Chapter 1: Starting Out with a Sword at My Throat? I

Cold.

A bone-chilling cold, tracing the skin at his throat and transmitting clearly to his brain, sent a violent shiver through Lin Xuan’s entire body.

He snapped his eyes open. What met his gaze was a long sword, flickering with faint purple electric sparks. The tip of the blade was steady, without the slightest tremor, pressed firmly against his throat; a gentle push forward would 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 expression cold and stern. Though his cyan robe was washed until it had faded, it could not conceal the sharp aura radiating from him like a drawn sword. At this moment, the youth’s eyes were icy and filled with murderous intent, as if he were looking at a dead man.

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

Ye Chen? Saintess Yun Yao?

Boom—!

Like a thunderclap exploding in his mind, countless chaotic fragments of memory surged in and pieced themselves together. Lin Xuan’s pupils contracted sharply, and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

He... had transmigrated!

He had transmigrated into the fantasy "cool" novel *Nine Heavens Thunder Sovereign* that he had stayed up late to mock last night. He had become the cannon-fodder villain who shared his name, the one who, in the very first chapter, tried to molest the heroine, Saintess Yun Yao, and was executed on the spot by the Son of Destiny, Ye Chen, to serve as a warning to others!

The original owner was the legitimate son of the Lin family in Qingyun City, a standard playboy whose cultivation had been stuck at the third level of Qi Refining for years, relying on his family background to run amok. This time, at the City Lord’s banquet, he had lost his senses after drinking and actually tried to lay hands on Saintess Yun Yao, who was passing through...

And then, there was no "then."

According to the original plot, he would next spout some tough talk like "My father is Lin Batian" in a desperate attempt to threaten Ye Chen, only to enrage him further and be cleanly and swiftly killed with a single sword strike, his blood staining the ground, thereby establishing Ye Chen’s initial reputation.

It’s over! A hellish start!

Lin Xuan felt icy all over, his breathing nearly coming to a halt. Resist? The other party was a protagonist of great destiny; fighting above his level was as easy as eating and drinking. His own body, hollowed out by wine and lust and only at the third level of Qi Refining, wasn't even enough to fill the gaps in the protagonist's teeth! Beg for mercy? Following the tropes of such novels, the protagonist would only think him cowardly and shameless, making him feel even less burdened to kill him, leading to a faster death!

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

A massive sense of fear and an intense desire to survive erupted from the bottom of his heart like a volcano.

[Ding! Detected the host’s intense desire to survive and extreme unwillingness to accept the "traditional villain's fate." The "Lying Flat and Becoming Stronger System" is activating... 10%... 50%... 100%! Activation successful!]

[System Motto: As long as your skin is thick enough, you can crush even gods! As long as you lie flat, you can even change the Heavenly Dao! By performing actions that "conform to the spirit of lying flat" and triggering intense emotional fluctuations in others (such as shock, contempt, anger, speechlessness, etc.), the host can obtain "Lying Flat Points." Lying Flat Points can be used directly to improve cultivation, exchange for techniques, draw treasures, and more.]

[Novice Mission Issued: Under the gaze of at least one hundred people, complete one "earth-shattering, perception-defying" act of lying flat. Mission Reward: Lying Flat Points calculated based on the sensation caused and the emotional value harvested.]

A system?!

Heaven has not forsaken me!

Lin Xuan was stunned for a moment, then wild joy instantly washed away all his fear. Lying flat? Courting death? He was an expert at this! In his original world, he had no other skills, but his experience as a troll on the internet, watching the fun without fearing the chaos, was incredibly rich!

Almost the moment the system’s notification sound faded, Lin Xuan moved.

Under the astonished gazes of the hundreds of guests present, as well as Ye Chen and the graceful Saintess Yun Yao, whose face was covered by a light veil, Lin Xuan performed an act that made everyone’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.

He did not attempt to retreat, did not open his mouth to threaten, and did not even reveal the slightest intention of resistance.

Instead—

"Thump!"

A crisp and loud sound of knees hitting the floor echoed through the silent hall.

He slammed his knees onto the ground with a clean, decisive motion, without the slightest hesitation. Immediately after, before anyone could react, he lunged forward, spread his arms, and hugged Ye Chen’s thigh—the one supporting his weight—with a death grip!

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

A shrill, mournful wail pierced the frozen air. Lin Xuan looked up, 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 a 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 to dare have improper thoughts about the noble and holy Saintess Yun Yao! My crimes are unforgivable, and I deserve to die!"

"But! Brother Ye Chen! If you kill me, you’ll dirty your hands! Look at these hands of yours—they are meant to hold a sword to slay demons and uphold justice! How can you use them to kill a bug, trash, and social scum like me?"

"I beg you! Please give me a chance to turn over a new leaf and be a better person! From now on, 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’s life and give me a chance to pledge my loyalty to you!!"

Lin Xuan’s crying was sincere and heartfelt, his words were logically clear (though the content was extremely shameless), and his hands, clutching Ye Chen’s thigh, were even more forceful, as if he had grabbed the only straw to save his life.

Silence!

A deathly silence!

The entire City Lord’s hall was so quiet that a needle drop could be heard.

Everyone looked as if they had been hit by a freezing spell, mouths agape, eyes wide, staring in disbelief at the bizarre scene in the center.

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

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

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

Some guests who had originally despised Lin Xuan’s behavior now felt their contempt deepen, but it was mixed with a hint of indescribable absurdity. This guy is simply a freak!

