Once again, I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths, trying to rein in the raging storm inside my head.
The cracked wooden ceiling above me, the damp chill in the air, the brittle feeling of my own frail body.... none of this was a dream.
I was here.
This was real.
I ran a trembling hand through my hair, feeling the knots and grime clinging to it. This body... Lu Tian's body.... was in terrible shape. Weak muscles, shallow breath, aching bones… I was barely alive.
"Fuck," I muttered, my voice hoarse.
In my past life, I had been a 48-year-old master designer, successful in my field, respected for my creativity. Now? I was a disgraced nobody on the verge of death.
And the worst part? I had written this world myself.
That meant I knew exactly how screwed I was.
Lu Tian was the former son of Elder Lu Qian, one of the high-ranking elders of the Azure Sky Sect, a mid-tier martial sect in the Northern Provinces. In the original story, his father was falsely accused of betraying the sect by colluding with a demon faction. The sect elders executed him, and as a result, Lu Tian lost everything.... his family name, his status, his cultivation resources.
Worse, he had been born with a weak, sickly body, making him completely useless in martial arts.
That's why, after his father's execution, the sect saw no reason to keep him. He was banished, given a small hut in the outer sect, and left to rot.
In the original timeline, he didn't even survive a year.
And now, I was in his shoes...
I clenched my fists, feeling how thin and brittle my fingers were.
No sect resources, no family protection, no natural talent for martial arts.
I was as good as dead if I followed the original timeline.
But.....
I wasn't LuTian...
I was Lu Xuan Ming.... a designer, a novelist, and more importantly, someone who knew how this world worked.
I refused to be a pathetic stepping stone in someone else's story.
I needed to think. To plan. To act.
First, I needed to assess my situation.
I glanced around the tiny hut. It was barely livable.... cracked wooden walls, a rickety table, a straw bed, and a half-burnt candle. Dust and cobwebs lined the corners. There was a single wooden chest pushed up against the farthest wall.
My stomach growled, and I realized how weak I truly was. I had no money, no food, and no strength to even hunt or work.
If I wanted to survive, I needed to change everything.
And that meant finding an advantage..... any advantage.
My gaze landed on the wooden chest.
If I remembered correctly, Lu Qian, my supposed father, had hidden something before his execution.
Could it still be here?
With slow, deliberate steps, I walked toward the chest, ignoring the way my legs trembled from the effort. I dropped to my knees and ran my fingers over the old, splintering wood. The lock was broken..... probably by thieves or opportunists looking for valuables after my father's death.
I pried the lid open.
Inside, I found a bundle of old scrolls, a tattered martial robe, and....
"My breath hitched"
A small jade bottle, covered in dust.
I picked it up, turning it over in my hands. There was a faint inscription on the bottom, almost too worn to read. But I recognized it.
This was a low-grade Body Strengthening Pill.... something my father had once used in his training. It wasn't some legendary elixir, but for someone like me, it was a lifeline.
Even the lowest-ranked martial artists had stronger bodies than ordinary people. But me? I was as fragile as a dried leaf. If I wanted to even stand a chance at surviving, I needed to strengthen my body first.
This pill was the first step.
I uncorked the bottle and shook out a single, round pill, pale in color and slightly cracked from age. It was definitely past its prime, but it was better than nothing.
Without hesitation, I popped it into my mouth.
....
A bitter taste spread across my tongue before a burning heat exploded inside my body.
I gritted my teeth, sweat forming on my forehead as a fiery energy surged through my muscles and bones.
This.... this was painful as hell!
I dropped to the floor, curling my fingers into the dirt as my entire body felt like it was being torn apart and rebuilt. The sensation burned through my veins, hammering against my bones, forcing every cell in my body to react.
Minutes passed.
Then hours.
By the time the pain finally subsided, I was drenched in sweat, my breathing ragged.
But....I felt different.
Stronger! Not by much, but noticeably stronger.
I flexed my fingers. The frailness hadn't completely disappeared, but for the first time since waking up in this body, I felt like I had taken a step forward.
One step closer to survival.
I let out a shaky breath.
This was only the beginning.
I wasn't just going to survive.
I was going to change my fate.
And to do that, I needed to do what I did best... create something out of nothing.