Chapter 1: The Cannon Fodder Villain's

Cold.

A bone-chilling cold, tracing the skin at his Adam's apple, transmitted clearly to his brain, jolting Lin Xuan into a sudden shiver.

He snapped his eyes open. What met his gaze was a longsword spitting out faint purple electric sparks. The tip of the blade was steady, without the slightest tremor, firmly pressed against his throat. With just a gentle nudge forward, it could easily pierce his neck.

The one holding the sword was a youth of about seventeen or eighteen, with sword-like brows and star-bright eyes, his face cold and stern. His white-washed green robes could not conceal the sharp aura of a drawn precious sword. At this moment, the youth's eyes were icy, filled with chilling killing intent, as if looking at a dead man.

"Lin Xuan, you actually dared to show disrespect to Saintess Yun Yao and commit such lewd and shameless acts! Today, I, Ye Chen, shall act on behalf of the heavens and execute you, this piece of human scum!"

Ye Chen? Saintess Yun Yao?

Boom—!

Like a thunderclap exploding in his mind, countless chaotic memory fragments surged in and pieced themselves together. Lin Xuan's pupils contracted sharply; his heart felt as if it were about to leap out of his chest.

He... had transmigrated!

He had transmigrated into the fantasy "cool" novel he had stayed up all night roasting last night, titled "Nine Heavens Thunder Sovereign," becoming the cannon fodder villain who shared his name and surname, who was executed on the spot in the very first chapter by the Child of Destiny, Ye Chen, for harassing the female lead, Saintess Yun Yao, serving as a sacrifice to establish Ye Chen's prestige!

The original owner was the legitimate son of the Lin family in Qingyun City, a standard playboy whose cultivation base had been stuck at the third stage of Body Refining for years, throwing his weight around because of his family background. This time, at the City Lord's banquet, he lost his sense of propriety after drinking and actually tried to lay hands on Saintess Yun Yao, who was visiting...

And then, there was no "then."

According to the original plot, he would next spout some harsh threats like "My father is Lin Batian" in a show of bravado, trying to intimidate Ye Chen, only to enrage the other party and be instantly killed by a single sword strike, blood splashing five steps away, marking the beginning of Ye Chen's fame.

It's over! A hellish start!

Lin Xuan's whole body was ice-cold, his breathing almost coming to a standstill. Resist? The other party was a destiny protagonist blessed with great fortune, for whom fighting above one's rank was as natural as eating and drinking; his own body, hollowed out by wine and lust and only at the third stage of Body Refining, wasn't even enough to fill the gaps in the other's teeth! Beg for mercy? Following the tropes of such "cool" novels, the protagonist would only think him cowardly and shameless, killing him with even less psychological burden, making him die even faster!

What to do? Just transmigrated, hadn't even taken a few breaths of this world's air, and already about to receive his lunchbox? This is more unjust than Dou E!

A massive fear and an intense desire to survive erupted in the depths of his heart like a volcano.

【Ding! Detected host's intense desire to survive and extreme unwillingness toward the "traditional villain's fate," the "Slacking Off Makes You Stronger System" is activating... 10%... 50%... 100%! Activation successful!】

【System Tenet: As long as your face is thick enough, even gods can be shattered! As long as you slack off enough, even the Heavenly Dao can be changed! By performing acts that "conform to the spirit of slacking off" and triggering intense emotional fluctuations in others (such as shock, disdain, anger, speechlessness, etc.), the host can obtain "Slacking Off Points." Slacking Off Points can be used directly to increase cultivation, exchange for techniques, draw treasures, etc.】

【Novice Task Issued: Under the gaze of at least a hundred people, complete one "earth-shattering, perception-defying" act of slacking off. Task Reward: Slacking Off Points calculated based on the sensation caused and the emotional value harvested.】

System?!

Heaven has not cut off my path!

Lin Xuan was stunned at first, then a wild joy instantly washed away all his fear. Slacking off? Courting death? I'm familiar with this! In his original world, he had no other skills, but his experience as a troll surfing the internet and watching the chaos unfold was incredibly rich!

Almost the moment the system prompt ended, Lin Xuan moved.

Under the astonished gazes of the hundreds of guests around, as well as Ye Chen and the graceful Saintess Yun Yao, whose face was covered by a light veil, Lin Xuan made a move that nearly made everyone's eyeballs pop out.

He did not try to retreat, did not open his mouth to threaten, and did not even reveal the slightest intention to resist.

On the contrary—

"Thump!"

A crisp and loud sound of kneeling echoed in the silent hall.

His knees hit the ground with a clean, decisive motion, without the slightest hesitation. Immediately after, before anyone could react, he lunged forward, arms wide, and hugged Ye Chen's leg—the one supporting his body—in a death grip!

"Brother Ye Chen! Spare my life!!!"

A shrill, mournful wail pierced the frozen air. Lin Xuan raised his head, his face already streaming with tears and snot, his expression one of utter grief, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"I was wrong! I truly know I was wrong! I am not human! I am a beast! I am a bastard!"

