1: Chapter 1 That's Life

Director Liu Dezhi, a man with a kind and gentle face, took the ultrasound report and looked at it, his brow instantly furrowing.

He pushed his glasses up with his hand. When he turned back, his face was already full of warmth, and his voice was gentle as he said, "Young man, did you come alone? Where are your parents? If they don't live far away, you should have them come to the hospital."

Hearing this, Li Changsheng's heart instantly sank to rock bottom. Suppressing the fear in his heart, he said with a slight tremble, "My parents passed away a long time ago. Whatever you have to say, you can just tell me."

In this life, his parents had passed away early, and from his earliest memories, only his grandmother had raised him.

I've seen the lab results and looked them up online. I think I understand... it's... it's liver cancer, right?"

After saying this, Li Changsheng's face was completely pale.

"Uh... this... how should I explain this to you..."

Director Liu Dezhi paused slightly and said, "Based on the report, there is a probability that this is liver cancer, and we can't rule out that it has already spread. Of course, we need to do further tests for the specifics. Perhaps the situation isn't like that..."

The director, Dr. Liu Dezhi, was clearly speaking very euphemistically, but how could Li Changsheng not understand?

The thing one fears most when seeing a doctor is the doctor sighing. This Dr. Liu had been very restrained, but he still inadvertently sighed several times.

The key was that look in his eyes, as if saying: such a fine young man... what a pity.

At this moment, there was a buzzing sound of tinnitus in Li Changsheng's mind.

He was an adult and knew very well what this meant.

The sky had fallen—

It was nearly five in the afternoon—

Li Changsheng didn't even know how he walked out of the hospital.

He walked down the street like a walking corpse, aimless, without a clear direction or goal. His eyes were vacant and unfocused, and he didn't even notice the passage of time. He just walked and walked until he reached Bijia Mountain Park near his rented apartment complex. He sat on the steps of a pedestrian overpass, staring at the small lake in the park, lost in thought.

What does a mature man fear most?

It's nothing more than three things: the tears of parents, the lies of a wife, and the helplessness of a child. But the main thing is having no money.

An adult fears having no money the most; he isn't actually afraid of death!

What he fears is not having earned enough money to leave for his family.

His spine, which had never bent before, collapsed at this moment. Li Changsheng hunched over his knees, staring at the ants on the ground, his face twisted and grimacing. He desperately wanted to squeeze out a few tears, but there were none left.

Having experienced too much, no matter how much he broke down in such a public place, he couldn't cry. There was only a burst of heart-wrenching pain.

Living another life, he thought the heavens would give him a happy life, but it was just another joke.

He had clearly worked so, so hard just to live. Why?

In his past life, he was an orphan. Before leaving the orphanage, he swore to make money, work hard to make money, and then give back to the orphanage and the director who took care of him.

But he was brutally beaten down by society. He worked overtime day and night, thinking he would be appreciated by his boss and get promoted with a raise, but reality told him otherwise.

No matter how excellently you perform, whether or not you get a raise doesn't depend on you; it depends on the boss you follow.

And the more excellent you are, the only thing the boss will do is add to your burden. The more excellent you are, the heavier the burden on your shoulders. Conversely, colleagues in the same company will have it easier and will even ostracize you.

In that life, he learned how to smooth out his sharp edges. The light in his eyes gradually dimmed with the time passed since graduating from university.

Having become smooth and worldly, he was better able to adapt to this society. Unfortunately, just as his career was about to take a turn for the better, an accident involving a drunk driver caused all his previous efforts to go down the drain.

In this life, his parents were both dead, and only an elderly grandmother looked after him.

In this life, he learned the ways of the world and summarized his lessons, wanting to make a name for himself in the workplace to give back to the grandmother who had cared for him since childhood.

Unfortunately, the more he navigated the workplace, the less he understood it.

In this life, he had thought about many things, like starting his own business, but in the end, he still took the path of being an employee.

Poor families have no capital for trial and error, and his grandmother had no funds to pay for his mistakes.

At least the company in this life had performance bonuses. Although it was also quite a trap, he still persisted and began to work hard.

But before he could enjoy anything, what was delivered was a notice of late-stage liver cancer.

Everything seemed to be repeating itself.

Except at this moment, he broke down!

Suddenly, a light tap on his shoulder pulled him back to reality.

He saw a cigarette being handed over. Looking again, it was a middle-aged salesman in a suit. The man was a bit chubby and somewhat balding. He patted Li Changsheng's shoulder and smiled, "Want one?"

"Thanks!"

Li Changsheng took the cigarette. The older man also sat down casually on the steps, dangling a cigarette from his mouth. While lighting it for Li Changsheng, he smiled and said,

"Can't figure things out? Or did you take a hit?"

"Cough, cough... cough, cough!"

Li Changsheng broke into a fit of violent coughing as soon as he puffed. He had smoked in his past life, but he hadn't in this one yet.

"How did you know, brother?"

"Heh, looking at your plaid shirt, you're a programmer, right? This is Nanshan District; at this hour, what programmer looks like you? How old are you?"

"Twenty-eight."