In the cold, ethereal eyes of Saintess Yun Yao, deep astonishment and disgust also emerged. She had walked the world and seen all kinds of people—some arrogant, some 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 murderous intent and coldness on his face were completely replaced by extreme astonishment, confusion, and a sense 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 tough words, or even a desperate struggle... He had already prepared himself, his murderous intent firm.

But he never expected this kind of scene!

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

This was completely beyond his cognitive scope and experience! He had always acted with swift vengeance, and the people he had slain under his sword were all fierce and stubborn. When had he ever encountered such a "thing" with no backbone, one that trampled its own dignity into the dirt?

Kill him?

Ye Chen’s sword actually felt a bit unable to strike down. It wasn't out of pity, but out of heartfelt contempt and... disdain. Can killing such a creature really forge my invincible Dao heart? Wouldn't it instead tarnish my sword heart, making me feel disgusted whenever I think of it in the future?

[Ding! Detected extreme contempt and a wavering Dao heart from the Son 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, and they have collectively fallen into a petrified state. Emotional value +6843!]

[Congratulations to the host for completing an "earth-shattering" level act of lying flat! Successfully harvested a large amount of emotional value!]

[Novice mission complete! Reward calculating... Total Lying Flat Points obtained: 8930 points!]

[Do you wish to use the Lying Flat Points immediately to improve your cultivation?]

A series of system notification sounds frantically scrolled through Lin Xuan’s mind.

"Yes, yes, yes! Immediately! Use it all to improve my cultivation! Don't delay for even 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 deep within his parched dantian!

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

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The cultivation barrier that had trapped the original owner for years, as solid as a rock, shattered one after another under the impact of this violent power, as if it were made of paper!

Fourth level of Qi Refining!

Fifth level of Qi Refining!

Sixth level of Qi Refining!

Ninth level of Qi Refining!

The speed of his cultivation improvement was incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, he had crossed the barriers of the middle and late stages of Qi Refining, reaching the peak of Qi 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 a more powerful, more solid aura erupted from him uncontrollably!

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

Foundation Establishment!

In an instant, he had gone from a bottom-tier martial artist at the third level of Qi Refining to boldly stepping into the threshold of Foundation Establishment, becoming a true cultivator!

"Hum—!"

Although this sudden spiritual pressure of the Foundation Establishment stage was nothing to many of the experts present, the way and place it appeared were simply too bizarre and shocking!

"What?! Foundation Establishment?!"

"He... wasn't he just at the third level of Qi 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 guy drinking water?!"

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

After a brief deathly silence, there was an uproar and exclamation like a tidal wave! Everyone’s gaze shifted from previous contempt 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 the 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 that needed to be taken somewhat seriously?

And, this guy clearly broke through, so why is he still hugging his thigh and wailing?! What kind of path is this?!

Ye Chen’s Dao heart suffered an unprecedented impact at this moment. Looking at Lin Xuan’s face, covered in tears and snot yet faintly glowing red from the spiritual power fluctuations, he felt such complex and unclear emotions toward an "opponent" (if this could even be called an opponent) for the first time. Murderous intent, contempt, shock, absurdity, and even a hint of... curiosity?

Lin Xuan felt the surging power within him that he had never experienced before, and he felt so happy he could almost roar at the sky. But the cowardly expression on his face did not change in the slightest; instead, he hugged even tighter and wailed even more energetically:

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

Ye Chen looked at this peerless freak who had broken through to Foundation Establishment a moment ago and was still able to hug his thigh and wail with such acting skills and no psychological barriers a second later, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

He exerted force and pulled his leg out of Lin Xuan’s embrace, his eyes filled with extreme complexity—a mixture of ultimate disdain, disgust, and a hint of "fine, 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 contempt. 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 didn't look at Lin Xuan again, turned to Saintess Yun Yao, who also had a complex expression, and whispered, "Saintess, let us go."

Saintess Yun Yao nodded slightly, finally sweeping a glance at Lin Xuan as if looking at "non-recyclable trash," then turned around with Ye Chen and drifted away under the gaze of everyone present, which was filled with various ambiguous meanings.

The crisis was temporarily averted.

Not until the figures of the two had completely disappeared at the palace 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 else were around, his movements calm and unhurried.

The surrounding gazes were still focused on him—some shocked, some puzzled, some disdainful, some pitiful, some waiting to see a joke... but he remained completely oblivious.

When he raised his head again, all the panic, tear stains, and cowardly aura on his face had vanished without a trace. Replacing them was a casual, somewhat cynical indifference, and a hint of imperceptible, abyss-like mockery and dark light deep within his eyes.

He scanned the guests, who all wore different expressions, and the corners of his mouth curled into an almost invisible arc.

"Tsk, hugging the protagonist's leg is really nothing special."

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

[Understood, Host.]

A pale blue light screen, visible only to him, quietly appeared before his eyes:

[Slacking Off to Become Stronger System]

Host: Lin Xuan

Cultivation Base: Foundation Establishment Level 1 (0/5000) + (Can be upgraded)

Techniques: None

Skills: None

Slacking Points: 30 (Remaining)

Items: None

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

Getting stronger just by kneeling and begging for mercy—this deal was too worth it!

Ye Chen? Saintess Yun Yao? The destined protagonist?

He licked his slightly dry lips, and an incredibly clear thought took shape in his mind:

"This is only the beginning. My journey of 'slacking off' and courting death 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 to choose a husband tomorrow? Hmm, that's a good place to farm points..."

(End of Chapter One)