The beeping noises of the machines were like a melody of death to Joshua as he lay in bed, IVs strapped throughout his entire body. In this particular private ward, there was silence all around except for the occasional noises from outside the ward and the beeping noise of the monitors.

There was nobody around the bed except for Joshua himself as he lifelessly stared up at the ceiling. He thought about his life leading up to this moment. He didn’t know who his parents were, where he was born, and such, but he knew that by the time he came to, he was working in a factory, eating rice and slightly spoiled meat. Fruits were a luxury, and brutal work awaited every time he woke up.

Despite being in the modern day and age, there were still many such incidents of children being taken advantage of. Even if it has decreased by a lot, it is not something that will disappear for as long as people live in this world.

For the earliest part of his childhood, he lived in the factory, not knowing of the sun outside or joy in life. He just worked to live, to eat scraps, and to sleep. One day, the factory was raided by the police, and he was rescued. It was then that he was exposed to a whole new world outside of the factory and room he lived in.

Children ran around in happiness as they held their parents' hands, the delicious smell of food, tall, not-rusted buildings, cars, and machines of various kinds. It was a whole new world, and it lit a kindle of flame in his heart. A flame that would never be burnt out.

'I want it too.'

'I want to experience such things too.'

'Delicious food, clean water, great house, great car, everything… I want it.'

Yet, reality was not so easy, even more so for an orphan and not-so-handsome boy like Joshua.

However, he persevered. He overcame many struggles, and finally… he reached a certain point where every part of his life would go for the better. He would have everything that he wanted. But life was cruel, and fate a miser. He got cancer at the peak of his life. It was suspected to be due to the working conditions inside the factory when he was a child. He didn’t know why it had only manifested now and not earlier. But it wouldn’t change a thing.

Joshua gritted his teeth as tears flowed out.

'Why? If they wanted to kill me, why not do it earlier? Why make me work so hard before taking it all away?'

The beeping noise of the monitor accelerated, and the sound of footsteps from doctors and nurses rushing towards him could be heard as Joshua raised his trembling hands up.

He didn’t want to die like this.

'It’s fine if fate throws me in the gutter. As long as I am alive, I can change anything I want. But if I die, even trying is no longer possible.'

‘Oh God, please, give me another chance!’

It was right at that moment, the peculiar egg-shaped item right next to him shined with a golden and purple glow. Joshua looked to the right in shock. It was an egg he bought from a mysterious peddler down the streets. He had a random urge to buy the egg as soon as he laid eyes on it, so he did, and he kept it on his side at all times.

'Why is it shin—?'

Before he could finish his thought, his consciousness flew away as the monitor lines went horizontally straight. His consciousness disappeared, and after what felt like both a short and long time, he felt the cool ground on his back, and his eyes shot open.

A rocky ceiling entered his sight, and he widened his eyes. He raised his body, looked around, and saw that he was wearing a loose black Chinese-styled robe layered together. It had intricate golden patterns adorned onto it, and overall it seemed luxurious if not for the many bloodstains and dirt covering it.

'I think this is called a hanfu… What is going on? Why the hell am I wearing this thing?'

Joshua blinked his eyes in confusion before a severe pain pierced his head. It felt as if a knife was stabbed into his brain and was rotated around inside.

Joshua crumbled down again onto the floor, clutching his head, before memories of Riyue flashed through his mind, from the earliest moment of consciousness to the wish of Riyue.

Soon, the pain went away, and Joshua, or rather Riyue, understood the situation. He was transmigrated into Riyue’s body due to the late Riyue's wish and the Divine Artifact that was exactly the same as the one Joshua had.

Meaning, this is the so-called transmigration to another world.

'To think that such a thing could really happen… But why was I the one called? Isn’t it supposed to call for an Ancestor?'

Riyue didn’t know for sure who his kin was, but he remembered buying the peculiar egg-shaped artifact on a whim, not from some family inheritance. Therefore, it was highly unlikely for him to be blood-related to the Zhang Family.

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'Perhaps the original Riyue mistook the abilities of the Divine Artifact, and the real usage is to perhaps call upon someone who has the artifact in another world… Well, it doesn’t matter. What is important is not how but the fact that I now have another chance.'

Riyue clenched and unclenched his fist. Though his body was exhausted, it was a healthy body devoid of any terminal illness. Gratitude and happiness filled his heart before he frowned.

'As thanks for giving me a healthy body, I intend to fulfill the wish of the original Riyue… But how the hell do I do that?'

It's one thing if he was transferred into a modern world. He could use his wit and knowledge to rise back up again. But this was a martial artist world. The original body doesn’t have any remarkable talent, and Joshua for sure wasn’t some kind of genius in martial arts.

