Henry opened his eyes slowly as he woke to the darkness of his hut and cursed loudly.

“Every fucking time, Its like the universe is a frat boy and I’m some gullible freshman.

Henry felt great, better than he had ever felt in this world. He could sense all the little bugs and critters scurrying around his hut. He could also feel all the scary ass presence in the forest that bordered his home.

When he had no cultivation he never paid the forest any mind. Now that he could, he desperately wanted to have a door in his hut.

His clothes were gone, melted it looked like judging by the puddle on the floor. It smelled awful in the hut. It had always smelled funky but now it smelt like rancid meat. Henry poked at the squishy mess on the ground and was shocked to find out that it was actually his flesh.

He was pretty sure that he had literally shed his old skin and flesh off, like a serpent.

“Goldy where the fuck are ya buddy?”

Henry had a bunch of questions that he wanted to ask his bro.

“Can’t talk too much Henry, that whole process took a lot more out of me than I expected. I have to rest and recover or else my spirit will collapse.”

Henry could feel the weariness coming from Henry, but he still needed some answers.

“You got this bro if. I'll peek in every now and again to make sure you don’t off yourself.”

“Really dude it's gonna be like that? Super weak”, Henry said, throwing his hands in the air.

“Sorry Henry, I can’t stay for much longer. Just go get that loot and watch out for the gold madness.”

“Oh one last thing, if they find out that you are from another world the Elders here will cut you open for parts.”

“What the fuck Goldy how you gonna end a conversation on that note.”

Henry knew that what Goldy had said was true though. In most of the novels that he had read transmigrators always ran the risk of getting snatched up by the local powers. Henry was not going to be a statistic.

As he sat in the dark of his hut he made a mental plan of attack on what to do.

First he had to have an explanation for why the old human punching bag Peng was now this radiant golden god Henry.

Second he needed to be a full fledged disciple, Henry knew that the sect was loaded and he needed that loot.

Third, he needed Goldy back. Henry needed his guidance on the pitfalls of the Thundering Shenlong Heart Mantra. He didn’t want to do something stupid and get himself killed. Again.

From there it's off to a life of power and riches.

Henry leaped up off his seated position and clapped his hands together.

“Time to get this crap off me.”

Henry remembered that there was a little lake about a mile away from here, and headed in that direction.

He ran with wild abandon, his ki circulated through his muscles giving him power that he had never felt before. In his past life the A.I. cultivation had also given him power but it felt hollow because it was not his own. Now though this power was all his it was linked to his very being.

Henry looked like a crazed animal as he did somersaults in the air before coming upon the lake.

This world was pristine untouched by the sludge and detritus of his original home. He was pretty sure the continents were just bigger. It was home to less people and less machines polluting the environment. Henry took a deep breath taking in the clean crisp air. This was his new home now.

Looking in the crystal clear waters illuminated by the light of the moon Henry beheld his new much sexier self.

Henry now stood 6’2 from his previous 5’10 height and it looked like he had added an extra thirty pounds of muscles. His once stringy black mop of hair was now long and luxuriant like a shampoo ad. His face was not dainty or refined, quite the opposite. His was rough and blockish thick brows and big lips. There was no refinement in his features.

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He liked this though, Peng was so frail and sickly that he had felt like an npc to Henry. His face now looked like a villain, a bandit, someone that if you saw down the road you would immediately turn around and go the other way.

His eye though, was something that was quite alluring. Golden irises shimmering every time Henry cultivated his ki.

“That’s pretty badass”, Henry said aloud.

Henry’s body was still covered in the dead flesh of Peng and the water looked so inviting.

“Cannonball!”

Henry jumped fifty feet in the air.

He would need to learn to control his ki better Henry thought apparently it was easily excitable. Henry mused on this face before hitting the water.

Henry knew the water should be cold but shockingly it wasn’t. The water felt great, his new body insulated him from the cold and his internal energy kept him from having hypothermia. Henry could see all the little fishes darting away from him as he bobbed about underwater. Henry felt at peace and thought about his next move.

