Chapter 1

In the ninth year of the Qingli era, spring.

A light, cool spring rain fell throughout the night.

Fangzhou walked out of the dilapidated house, struggling to lock the rusty iron lock.

Walking out of the foul-smelling alley, he stepped onto the dirty, sewage-filled, rat-infested streets of the slum, where small vendors crowded on both sides, their cries echoing incessantly.

“Roar!”

A deafening sound exploded in his ears.

Fangzhou looked up, and the entire sky turned dark. It was a massive, galloping beast, with pitch-black scales densely covering its enormous and terrifying body, every inch of flesh exuding a fear that made one's soul tremble.

Its wings, when spread, measured hundreds of meters, blocking out the sun.

On the back of this dragon, there were splendid palaces and pavilions lit up with lights.

It flew low over the city of Jiu Fang, bringing a dragon's roar, and at its lowest point, it was less than a hundred meters from the rooftops of the tall buildings. If one stood on a high building, it seemed as if they could touch it.

Based on the memories of this body, Fangzhou knew that this terrifying existence was called a flying dragon. It was a means of transportation forcibly promoted and popularized by the powerful races of gods, immortals, demons, and spirits after they broke through the human realm's gateway.

The flying dragon flew away, and the dragon's roar faded.

The humans in the city, who had been intimidated by the dragon's might, suppressed their fear and resumed their noisy lives, rushing about for their livelihoods.

Fangzhou looked around, feeling dazed. He had been in this world for a month and still found it hard to adapt.

It was a bizarre world.

Humans, gods, immortals, demons, and spirits each had their own domain.

Humans lived within the human realm, where there was a unified human empire, the Daqing Empire.

Daqing, established on martial prowess, had lasted for nine hundred years. Learning from the collapse of the previous dynasty, the founding emperor knew the power of martial artists and feared being overthrown by force. Therefore, he implemented the "Burning of Books and Burying of Martial Artists" policy.

Countless martial arts manuals were burned, and the founding emperor led his army to destroy numerous martial arts sects.

Subsequently, successive Daqing emperors issued martial prohibitions, making it illegal to practice martial arts except for the royal family.

They promoted literature and commerce.

The martial prohibitions lasted for eight hundred years, and martial arts were virtually non-existent in the civilian world, with martial artists being rare.

Due to the martial prohibitions, there were fewer incidents of martial law violations, and the empire enjoyed peace and prosperity.

However, a hundred years ago...

Outside the human realm.

After decades of probing, the races led by gods, immortals, and demons finally broke through the human realm's gateway with their formidable power, invading human territory.

The martial artists of the Daqing royal family were defeated in a landslide.

All the prosperity turned to nothing.

...

The city of Jiu Fang was divided into inner and outer sections.

The outer section was the slum, while the inner section was where the rich and non-human races lived.

Fangzhou crossed the slum of the outer city and stepped onto a slightly cleaner cobblestone road.

After passing through the checkpoint between the inner and outer sections and verifying his identity, he walked toward the inner city.

Soon, Fangzhou arrived at a huge circular building. The building was grand and intricate, with red-painted walls, carved railings, black tiles, and upturned eaves.

From a bird's-eye view, it looked like a stadium.

Of course, a more vivid description would be a medieval arena.

Facing the invasion of the non-human races, the Daqing royal family's army, composed of martial artists, suffered continuous defeats. In the end, they chose to lift the martial prohibitions and restore the freedom to practice martial arts.

The "Arena" was established after the lifting of the martial prohibitions and developed rapidly in various states and cities.

The original intention was to quickly develop human martial arts.

However, due to the successive martial policies issued by the government and the interference and suppression by the powerful non-human races, the development of the arena went astray and tragically turned into a gambling den for high officials, non-human merchants, and gamblers.

Fangzhou's identity was that of a servant in the arena.

He was responsible for serving tea, water, ice, and medicine to the martial artists, and sometimes he had to dispose of the bodies, earning extra money for his efforts.

The bodies he disposed of included martial artists who died on the arena, gamblers who were killed for debt, and even drug addicts who died from smoking "Furong Immortal Paste" in the arena.

Passing through a bright corridor embedded with glowing crystals, he entered the arena of Jiu Fang after multiple layers of screening.

The arena had various levels of boxing rings, surrounded by densely packed spectators.

The noisy shouts, the overwhelming smell of smoke and alcohol, and the headache-inducing atmosphere were overwhelming.

However, after working in the arena for a month, Fangzhou gradually adapted to the terrible environment.

...

...

Yellow Number 89 Ring.

Below the ring, Fangzhou slightly bent over, a white towel draped over his shoulder, and a bucket of ice water in his hand. His pupils were tightly constricted, his muscles tense, and he was always ready to charge.

On the ring, two martial artists were fighting, their punches landing on flesh, their lips and teeth stained with blood.

Sweat-soaked hair, splattered blood, and the roar of punches.

It was brutal, passionate, and heart-wrenching.