"Whoa, that's not young. Try to look on the bright side. People always encounter hurdles they can't seem to get over, but looking back later, what does it really matter?"

The older man's eyes were full of the vicissitudes of life; it was clear he also had many stories. Patting his belly lightly, he laughed,

"Look at me, I'm the perfect example of that saying: when a man reaches middle age, he has the pressure of Wukong, the physique of Bajie, the hairstyle of Sha Seng, and nags incessantly like Tang Seng. Most importantly, he's getting closer and closer to the Western Heaven. I've got alcoholic liver, fatty liver, and a whole bunch of ailments, but for the sake of my whole family, I'm still carrying on. Young man, don't give up. There are many things in life you haven't done yet: getting married, having kids, seeing them through school, getting them married, and looking after grandkids. Although we men always play the role of a 'tool,' what is a tool? It has to be sturdy and durable!"

I've got alcoholic liver, fatty liver, and a whole bunch of ailments, but for the sake of my whole family, I'm still carrying on.

Young man, don't give up. There are many things in life you haven't done yet: getting married, having kids, seeing them through school, getting them married, and looking after grandkids. Although we men always play the role of a tool, what is a tool? It has to be sturdy and durable!"

Saying this, the man patted Li Changsheng's shoulder and then left with a light smile.

Looking at the man's departing back, there was still light in his eyes—not the light called hope, but a light of tenacious struggle, like wild grass.

"You got over it, brother, but this time I really can't."

Li Changsheng looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, his mouth full of bitterness.

—

He didn't know how long he tossed and turned that night before finally falling into a heavy, groggy sleep.

But Li Changsheng felt that everything in his dreams was bizarre, and nightmares were constant throughout the night.

At three in the morning, Li Changsheng suddenly woke up with a start, only to find himself drenched in a cold sweat.

Looking at the ceiling, he stared blankly; he couldn't fall back asleep now.

All sorts of messy thoughts surfaced in his mind: worries, anxieties, and regrets.

He didn't have much time left, yet he had been busy his whole life. He had never traveled, never had a girlfriend, and certainly never had time to spend with his grandmother.

Thinking of his grandmother, he worried about how he should tell her when he went back to see her.

Thinking about how his grandmother wouldn't be able to walk in the future, who would take care of her?

Thinking of how his grandmother had painstakingly raised him since he was a child, only for her to have to bury her own grandson, his heart couldn't help but throb with pain again and again.

Turning his head, he buried himself in the pillow, and the sound of sobbing rose again.

In the empty low-rent apartment, there was only the sound of his solitary sobbing.

Ding-dong!

A crisp sound rang in his ears.

Li Changsheng looked up; it turned out the clothes rack outside had hit the metal handrail.

Ding!

But immediately after, there was another light sound. Li Changsheng's eyes suddenly widened.

This was definitely not the same feeling as before; this sound clearly appeared inside his mind!

A System?

Or a cheat?

At this moment, Li Changsheng felt as if he had grasped a life-saving straw, but after waiting for a moment, there was no further reaction in his mind.

"Come out! Come out quickly!"

Li Changsheng couldn't stop shouting in his heart; this was his only hope.

[Congratulations to the host for triggering the System activation conditions. The System activation conditions are for the host's heart to experience three types of despair: the despair of foreseeing death, the despair of parting with loved ones, and the despair towards life and everything.]

The voice rang in his mind again, but this time it was a cold female voice.

"Why must I experience despair?"

Li Changsheng was somewhat exhausted. At this moment, he even doubted whether everything he had experienced was arranged by the System.

[This System is the Martial Arts Longevity System. The path to longevity is long and arduous. Once you step onto this path, you will inevitably experience such despair.]

[Do you wish to fully activate the System now?]

Li Changsheng had no possibility of refusing; this was his only chance to change everything.

"Activate!"

[System activating...]

[System activation complete.]

[Name: Li Changsheng]

[Lifespan: 101 days]

[Stamina: 4 (Average of Strength, Endurance, and Agility. Note: 5 points for an average person; will not be displayed subsequently)]

[Energy: 6 (Average of Qi, Consciousness, and Emotion. Note: 5 points for an average person; will not be displayed subsequently)]

[Skills: None]

[Attribute Points: None]

[The System will issue phased tasks to the host according to the situation. Upon completion, the host will receive designated rewards, including skills, attribute points, and Lifespan. Please work hard to complete the tasks.]

[Given the decline of Traditional Martial Arts in this space-time, a Traditional Martial Arts promotion task is now being issued. Phase 1: Open a live-streaming account and establish a live-streaming room related to Traditional Martial Arts.]

"So, you want me to open a live-streaming room to promote Traditional Martial Arts? But I don't know any Traditional Martial Arts at all!"

Although Li Changsheng had never been involved in the live-streaming industry, he could still manage to create an account and set up a room. It was just that he knew nothing about Traditional Martial Arts, whether in his past or present life.

[Please complete the current phase of the task first!]

Fine.

Seeing that the System had no intention of continuing to pay him any attention, Li Changsheng decided to get the live-streaming room set up first.

Since he couldn't sleep anyway, he might as well start now.