the back of the youth standing in front of her not far away.

Lu Cheng? What kind of prodigy was he? A person who died in the beast tide three months later in her past life was actually bound by the system as a prodigy?

Immediately after, a second prompt appeared.

[Newbie Reward Preview: Divine Phoenix Nirvana Essence Blood]

Boom.

Even with all of Su Wan's restraint, her breathing faltered for a moment at this instant.

Divine Phoenix Nirvana Essence Blood!

She knew all too well what this name meant.

In her past life, she had fought all the way to the Destiny Realm, seen countless heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and even personally contended for Saint-tier relics, but even so, she could hardly resist the temptation of this item.

That was a supreme treasure that could truly defy the heavens and change one's fate.

No matter what realm one was in, as long as there was a sliver of life left, one could trigger a Nirvana Rebirth in the moment of near-death, reshaping flesh and blood, fully recovering from injuries, and even refining and sublimating one's foundation.

If one's fortune was deep enough and one's will was firm enough, it was even possible to awaken a wisp of Divine Phoenix bloodline, thereby shedding one's mortal coil and stepping onto a supreme path far exceeding that of ordinary people.

Such a thing, in her past life, would be enough to make Destiny Realm powerhouses kill each other until rivers of blood flowed.

And now, it was placed right in front of her.

The price was… defeating Lu Cheng?

Su Wan's eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze landing on his back once more.

She hadn't awakened her talent yet, and even though her blood vitality was slightly higher, her physical fitness couldn't keep up… Once she awakened tomorrow, she and Lu Cheng would no longer be people from the same world.

This time, with her rebirth, she would definitely transcend that realm and trample everyone who had ever hurt her under her feet!

The Zhou Family, the Chen Family, and those damned alien races—I have crawled back from the abyss to find you!