For a decade, Wu Wei had lived a low-key life. His parents were functional (though his mother was deceased), he lacked a beautiful sister to complicate matters, and he wasn't burdened by any deep-seated hatred. Crucially, he had never received a single trace of a Golden Finger.
This was a decidedly un-characteristic transmigrator configuration.
After years of expecting the fantastical, Wu Wei had settled into a comfortable indifference. He was destined to be one of the countless average beings, yet he could comfortably live out his days as a wealthy second-generation layabout. Compared to his past life—dying of overwork while constantly on the road, paying off debts from his father's catastrophic business ventures—this transmigration was a dream.
Immortal power? World-shaking strength? These were prizes reserved for those born with divine talent or those who activated a system-level cheat. If you didn't have it, you were a fool to risk everything chasing it.
Wu Wei was not short on comfort. This highly developed era of Lords offered rich material and spiritual conditions. He could spend his life easily and happily playing simulation reality games.
But the pointer that had suddenly appeared in his mind had shattered his perfectly laid-out plan to lie flat.
Wu Wei pressed the white Heart of the Lord against his brow. Instantly, a virtual information panel appeared in his mind.
[Territory]
[Lord]
[Citizens]
[Advent]
Even a slacker needed to know the fundamentals. The first three were standard functions of the Heart of the Lord, designed to manage territory affairs. [Advent] was the portal into the Boundless Void, the starting point and the eventual destination of every Lord and their territory.
He opened the [Territory] panel, anxious to see why he had clearly selected the black area on the roulette wheel, only to receive a white Heart of the Lord.
[Territory]: Unnamed.
Belonging to the Lord: Wu Wei
Grade: 1
Territory Area: 20 x 20 square meters
Territory Buildings: Lord's Hut (Level 1), Territory Fence (Level 1).
Number of Subjects: 0.
Territory Characteristic: [Government by Doing Nothing]
All Lords started with the exact same tiny territory, buildings, and no residents. The sole variable was the Territory Characteristic.
Wu Wei's eyes focused on the details of his unique feature:
Territory Characteristic: [Government by Doing Nothing]
Quality: [Normal] (Can be upgraded, tied to Lord and Territory Level)
Positive Characteristic 1: [I do nothing and the people will transform themselves]
Citizen Quality/Talent Level +1 Level.
Probability of summoning high-quality Citizens is increased.
All Attributes +100%.
Positive Characteristic 2: [The ruler does nothing but the ministers do something]
Hero Quality/Talent Level +1 Level.
Probability of summoning high-quality Heroes is increased.
All Attributes +100%.
Random Characteristic: [Myriad Manifestations Update]
When a building is upgraded, it is randomly updated to a building of the same type. Quality may increase or decrease.
Negative Characteristic: [Inaction]
Your direct actions will negatively affect the attributes and efficiency of your territory's people. Excessive intervention may cause the positive characteristics to transform into negative ones.
—Introduction: True 'inaction' is not laziness, but pure-hearted insight: knowing your people well, and serving them best by giving them space.
—Note: New territory characteristics may appear as the Lord and Territory Levels increase.
Wu Wei's lips involuntarily curled into a delighted, almost manic smile.
"Insulting my common sense? This is beyond insulting!"
A standard White/Normal territory characteristic was supposed to be a marginal boost—a tiny increase to food production, a minor bump to defense. His father's Purple Heart of the Lord, for comparison, had a 10% chance to improve a summoned hero's quality by one level.
His own 'Normal' characteristic offered:
A 100% guarantee of a full-level quality increase for both Heroes and Citizens.
An additional +100% boost to all their base attributes.
An increased chance to summon high-quality units in the first place.
This wasn't just better than Purple; this was a Golden or perhaps even Legendary start, simply masked by a white shell.
As for the pitfalls: the [Inaction] negative characteristic was, for Wu Wei, the perfect mandate. The system was actively telling the professional slacker to do exactly what he wanted to do: nothing. The random building upgrade was a potential risk, but he now had a chaotic, chaotic-black pointer in his mind to help mitigate or exploit that risk.
The supposed White Heart of the Lord had re-ignited the transmigration fire in his chest.
Don't talk about gambling, he thought. A lottery ticket with a two-dollar cost and a five-million-dollar prize is gambling. But if the minimum prize is 100 and the maximum is uncapped, that's not gambling. That's the God of Wealth taking a personal interest in you.
He paused, a flicker of paranoia passing through his mind. He was aware that beings above Immortals and Gods existed in this world. Had the white light on the Altar truly masked the chaotic black energy, or had something, or someone, seen the truth?
Just as he was contemplating the dangers of his new destiny, a round, richly-dressed young man walked up and clapped him on the shoulder, bouncing with excitement.
"Brother Wei! Guess what quality Heart of the Lord I awakened?"
Wu Wei looked at the residual dark green brilliance lingering near Jin Yuqian's brow. Dark green was the apex of the Green (Fine) quality, signifying strong potential. Lords who awakened Green or higher accounted for less than 10% of the total.
"Dark Green, Fatty Jin. That's solid," Wu Wei said, genuinely happy for his little friend. "Now hurry up and integrate that thing. Having a bright green glow on your head is just unlucky."
Jin Yuqian, who had expected to comfort his friend after seeing the White Heart, was relieved to see Wu Wei was still in good spirits. He quickly pulled Wu Wei to a quiet spot, opened his Lord Panel, and showed off his dark green Territory Characteristic.
Territory Characteristic: [Sitting in Jia and Doing Business]
Quality: Excellent
Positive Characteristic: Facing your territory, intelligent creatures in the Boundless Void will have reduced hostility and increased desire for trade (extent increases with Level).
Random Characteristic: When [Exploring] and [Adventing], you have a greater chance of encountering tradeable objects (degree increases with Level). But the object of the transaction may be a law-abiding angel or an unreasonable evil god.
"Excellent, Fatty Jin. This, coupled with your silver tongue, guarantees you'll be a big merchant in the Myriad Worlds," Wu Wei said honestly. It was a perfect characteristic for Jin Yuqian's natural skills.
"Stop talking about me. Show me yours! Let's see your white shrimp!" Jin Yuqian urged.
Wu Wei didn't mind. Since he had hidden the two positive characteristic traits and the upgradable quality from the panel, showing the rest was harmless.
"A random characteristic and a negative characteristic are not bad," Jin Yuqian analyzed, winking. "At least the potential is higher than a pure numerical enhancement. And as for the negative characteristic—it won't affect you much, Brother Wei."
The two laughed. In the eyes of any cultist or alien looking to prune a future threat, a White Heart and a Green Heart were not worth the time of an assassin.
Suddenly, a massive cheer erupted from the square, drowning out their voices.
"Orange! Someone actually awakened the Orange Heart of the Lord!"
As both Wu Wei and Jin Yuqian turned toward the Altar, an unseen, powerful gaze from the boundless void beyond the city locked firmly onto Wu Wei. He was entirely unaware of the attention he was currently receiving.