Chapter 1

The moon hung high in the sky, and the stars were dim.

In front of the mountain god temple, the temple door had somehow fallen to one side.

The interior of the temple was covered in spider webs and dust, and the only mountain god statue that remained had only half a head left.

The other half of the head lay on the ground, like trash, covered in dust and filth.

There were many straw mats on the ground, clearly indicating that travelers had once stayed there.

A young man, pale-faced, was lying by a nearly extinguished fire, his hand tightly clutching his chest, motionless.

After a long while!

Hmph!

A muffled groan, Fang Xiu struggled to get up from the ground, feeling an unbearable pain and numbness all over his body.

"Where am I? Didn't I die?"

Using the dim light of the fire, Fang Xiu began to observe his surroundings.

When he saw the dilapidated mountain god statue and the surrounding ruins, along with the clear and distinct pain in his body, he had to believe that he had died and come back to life.

Suddenly, Fang Xiu's brows furrowed, and a series of memories not his own began to surface in his mind.

After a moment, once he had fully accepted the memories, Fang Xiu understood the situation.

The original owner of this body was also named Fang Xiu, a scholar preparing to take the imperial exams.

Unfortunately, he had been sick since childhood. When the previous Fang Xiu decided to rest at the mountain god temple, his illness flared up, and he died there.

Immediately after, the other-worldly Fang Xiu somehow ended up here.

By a stroke of luck, he possessed the body of the recently deceased, coming back to life.

Apart from these memories, Fang Xiu had no other information.

Most of the previous body's memories had vanished with death.

Only the determination to take the imperial exams, a deep-seated obsession of the previous body, remained, which Fang Xiu had absorbed.

So, he died of illness!

Fang Xiu smiled bitterly. The previous body was just as unlucky as he was, both dying of illness.

He involuntarily touched his chest but did not feel the suffocating sensation that the previous body had experienced during the illness.

"Is it not the time for the illness to flare up, or did the illness get cured because I possessed this body and came back to life?"

Fang Xiu pondered to himself, unsure, as he was not a doctor and had little insight into illness.

However, not having the illness was a good thing, at least for now.

Putting aside the issue of his body, Fang Xiu carefully observed his surroundings.

The dilapidated mountain god temple, illuminated by the moonlight and the dim fire, looked somewhat eerie.

With the mountain god statue with half a head, a normal person would likely feel a sense of fear.

But Fang Xiu, who had spent years on his deathbed, viewed life and death more calmly than most.

His heart was stronger than that of an ordinary person, so the eerie mountain god temple did not make him feel afraid.

Or, what could be more terrifying than lying on a bed, waiting to die?

Fang Xiu struggled to stand up, but as soon as he exerted himself, his body weakened, and he fell to the ground.

"This body's weakness is on par with my original one. I admire how the previous body managed to make it this far!"

Fang Xiu couldn't help but shake his head. With such a weak body, the previous body still wanted to take the imperial exams.

With such poor physical condition, it was a problem that he didn't die on the way.

But, am I just going to lie here and wait to die?

If I die this time, there might not be another chance to come back to life.

Fang Xiu lay helplessly on the ground, his thoughts swirling.

Although he was used to the concept of life and death, he was not willing to die in such a miserable way after getting a second chance at life.

"What's the point of being unwilling? There's no village or town nearby, not even a person in sight. Given the state of this body, even if I don't die from illness, I'll likely die from weakness here. There's no hope of being rescued."

Just a moment later, Fang Xiu was already panting, his weak body struggling to breathe.

"Beep! The ultimate lottery system is activated!"

"Since this is the player's first activation, the system rewards one lottery chance!"

"Would the player like to draw the reward?"

A mechanical, cold voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

"Who!"

The cold voice made Fang Xiu's mind clear a bit. He turned his head but saw no one.

"Would the player like to draw the reward!"

Without an answer, the mechanical, cold voice repeated the question.

Fang Xiu finally realized that the voice was coming from his mind, not the surroundings.

Could this be the golden finger I got after coming back to life?

Lying on his deathbed, Fang Xiu had nothing to do but read various books.

He had some understanding of the concept of a golden finger.

He just didn't expect to encounter such a thing.

"Would the player like to draw the reward!"

The mechanical, cold voice repeated the question.

"Draw!"

Without hesitation, Fang Xiu answered.

Whoosh—Fang Xiu felt a flash before his eyes, and a virtual wheel appeared in front of him.

On the wheel, there were six slots, with a needle in the center.

Each slot was labeled: Martial Arts, Elixirs, Divine Weapons, Pets, Daily, and Supernatural Powers.

Below the wheel was the number 1.

Fang Xiu guessed that it must be the number of draws.

Apart from that, there was nothing else, as simple as it could be.

Fang Xiu tentatively asked, "How do I draw the reward?"

There was no response, and the mechanical, cold voice did not repeat.

"Draw the reward!"

Without an answer, Fang Xiu tried again.

Immediately, the number 1 below the wheel turned to 0, and the needle began to spin wildly.

The speed was so fast that Fang Xiu couldn't even catch a glimpse of it.

After a short while, the needle's speed gradually slowed down.

It slowly passed over the six slots but did not stop completely.

"Elixirs, elixirs!"

Fang Xiu silently chanted. Given his current state, only drawing elixirs could save his life; the others would be useless.

It's not that he didn't like martial arts or divine weapons, but with his current condition, they would be of no use. If he couldn't survive this, what good would they be?

As for supernatural powers, daily items, and pets, Fang Xiu didn't think they would help his condition.

As he chanted, the needle's speed slowed down, moving only slightly.

It passed the pet slot, the daily slot, and the supernatural power slot.

Finally, it entered the martial arts slot.

It moved slowly over the martial arts slot, as if the needle was about to run out of strength.

Fang Xiu's eyes widened, focusing on the final position of the needle.