Chapter 1 — Strike First

“You useless trash! You’ve completely disgraced the Lin family!”

“It was just a bump. Why are you acting like you’re dying?”

“The Patriarch wasted so many precious potions on you, and you still can’t even gather battle qi. Your body’s weaker than some vegetable vendor off the street…”

Su Cheng woke to the sound of people cursing.

She opened her eyes blankly and found herself standing in a courtyard.

The greenery around her was lush and overgrown. Ahead lay a stone path half-hidden beneath flowers, and at the end of it came a noisy commotion.

A group of young men and women stood gathered at the crossroads, circling a boy seated on the ground as they mocked him relentlessly.

He looked about sixteen or seventeen—thin, delicate-featured, pale as paper. Blood stained the corner of his lips, and he kept coughing weakly.

Su Cheng: “…?”

Hadn’t she been taking a nap at home?

Where the hell was this?

“Hey! Someone’s here!”

The youths all turned at once. The moment they noticed Su Cheng standing nearby, their expressions changed instantly.

“Miss Su.” One of them greeted her with a smile. “Sorry you had to see this. Lin Yun here is famous in our clan for being a complete was—”

Su Cheng blinked. “Lin Yun?”

They weren’t speaking any language she recognized, yet somehow she understood every word effortlessly—and could respond just as naturally.

“Yeah,” another person sighed. “You only just arrived at our estate, so you probably haven’t heard…”

Su Cheng looked toward the boy sitting on the ground.

His head hung low, eyes vacant. A few seconds later, an odd, bewildered expression crossed his face.

Slowly, he lifted a hand and wiped the blood from his mouth.

Around his wrist was a thin obsidian bracelet. The blood smeared across it was triggering a subtle transformation.

At the center of the chain hung a dull gray jade pendant. A strange, intricate symbol gradually surfaced across its surface.

The boy froze.

Su Cheng: “…”

Wasn’t this the classic “blood activates hidden artifact” scene?

So the cheat-code grandpa inside the bracelet had already started talking to the protagonist.

That’s right.

The protagonist.

A few hours earlier, Su Cheng had stumbled across an R-18 webnovel called Legend of the Divine Throne.

The male lead, Lin Yun, died in a car accident in modern times and transmigrated into a fantasy world, taking over the body of another Lin Yun—a useless young master from the prestigious Lin family of Ambergold City.

This original Lin Yun had lost both parents and lived under his uncle’s care. Because his talent for cultivation was abysmal, he was constantly bullied by his relatives.

After transmigrating, the protagonist accidentally awakened a divine artifact left behind by his father. With the help of a thousand-year-old soul residing inside the bracelet, he began his rise to power.

But at the end of the day, this was still porn.

The plot only existed to stitch together trendy tropes. Most of the focus was on the protagonist entangling himself with heroines, side heroines, villains, and basically anyone remotely attractive.

Eighteen-plus scenes every few chapters. Endless bizarre kinks. Niche fetish content everywhere.

The novel ran for millions of words. The comment section was a permanent war zone—people warning others away, cursing the author out, praising it, arguing, eating popcorn, threatening to stab the author in real life… everything imaginable.

Su Cheng had only read the beginning properly. Later chapters she skimmed through while browsing spoilers in the comments.

Some readers complained the story became increasingly incoherent, saying the protagonist’s personality changed every other arc like he had split personalities, while the author constantly contradicted earlier settings until all logic collapsed.

Others said the author should’ve just committed fully to writing smut instead of pretending to write plot. If the story was going to be nonsense anyway, at least make it fun nonsense. The protagonist spent half the novel getting toyed with like an idiot.

Then there were the truly insane spoilers—

“The male lead almost got gang-raped by several male antagonists.”

“One of the gods sleeping with the protagonist might originally have been male before ascension.”

“The mother-and-daughter pair who double-teamed the protagonist were actually stitched-together masses of skeletons, rotting flesh, and corpses.”

Those plot points had shattered entire readers psychologically. People claimed the author made enough money and finally unleashed their true fetishes on the world.

Su Cheng had laughed herself silly reading it.

It was already noon back then. Sleepy, she’d put down her phone and taken a nap.

And now, after waking up—

She’d somehow ended up here, right at the opening scene of the novel.

After sorting through the memories of this body, Su Cheng came to a horrifying conclusion.

She had transmigrated into a cannon-fodder side character with the exact same name.

A character who appeared in exactly two chapters.

Less than three thousand words total.

One chapter as background decoration.

One chapter to die.

The readers had even complained about it at the time, because the author spent several paragraphs emphasizing how beautiful she was—only to have the protagonist kill her shortly after her second appearance.

The reason was simple.