He couldn’t just come back to the sect looking like he did announcing that he was Peng and he wanted to be a disciple. The cultivators would probably call him a demon and try to kill him on site. No, that wouldn’t be the right move. What to do? What to do? Henry knew there had to be a solution, this problem was just a speed bump. What would the protagonist in those novels he read do?

Inspiration hit Henry like a kick to the nuts. No one had given a shit about Peng. No one even knew who he was in the first place. The Dividing Heaven Sword Sect was lousy with serfs. Who would miss one chamber pot cleaner. An idea started to brew in Henry’s head.

Didn’t Peng live on the edges of a forest that was teeming with crazy dangerous spiritual beasts? Would it be so improbable that one of those beasts had wandered by and spotted Peng bleeding out from his injuries and thought “hey I’m hungry I think I’m gonna eat that idiot”.

That's right, a beast ate Peng and messed up his hut.

No, not just eat but devoured Peng and left no evidence other than wrecking his hut.

Henry was smiling to himself, if he had a long beard he would stroke it and throw it behind him.

That was a pretty bottled up reason for the disappearance of Peng the shit cleaner. Henry would go back to the hut after getting clean and paint a picture of beastial destruction. Then he would go to the entry town at the base of the sect lands and enter their disciple selection process as himself. No one would be the wiser.

Henry opened his mouth and laughed at his own brilliance, and promptly swallowed a lung full of water. Struggling to breath Henry flailed around like an idiot before finally breaking the surface of the lake. He coughed and wheezed, sometimes it felt like if the world didn’t want to kill him then he would help it.

Henry floated there for a second as he felt two little blimps of energy on the shore. His vision had improved dramatically as he spied two forms dashing at each other and heard the unmistakable sound of steel on steel.

Oh shit they were fighting. Henry was seeing his first duel at moonlight by a lake. He had to force himself to be quiet as he was shaking with excitement. He really was in a world like the novels that he had read as a kid.

These two didn’t feel very strong though. Henry could see the wisp of potential energy coming off their weapons and clothing but he could barely feel any ki coming from the two combatants. Their movements were stiff and looked like rote recitation as opposed to actual combat skill. Henry knew it in his core that these two had never actually killed anyone before. This was a play fight then but for what purpose?

Henry swam closer to them making sure his movements would not make even a ripple. As he neared closer to them Henry saw a third figure, a woman standing in between the two.

“Brother Yuan, Brother Dei please I beg the two of you to stop. Do not fight on this little sister's behalf.”

This was the woman standing in the middle, she would have been pretty if not for her hawkish nose.

“Sister Guan, let this Yuan Tai teach this dog a lesson for daring to chase after such a beauty as yourself.”

Henry chuckled silently, definite play fighting.

Yuan Tai upon closer inspection was a little fat. Who had ever heard of a fat cultivator Henry scoffed.

Yuan Tai wore a red robe that was two sizes too small. Pudgy cheeks and small eyes with a waxy parlor made him look almost like a melted candle.

“Shut your mouth piggy, tonight will be the night you will taste the blade of this young master of the Wang clan.”

This one had to be Dei Wang Henry mused impressed by his own mental fortitude.

Dei Wang wore a blue robe of also noticeable quality. Henry was sure of it now. 1These were rich boys trying to flex for a little piece of ass. Some things never seem to change.

Dei Wang could not be more different than Yuan Tai. Where Yuan was pudgy and short, Dei was rail thin and tall. He reminded Henry of a praying mantis with its sharp angles and long limbs.

Henry was almost to the shore now and these two idiots were still monologuing to each other. To be fair Henry loved this shit. It was like watching a T.V. adaptation of one of his novels. Henry could sit here all night but he had plans that had to be set in motion before the night was through.

Henry needed some clothes, he couldn’t just keep walking around all naked and shit. He also needed some moving around money. It was as if the Heavens smiled on Henry and delivered him this bounty.

He was going to rob these rich assholes.