It was night, the moon bright and the stars sparse.
As the capital of Great Xia, and the only super first-tier city located in the north…
It was as if this place had no true night.
No matter the hour, the city blazed with light, a riot of dazzling neon.
Young students walked the streets, arms slung over each other’s shoulders, celebrating youth and friendship.
Tourists from distant lands clutched their phones, planning out the next stops on their itineraries.
Luxury cars, a rare sight in small county towns, scurried through this enormous city like free-range chickens on a rural farm.
Vibrant. Advanced. Prosperous.
These were the city’s calling cards.
And the very reasons people fell in love with it.
However, none of this had much to do with Jiang Nian, a corporate drone who’d come from elsewhere just to make a living.
Carrying some cold marinated dishes he’d picked up on the way, he dragged his exhausted body back to his rented room.
Jiang Nian picked up his phone for a glance.
1:00 AM.
This was the first time he’d ever completely abandoned all forms of entertainment—no bars, no games, no scrolling on his phone. He’d powered through until now solely on martial arts training.
Yet, his heart felt not the slightest bit empty or bored.
On the contrary, Jiang Nian’s insides were still buzzing with excitement.
It wasn’t just the fresh curiosity of first encountering martial arts training.
It was also the profound satisfaction of seeing effort rewarded, of reaping exactly what one had sown.
He opened the system panel.
He looked at the skill column. The entry-level Shaolin Child Technique, which had originally shown a proficiency of (0/100), had now, through his own hard work, reached Entry Level (23/100).
Jiang Nian felt an immense sense of relief and joy wash over him.
Adding in the ten points from before he officially ranked up, he’d already gained a total of thirty-three proficiency points on his very first day of serious training.
Continuing at this rate…
In three days, tops, he’d be able to push the proficiency of the Shaolin Child Technique up another realm.
The only slight imperfection was that his current proficiency was ’23’, not a nice, round number like ’25’ or ’30’.
But Jiang Nian had no intention of pushing any further right now.
Because he was acutely aware that his body had reached its absolute limit.
Every single muscle in his body was screaming in protest.
And this was after he’d already used his inner energy to repair internal damage and alleviate muscle fatigue!
Had he not done so, he’d likely be in the hospital right now, undergoing emergency treatment for rhabdomyolysis.
“Phew—”
He let out a long breath, stripped off the clothes that had been soaked through countless times with sweat, and tossed them carelessly into the washing machine.
Jiang Nian stepped into the bathroom to shower.
After a rush of water sounds…
He emerged, his body still half-damp.
He grabbed the marinated dishes he’d left on the entryway shoe cabinet, started the washing machine on his way past, and pulled two bottles of beer from the fridge, setting them on the table.
Tssk— Tssk—
Two soft hisses sounded.
Jiang Nian tossed aside the bottle opener, sank onto the sofa, opened the marinated dishes, and poked his chopsticks into the meat pâté twice, chasing it with a bite of steamed bun.
Then, grabbing a beer bottle, he tilted his head back and gulped deeply.
He savored the rich oiliness of the marinated food mingling with the malty aroma of the beer as the flavors blended and spread across his palate.
“Phew—”
“Damn, that hits the spot!”
Jiang Nian set the bottle down, slumped contentedly into the sofa, narrowed his eyes, and let out a sigh of utter satisfaction.
Nothing beat the sheer pleasure of having some marinated dishes and ice-cold beer after pushing yourself to the limit.
Well… except maybe lighting up a cigarette to go with it.
Click— Flick—
He pressed the lighter, igniting the tip of his cigarette.
Jiang Nian took a deep drag and picked up his phone.
His thumb moved, and the screen lit up.
A barrage of tabloid headlines instantly fought for his attention, flooding his vision.
Penguin Entertainment: “Hawick Lau Evicted from Villa, Suspected Split with Yang Mi.”
Gangyi News: “From Loving Couple to Cheating Allegations in Just Two Months – Why Is Love So Cheap?”
UC News Desk: “Shocking! New Husband Thrown Out by Group of Men in the Middle of the Night – A Twisted Human Nature or Moral Decay?!”
Hong Kong & Taiwan Daily: “Fallen from Grace: Once-Popular Male Star Eats Dirt in Public.”
After a quick skim, Jiang Nian pieced together what had happened.
Basically, after Hawick Lau returned to Yang Mi’s villa, things completely blew up between them. Security guards had tossed him out, and he’d taken a nasty tumble, landing face-first in the dirt.
“UC and the Hong Kong-Taiwan media are as reliably unhinged as ever,” Jiang Nian mused, before closing the news apps and forgetting about it.
After all, this was a personal spat between Yang Mi and Hawick Lau. It had nothing to do with him.
He was just a lowly car thief. Surely this mess couldn’t possibly be traced back to him, right?
Jiang Nian opened WeChat and scrolled through his messages while eating.
His WeChat was surprisingly lively.
During the time he’d been training, quite a few people had messaged him.
A bar promoter asking if he was coming tonight, promising pretty girls and a guaranteed good time.
A classmate he hadn’t spoken to in years, someone he barely remembered, suddenly announcing their wedding for today and sending an invitation.
And a group coordinator from a film crew.
After scrolling through everything, Jiang Nian decisively blocked and deleted the classmate who’d invited him to the wedding.
Then, he opened the chat with the crew coordinator.
The coordinator had sent him just one line: “Shooting starts in three days!”
Seeing this, Jiang Nian tapped the keyboard and fired off the obedient drone’s response: “Received.”
Leaning back, he stroked his chin thoughtfully.
His system was the “Film Emperor of Martial Arts” system. He could unlock character templates by taking on acting roles.
Although each unlock only granted him one skill, it was more than enough for Jiang Nian.
“Speaking of which… what about the rest of the skills?” Jiang Nian suddenly wondered.
Earlier, his full attention had been consumed by Du Gao’s memories and the Shaolin Child Technique. He hadn’t considered anything else.
Now that the initial excitement had faded, a question gnawed at him: What happened to Du Gao’s remaining two skills?
They couldn’t have just vanished, could they?
With a thought, he summoned the system panel.
[Film Emperor of Martial Arts System 1.0]
[User: Jiang Nian]
[Realm: None]
[Skills: Shaolin Child Technique [Entry Level] (23/100)]
[Attention Value: 203]
[Currently Playable Character: Eunuch]
[Unlocked Characters: Du Gao]
The system panel looked the same as before. No sudden ‘Shop’ option had appeared.
Jiang Nian scratched his head, puzzled. Without a shop, what about those other two skills?
He looked left and right, his gaze finally landing on the very bottom line: [Unlocked Characters] .
“Could it be in there?” Jiang Nian murmured curiously, tapping on it.
A new interface unfolded before his eyes.
[Name: Du Gao]
[Realm: Second-Rate Martial Artist]
[Unlocked Skill: Shaolin Child Technique [Well-Versed]]
[Locked Skills: Eight-Step Cicada Leap [Well-Versed] (20,000 Attention Value), Xingyi Quan [Minor Achievement] (5,000 Attention Value)]
“Ah, so that’s where they were hiding,” Jiang Nian said, slightly exasperated.
He’d been wondering why the system was so generous, letting him unlock a character for free right off the bat.
Turned out the real cost was buried in here.
It reminded him irresistibly of those DLC packs he used to buy on Steam back in his previous life.
He could only sigh. Yep, that’s the flavor, all right. The flavor was strong with this one!