Lin Yun had sworn that since he’d taken over the original owner’s body, he would avenge the original owner’s parents by slaughtering every enemy involved… including their bloodlines and descendants.

Even innocent descendants.

Even people who knew nothing about the grudge.

“Su Cheng” was one of them.

That plotline got roasted in the comments too. Some readers pointed out that a porn novel protagonist trying to force a “righteous avenger” persona only made him look ridiculous.

“….”

Su Cheng looked at Lin Yun.

He was staring fixedly at the bracelet on his wrist. After several moments of dazed silence, he suddenly pushed himself to his feet.

“Lin Ting!” Lin Yun shouted. “Did you just sneak attack me?!”

The others turned.

“‘Sneak attack?’” A tall boy stepped forward with a sneer. “I just bumped into you by accident. You’re not even a first-rank warrior. If I’d actually attacked you, you’d already be dead.”

Lin Yun looked at him coldly. “Apologize.”

“Apologize?” Lin Ting laughed disdainfully. “Who the hell do you think you are? You think you deserve one? And if I don’t apologize, what are you gonna do? Challenge me to a duel?”

Lin Yun curled his lips into a chilling smile.

“Fine. Lin Ting. You choose the time.”

The surrounding youths burst into laughter.

“Has Lin Yun gone crazy?”

“That hit scrambled his brain?”

“He wasn’t smart to begin with. The Patriarch gave him so many resources and he still couldn’t gather battle qi!”

Lin Ting stared at him for a moment before throwing his head back laughing.

“Hahahaha! Since you’re so eager to die, I won’t hold back. But seeing as you’re injured, let’s make it ten days from now—”

“Wait.”

Su Cheng suddenly interrupted.

Under everyone’s puzzled stares, she stepped forward.

Lin Yun’s bracelet had already awakened. The old soul inside would start helping him now. Other heroines and side characters would eventually shower him with opportunities too. From here on out, he would only grow stronger by the day.

Ten days later, during the duel, Lin Ting’s heart meridians would be shattered by Lin Yun’s battle qi.

Dead on the spot.

Su Cheng didn’t care whether Lin Ting lived or died.

But she absolutely did not want to let Lin Yun continue developing.

She cleared her throat.

“Mr. Lin Yun,” she said calmly, “I’d like to duel you as well.”

“?”

Everyone stared at her in confusion.

She wasn’t actually part of the Lin family by blood. She was only related through marriage ties and temporarily staying here while waiting for academy admissions.

“You?”

Lin Yun turned to look at her.

His eyes flashed with obvious admiration before he slowly sized her up from head to toe—several times over.

A smile spread across his lips.

“I don’t know you, but considering how pretty you are, I’ll grant your wish in ten days too.”

He expected anger. Embarrassment. At least some kind of reaction.

There was none.

“No.” Su Cheng’s voice remained perfectly calm. “Right now.”

Lin Yun froze.

Moments ago, he’d just learned the true reason this body couldn’t cultivate. As long as he had time, he was certain he could completely transform himself.

By then, whether it was Lin Ting or this troublesome woman, he’d have ways to deal with them.

Especially this woman.

With looks and a body like hers, he’d never encountered anyone remotely this stunning back in modern society.

When the time came, he definitely intended to have some fun with her.

But now?

Was she insane?

“My lady,” Lin Yun scoffed lightly, his gaze lingering over her chest, “you’re a dignified second-rank mage, and you’re challenging someone who isn’t even a first-rank warrior? And you’re this impatient about it too. Do you really want to fight me… or did you fall for me at first sight?”

Surely this time she’d react.

But again—nothing.

She neither became angry at the provocation nor flustered by the insinuation.

Su Cheng tilted her head slightly, feigning curiosity.

“So what you mean is… in ten days, you’ll suddenly have a rank?”

Lin Yun frowned.

That was exactly what he believed, but he couldn’t reveal the existence of the soul inside the bracelet.

“Ha.” Su Cheng smiled faintly. “Then what difference does ten days make?”

The surrounding youths looked between them in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

“Why challenge Lin Yun? He’s complete trash!”

In this world, warriors were divided into eleven ranks based on battle qi, physical ability, and overall combat strength.

War Attendant. Warrior. Battle Warrior. Battle General. Battle Master. Grand Battle Master. Battle Lord. Battle Sovereign. Battle King. Battle Emperor. Battle Saint.

Each rank contained nine stars.

Everyone present had already been certified by the Warrior’s Guild as first-rank warriors.

Except Lin Yun.

He had no rank whatsoever.

As for Su Cheng—

Everyone recognized the insignia pinned to her chest.

Swirling wind and mist. A slanted short staff with a spiral shaft.