Fangzhou's gaze shifted slightly, scanning the surroundings. Not far away was the separated spectator area, where the spectators and gamblers were densely packed, holding their betting tickets, their eyes red, and their shouts and spittle flying.

Lifting his gaze, he looked up at the arena.

There, in the upper level, were luxurious private boxes, where the city's influential officials and non-human guests from the races of gods, immortals, demons, and spirits were seated.

Sometimes, while the fights were happening below, the upper level hosted banquets, inviting dancers from the imperial music bureau, in a scene of debauchery.

Below, people fought for survival, risking their lives.

Above, they indulged in excess, living in a dream.

“Clang—”

A woman in revealing clothing, smiling, walked around the ring, ringing the rest bell.

The sound of the bell brought Fangzhou's attention back.

The fight on the ring entered a rest and adjustment phase, and the servants around the ring rushed out.

Fangzhou took a deep breath, kicked off, and immediately carried the bucket of ice water toward the ring, competing for a spot.

In the arena, even as a servant, one had to compete and fight for a spot!

“Quick! Get someone to stop the bleeding, and someone to apply ice!”

“Brat, what are you staring at! Move faster!”

“Haven't you eaten? Speed up the bleeding stop!”

Below, the coach who had placed a bet was shouting, his eyes red.

Fangzhou and a few other servants who had secured spots rushed onto the ring, quickly stopping the bleeding, applying ice, rinsing the mouth, and wiping the sweat of the panting martial artist.

However, the servant responsible for stopping the bleeding was new, slow, and rough, causing the martial artist pain.

The martial artist cursed and punched the servant, causing him to bleed from the nose and mouth, his eyes rolling back, and his ears ringing.

The servant fell on the ring, struggling to get up but failing.

The coach below quickly called for a new servant.

The other servants indifferently dragged the unconscious servant off the ring.

Fangzhou did not look around, focusing on his task.

After completing his task, he carried the bucket, draped the blood-soaked towel over his shoulder, and bent down to leave the ring with a few other servants. He took a new white towel, carried the bucket to another yellow-numbered ring, adjusted his state, and competed for the opportunity to stop the bleeding and apply ice to the martial artists.

The range of service for servants like Fangzhou was the yellow and black-numbered rings.

The martial artists in the earth and heaven-numbered rings were influential and prestigious figures in the arena.

They had dedicated teams for their fights.

Servants like Fangzhou were not qualified to serve them.

Moving between the yellow-numbered rings, Fangzhou soon broke into a heavy sweat, panting heavily, and his legs trembling.

The white towels he brought were all blood-soaked, and he had completed his task for the day.

Leaning against the wall, his chest heaving, he silently bit into a cold, hard steamed bun, swallowing it with difficulty. Fangzhou felt a mix of confusion and sorrow about his future as he watched the martial artist on the ring roar in victory, winning a substantial prize, feeling envious.

After watching for a while, Fangzhou felt his head grow heavy and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.

Suddenly, the world spun.

Fangzhou opened his eyes, but the noise around him had disappeared.

He found himself standing in front of an ancient, ornate building with upturned eaves.

Looking up, he saw a plaque hanging above the door.

The plaque read in elegant, mysterious characters: "Martial Arts Bookshop."

On either side of the bookshop, there were two vertical plaques, inscribed: "Human Martial Arts, Passed Down for Generations."

Where was this?

Fangzhou dazedly stepped into the bookshop.

The interior was simple.

Rows of wooden bookshelves lined the walls.

However, most of the shelves were empty, with only one book placed on them.

There were two chairs and a table.

On the table was a candle holder, with a white candle almost burned out.

The candle flickered, and the wax dripped.

Fangzhou stared at the white candle, vaguely feeling that the flame seemed to reflect his face.

As if it was burning his soul.

After staring for a while, the only book on the shelf flew toward him and landed in his hands.

The pages turned automatically.

Text appeared in the book.

...

【Main Body (Unique Physical Form): Fangzhou】

【Mystic Power: Soul Transference】

【Martial Arts: None】

【Martial Experience: 10】

【Martial Life: Human, male, never practiced martial arts, soul traveled through time and space, gaining the mystic power "Soul Transference"】

【Note 1: When the "Soul Candle" burns out, a new soul transference opportunity will be available. Soul Transference has a time limit, and the soul will return to the unique physical form when the time limit ends.】

【Note 2: The main body has observed battles in the arena for years, converting 10 points of martial experience. Consuming experience can be used to deduce and perfect "Martial Arts."】

【Note 3: Soul Transference is exclusively used for in-depth martial arts communication.】

...

Fangzhou looked at the information presented in the book, feeling confused.

Mystic power? Soul transference?

What were these?

Then, he suddenly realized, his heart racing. Could this be the benefit and reliance of being a穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which translates to "穿越者" in English, but in this context, it means "穿越者" or "穿越者")?

Just as Fangzhou was about to study it further, a loud shout pulled him out of the bookshop.

“Zhouzi, it's payday, wake up.”