Looking up, Lin Yang saw a frozen and pale as paper elder Hao Feng. Perhaps the elder was wondering how he'd sent Lin Yang flying almost two whole meters with a simple palm strike. He'd probably only meant to shut him up.

“By the heavens! Did you just kill young master Lin Yang, elder Hao?!” one of the two women guarding the ancestral hall cried. Even Ye Xian, who hated Lin Yang quite a bit, seemed to be panicking.

The doors started to slowly slide back into their original positions.

“He is not dead!” Hao Feng yelled. “I merely meant to apprehend him, not send him flying! Quick, let me get him out before—”

“You'd best not add anymore crimes to your list, elder Hao,” the girl warned. Only the matriarch was allowed inside the shrine. Even Lin Yang might be punished for inadvertently flying into the hall.

The doors finally met with a wooden click. Lin Yang got up from the floor, bent forward, and coughed blood. His ribs were smarting.

He could still hear elder Hao trying to reason his way into entering the chamber. The elder could probably force his way in, given the guards were barely late initiate level practitioners while he was a peak elite martial artist.

He turned around and stared into the gloom of the chamber. The only source of light seemed to be the beacon given him by the system. And it didn't allow him to see anything except whatever contained the system shard. He bumbled his way forward, and luckily he didn't bump into anything.

By the time he reached it, his eyes were getting accustomed to the semi-darkness. He saw that the beacon was on a jade statue. A life-sized statue of an exaggeratedly beautiful woman in very skimpy attire. It made sense for a legendary figure of a sect whose whole philosophy was based on carnal pleasure.

He touched the jade sculpture, and a light appeared in it. He absorbed it. It literally flowed into his hands. And the jade sculpture shattered. It happened so fast he didn't have the time to react before notifications came pouring in.

Your realm walker System has reached the second level. Realm travel function unlocked.

Do you want to travel to another realm? Y/N?

He chose affirmative, because currently he didn't know what was happening outside this very chamber.

Searching! Searching! Searching!

The random realm finder has found Longtian realm!

Cost: 4 ripple points. Do you want to travel to Longtian realm? Y/N?

He could barely afford it, so he did. It was the first time he used this system function, and he was very excited about what he might learn.

And then, in a parallel to what happened on the first day he came into this world, Lin Yang found his consciousness floating around. He didn't have a body. He could see and hear and smell everything in the room, but he couldn't touch or manipulate them at all.

“The Lin family has gone too far!” a young man wearing a straw hat said. “Ji Ruoxue is my, Wang Wei's, woman!”

The young man stood at the entrance to the hall, a rusty sword sheathed on his back, his clothes worn from days of travel. His face, unremarkable as it was, was filled with righteous indignation and fury. Two guards in uniform blocked his path.

“Little bastard,” an old man on a raised dais shouted. “Ji Ruoxue was engaged to my son even before she was born!”

“But I told you I didn't want to marry a waste like Lin Yang,” a red hooded woman cried.

And next to her, a man who looked exactly like Lin Yang cringed at her shout. He looked heartbroken.

“See, everyone?” Wang Wei said, addressing the contingent of guests in the room. “They are forcing my woman into an unhappy marriage. Why do we need these kinds of people in our society? We are all equal. All our blood runs red. To hell with the blue bloods! Tell me, is this Wang wrong?”

“Wang Wei, you better know your place!” one guest shouted. He seemed to be in a seat of honor. Perhaps the bride's father. “You are just a carpenter's son. Can you compare to the young city lord?!”

“Father, you are making a mistake,” the bride cried again. “Don't look down on my brother Wang!”

“The Lin family,” Wang Wei declared. “Back then you chased me out of the city. I promised you, three years East of the river, three years West of the river. I warned you that one day our circumstances would be reversed. Are you ready?”

“What is this Wang Wei thinking?” one of the guests asked loudly. “Does he not know of the famous Buddha's palm of the Lin family? It is said that it can block the meridians and stop internal power circulation.”

“Take my sword!” Wang Wei screamed, before summarily unsheathing his sword and cutting down the two guards in front of him. He charged toward the groom.

But the old man on the dais, supposedly this Lin Yang's father, hurried to intercept the move. The two men clashed, and Wang Wei was sent flying back.

The groom, his eyes wide from fear, fell bonelessly to his knees.

And that was when Lin Yang went through the process of being sucked into another body. Again.

“Yang’er!” a voice screamed, almost causing his ears to pop.

“It's fine, it's fine! I'm fine,” he hurried to reassure the old man, though he was still trying to gain his balance. Was this groom dear just like that?

“That's good,” his father said.

“So this is all you learned from it?” Wang Wei said from where he was getting to his feet. “As expected, it's such a waste. I will return to eradicate the Lin family in one month!”

Lin Yang - only now getting to his feet - and his father watched Wang Wei hobble his way out.

Soul transfer complete.

Quest obtained: Defeat Wang Wei and save the Lin family in one month; and return to the main world with all the power you've collected, otherwise you'll return with nothing.

And that was when the memories of yet another life of twenty odd summers slammed into his head. He was the only son of a modestly rich family in a modest world.

