Chapter 1

"From today, you are responsible for the third floor, Area A."

The steward mechanically handed Ye Xiao a work card, thus beginning his life of working in this world.

Ye Xiao thanked him and turned to head towards the third floor. His thin figure made the steward shake his head slightly.

"Pity, such a handsome young man, but unfortunately, he hasn’t awakened his divine soul, a waste of that face."

Ye Xiao didn’t hear the steward’s words. At this moment, he was processing the memories of this body.

Ten minutes ago, he had died from a serious illness on Earth, and in the blink of an eye, he had been transported to this parallel world.

The civilization in this world was similar to Earth’s, with the only difference being that it was a martial arts world.

Due to the revival of spiritual martial arts, humans primarily focused on cultivation, which allowed them to extend their lifespan and perform feats like flying and teleporting, just like the immortals in novels from his previous life.

However, the prerequisite for successful cultivation was to awaken something called a divine soul.

Clearly, this world’s Ye Xiao had not awakened his divine soul and could only practice some basic techniques, making him a hardworking but struggling worker.

What a load of garbage!

But Ye Xiao soon became reconciled.

Not being able to achieve great things in martial arts also meant he wouldn’t face any major dangers.

The Ye Xiao from his previous life, who had suffered from illness, desperately wanted to live.

Living was more important than anything else.

Moreover, the library provided food and accommodation, with a monthly salary of 3,500, and the entire building was air-conditioned 24/7. Wasn’t that great?

"Is this Area A?"

Arriving at his workstation, Ye Xiao was quite satisfied.

Every city had its own martial arts library, which contained detailed records of many techniques developed by martial artists and their martial arts experiences, available for the younger generation to borrow.

The lower-level techniques were of poorer quality and could be borrowed freely.

The higher-level, high-quality techniques were guarded by powerful figures, and ordinary people couldn’t enter.

The area Ye Xiao managed contained basic techniques, which were abundant on the first and second floors. Naturally, few people climbed to the third floor, so he had a relatively easy job.

However, at this moment, his mind suddenly felt a sharp pain, and then a book emitting a faint golden light appeared in his mind.

Ye Xiao was taken aback. Through the memories of his predecessor, he quickly understood what this was.

"Did I awaken my divine soul?"

The awakening of the divine soul was quite timely.

But Ye Xiao wasn’t overly excited.

Having lived one life, he had long since become indifferent to everything.

He didn’t need to be a martial arts master; being able to protect himself was enough.

This world was full of powerful individuals, and he wasn’t an invincible master. Being too high-profile could be fatal.

With nothing to do, Ye Xiao decided to study the function of his divine soul.

By focusing his mind on the divine soul, he easily understood its function.

"By watching techniques, you can record them in your divine soul and cultivate them automatically, with no limit on the number. When similar techniques are cultivated to perfection, they can be combined into higher-grade techniques and further cultivated. However, techniques of the same origin cannot be recorded repeatedly."

"It seems quite powerful."

The ability to cultivate automatically meant he only needed to read the techniques once, and all subsequent issues would be resolved, which suited Ye Xiao’s laid-back personality.

As for the fact that techniques of the same origin could not be recorded, Ye Xiao understood.

Many techniques were actually variations of a single technique. Some unscrupulous martial artists with talent could buy one technique and adapt it into several different techniques, earning substantial copyright fees, much like piracy and plagiarism in his previous life.

After understanding the function of his divine soul, Ye Xiao immediately began searching the bookshelves for techniques to read.

His reading ability was strong, and he read very quickly. Moreover, techniques were not books; some techniques were only a few pages long.

In the morning, he read a total of twenty-five techniques!

Unfortunately, only four techniques were recorded in his divine soul: two sword techniques, one sword technique, and one boxing manual.

The other twenty-one were all plagiarized.

Even these four books were plagiarized, but the golden book prioritized the first technique of the same origin and extracted its core technique.

Ye Xiao couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated. These people were too shameless.

However, when he looked at the golden book, he saw four pages filled with techniques, and below each was a cultivation progress bar that was visibly increasing. His mood improved significantly.

He could even feel his cultivation growing slowly within his body.

"Not bad, at this rate, I should be able to break through to a Second-Rank Martial Artist soon."

Martial artists were divided into two categories: Pre-Natal and Post-Natal.

The Pre-Natal realm was divided into ranks one through nine.

The Post-Natal realm was also divided into ranks one through nine.

However, Pre-Natal martial artists were uniformly called martial artists, while Post-Natal martial artists were divided into three ranks: Post-Natal Master, Grand Master, and Divine Master!

It was said that a Post-Natal Master was already quite remarkable!

In the city where Ye Xiao lived, each graduating class of the martial arts academy had over 100,000 students, and out of these 100,000, only ten could break through to the Post-Natal realm after decades or even nearly a century of cultivation, which was considered a normal ratio.

Therefore, a Post-Natal Master was one in a million.

The higher realms were even more difficult to achieve.

Just then, the clock struck twelve, and Ye Xiao stretched, ending his reading.

It was time for lunch.

The food in the cafeteria was quite good, after all, the library was a municipal institution, and meals were subsidized. A bowl of duck blood and vermicelli soup cost only five yuan, which was very cheap!

Ye Xiao squinted and smiled.

"Looks like I’ll be in for a treat from now on."

He ordered a lunch, sat in a corner to savor it, and listened to his colleagues’ conversations to learn more about his surroundings.

At a nearby table, a few male colleagues were eating while grumbling:

"Damn, this library job is not for humans. I was assigned to the logistics department and moved books all morning, and my back is killing me."

"You’re lucky. At least you can smoke. I’m worse off. I was stationed at the entrance, and I couldn’t even take a piss all morning."

"Hey, stop complaining. Who made us not awaken our divine souls? We’ve been practicing for over ten years and are still First-Rank Martial Artists.

We can only hope to break through to Second-Rank Martial Artists in a few more years.

If we break through to Second-Rank Martial Artists, we can join the military or a mercenary company.

Then, we might get a Soul Condensation Pill and have a chance to awaken our divine souls."

"You’re dreaming. After practicing for over ten years, you’re still a First-Rank Martial Artist. It’s hard to say if you’ll ever break through to Second-Rank. Even if you do, it will take at least thirty years, and by then, you’ll be an old dog. No company will want you. Just keep working."

Ye Xiao sighed inwardly. It seemed that the world of martial artists was even harder to succeed in than his previous life.

He estimated that if he wanted to become a powerful martial artist, it would take many years.

Forget it, as a failure, just lying flat was fine.

As soon as this thought appeared, a ‘pop’ sounded within his body. Instantly, Ye Xiao felt his strength enter a new level.

This made Ye Xiao’s hand, which was picking up food, pause.

He... broke through?