(To all my dear readers, let's get into it!)
Spirit Continent, Tianwu Dynasty.
A luxurious carriage was traveling slowly along the main road.
Surrounding the carriage were more than a hundred cavalrymen, clad in cold gray armor and wearing bronze masks. They moved with a silent, lethal discipline.
Inside the carriage sat Qin Xiao, the Crown Prince of Northern Liang.
His father was Qin Ying, the King of Northern Liang, who had commanded 300,000 Northern Liang Iron Cavalry for over a decade, defending against the Great Wasteland Dynasty on the grasslands.
He was also the only king with a different surname in the Tianwu Dynasty today.
A month ago, Emperor Zhao Zhen of the Tianwu Dynasty sent an imperial decree to Northern Liang, arranging a marriage for Qin Xiao.
He was ordered to arrive at the imperial capital, Martial Emperor City, within three months.
He was to marry the Seventh Princess, Zhao Feiyan.
Ostensibly, it was an honor bestowed upon the Northern Liang royal family.
In reality, it was a way to make Qin Xiao a hostage in the imperial city.
Qin Ying's merits were so great that they threatened the emperor. Emperor Zhao Zhen, who had been the Crown Prince for thirty years and on the throne for less than a year, was deeply suspicious of this fierce border general.
Qin Xiao was Qin Ying's only son.
If Qin Ying refused the royal marriage, it would be an act of defiance.
If he agreed, the royal family would have a weakness in their hands.
But Emperor Zhao Zhen did not know.
Besides Qin Xiao, Qin Ying had thirteen other illegitimate sons with exceptionally high martial arts talent, who were known as the Thirteen Protectors of Northern Liang.
Thus, Qin Ying didn't truly care about Qin Xiao's life or death.
Upon receiving the decree, Qin Ying immediately sent a troop of cavalry to escort Qin Xiao to Martial Emperor City to marry Princess Zhao Feiyan.
He didn't even bother to ask for Qin Xiao's opinion.
In this world where martial arts reigned supreme, Qin Xiao, a descendant of a military family with no cultivation talent, was nothing more than a pawn to be sacrificed.
But the Qin Xiao in the carriage was now a different person.
An hour ago, the original owner of this body had suffered from a sudden illness due to excessive fear and anxiety on the journey, and had abruptly died.
This gave the transmigrated Qin Xiao an opportunity.
He was originally just a second-year history student from a mediocre university on Earth, and now he had become the descendant of a king.
Although this Crown Prince's fate was a bit tragic.
It was still better than his own life on Earth.
The Qin Xiao from Earth was an orphan.
He even had to take out a loan for his college tuition.
He was hit by a truck while doing a part-time job as a delivery boy.
And then he transmigrated to the Spirit Continent.
It was all very careless.
It had been almost an hour since the transmigration.
Qin Xiao had also finished merging with his predecessor's memories.
Hmm, not bad.
Perhaps he knew that he couldn't protect his son.
Or perhaps he wanted to put on a show for the court to mislead them.
Qin Ying was uncharacteristically generous this time.
Before leaving Northern Liang, Qin Ying gave Qin Xiao 300,000 taels of silver, 50,000 taels of gold, and a team of elite cavalry.
"Oh well, who cares? I'm just a useless life anyway!"
"Earth is so competitive, I don't want to be a cog in the machine after I graduate."
"To be able to travel to the Spirit Continent and live a few days of luxury is not a bad deal. When I get to the imperial city, I'll definitely splurge!"
"If I can really smoothly marry that princess who's rumored to be very beautiful, and then sleep with her, then I'll be in for a huge profit, hehe..."
Qin Xiao accepted his fate with an open mind.
This was a good deal.
As for other options, like relying on this disloyal cavalry to become a bandit king, living a temporary life, and then fighting for the world.
And finally, achieving a comeback against all odds.
Forget it!
That was a feat only a fated person like old Zhu from Earth could accomplish.
Qin Xiao was very clear about his own abilities.
Time to lie flat, lie flat!
Can't be bothered to compete at all.
[Ding! The host has been detected to have a 'lying flat' mentality. To inherit the excellent tradition of Earth's 'competitive kings,' the "Destined Villain System" has been successfully activated.]