While wailing, he pounded his chest hard, making thumping sounds.

"I was blinded by greed and possessed by a ghost, actually daring to have improper thoughts about the noble and holy Saintess Yun Yao! I deserve to die ten thousand times over, my death is not worth pitying!"

"But! Brother Ye Chen! If you kill me, you'll dirty your hands! Look at these hands of yours, they are meant for wielding swords to slay demons and uphold justice! How can they be used to kill a bug, trash, or social scum like me?"

"I beg you! Please give me a chance to turn over a new leaf and be a better person! I will definitely reform, serve you tea and water every day, pound your legs and massage your shoulders, and be your beast of burden! I only ask that you spare my dog life and give me a chance to pledge my loyalty to you!!"

Lin Xuan's crying was sincere and heartfelt, his words logically clear (though the content was extremely shameless), and his hands clutching Ye Chen's leg were so tight it was as if he had grabbed the only straw to save his life.

Silence!

A deathly silence!

In the entire City Lord's mansion hall, one could hear a pin drop.

Everyone looked as if they had been hit by a freezing spell, mouths agape, eyes wide, looking at the unbelievable scene in the middle of the room in disbelief.

This... is this still the arrogant and overbearing Young Master of the Lin family in Qingyun City?

Kneeling in public? Hugging a leg to beg for mercy? And cursing himself so viciously and fluently?

How thick must his skin be? How strong his psychological quality? No, this is simply having no shame at all!

Some guests who originally despised Lin Xuan's behavior now felt their disdain deepen, but it was mixed with an indescribable sense of absurdity. This guy is simply a freak!

In Saintess Yun Yao's cold, immortal-like eyes, deep astonishment and disgust also emerged. She had walked the world and seen all kinds of people—the arrogant, the despicable—but this was the first time she had seen someone like Lin Xuan, who could express "cowardice" and "shamelessness" so vividly. She subconsciously took half a step back, as if afraid of being tainted by this aura of "shamelessness."

And Ye Chen, who bore the brunt of it, felt it most intensely.

His hand holding the sword stiffened in mid-air, and the killing intent and coldness on his face were completely replaced by a sense of extreme astonishment, confusion, and a feeling of disgust, as if he had swallowed a fly.

He had anticipated various reactions from Lin Xuan—perhaps terrified retreat, perhaps threatening the Lin family with bravado, or even a desperate struggle... He had prepared himself for all of it, his killing intent firm.

But he never expected this kind of scene!

Kneeling? Hugging a leg? Crying like a three-hundred-pound child?

This completely exceeded his cognitive scope and experience! He had always acted with a sense of swift vengeance, slaying only the vicious and stubborn under his sword; when had he ever encountered such a "thing" with no backbone, rubbing its own face into the dirt?

Kill him?

Ye Chen's sword actually felt like it couldn't be thrust down. Not out of pity, but out of an innate disdain and... aversion. Can killing such a thing really forge my invincible Dao heart? Wouldn't it instead stain my sword heart, making me feel disgusted whenever I think of it later?

【Ding! Detected extreme disdain and Dao heart wavering from the Child of Destiny, Ye Chen, Emotional Value +1888!】

【Ding! Detected intense shock and disgust from Saintess Yun Yao, Emotional Value +999!】

【Ding! Detected that the worldviews of the guests present... have suffered a devastating impact, collectively falling into a petrified state, Emotional Value +6843!】

【Congratulations to the host for completing an "earth-shattering" level slacking off act! Successfully harvested a large amount of Emotional Value!】

【Novice Task completed! Reward calculating... Total Slacking Off Points obtained: 8930 points!】

【Do you want to use Slacking Off Points to increase your cultivation immediately?】

A series of system prompts frantically scrolled through Lin Xuan's mind.

"Yes, yes, yes! Immediately! Use it all to increase cultivation! Don't delay even for a second!" Lin Xuan shouted frantically in his heart.

Almost the moment his thought fell, a surge of pure spiritual power, as vast as a mountain torrent or a tsunami, exploded without warning in the depths of his parched dantian!

This power was so vast, so overbearing, like a bursting river, frantically scouring his limbs, bones, and meridians!

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The cultivation barrier within his body, which had plagued the original owner for years and was as solid as a rock, shattered one after another under the impact of this violent power, as if it were made of paper!

Body Refining Stage 4!

Body Refining Stage 5!

Body Refining Stage 6!

Body Refining Stage 9!

The speed of his cultivation increase was unimaginably fast. Almost in the blink of an eye, he crossed the barriers of the mid and late Body Refining stages, reaching the peak of Body Refining!

However, this momentum did not stop!

Boom—!

A loud noise that only Lin Xuan could hear echoed within his body. His dantian's sea of Qi was instantly widened several times over, and an even more powerful, more solid aura erupted from him uncontrollably!

A pale cyan spiritual power halo faintly swirled on his skin!

Foundation Establishment Stage!

In an instant, he stepped from a low-level martial apprentice at the third stage of Body Refining into the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Stage, becoming a true cultivator!

"Hum—!"

