Yang Haoxuan wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt as heavy as if weighed down by a thousand pounds. His head was throbbing with pain, and gradually, he felt an icy chill all over his body, soaked in cold sweat, instilling a sense of hopeless fear in him. Despite his efforts, his eyes remained shut, leaving him with only the sensation of lying on the ground, cold and uncomfortable.

"What's happening to me? Am I dying?" Yang Haoxuan grew increasingly panicked. Suddenly, a flood of memories surged into his mind, intensifying his headache as if his head was about to burst.

"Uh…" The pain was unbearable, and Yang Haoxuan let out a weak moan.

"Yang Haoxuan! Young Master Yang!" At that moment, a series of shouts, mixed with the rustling of grass and leaves, came from a distance. The voices sounded impatient, resentful, and even hateful.

"Are they calling me?" Yang Haoxuan wondered, feeling a sense of unfamiliarity. "Why do they sound so strange to me?"

Regardless, his instinct was to cry for help, but he lay there like a dying man, unable to speak, growing colder, and feeling blood oozing from his waist.

"Found him, Yang Peng, over here!" Fortunately, a woman's voice reached his ears.

"Really?" A man's voice responded, but Yang Haoxuan sensed an annoyance in his tone. For some reason, he also felt a strong dislike for this man.

Quickly, the woman knelt beside him, her faint fragrance comforting him as she examined his body.

"He's been attacked by wolves. It seems our shouting scared them off!" the woman's voice said, followed by the sound of her rummaging for something. "Luckily, I brought healing medicine!"

"Wait!" The man's voice intervened with hesitation, then continued, "Let's not bother with him. Let's go."

Yang Haoxuan's heart trembled. "No, don't leave me," he thought, but only managed to move his lips.

"How can we do that?" The woman immediately refused.

"Ruo Lan! It's for our own good! We've been childhood sweethearts, but Yang Haoxuan, relying on his father's position as clan leader, did such things to you and even engaged you to him! Besides, he's now a crippled waste with a shattered Dantian. If we save him, you'll regret it. On the other hand, if we don't... if no one finds him, everything will be fine. We can be together!" The man's words were filled with spite and no remorse.

"This…" Yang Haoxuan's heart sank as the woman hesitated, filling him with unease.

"Don't hesitate! If others find him, we'll lose this chance. He wandered off on his own; it won't be our fault." The man urged. "Do you want to marry a waste and be ridiculed?"

In the darkness, Yang Haoxuan could see nothing, but he felt the woman stand up abruptly. His fears were soon realized.

"Okay, let's go," the woman's voice trembled, reflecting her internal turmoil.

The man, overjoyed, grabbed the woman's hand and they both ran away.

"Don't go..." Yang Haoxuan finally managed to speak weakly, but they were long gone. Reluctantly closing his eyes, he fainted again.

...

After an unknown amount of time, Yang Haoxuan woke up again, still feeling weak and lying on the cold ground. This time, however, he could move. He opened his eyes, blurry at first, then gradually clearer. Without much thought about his surroundings, he checked his body.

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His movements were feeble, and as he moved his left hand, he felt something strange - a small, round object. It was a black pill, which he recognized as the healing medicine mentioned by the woman earlier. Without hesitation, he put it in his mouth, and it melted instantly, turning into a warm flow that spread throughout his body.

Instantly, he felt revitalized, as if he had taken a miraculous elixir, his body slowly regaining strength.

"This is incredible! Modern medicine hasn't advanced to this level yet, has it?" Yang Haoxuan marveled, then surveyed his surroundings. As he suspected, he was lying on the ground in a forest, under the tall trees that blocked most of the sunlight.

"How did I end up here?" He recalled being at home playing online games.

Then it hit him.

The fragments of memory he had just recalled were rearranged in his improving condition. Moments later, Yang Haoxuan's expression changed dramatically.

"No way! Did I travel to another world?" he shouted in disbelief and frustration. At that moment, he felt much better and was able to sit up. Looking down, he saw his robe stained with blood. It seemed he had been bitten at the waist, but fortunately, the wound had clotted.

Yang Haoxuan then remembered the concept of crossing into another world, something he was quite familiar with and had always longed for as a homebody. He quickly reviewed the memories in his mind.

As he had thought, he was in a world where the strong ruled. The continent was named Tianhe, with a legendary river in the heavens. Crossing it was said to grant immortality.

This was why many practiced martial arts. As for who Yang Haoxuan was now...

Yang Haoxuan... this unfortunate guy shared his name. Recalling his life story, he felt shocked and angry.

Strictly speaking, the previous Yang Haoxuan was a prodigal son, and a particularly excessive one. In his past life, he would have despised such rich or official second generations.

Bullying the weak, abducting women...

Such deeds, abhorrent to gods and men, made Yang Haoxuan wonder how this guy had not yet died in a fit of public rage.

He owed his survival to his father.

He was from the Dayan Dynasty, his family one of the four great families of the dynasty. His father was a powerful figure who doted on him, allowing him to live till now.

"Thank goodness my father's name isn't Li Gang, or this would be too much of a joke!" Yang Haoxuan thought bitterly.

Suddenly, he remembered the couple who had abandoned him and wanted to know who they were. He recalled their voices and soon found the answer in his memory.

The woman was Yang Ruolan, a common disciple of the Yang family, chosen by the beast because of her beauty. To settle the matter, the family had betrothed her to him. The man was also a family disciple, Ruolan's childhood sweetheart, who hated Yang Haoxuan deeply after the incident.

No wonder the couple reacted as they did!

Of course, Yang Haoxuan had faced his karma. Once, during an assault, a passing strongman saw him and, displeased, shattered his Dantian.

Reduced to a martial arts waste, he remained arrogant under his father's protection.

"Damn it! Villain, waste! You're too kind to me!" Yang Haoxuan roared in frustration, then stood up. He felt weak but could walk.

He found his battle knife nearby and used it as a walking stick.

...

Walking on, Yang Haoxuan realized a problem, not because he was lost, but because of his memory. He knew this mountain range well, which was why he was afraid.

It was evening, and once it got completely dark, the Dayan Mountain Range would become several times more dangerous than during the day.

"Crap!" He cursed, hurrying his steps.

However, his weakened body betrayed him. He hadn't left the forest before night fell, and the howling of beasts made his scalp tingle.

"Swoosh!" Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes nearby. Alert, Yang Haoxuan saw the bushes shaking as if something had touched them.

"Gulp!" He swallowed nervously, his past life as a homebody making him feel out of place in this situation. He carefully peered through the bushes and saw a pair of glowing eyes staring back at him. It was a wolf!

"No way! I can't outrun it in my current state!" Yang Haoxuan realized he couldn't escape. He looked at his battle knife, his imagination fueled by scenarios he had thought up while gaming at home.

But when he saw the wolf, its sharp teeth, claws, and large body poised to pounce, he was terrified.

"I was wrong! Until next time!" Without fighting, Yang Haoxuan muttered to himself and ran.

But the wolf quickly closed the distance, and Yang Haoxuan could smell its foul breath. His legs gave out, and he fell to the ground. The wolf, seeing this, pounced.

In a panic, Yang Haoxuan closed his eyes and thrust his knife upward.

To his surprise...

"Thud!" The wolf landed right on the knife, impaling itself through the neck.

Silence fell.

"No way?!" After a moment, Yang Haoxuan pushed the body aside and exclaimed, "Lucky break for a traveler!"

Then, a strange voice echoed in his mind.

"Congratulations, player leveled up to level 2. Health and mana increased by half. Physical attributes randomly increased by up to 50 points. Five attribute points to allocate. One skill point learned."