Lin Feng was, by all accounts, a man who had mastered the art of being unremarkable.
In his previous life, he was a shut-in otaku whose only notable achievement was a legendary hand speed on a keyboard, a "skill" earned through more than twenty years of aggressive meat beating.
His parents had already given up on him, he was barely out of his apartment room, and he couldn't even remember the last time he had touched grass.
Thankfully, he was earning money through streams and writing novels so he can survive, but honestly, his life was pretty much crap.
He thought he'd continue this life until he was in his 70s, but he had died an ignoble and premature death suffocating on a mouthful of spicy instant noodles.
He thought that was the end, but whwn he opened is eyes, he realized that he had actually woke up in the body of a 9th Stage Qi Gathering "trash" in a world where experts cleave ten thousand mountains and boil endless seas.
The only good thing about it was that he was actually a sect master of a Azure Dragon Sect, which with such a domineering name, must also be incredibly domineering right?
At least someone who can pluck the stars and cover the sun should be in charged.
Wrong.
Despite the name, Azure Dragon Sect was a trash sect about to be destroyed.
His master had fled, his fellow disciples had deserted, and he was left holding a mountain of debt and a sect name that invited nothing but mockery from the local powers.
He actually cursed the heaven for unfairness, shouldn't people who transmigrated have a better life than they do in their previous life?
Why was he worse here than in his previous life?
At least back there he wasn't drowning in debt!
Thankfully, he had awakened the Strongest Sect Master System, and he had thought his "invincible protagonist" arc had finally begun.
He envisioned a life of stomping on Saints and slapping away Supreme Experts, all the while building a harem of fairy goddesses and Empresses.
But the System was a cruel mistress.
When he asked for some newbie gifts, all he got was a cold rejection?
[Newbie Package locked] the mechanical voice had droned. [Requirement: Recruit one disciple with Saint Grade potential or higher.]
Lin Feng had wanted to flip the heavens. Saint Grade? In this rural dumpster of a region? He might as well search for a dragon in a pigsty!
But he has no choice, his system was incredibly useless, so he tried to search for disciples himself just to receive a newbie gift that other Systems gave for free.
...and he found none.
For months, he had sat on his mat, his stomach growling, watching as even the most mediocre talents walked past his stall to join the "Mountain Tiger Sect" or the "Iron Fist Hall."
He even tried to go to other places, but the wilderness was incredibly merciless to a 'great' Qi Gathering 'expert' like him and he almost died countless times!
Truthfully, he had already given up.
But today, while he was sitting in the recruitment area with other Sects and simply enjoying the sun and breeze, his system had finally screamed with joy.
Huo Yue.
Supreme Grade talent!
A laundry list of Gold-tier traits! Even one of those traits can already guarantee a person's ascension to Saint! And she has several!
She was his golden ticket, his savior, his way out of poverty!
As for the man beside her, Shen Haoran... Lin Feng's soul shivered. Yeah, he isn't going to get close to that one.
Golden Core at twenty, full three great realms higher than him, and even younger than him!
That talent couldn't be described in the scope of a genius but already reached the level of a monster.
He was pretty sure that he was the kind of person who came from a place where the air was made of spirit qi and the floors were paved with spirit stones.
Not to mention his system was literally warning him not to provoke.
Lin Feng might not be that smart, but he still knew the difference between taking a beating, and courting death.
'Don't look at the monster, Lin Feng. Just get the girl,' he told himself.
At that moment, he saw them turn to leave, and panic immediately surged through him. If she left now, she'd be gone forever.
Who knew when he will find another talent of her calibre?
He scrambled to his feet, discarding his "mysterious master" persona instantly.
"You there! Miss! Please wait!"
Huo Yue paused, her brow arching in confusion. She looked around at the empty space beside her, then pointed a slender finger at her own chest. "Are you... speaking to me, Senior?"
Lin Feng nodded frantically, his eyes bright with desperation. "Miss, ah, I can see it, we are definitely fated! As if destiny guided us to meet—"
CLANG.
At that moment, the world suddenly turned heavy for Lin Feng as he felt as if a literal mountain had been dropped onto his shoulders.
The air turned into solid lead, and the cobblestones beneath his feet cracked.
"Ugh...!" Lin Feng's knees hit the dirt with a bone-jarring thud.
His breath was trapped in his lungs, and his vision blurred with red.
[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!] the System screamed in his mind, the text flashing in jagged, violent strokes. [HOST, IF YOU ARE COURTING DEATH, DO NOT BRING ME WITH YOU! THE ANOMALY'S KILLING INTENT HAS EXCEEDED THE MEASURABLE SCALE!]
'I didn't even do anything! What the fuck!? Are anomaly so unreasonable?!'
Lin Feng wailed internally, his face pressed toward the ground by the sheer weight of Shen Haoran's aura.
'What did I do wrong?! I was just trying to recruit a disciple! If you don't want to, just say no!'
Beside Haoran, Huo Yue felt the sudden, terrifying shift in the atmosphere as Lin Feng dropped to the ground.
She looked up at her fiancé, seeing the cold, abyssal stillness in his eyes and realized that he had probably interpreted "destiny guided us to meet" as a blatant, public flirtation toward his future wife.
She reached up, her small hand patting the firm arm wrapped around her waist.
"Haoran," she whispered, her voice a soothing balm against the raging storm of his power. "Stop. He's just a confused senior. Don't cause a scene."
Shen Haoran lingered for a second longer, his gaze boring into the back of Lin Feng's head like a physical blade.
Then, the pressure vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
The birds began to chirp again, and the passersby, who had been frozen in terror, began to breathe.
Lin Feng slumped forward, gasping for air, his white robes drenched in a cold, oily sweat.
He felt like he had just walked past the gates of hell and been kicked back out at the last second.
Huo Yue looked down at him, her expression a mix of pity and wariness. "Senior, saying we are 'fated to meet' and 'guided by destiny' is... highly inappropriate. As you can see, I am already betrothed. And my fiancé is... highly possessive."
Huo Yue sighed. Well, it seems like she has even more reason to avoid contact with other males now.
Lin Feng's brain finally rebooted.
He looked at Shen Haoran's hand—possessive, firm, and unmoving on Huo Yue's hip—and realized that his words were incredibly misleading.
In their mind, he had probably just committed the ultimate "Young Master" taboo: hitting on other people's woman, especially the woman of people he couldn't afford to provoke.
"Wait! Wait! I apologize! That isn't what I meant at all!" Lin Feng stood up, stumbling back and waving his hands in a frantic 'no' gesture.
He looked at Shen Haoran with pure, unadulterated terror. "I meant fate... as in... sect fate! Master and disciple! Nothing carnal! I swear on my ancestors!"
He didn't have a death wish. Just because he's been a single dog for over twenty years doesn't mean he'd immediately turn into horn dog that disregards his life and death.
At this moment, hos future was more important than a woman, so he really has no inappropriate intentions.
"I am a Sect Master!" Lin Feng blurted out, trying to reclaim some dignity. "I saw your talent, Miss Huo. I only wished to offer you a place in the Azure Dragon Sect!"
Huo Yue stared at him, then at the empty, pathetic stall behind him. "You want... me? A 'crippled' heiress... to join a sect with no disciples?"
Lin Feng hissed.
Okay, that sounded bad.
It was basically saying 'You suck anyway, so join a sect that sucks just as much'.
Man, he really needed to learn the art of tongue from a certain blonde ninja next door....okay, that sounded even more inappropriate.
Fuck.