This sudden Foundation Establishment spiritual pressure, while not much to many experts present, was far too bizarre and shocking in the way and place it appeared!

"What?! Foundation Establishment Stage?!"

"He... wasn't he just at the third stage of Body Refining a moment ago? How did he suddenly reach Foundation Establishment?!"

"What's going on? Am I seeing things? Or is my perception wrong?"

"Epiphany? Breakthrough in the heat of the moment? But who breaks through like this? Breaking through six minor realms in a row, and even crossing the barrier of a major realm? Is this drinking water?!"

"Hell! Wasn't the Lin family kid just a piece of trash?"

After a brief deathly silence, there was an uproar and exclamation like a tidal wave! Everyone's gaze changed from the previous disdain and absurdity to complete shock and disbelief!

This scene completely overturned their common knowledge of cultivation!

Ye Chen's expression changed completely. He was the closest and felt it most clearly. That Foundation Establishment spiritual pressure could not be fake! But... how is this possible?! A moment ago, he was an ant that could be crushed at will, and the next moment he became a Foundation Establishment cultivator who needed to be taken somewhat seriously?

And, this guy clearly broke through, so why is he still hugging my leg and wailing?! What kind of logic is this?!

Ye Chen's Dao heart suffered an unprecedented impact at this moment. He looked at Lin Xuan's face, which was covered in tears and snot but faintly glowing red under the fluctuation of spiritual power, and for the first time, he felt such complex and inexplicable emotions toward an "opponent" (if this could even be called an opponent). Killing intent, disdain, shock, absurdity, and even a trace of... curiosity?

Lin Xuan felt the surging power in his body that he had never felt before, and he felt so happy he almost wanted to look up and roar. But the cowardly expression on his face did not change in the slightest; instead, he hugged even tighter and wailed even harder:

"Brother Ye Chen! Do you feel it? This is the sincerity of my repentance triggering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth! Even the heavens were moved by me! My sincerity can be witnessed by heaven and earth, and can be shown by the sun and moon! Please spare me!"

Ye Chen looked at this peerless freak who had broken through to Foundation Establishment a moment ago and was still hugging his leg and wailing with no psychological barriers and great acting skills, and the corners of his mouth twitched violently.

He exerted force and pulled his leg out of Lin Xuan's embrace, his eyes complex to the extreme—a mix of extreme contempt, disgust, and a hint of "you win" that even he himself was unwilling to admit.

"Hmph!"

Ye Chen sheathed his sword with a crisp ring. He glanced coldly at Lin Xuan, his eyes as if looking at a pile of mud that couldn't be plastered onto a wall.

"Killing you would indeed dirty my sword."

His voice was cold, carrying undisguised disdain. A coward who could kneel so decisively, cry so realistically, and break through so bizarrely, yet still be shameless to this extent, was no longer worthy of being his opponent. Killing such a person was meaningless and would only make him feel unlucky.

He stopped looking at Lin Xuan, turned to Saintess Yun Yao, who also had a complex expression, and whispered: "Saintess, let's go."

Saintess Yun Yao nodded slightly, gave Lin Xuan one last look with eyes that seemed to be looking at "non-recyclable trash," turned around with Ye Chen, and drifted away under the various inexplicable gazes of the crowd.

The crisis was temporarily averted.

Not until the figures of the two completely disappeared at the hall entrance did Lin Xuan slowly and leisurely climb up from the ground.

He brushed the dust off the knees of his brocade robe as if no one were around, his movements calm and unhurried.

The surrounding gazes were still focused on him—shock, doubt, disdain, pity, watching a joke... but he was completely oblivious.

When he raised his head again, all the panic, tear stains, and cowardly temperament on his face had vanished without a trace. Replacing them was a careless, slightly cynical indifference, and a hint of unfathomable playfulness and dark light deep in his eyes.

He scanned the guests with their varied expressions, the corners of his mouth curling into an imperceptible arc.

"Tsk, the protagonist's leg, it's just so-so to hug."

He muttered in his heart: "System, open my attribute panel."

【Okay, host.】

A pale blue light screen that only he could see appeared quietly before his eyes:

【Slacking Off Makes You Stronger System】

Host: Lin Xuan

Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Stage 1 (0/5000) + (Can be increased)

Technique: None

Skill: None

Slacking Off Points: 30 (Remaining)

Item: None

Looking at the progress bar that required 5000 points to reach Foundation Establishment Stage 2, and the remaining 30 Slacking Off Points, Lin Xuan was not discouraged; instead, flames of excitement ignited in his eyes.

Kneeling and begging for mercy can make you stronger—this deal is too worth it!

Ye Chen? Saintess Yun Yao? Destiny protagonist?

He licked his somewhat dry lips, and an incredibly clear thought formed in his mind:

"This is just the beginning. My 'slacking off' and courting-death journey is destined to make this world tremble!"

"Where should I go to court death tomorrow? I heard the eldest daughter of the Li family is holding a martial arts competition for a husband tomorrow? Hmm, that's a good place to farm points..."

(Chapter 1 End)