Therefore, how exactly should he get stronger and take revenge? Joshua hasn’t fought once in his life apart from minor scuffles!

As he was thinking that, a mysterious sound popped into his mind with a resounding ding. In front of him, a translucent rectangular blue screen appeared as words formed inside it.

[Welcome, Apostle of the God of Sun and Moon.]

[This System shall help you on your journey. Would you like to start the System Integration and Body Reformation now?]

[Yes] [No]

Riyue’s eyes widened as he rubbed his eyes to confirm whether it was an illusion or not, and it turned out, it wasn’t an illusion. Riyue also tried to touch the translucent screen, but his hand just went through.

‘What the hell? Did I wind up in some kind of game instead of another world?’

In his confusion, Riyue clicked [Yes], and immediately after that, he felt pain in his entire body as if it was a piece of glass that had been shattered and each piece of skin was being pricked by thousands of needles. He didn’t even have the energy to scream as his body lifelessly fell again to the ground.

‘Fuckkk! Give me a break already!’

From the headache of before and the current pain, it felt as if he had gone through the worst pain of his life in just a few minutes. Yet, even as saliva unintentionally dropped out of his mouth and his body twitched in agony, he somehow endured the feeling of transformation and pain inside his body. After his pain receded, the blue screen flickered.

[The System Integration and Body Reformation has been done.]

[Please check your status screen for confirmation of your current abilities.]

With trembling hands, he supported his body as he stood up. His body still twitched from the pain of before, yet despite the lingering pain, his body felt far better than before. It was reinvigorated and even felt stronger than normal. He also felt that something had changed inside his body.

Riyue frowned before he punched the screen in front of him, yet his hand just passed through.

‘Damn it… Uh, check the status screen?’

The screen immediately changed after Riyue thought of the status screen word, which also made him flinch and step back.

Name: Zhang Riyue

Age: 20

Constitution: Sun and Moon Qi Attribute

Qi Stage: 1

Qi Purity: 73%

Qi Amount: 507/507 (recovery 3/minute), (Next Stage requires 2000).

Martial Arts and Mastery Gauge: None (Unlocked in the Training Room)

Training Room

‘Hahaha… Damn, this is crazy. It really is like a game.’

Riyue looked up and down through the system as he chuckled. Although he had not read many novels before, he did play a game or two and generally understood what this status window in front meant.

‘To think that Qi amount could be expressed numerically… It’s quite ridiculous. Is 2000 the general threshold for others to break through to Stage 2 as well? Or is it just for me? It’s probably the latter. I never heard of there being a certain amount of Qi that guarantees advancement to the next stage.’

Riyue, having the memory of the original Riyue, was able to know various things about the current world he was in as if he had lived here for 20 years.

‘Sun and Moon Qi Attribute… I have gotten quite an amazing thing.’

In this world, there are people born with special types of Qi that allow one to wield certain attributes starting from birth despite not being of a higher stage. Usually, the people with unique constitutions or powers were the people from the noble families, and amongst them, he had never heard about an attribute of Sun and Moon Qi.

‘Not to mention, it is a two-attributed Qi! Opposites as well. I have to test it out later.’

Riyue then looked around. He saw a small lake inside the cave he was in, with moonlight shining through the exposed ceiling. He walked towards it, crouched down, picked up some water with his hands, and splashed it on his face.

A lot of things had happened in a short period of time; therefore, he needed time to calm down. Riyue closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened them again. Reflected on the water’s surface was a handsome male with messy black hair that reached the back of his neck, blue eyes, with a mole underneath the right eye.

‘If I had this face in my past life, would I have been adopted by someone instead of being an orphan?’ Riyue chuckled before he splashed his face with water again. Water dripped from his face back to the lake as his eyes glowed with determination.

Though he would try his best to fulfill the wish of the original Riyue, that is not what he himself wanted to do. Ever since the past, he had worked hard to be special, to be at the top, not out of greed nor arrogance, but out of a pure desire of want and to see how far he could go.

And that innate desire of his wouldn’t change even in a different world. Riyue looked up at the sky with the moon shining amongst the stars.

‘Well, thinking about it, it is not so bad that I got dropped into this world. After all, I don’t have cancer here… Heh, martial arts, and Qi, this might be fun.’

Riyue then remembered a certain phrase that a certain main character of a novel he read had said. It was a cultivation novel. He mimicked that character and reached his right palm out towards the moon and clenched his fist as if engulfing it.

‘I shall reach for the heavens.’

Riyue then laughed, half out of embarrassment, half out of joy of having a second chance.