[System binding...]
[Congratulations to the host for successfully binding the Destined Villain System.]
Just as Qin Xiao was getting ready to find a comfortable position to lie down, a strange voice suddenly sounded in his mind, and his eyes immediately lit up.
The ultimate cheat code has arrived!
Sure enough, there's no end to the competition.
Even when you want to lie flat, there's a system forcing you to struggle.
Soon, the system's voice sounded again.
[The functions of the Destined Villain System are as follows:]
[Function 1: Plunder the Destiny Value of the Destined Individuals of this world to become the strongest villain in history and rule over all realms.]
[Destined Individual: A peerless genius with astonishing cultivation talent, favored by the rules of this world, with endless opportunities. They have the potential to significantly influence the direction of this world in the future.]
[Destiny Value: The special favor of the world's rules towards a Destined Individual, representing the strength of their cultivation talent. A Destined Individual must have a Destiny Value of 1000 or more. Based on their level, Destined Individuals are divided into one to five stars.]
[Plundering Method: Complete tasks issued by the system.]
[Note: Destined Individuals are protected by the rules of this world. The host cannot completely kill them until their Destiny Value has been fully plundered. Because the host is prone to forming bonds with the women of this world, the current system only considers men as Destined Individuals. Women are not included in the Destined Individual category.]
[Main Function 2: Exchange]
[Exchange Method: The host can use the Destiny Value plundered from Destined Individuals to exchange for various items in the System Mall.]
[System Mall Basics: The current System Mall is at the novice level and includes cultivation methods, martial arts, divine weapons, elixirs, various skills, and more.]
[Main Function 3: Summon]
[Summoning Method: Gain opportunities to summon heroes, civil officials, and military generals by completing tasks issued by the system.]
[Note 1: The summoned characters are from various systems such as Chinese animation, history, and novels.]
[Note 2: Due to different world levels, the summoned characters will have their own cultivation talents enhanced or weakened to a certain extent upon arriving in this world.]
[Ding! Because the host's current strength is too weak, the system, from a humanitarian perspective, is issuing a novice reward to the host.]
[Reward 1: One opportunity to summon a four-star military general.]
[Reward 2: One opportunity for a random cultivation level increase.]
[Reward 3: One opportunity to randomly draw a cultivation method.]
[Reward 4: One opportunity to randomly draw a martial art.]
[Reward 5: One opportunity to randomly draw a divine weapon.]
This system... is amazing!
After hearing the system's introduction, Qin Xiao was filled with joy.
It sounded incredibly powerful.
Especially a Destined Villain System.
This was great.
He wouldn't have to pretend anymore.
"I'll be honest."
"I'm the bad guy."
"All units, be on alert! Something's happening!"
At that moment, a shout suddenly came from outside the carriage.
Qin Xiao's thoughts were pulled back to reality.
He frowned slightly.
Had they encountered highway robbers again?
Don't be fooled by the protection of over a hundred elite cavalry. The Spirit Continent had many experts who could defeat a thousand riders alone.
A true one-man army.
Along this journey, Qin Xiao had encountered no shortage of martial artist bandits.
If it weren't for an elderly expert with a deep martial arts background carefully protecting them all the way, this small cavalry team would never have made it this far.
When traveling the world, stability comes first.
He would summon a bodyguard to protect his life.
"System, use the four-star military general summoning opportunity," Qin Xiao silently said in his mind.
Heroes, military generals, and civil officials were divided into one to five stars.
One star was the weakest, and five stars was the strongest.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for summoning the peerless Flying General, Lu Bu.]
[Race: Human]
[Level: Four-star Military General]
[Age: 30]
[Realm: Late-stage Sixth Grade Mortal Transformation]
[Cultivation Method: Heavenly Demon Scripture (Earth-rank)]
[Associated Items: Red Hare horse, Sky Piercer Halberd]
[Origin World: Late Eastern Han Dynasty (Low-martial)]
[Talent: Retaliation (In battle, the more damage he takes, the stronger the combat power he can unleash)]
[Note: Summoned characters have a default loyalty of 100.]
(Advanced warning: The cultivation of summoned characters will increase later on. Their initial cultivation does not represent their final cultivation.)