Unnamed Cave
Cold…
That was the first thing he felt. A biting chill that crawled up his spine and seeped into his bones. Then came the faint smell of blood and wet earth.
He tried opening his eyes in an attempt to make sense of where he is.
But then, it hit him.
Pain…
So much pain… It was as if his body had been torn apart and forcibly stitched back together. Every inch of him screamed in protest—so much so that even opening his eyes felt unbearable.
'What the hell… what's going on?'
He strained his eyes open and tried to prop himself up. His arms trembled, nearly giving out, until his hand brushed against something solid—a small boulder.
Using it for support, he slowly sat up and rested his back against the cold stone, struggling to draw in air.
Looking around, he blinked against the darkness, the pale moonlight spilling through what appeared to be a cave entrance, the only source of light in the darkness.
'I'm in a cave...?'
He lowered his gaze to inspect his body.
He appeared to be wearing dark-coloured Chinese armour adorned with golden beast motifs. The metal was cracked and dulled, the leather bindings torn and soaked with dried blood. The armour had clearly seen better days. His scabbard was empty—the sword lay about a metre away, bloodied and chipped.
Just as he was about to take in more of his surroundings, a searing pain tore through his skull.
His vision blurred as memories flooded in violently, crashing into his consciousness.
He clenched his teeth, a muffled groan escaping his throat as unfamiliar scenes overlapped with his own thoughts.
A diligent child.
A boy who inherited the mantle of Duke of Qin at the age of twenty.
His father—the former Duke of Qin—was the Commander of the Northern Front, the shield that had guarded the Sheng Empire from northern invaders for decades. On the battlefield, he was unstoppable, feared by enemies and revered by allies alike.
They called him the "God of War."
From a young age, Qin Feng—the body he had now transmigrated into—understood that he'd one day have to bear the immense burden that his father currently carries. There was no room for mediocrity.
While his peers played tag, he studied the art of war. While others flaunted their status as "young masters," he trained in martial arts and hunted bandits.
Then—
Less than a month ago.
His father fell.
Twenty thousand soldiers, swallowed by two hundred thousand Northern Khaganate invaders.
Thus, Qin Feng inherited his father's mantle and marched toward Beiguan Fort to repel the invasion.
But upon arriving, he learned the truth. His father hadn't died because of careless or being outsmarted by the invaders.
He had led twenty thousand elite troops as vanguard and bait, ordering his deputy to lead a hundred thousand soldiers to strike the enemy's flank once their forces were committed to attacking the Vanguard.
The battle started as expected. The invaders committed their entire forces to eradicate the vanguard as expected.
However, the ambush never happened. The deputy never showed up.
Surrounded and abandoned, his father and the twenty thousand vanguard soldiers fought to the last man, carving through fifty thousand enemies before they were overwhelmed.
It was said his father died standing, surrounded by heaps of enemy corpses. Even in death, none of the invaders dared approach him.
When Sheng soldiers later recovered his body, they swore he had been smiling—only releasing his final breath when his comrades finally reached him.
Hearing of his father's final moments, Qin Feng felt a tightness grip his chest. He swore not to let that sacrifice be wasted and to not bring shame to his father's memory.
However, the issues with Beiguan Fort was numerous, it was as if certain people were trying to bring the entire province to ruin. Resolving the issues would take time, and time was something they lacked—with an army of invaders coming at their door.
So he chose to buy the time that they packed.
A night raid.
A small, perfectly planned strike to disrupt enemy logistics and buy time.
However, the raid didn't go as planned. Instead, he walked straight into a waiting army. As if they had known everything about the raid.
The memories ended there—fragmented, soaked in pain.
He remembered crawling. Bleeding. Dragging himself into this cave.
And dying.
'Damn… I've transmigrated into a world resembling ancient China… I'm not even Chinese, for crying out loud.'
Voices echoed faintly outside.
He turned his head toward the cave entrance and saw flickering lights inching closer.
'Looks like they'll find me soon. Transmigrated only to die in such agonising pain… Well, it's not like there's anything a web developer can do in an ancient era.'
Technically this world wasn't entirely mundane.
It wasn't a xianxia or wuxia world per se—but it was far from ordinary.
Here, rare spiritual plants and beasts existed, their essences refined by alchemists into miraculous elixirs. Elixirs capable of healing mortal wounds—or granting terrifying, superhuman abilities.
Rarer still were those born with special physiques.
The Innate Divine Strength Physique and Innate Martial Physique were the most renowned as those who possessed them often became legendary generals, their names etched into history.
The Innate Martial Physique grants an uncanny comprehension of all things martial. Even without formal training, its bearers could reach near-divine mastery of weapons, performing feats that defied common sense. His father had possessed this physique.
The Innate Divine Strength Physique, on the other hand, grants overwhelming physical power—enough to wrestle elephants and hurl boulders. The enemy general who had ambushed him during the raid possessed this very physique.
'Might as well wait for death... Seriously, who the hell is in charge of this transmigration? What's a web developer supposed to do here without cheats? Should've listened to Mum and studied medicine… or enlisted like Dad wanted.'
The distant voices grew louder, getting closer.
His vision dimmed... Barely hanging on.
Then—
[DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON SUCCESSFULLY BINDING THE DIVINE SYSTEM]
[Initializing System Configuration]
[Select system type:]
— Check-in System
— Rebate System
— Progeny System
— Attribute Extraction System
— Gacha System
Qin Feng froze.
His breath hitched as a tear drop rolled down his cheeks.
'Yes… There's hope. I wasn't transmigrated just to die in pain.'
The pain was still there—crushing and relentless. This was the price of surviving a strike from someone with Innate Divine Strength.
He stared at the options before him.
Check-in. Rebate. Progeny. Attribute Extraction. Gacha.
He needed something immediate.
Something that could save him from his immediate predicament.
So, he made his choice…
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