Wind element.

Apprentice Mage.

Second-rank mage.

Mages and warriors of the same rank generally possessed comparable combat ability. As a second-rank mage, Su Cheng should have been challenging another second-rank opponent.

Forget Lin Yun—even everyone present together probably couldn’t beat her.

“You—!”

Lin Yun finally panicked.

“I’m injured!”

Didn’t people in this world care about honor?

Wasn’t she afraid of becoming a laughingstock for bullying the weak?

Right now he had neither battle qi nor magic. His entire body ached. How was he supposed to fight?

Even a normal person could kill him in this state.

“Oh, that’s fine.” Su Cheng shrugged. “I’m not very picky.”

On the surface, she looked relaxed.

In reality, her heart was hammering wildly against her ribs. Cold sweat dampened her back. Hidden behind her, her right hand trembled slightly.

Then—

Wind gathered between her fingers.

Tiny currents spiraled into existence as wind-element spirits danced excitedly through the air. The swirling streams condensed rapidly into a pale green blade.

Single-cast Wind Blade.

A second-rank spell.

Its destructive power wasn’t especially high. Against a first-rank warrior protected by battle qi, it could only inflict limited damage.

But against an ordinary person—

That was another story entirely.

Su Cheng inherited this body’s memories.

Naturally, she knew how to cast magic.

She swung the wind blade toward Lin Yun’s throat.

Lin Yun’s physical condition was already terrible, not to mention his injuries.

His eyes widened in shock as he instinctively staggered backward.

“No!”

The soul inside the bracelet roared.

Only then did Lin Yun understand what it meant.

Normally, when someone slashed at you with a weapon, retreating backward was the correct response.

But a mage’s wind blade wasn’t an ordinary weapon.

The pale green arc flew from Su Cheng’s hand with a shrill whistle and struck the side of his neck.

How fast was the wind?

Skin. Blood vessels. Bone.

Everything split apart at once.

Blood erupted across the pale stone tiles, staining them crimson.

Lin Yun stumbled backward, clutching his throat.

“You—”

Half his neck had been severed open. Blood poured through his fingers.

For someone without even a rank, this kind of injury was unsurvivable.

A moment later, he collapsed.

“What are you doing?!”

A furious roar exploded from behind them, rapidly approaching.

A tall, lean man rushed into the courtyard, staring at the scene in disbelief.

“Patriarch…”

The younger disciples bowed shakily.

The Lin family was one of Ambergold City’s great noble houses. Patriarch Lin Zhen was a nine-star Battle Master—a fifth-rank warrior only one step away from breaking through.

Even across the entire city, he counted as a top expert. Thanks to years of battle qi cultivation, he still looked remarkably young.

“Su Cheng!”

Lin Zhen’s expression darkened violently as he looked at the boy lying in a pool of blood.

Veins bulged across his forehead.

“For the sake of my late wife, who shared your bloodline, I welcomed you to Ambergold City with courtesy and respect. I’ve never wronged you. And now you kill my nephew? My own sister’s son?!”

A crushing pressure surged from him, furious battle qi threatening to erupt toward the girl before him.

Su Cheng swiftly pulled out a handkerchief. Using the cloth to avoid direct contact, she yanked the obsidian bracelet from Lin Yun’s stiffening arm.

“Patriarch,” she said sharply, raising the bracelet, “look closely at this.”

“I once had the honor of visiting Grand Mage Dawson’s magic tower. In her library, I read ancient records describing symbols like this one.”

She lifted the bracelet higher.

“This is the mark of a follower of the Dark God.”

The courtyard exploded into chaos.

Ambergold City belonged to the Silvermoon Empire, the oldest and most powerful nation on the Northern Continent.

And the entire Northern Continent stood under the dominion of the Church of the God of Light.

Any faith connected to the Dark God was absolutely forbidden.

Over the last thousand years, entire bloodlines and cities had been eradicated over such accusations.

Kingdoms had fallen.

Palaces reduced to ash beneath holy fire.

Great capitals crushed under the iron march of paladins.

“Destroy it!”

One of the Lin youths screamed in terror.

“We can’t be associated with heresy! The Church will kill us!”

“No, no, no—that’s Lin Yun’s thing! We didn’t know anything!”

“This has nothing to do with us!”

Even Lin Zhen’s face turned pale.

“Miss Su…” His voice shook slightly. “Are you certain?”

Su Cheng nodded slowly.

Just moments earlier, she’d been thinking about how to survive.

Befriending the protagonist? Confessing she was a transmigrator? Hoping he’d spare her because she wasn’t the original Su Cheng? Running away and hiding forever?

None of it was reliable.

All of it depended on someone else’s mercy.

