Chapter 1: Start - I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress

"So this is my new appearance, huh..." Rakim muttered with a frown as he looked at the copper mirror in his hand.

By the next second, disappointment was apparent on his face, but it soon turned into acceptance.

’’Whatever...the face is still a bit better than my original one. What matters more in this new world is strength!

Even if I end up looking like an orangutan, I will still be able to get a harem of jade beauties if I’m strong enough," he comforted himself as the plots of the various novels he had read ran through his mind.

Before long, his focus went back to the mirror to observe himself more closely.

His cheeks looked sunken, clearly indicating the previous owner’s bad diet. It was clear that the original owner had not taken care of his body at all.

’Well... at least I have a sharp jawline,’ Rakim stroked his jaw and observed it more carefully.

Feeling a sense of heaviness behind his head, Rakim’s focus was drawn to this long black hair. It reached almost his hips.

This long hair, capable of attracting every female’s envy on earth, was now useless to him since he had no idea how to keep his hair in check. He took a knife from atop a nearby table and cut off his hair.

A few minutes later, Rakim admired his new appearance in front of the mirror with satisfaction.

"Indeed, I look much better," he commented with a nod and started sweeping the hair on the floor with a broom.

One might wonder why Rakim seemed so relaxed, as normally, anyone who finds themselves in a different world after waking up would either be panicking their heart out or jumping from excitement.

The reason is simple. He had already been informed about it.

Let’s start from the beginning, then, my fellow readers.

Flight GJ-5643 was about to fly to Beijing with 243 passengers on board.

Rakim was also one of those 243.

He had just been selected to do computer science engineering at Beijing University. He felt lucky that, despite his young age of 18 and limited experience when compared to older folks, his application was accepted.

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!"

Rakim gave one final wave to his family members and went inside the airport.

After finishing all the procedures and entering the flight, he finally took his seat.

’It would be quite a long journey, good thing I already downloaded the latest Chapters of my favourite webnovel,’ he thought in a pleased manner and immersed himself in reading as the flight soon took off.

If only he had known that this was going to be his last, he wouldn’t have gone on that flight, but alas, what’s done is done.

During the landing procedures, the landing gear of flight GJ-5643 malfunctioned, opening only halfway. The result? The flight’s nose smashed down on the runway, and before long, everything was covered in flames.

All 243 passengers on board died in that accident.

...

’So, I’m dead, huh...’ A wisp of soul that was traversing its way through a dark, narrow tunnel said to itself the moment it gained consciousness.

"Where am I even going?" The wisp voiced out, but no one answered him. Just like him, there were a lot of wisps around as well. They were all going in the same direction.

"STOP!" A loud noise made the wisp stop in its place.

To the wisp’s surprise, it was the only one who had stopped while the rest acted as if they had not heard anything.

"Hehe, I finally got a suitable soul! What’s your name?" The other party asked.

The wisp looked at the purple-coloured orb from where the voice had come, in confusion.

"I asked, What is your name?" The purple orb asked once again.

"Rakim..." The wisp answered.

"Rakim, is it? Oh, you’re quite a young soul as well, haha! You lucked out, kid. Among those 243 souls, yours was the only one that had read web-novels and could therefore hear me," The orb said and continued.

"I’ll keep things short. I’m sending you to the world of cultivation you’ve read about in so many web novels. Of course, I’m quite generous, so I’ll be giving you an interesting ability that would hopefully help you in avoiding death in the world I’ve created. Any questions?" The orb asked.

"Who are you...?" The wisp asked.

"Me? I am the creator of the world you’re entering..." The orb paused as it noticed the space surrounding them shaking a bit.

"Looks like we’re short on time, so the question session is over. I’ll be sending you to the cultivation world now." With that, the purple orb started disintegrating, and the surrounding area became chaotic.

"Entertain me well, Rakim," The purple orb said something before turning into nothingness.

However, Rakim was unable to hear his words. Its voice had been submerged in the shattering sound of the surrounding space.

The next moment, Rakim’s soul was sucked inside a random spatial crack.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in this new world.

____

"Phew!" Rakim exhaled in exhaustion and placed the broom back at its spot.

"That orb said that he would give me some ability. Why don’t I see it yet? Rakim thought

"System!" Rakim called out a few times, but the system didn’t show its appearance.

"Golden Finger!"

"Status!"

"Ability!"

He tried a lot of words, eventually even shifting to profanities, but nothing happened.

"Was I duped by that orb?" Rakim muttered with uncertainty.

His attention was then attracted by the rays of the sun entering through the small window opening.

Looking at the orange light, a sense of familiarity washed over Rakim. On Earth, too, the sun felt the same, and he couldn’t help but think back on his previous life.

"Mom...Dad..." He muttered sorrowfully, "Don’t worry about me for too long...I wanted to earn a lot of money and give you all the riches I could, but I ended up dying...I’m sorry,"

He no longer felt as excited as before about the cultivation world as thoughts of his family’s well-being entered his mind.

At this point, a thought crossed his mind.

’Wait...if this is the cultivation world, then wouldn’t it be possible for me to go back to my world if I reach the pinnacle of martial arts?’ Plots from several stories he had read flashed past his mind, and he became more and more certain that this was possible.

After a few minutes, a sense of conviction replaced his earlier gaze. He had made up a decision.

"I’ll reach the pinnacle and get back. Mom and Dad just wait for me. Your son will shatter the concept of time and space if he has to, but will surely be back!"

As if responding to his decision, a sudden cracking sound came from inside his heart, making Rakim fall to his knees in pain.

"Argh!" Rakim clutched his head in pain.

The next second, memories of this body’s original owner started pouring into his mind, and he lost consciousness thereafter.

It was only after ten minutes that Rakim regained consciousness and pushed himself off the ground.

He had gained a huge amount of memory, and it was still in the process of being assimilated.

’Yi Chen? So that’s my name now, huh?’ Yi Chen thought to himself while pressing his aching forehead.

Godly Cultivator System Activating...

Suddenly, a robotic voice sounded in his mind, and a panel opened up right in front of him.

"Finally!" Yi Chen exclaimed in joy as he observed the details in front of his eyes.

-x-x-GODLY CULTIVATOR SYSTEM -x-x-

Name: Yi Chen

Age: 18 years

Spiritual Qi: 10/10

Cultivation: None (Mortal)

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

An overwhelming amount of glee flew through Yi Chen’s veins as he admired the panel in front of him.

’To think a day like this would come...’ He thought with excitement.

As if wanting to make Yi Chen’s day even brighter, a pinging sound rang inside his head, and a pop-up panel appeared the next moment.

+++++++Starter Gift+++++++++

Innate Ability: Eye of Truth (Passive)

Will Host accept it? (Yes/No)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Hell Yeah!" Yi Chen pressed ’Yes’ without a second thought, and the next moment, there were some additional changes to the status panel.