He read the suicide note from his future self three times, each pass etching the words deeper into his mind. Chen Guan sat in the darkness, the faint moonlight casting long shadows around him. Was it real? A cruel prank played by his transmigrated mind? He couldn't be certain, but a powerful intuition, an unshakable gut feeling, told him that at least eighty percent of it was the truth.
Many of the descriptions, the hesitations, the desperate pragmatism… they fit his own temperament all too well.
All thoughts of sleep had vanished, replaced by a churning mix of dread and electrifying hope. This strange, morbid message was his 'golden finger'—his one advantage in this world. It wasn't an all-powerful system or an ancient master in a ring, but it offered something almost as valuable: a glimpse of the path ahead.
Of course, the information would have to be verified.
After a long period of careful consideration, Chen Guan made a decision. He would trust it. He would wager everything on the words of his dying future self. The desperate, violent plans to steal a cultivation method were shelved. Instead, he would wait. He would wait for the first key figure who could alter his destiny.
Jia Xing Tian.
According to the note, the old guardian of the Jia Ma Empire would first appear in Wu Tan City shortly after Gu Xun'er's arrival at the Xiao Clan compound. That event was scheduled to happen in half a month.
He could wait half a month. He had endured far worse.
Having made his decision, a sliver of excitement pierced through his grim determination. He spent the rest of the night meticulously re-reading the mental letter, calculating the potential ripple effects of every piece of information. For the first time, he saw a tangible path toward becoming stronger. It was a faint light, but it was enough. He finally drifted into a fitful sleep just as the first rays of dawn painted the eastern sky.
Half a month bled away in a slow, tense crawl.
One day, while huddled in his usual spot, Chen Guan sensed a distinct shift in the atmosphere around the Xiao Clan estate. The air, once merely bustling, was now charged with a nervous energy. A knot formed in his stomach. He scrambled to his feet and crept closer to the main gate, hiding himself in the shadows of a large stone lion.
"Who do you think the distinguished guest is?" a guard murmured to his partner. "The Clan Leader and all the elders personally went out to greet them."
"Who knows? Must be someone important," the other replied with a shrug. "It's not our business anyway."
Chen Guan remained perfectly still, straining his ears. After more than an hour of eavesdropping on scattered whispers, two junior clan members finally walked past, their conversation confirming what he had been waiting for.
It was Gu Xun'er. She had arrived.
A wave of relief and anticipation washed over him. He retreated to his hiding spot to wait once more, his entire future now hanging on the appearance of one man.
One day passed. Then two.
Five days later, just as a sliver of doubt began to creep into his heart, it happened. As he closed his eyes that night, preparing for another cold sleep, a figure materialized before him as silently as a ghost.
The man's face was aged, etched with the deep lines of time, but his eyes were anything but cloudy. They were sharp, piercing, and held an invisible pressure that made Chen Guan feel as if he were standing at the foot of a collapsing mountain.
It's him!
Chen Guan was ninety percent certain. He let his jaw go slack, his eyes widening in the exact expression of shock and awe the man would expect from a startled child.
"You…" he stammered.
A faint, knowing smile touched Jia Xing Tian's lips. He looked down at the small, scruffy boy, stroking his long beard. "Haha, little one. Would you like to have a full stomach every day from now on?"
He never worried about rejection. The royal family of the Jia Ma Empire often recruited homeless children from the fringes of society, training them to become a reserve force of loyal guards and, if necessary, death-sworn soldiers. He already knew of Chen Guan's situation. For a child on the brink of starvation, a full belly was a far more powerful temptation than grand promises of becoming a peerless expert.
As expected, the boy nodded vigorously, a desperate hunger shining in his eyes.
"Then how about coming with me?"
Chen Guan stood up, his small frame trembling with a mixture of fear and hope. He said nothing, letting his eager posture serve as his answer.
"What is your name, child?"
"Chen Guan." The words came out haltingly, the best he could manage with his limited grasp of the language.
Jia Xing Tian nodded slightly, saying no more. With a silent grace, he led the boy away, straight to the City Lord's Mansion.
There, seven other children of a similar age—four boys and three girls—were already gathered. Like him, they were all unkempt and had never been exposed to cultivation. Jia Xing Tian couldn't possibly escort them all back to the imperial capital himself; that task would fall to the Lord of Wu Tan City.
After a brief exchange of instructions, the powerful expert vanished as quickly as he had appeared.
The next day, eight children with wondrously bulging bellies were squeezed into a single carriage. It was the first time Chen Guan had eaten until he was truly full since arriving on the Dou Qi Continent. The simple warmth of the food and the feeling of satiety were so overwhelming, he had to fight back tears.
The soldier driving the carriage was neither kind nor cruel; he was simply a man doing his job.
The children inside were unnervingly quiet. In the first five days of their journey, the total number of sentences spoken between them could be counted on one hand. They were all souls burdened with tragic fates, and it was no surprise that they were withdrawn and timid.
Chen Guan was in no mood for conversation either. The rare luxury of not having to worry about his next meal gave him the mental space to meticulously sort out his future.
This was the Dou Qi Continent. Strength was the only truth that mattered.
Chen Guan was ambitious. He wanted to control his own destiny, and if possible, one day travel beyond this world. But to achieve that, he needed absolute power. His golden finger was a fragile one. The suicide note had provided a single, critical piece of information, but now that he was on the ship of the Jia Ma royal family, its usefulness had been all but exhausted.
With his one advantage spent, the paths available to him narrowed considerably. A pang of envy struck him as he thought of the transmigrators from his old novels, blessed with systems and simulators that granted them infinite resources.
For him, there were only two conceivable paths to the pinnacle of this world.
First: the inheritance of the Ancient God Tuoshe.
Second: the half-finished Emperor Grade Pill.
The latter was not a true option. He was not Hun Tiandi, the Soul Emperor. He didn't have the backing of an entire ancient clan, nor could he orchestrate a plan to sacrifice the lifeblood of half the continent to refine a single pill.
That left only one hope. The inheritance of the Ancient God Tuoshe. Otherwise, his only choice was to survive until Xiao Yan eventually became the Flame Emperor and opened the path to the Great Thousand World himself.
"Flame Mantra… That is the key," he thought, a sigh escaping his lips. The legendary Qi Method was inextricably linked to Yao Lao.
In the current timeline, Xiao Yan was just a proud genius. There were still a few years before Yao Lao would begin absorbing his Dou Qi, but Chen Guan suspected the ancient spirit was already conscious within the ring. Yao Lao had observed Xiao Yan for a very long time before revealing himself. No one knew exactly how long.
Planning for the worst-case scenario, he concluded that trying to trick or steal the ring from Xiao Yan was a fool's errand.
"I can only watch for a chance to trade for it in the future," he resolved.
He held no personal animosity toward Xiao Yan. He simply wanted to live in peace and grow strong. But he knew, with absolute certainty, that he would have to intercept some of the boy's future opportunities. The memories in his head were his only remaining advantage. The battle for cultivation resources was inherently cruel. On this point, he would never be merciful. But to target someone with hatred out of simple jealousy? That was despicable and, more importantly, a waste of energy.
Whether they became enemies or allies would be decided by the currents of fate.
Lost in his plans for obtaining the Flame Mantra, he barely registered the passage of time. A month later, the carriage finally rumbled through the grand gates of the imperial capital and, after several handovers, passed into the sprawling palace of the Jia Ma Empire.
"We're here," the soldier's voice called out, sharp and final. "Everyone out. Stand still."
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