Lin Xuan, formerly known as the Heavenly Emperor Xuan, Lord of the Nine Firmaments, knew what death felt like. It was the white-hot, soul-crushing agony of the Primordial Chaos Lightning he'd faced in his ascension to True Immortality. What he did not expect was the crushing agony of a cheap metal chair hitting the back of his head, followed by the pungent smell of old gym sweat and stale pizza.
He coughed, spitting a mixture of cheap, synthetic blood and mucus onto the cracked linoleum floor.
"Look at him, still coughing! What, did the trash suddenly grow a backbone, Lin Xuan?"
A thick, mocking laugh echoed in the deserted high school gym storage closet. The speaker was Zhang Wei, a high school bully whose physique suggested he spent more time in the weight room than the classroom. Zhang Wei stood six feet tall, towering over the body Lin Xuan currently inhabited, which was barely five-foot-seven and painfully frail.
The arrogance! In my previous life, a single gaze from my divine eyes would have reduced this creature to dust. Now I endure this humiliation?
Lin Xuan's spiritual awareness, though minuscule compared to his peak, confirmed the unbelievable truth: he had reincarnated, or perhaps been transmigrated, across fifteen millennia. The world was different. The very air felt dead, starved of the vibrant, free-flowing Spiritual Qi that had once nourished the Immortal Realm. This place, this 'Earth,' was a martial wasteland.
The body he occupied belonged to a boy also named Lin Xuan, a poverty-stricken student constantly targeted by Zhang Wei for his lunch money. The original owner had just succumbed to the force of Zhang Wei's last strike.
Zhang Wei grabbed the weak Lin Xuan's collar, lifting him effortlessly. "I asked for the thousand dollars by Friday, and all you brought was a handful of change! Did you think I was joking?"
A thousand dollars? Pathetic. Lin Xuan felt a cold, deep fury—not just for the boy whose life he had taken over, but for the inherent weakness of this world. In the Immortal Realm, power was everything. Here, it seemed, money was the substitute.
As Zhang Wei prepared to deliver a knockout punch, a cold, metallic voice echoed directly in Lin Xuan's consciousness, cutting through the haze of residual fury and memory.
[Host Soul Signature Detected. Binding to: The Infinite Synthesis System.]
[Welcome, Heavenly Emperor Xuan. System initialization complete.]
Lin Xuan, despite his millennia of experience, froze internally. A system? Like the mechanical constructs described in ancient scrolls?
[Mission: Survive the current threat. Reward: Beginner Synthesis Recipe: (Rusty Iron + Weak Weed) = Iron Needle of Lesser Penetration.]
Ridiculous! A needle?
Zhang Wei's fist was already swinging. Instinctively, Lin Xuan didn't try to dodge, a move the weak body couldn't manage. Instead, he focused the only energy available—the tiny, nascent trace of Qi left over from the original Lin Xuan's potential, mixed with his own dying Immortal Will—onto the rusty iron door hinge next to him and the dried weed sticking out of the floor crack.
[Synthesis Attempt Initiated. Material Cost: 1 unit Qi. Target 1: Rusty Iron. Target 2: Dry Weed.]
[Combining... Success! Generated: Iron Needle of Lesser Penetration (Rank E-).]
The synthesis happened not physically, but spiritually. The essence of the iron and the hardness of the dried root were instantaneously extracted, refined by the system, and placed in the corner of his visual field as an interface icon.
He didn't need to physically wield it. He just needed to use it.
As Zhang Wei's knuckles scraped against Lin Xuan's cheek, the subtle, invisible Iron Needle of Lesser Penetration shot forward, guided by Lin Xuan's will, piercing a specific acupoint on Zhang Wei's wrist—the Heart-Gate point.
Zhang Wei's arm instantly went limp. The bully stared at his useless hand, his eyes wide in confusion. The punch had barely landed, yet his entire arm felt numb, heavy, and paralyzed.
"W-what did you do?" Zhang Wei stammered, dropping Lin Xuan in shock.
Lin Xuan pushed himself up. He wasn't strong, but he was furious. He stared at Zhang Wei with the gaze of a true Emperor who had seen galaxies crumble.
"You dare lay a hand on this Emperor's body?" Lin Xuan's voice, filtered through the boy's frail throat, was low and utterly cold, resonating with a terrifying, ancient power. "Kneel."
Zhang Wei felt a primal terror seize his heart, forgetting the disparity in size. His legs trembled, and he fell backward onto the floor, scrambling away until his back hit the cold wall.
Lin Xuan didn't wait. He accessed the system again.
[Analysis: Zhang Wei's Backpack. Material: Low-grade nylon, synthetic zippers. Value: Negligible.]
[Synthesis Idea 1: Nylon Cord + Broken Zipper Teeth = Simple Restraint Whip (Rank F+). Cost: 2 Qi.]
Too slow. I need speed.
Lin Xuan quickly focused on the only truly valuable item Zhang Wei possessed: the cheap, plastic phone in his back pocket.
[Synthesis Attempt: Low-Grade Nylon + Cheap Phone Battery = Electrified Static Charge (Rank E).]
[Combining... Success! Generated: Electrified Static Charge.]
A minuscule, invisible spark of high-voltage static electricity was instantly channeled, hitting Zhang Wei's chest. The bully shrieked, not from pain, but from the sudden, jarring shock that felt like being struck by a tiny, demonic cattle prod.
Lin Xuan stepped over the writhing bully. "I require information on this pathetic era. Bring me the thousand dollars, every textbook you own, and the highest grade Spirit Pill (or its equivalent) you can buy by tomorrow morning. Failure means permanent paralysis, starting with your tongue."
He didn't wait for a response. Lin Xuan, the reborn Heavenly Emperor, left the storage room, stepping into the glaring, confusing light of the modern high school hallway.
He checked his status.
[Host: Lin Xuan (Reincarnated)][Cultivation: None (Mortal Body - Qi Potential: Level 1)][System: Infinite Synthesis System (Level 1)][Currency: 0 Synthesis Points (SP)][Inventory: Iron Needle of Lesser Penetration (Rank E-), Electrified Static Charge (Rank E).][Daily Synthesis Limit: 3/3 (Refreshes Midnight)]
Lin Xuan smiled, a cruel, cold expression that didn't belong on a high school student's face. The journey back to Immortality would be long, but with the ability to synthesize anything, this new world, for all its lack of Qi, was just his new starting ground. The Heavenly Emperor had returned.