The Lin family had been city lords in Guzong for generations. Him and the woman next to him had been promised to each other before birth. She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, a prominent member of the local merchant's guild.

But when she grew up, she fell in love with Wang Wei. The Lin family couldn't allow that though, could they? So they tried to deal with Wang Wei.

But he ran off and ended up getting lost in some ancient ruin. He went on a few adventures and found opportunities left and right. It hadn't even been a year, but there were stories going around of how Wang Wei had defeated this famous master and that one. Which was why they tried to have the marriage as soon as possible.

But that was not a problem. From the attack, Lin Yang guessed this Wang Wei wasn't much stronger than a first layer initiate realm martial artist from the main world. Besides, he had his father who was highly regarded and—

His father bent over suddenly and vomited a dark red tangy substance. Lin Yang took a step back in horror. There was a moment when he couldn't breathe, because his father was bent down and coughing blood. The hall erupted in murmurs.

But Lin Yang fought through most of the unrestrained emotions. Emotions that couldn't have been his. In truth, all he truly felt was a bit of trepidation.

Did he have to fight a sword wielder without any martial arts? Even though they were at similar power levels, that was just… And Lin Yang actually felt a little weaker than before the transfer.

Lin Yang worked with a few guards to assist his father out of the town hall and into the sedan that was meant for him and his bride. He didn't even care to invite the woman to go with him. Heck, he didn't care if she went with the man she loved.

Thinking about it, this was the second time he replaced someone who died because of a feud over a woman. It was a strange reason to die. He didn't think it was worth it, but what did he know?

There was something strange he’d felt since he entered this body though. He felt weak. As weak as he'd felt the day before. Before he learned the fight and flight technique and took his first step into cultivation.

He checked his status.

Character: Lin Yang (soul traversal state)

Realm walker System level: 2

Realm: N/A

Skills: fight and flight(level cap exceeded) skills belonging to the main body cannot be used in soul traversal state.

System functions: skill upgrade, realm travel, ??

The skill was greyed out, and apparently his realm had regressed. So he didn't have his skills from the main world when he crossed over? In a way though, that made sense. This new body of his was not suited to martial arts yet, unlike his main world body which had been practicing for a long time and was in good shape.

It seemed for his first world travel experience, the realm walker system had brought him to a lower world? The world he was from was now the main world, and this was the first minor world he visited.

“I guess I have to practice and make this body worthy. Although it's just a theory, it makes sense, right? But one month isn't enough to get this weak body in shape. Maybe the next realm I visit?”

“What?” his father wheezed from next to him, reminding him that he was not alone in the sedan.

“Nothing, father. Let's get you home and let you rest a while.”

It was just a theory for now, but having a one month deadline made it very untenable to train this body up.

He had to depend on the old man. Either way, once the old man died, it would be game over.

When they returned to the estate, Lin Yang had the guards return his father to his room while he himself went to his own room to change clothes. After that, his next step was the study room.

Back at the Hehuan sect, he needed contribution points to access the martial arts manuals on the higher floors of the pavilion. In this minor world he was from a rich family, and he could naturally learn all the martial arts here. This world, from observation only, seemed weaker in general, compared to the main world. Still, if he could upgrade skills past the maximum level, even weak skills would allow him to sweep through the Hehuan sect and dominate them upon his return.

Except these martial arts manuals were written in a strange script Lin Yang couldn't decipher. He checked about ten books over two hours. Only then did he give up.

He had never had trouble reading anything in the main world, even though they didn't write like the people of Earth did. It was puzzling.

At least until he found a book he could read.

It was a romance novel, of all things. A new theory formed. If he got his host's memories, then perhaps he also got their knowledge of language. He could only read something his host could.

The Lin Yang from the main world was a very literate, very hardworking person, while this new body of his belonged to a slacker. He looked at the martial arts manuals in the room with an unwilling grimace.

But then he sighed. He still had his father, right? Once the man healed, Lin Yang could ask him for instructions on that secret technique of his. It seemed like it would be impressive even in the main world. Especially after it broke through its level limit.

He was on his way to his father's room when he noticed the gates to the manor were crowded. At the front of what looked dangerously close to a riot was a familiar man: his father-in-law. And most of the people around him must belong to his merchant's guild. These people had obtained massive benefits from the proposed marriage alliance between him and Ji Ruoxue.

Ripple points obtained (greed): 0.1 (Ji Hongyuan)

Ripple points obtained…

Lin Yang smiled a little, but there was no humour in it. It was all malice.

He pushed the double doors wide open once he arrived, only to find someone he hadn't expected at all.

“Ruoxue? What are you doing here?” he asked.

Ripple points obtained (hatred): 0.1 (Ji Ruoxue)

Ripple points obtained (hatred): 0.1 (Ji Ruoxue)

“He is my father-in-law. Is it surprising for me to care for him at a time like this?!”

“But I thought you would be with your brother Wang by now. Isn't he injured as well?”

And scanning the room, Lin Yang noticed a few unusual clues. First, his father was deep asleep by now. And the room, which was always meticulously organized according to his inherited memories, now looked like it had been the site of a chicken fight.