Chapter 1: Handsome and Strong

"Someday, I will become a god in the online literature world, selling a book title for tens of millions, living in a luxury mansion, driving a luxury car, marrying a beautiful and wealthy woman, and reaching the pinnacle of life!"

In the dimly lit basement, the light flickered.

Sitting in front of the computer, Bai Xiaowen typed away, shouting his dream to the empty basement.

In the basement, only his shadow clapped with Bai Xiaowen's raised hand.

Having finished another chapter, Bai Xiaowen skillfully logged into the website and opened the author's backend.

Copy! Paste! Upload successful!

"I wonder how many more subscriptions there are?" Bai Xiaowen clicked on the subscription count with some anticipation.

"Three more average subscriptions, already breaking a hundred... cough, cough, no matter what, I'm one step closer to becoming a god." Bai Xiaowen consoled himself, wiggled his fat buttocks, and the old wooden chair groaned in protest.

Glancing at the time in the lower right corner of the monitor, Bai Xiaowen rubbed his belly, which had three layers of fat, and felt a wave of hunger.

"It's already half past eleven, I'll go to the night market and have some late-night snacks." Bai Xiaowen pushed open the basement door and walked up the stairs, leaving his doghouse.

Bai Xiaowen had once been a star. Back in high school, he always dominated the top of the class. Whenever the grades were announced, classmates wouldn't ask who was first, but directly who was second. Over three years of high school, the second place was rotated, but without exception, they all trembled under the shadow of Bai Xiaowen, the demon king.

Unfortunately, after being admitted to a key university, he lost his motivation and direction, becoming a literary youth and a shut-in during college.

Finally, after much difficulty, Bai Xiaowen obtained his graduation certificate. He faced repeated setbacks in job hunting and eventually ended up in the online literature industry, becoming a writer. Long nights and overeating caused Bai Xiaowen's figure to expand rapidly. As the saying goes, one fat ruins everything, and it was hard for others to see the handsome essence in Bai Xiaowen's obese body.

Bai Xiaowen wandered the streets like a foraging bear, completely unaware that a point of starlight was rapidly approaching him, getting faster and faster.

How likely is it for a person to be hit by a meteor? It's hard to say, but the chances of being hit or not are about equal.

The starlight, as if guided by a navigation system, hit Bai Xiaowen's head precisely. In that instant, Bai Xiaowen only managed to lift his head.

A spherical object slammed into Bai Xiaowen's left eye socket.

Bai Xiaowen felt a dizzying spin. In the endless darkness, there was only a blood-red eyeball filling the sky!

...

When Bai Xiaowen woke up again, his nose was filled with the smell of disinfectant, and he saw a white ceiling.

"Is this a hospital? I was hit by a meteor and didn't die?" Bai Xiaowen was puzzled, touching his left eye. "The meteor clearly pierced my left eye, but my eye is still there. Could this be a dream?"

"Brother, you're awake!"

A surprised voice rang out. At the bedside, a girl with red-rimmed eyes looked at Bai Xiaowen, her face full of joy and disbelief, and grabbed his arm.

The girl was about thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a faded blue school uniform, with a delicate and lovely face, like a young white poplar tree.

"You..." Bai Xiaowen was bewildered, not expecting a beautiful girl to call him brother. He didn't remember having such a sister, and with the Bai family's genes, even if he had a sister, she couldn't be this beautiful.

The young white poplar tree cried and laughed, helping Bai Xiaowen sit up slowly: "That's great, brother. I knew you wouldn't abandon me. After my sister went missing, there are only the two of us left. You can't leave me behind, wuwu..."

Bai Xiaowen sat up straight and saw a small round mirror on the bedside table, reflecting his face.

"My God, is this me? This... this is too handsome!"

In the mirror, Bai Xiaowen had pitch-black eyes, a straight nose, fair skin, and a perfect jawline, a definite handsome youth.

Bai Xiaowen was still bewildered and subconsciously tried to pinch himself, but both hands were tightly held by the young white poplar tree, and he couldn't break free. In a panic, countless images seemed to surge in his mind, and he fainted again.

The young white poplar tree screamed and rushed out of the ward, her cries of "Doctor" echoing in the corridor.

In the empty ward, Bai Xiaowen slowly woke up. This time, he had already figured out the situation and was no longer confused.

"I've traveled through time... This identity is called Bai Xiaowen, with the same pronunciation as my original name."

This is the "Spiritual Era" on Earth!

In the year 2021, a special energy called "spiritual particles" flowed into Earth through a rift in the "Spiritual Realm," causing the entire Earth to become digitized under the influence of spiritual particles, and countless species to mutate.