Better to eliminate the source entirely.

If Lin Yun could kill her someday for such ridiculous reasons, then she could strike first.

More importantly—

This was the weakest he would ever be.

Later, he’d acquire countless cheats and grow monstrously fast.

If she hesitated now, she’d never get another chance.

So she clenched her teeth and acted.

But to survive afterward, she needed a justification.

A reason so airtight that killing him wouldn’t cost her anything.

And conveniently enough—

That symbol on the bracelet genuinely was connected to the Dark God.

The old soul inside had personally raged whenever the God of Light was mentioned. He’d even taught Lin Yun how to conceal the bracelet, warning him never to let the Church see it.

“Otherwise,” Su Cheng said coolly, “why would I insist on dueling him?”

She raised the bracelet higher, satisfied to see everyone around her retreat in fear.

“We all live beneath the grace of the God of Light. I refuse to allow anyone to openly wear such filthy, blasphemous darkness.”

“…You’re right.”

Lin Zhen closed his eyes briefly, forcing himself calm.

He glanced at Lin Yun’s corpse with visible reluctance before looking away.

“This must be destroyed immediately.”

Compared to the safety of the entire Lin family, Lin Yun’s life meant very little.

Especially since Lin Yun’s talent was poor and his personality withdrawn. Though Lin Zhen had taken care of him over the years, they were never particularly close.

“Here.” Su Cheng handed over the handkerchief. “It’s a dangerous magical object. I recommend avoiding direct skin contact.”

Lin Zhen still harbored some suspicion. Ancient enchanted artifacts were extremely attractive to mages—perhaps she simply wanted the bracelet for herself.

But seeing her surrender it so readily only made him believe her more.

He didn’t even dare touch it.

Instead, he gestured for her to place it on the ground.

Su Cheng immediately complied and stepped back several paces.

The next instant—

A ghostly black shadow burst out of the bracelet.

Its form was blurry and indistinct, barely humanoid, writhing with fury.

“You!”

The shadow shrieked at Su Cheng.

“You ruined everything! I waited two thousand years—two thousand years! You lapdog of the God of Light! Pitiful! Foolish worshipper of a false god—!”

Lin Zhen’s expression changed completely.

His final shred of doubt vanished.

Who would dare publicly insult the God of Light on the Northern Continent?

The supreme god of radiance.

Ruler of all gods.

Master of the divine realm.

The ultimate object of faith for all living things.

A being said to be capable of burning continents to ash with a single gaze.

Whatever this thing inside the bracelet was—

It would bring catastrophe upon the Lin family.

Without another moment’s hesitation, blazing red battle qi erupted around Lin Zhen’s fist as he slammed it downward.

A deafening explosion shook the courtyard.

The ground cracked apart. Stone shattered. Dust billowed into the air.

Su Cheng finally let out a breath and slowly stepped back.

Then suddenly—

She realized she couldn’t move.

The entire world dimmed and drained of color, turning into a black-and-white ink painting.

Everyone around her froze in place as though time itself had stopped.

“You really did change a few things…”

A sigh echoed softly.

The voice didn’t enter through her ears.

It seeped directly into her soul, cold and gentle all at once, brushing against her consciousness.

“But perhaps… you’re more suitable.”

Suitable for what?

Her thoughts became sluggish, sinking like stones into mud.

The voice consumed her.

Her reason unraveled.

Her consciousness peeled away piece by piece, dragging her toward some distant, unreal place.

“So then, you…”

Void descended.

At last, she lost the strength to resist.

Her thoughts scattered completely as she fell into darkness.

…

A hazy light filtered across her eyelids.

Somewhere nearby, someone spoke in delighted relief.

“Hey! You’re finally awake!”

Su Cheng opened her eyes.

She was lying in bed inside a warmly furnished bedroom. Thin curtains draped from the bedposts, and soft golden lamplight flickered through the room.

Lin family patriarch Lin Zhen stood nearby, looking at her with deep sympathy and fatherly concern.

“Chengcheng, you’re still young,” he said earnestly. “There are plenty of men in the world. Like they say—if the old one leaves, a new one comes along…”

Su Cheng: “???”

Wake up, sir.

How are you my uncle?!

Your wife was my cousin-aunt!

You’re my cousin-uncle-in-law at best!

Seeing her blank expression, Lin Zhen sighed heavily.

“You fainted from anger the moment you saw the engagement cancellation letter…”

He shook his head.

“Get some rest. They’ll arrive tomorrow. The Merchant Guild is still waiting for me, so I have to go.”

Then he left.

Su Cheng stared after him in utter confusion, slowly sitting up in bed.

Not long after, two young men shoved open the door.