At the same time, creatures from the "Spiritual Realm" invaded Earth.

Zombies that could withstand bullets, claw monsters that could run on walls and were hard to aim at, mountain giants that could play with tanks like toys, and ghosts that could tear souls with a single glance...

Most importantly, these monsters were protected by the energy of spiritual particles, greatly weakening the effectiveness of Earth's original technological weapons.

Fortunately, spiritual particles also changed the human body on Earth, opening a new path of evolution. Those who successfully evolved were called—Awakened!

The "Awakened" had the strength to face the monsters head-on. After the first generation of Awakened grew up, a fragile balance was finally established between Earth's humans and the monsters.

The Spiritual Era began, and the year 2021 was called the first year of the Spiritual Era.

This year is the 96th year of the Spiritual Era, and Bai Xiaowen has traveled through time to the body of a high school student named "Bai Xiaowen" a hundred years later. The two sets of life memories overlapped, like a dream, but it was unclear whether it was Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of Zhuangzi.

"From now on, I am Bai Xiaowen." It must be said that the life of a web novelist made Bai Xiaowen's nerves very thick, and the influence of soul fusion allowed him to accept this identity without any psychological barriers, especially since he had become a handsome guy. What more could he want?

In life, one-third depends on effort, one-seventh on talent, and ninety percent on looks.

Bai Xiaowen picked up the small round mirror and examined himself carefully.

"Tsk, tsk, broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs, a model's figure, and a star's face. It's hard not to become famous in the entertainment industry."

Just as Bai Xiaowen was staring at himself in the mirror, a stream of information flowed into his mind.

[Bai Xiaowen]

[Race: Humanoid/Human]

[Talent: Insight]

[Attributes: Strength 8, Agility 1, Constitution 7, Spirit 9]

[Skills: Basic Combat Level 1, Basic Weaponry (One-Handed Swords) Level 2, Basic Meditation Level 1]

"This is the personal data in the Spiritual Era. Hmm, what's this 'Talent'? In my memory, this body didn't have a talent! Also, how did the 'Spirit' attribute increase so much? The original Bai Xiaowen's spirit was only 9."

"Right, the new Insight talent and the sudden increase in the Spirit attribute... They must be related to that large blood-red eyeball!"

As soon as Bai Xiaowen had a question in his mind, the answer immediately appeared. His thinking speed was so fast that even he was surprised, feeling that his brain had evolved! Compared to his old brain, it was like the difference between a supercar and a tractor—simply put, Bai Xiaowen had a super brain!

Just a quick glance, and the tables, chairs, bed, and cabinets in the ward were clearly imprinted in his mind, even the slight wear and tear, the scratches, were all vividly detailed! More terrifyingly, he remembered all this while mentally calculating the square of a five-digit number.

This level of observation, memory, and calculation... Not only was it far superior to the high school student Bai Xiaowen in this timeline, but it was also a hundred times smarter than the web novelist Bai Xiaowen in the other timeline, absolutely a super brain!

The super brain was likely a benefit brought by the blood-red eyeball.

Bai Xiaowen carefully examined his left eye in the mirror. In the depths of his pupil, there was a faint red glow. He silently canceled the Insight, and the red glow disappeared.

"Open the personal attribute panel."

A transparent page opened in front of Bai Xiaowen. The race, attributes, talent, and skills on it were exactly the same as the data he had just obtained through Insight, indicating that the Insight talent was accurate and precise!

"Awesome." Bai Xiaowen was very excited. In the Spiritual Era, only a small part of the population had talent abilities, and no matter how useless the talent, it would be highly valued once confirmed.

Bai Xiaowen, like a child with a new toy, searched for items to test his talent, checking the cabinet, bed, mirror... but he received the same prompt: "The target's spiritual energy is negligible and is not a spiritual item."

Finally, Bai Xiaowen found a used bandage that emitted a faint glow, and the Insight talent gave a result.

[Cotton Hemostatic Bandage (Used)]

[Rank: 0]

[Components: Life Energy 71%, Disinfectant 28%, Blood 12%, Cotton 01%]

[Effect: Can quickly heal and form a scab, shortening the duration of bleeding.]

"My Insight talent can work on items containing spiritual energy! Not only can it identify effects, but it can also see components! This feeling... is much stronger than general detection abilities!" Bai Xiaowen felt a sense of satisfaction and threw the blood-soaked bandage back into the trash can.

However, as he threw the bandage away, Bai Xiaowen suddenly remembered.

"The blood on this bandage... is it mine? Damn, who did this..."

(End of Chapter)