"The Spiritual World? The Eastern Desolate Region, Qingcheng City in the Xia Nation?"
"What is this?"
Suddenly, Su Zhan's mind was flooded with unfamiliar memory fragments. He rubbed his throbbing forehead with a bewildered expression, gazing around in confusion.
He found himself in a room that appeared distinctly ancient, its furnishings and architecture speaking of a bygone era.
Despite feeling dizzy, Su Zhan forced himself to walk toward the ornate mirror positioned in the corner of the room.
Reflected in the polished surface was a young man who appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, with fair skin and a handsome face that could easily rival entertainment industry stars!
But whose face was this? It clearly wasn't his own!
Su Zhan recoiled in shock, touching his face as terror gripped him.
At that moment, the strange memory fragments fully integrated with his consciousness.
Finally, he understood what had transpired.
"Heaven above! I've transmigrated to another world!"
"Moreover, I've arrived in a cultivation world where one can grow stronger through training, soar through the skies, and achieve immortality!"
"I'm now in Qingcheng City, Liang Province of the Xia Nation!"
"My position is quite favorable! I'm the son of the Su Family, one of the Four Major Families in Qingcheng City!"
Amazing! I'm a young master of a wealthy clan!
Initially, Su Zhan felt surprised and excited. However, the next set of memories that surfaced temporarily dampened his enthusiasm.
While Su Zhan was indeed the son of a prestigious family, he was unfortunately notorious within his clan for his lack of talent.
His meridians were severely blocked, allowing him to absorb only a fraction of the spiritual energy from heaven and earth. After six years of cultivation, he had merely reached the fourth stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, while his peers in the Su Family had already achieved the sixth stage or higher!
The most talented geniuses had successfully opened all nine meridians!
The disparity was staggering!
If anyone else were in Su Zhan's position, they would surely feel despair.
However, Su Zhan's excitement only intensified.
As someone who frequently read cultivation novels like Battle Through the Heavens, he was intimately familiar with this type of situation.
This was exhilarating!
"According to the typical plot, a young woman should arrive to cancel my engagement, and then I'll speak those classic words: 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don't look down on a poor youth!' After that, an old master will emerge from within a mysterious ring and ask, 'Child, do you desire power?' And so forth. With the help of this golden finger, I'll marry beautiful women and rise to the pinnacle of life!"
Su Zhan chuckled as he examined his fingers.
Hmm, no mysterious ring containing ancient masters?
Perhaps the story hadn't reached that point yet?
After the engagement cancellation, maybe he would discover something like a powerful remnant soul hidden within a ring somewhere.
Su Zhan speculated silently and attempted to circulate the qi within his body.
Previously, Su Zhan had been a lazy person without direction in life, but now as a transmigrator, who knew if something beneficial had happened to his physique?
Perhaps it had, right?
After ten minutes of cultivation, Su Zhan ceased his efforts with a disappointed expression.
Compared to average talent standards, he could only absorb roughly ten percent of the available spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
And of that meager ten percent of spiritual energy, only ten percent could be refined into qi within his body.
In contrast, someone with average talent could convert at least thirty percent of available spiritual energy into qi. This meant that an average talent could achieve in one day of cultivation what would take Su Zhan thirty days to accomplish.
What was the purpose of his cultivation if he could only produce a fraction of what someone with average talent could achieve? If not for his father's position as the family patriarch and the abundant supply of precious medicinal resources, Su Zhan might never have reached the fourth stage of the Meridian Opening Realm in his lifetime.
Knock, knock!
Suddenly, a knocking sound echoed from outside his door.
"Come in..." Su Zhan began, but the door had already been opened before he finished speaking. He glared at the servant at the entrance with an displeased expression.
"Hey! I haven't finished speaking yet. Who gave you permission to open the door?" he demanded.
"I apologize, Young Master. I was in a hurry. The family head ordered me to summon you to the main hall. There are important guests who wish to meet you!" the servant replied. Although his tone carried a note of regret, there was an undertone of disrespect in his voice.
Upon hearing this, Su Zhan's eyes immediately lit up. Had the person come to cancel the engagement? Although he didn't recall any engagement agreement, following typical plot progression, such an arrangement might have been made by the previous generation, making it reasonable that he wouldn't know about it.
Su Zhan then asked the servant with curiosity, "What's the matter?"
The servant chuckled with an odd tone as he replied, "In three days, Young Master will celebrate his birthday. Therefore, the three major families have sent Qi Sea Realm experts to celebrate your birthday early!"
In this world, one had to open nine meridian channels before they could condense spiritual energy to become a Qi Sea Realm expert.
A Qi Sea Realm expert could be considered a significant figure in Qingcheng City. The relationship between the Su family and the three major families had always been complex, so why would they send Qi Sea Realm experts merely to celebrate a junior's birthday from the Su family? And why three days before his actual birthday?
Hmm, something was clearly suspicious...
Su Zhan furrowed his brows, realizing that it wasn't a woman coming to cancel an engagement, but rather a new problem entirely.
"Young Master, are you afraid?" Seeing Su Zhan's tense expression, the servant immediately sneered. "With trash talent like yours, how can you compete with the geniuses from the three major families? Even if you had consumed the Spiritual Lotus, with such worthless talent, you wouldn't be able to digest it at all!"
Upon hearing this, Su Zhan immediately understood the root of the problem.
Oh, so that's the issue!
About three days ago, the four major families in Qingcheng City had journeyed together to the remote mountains to pay respects to the mountain god. Deep within the mountains, a lotus flower had begun emanating spiritual radiance, casting thousands of brilliant rays. This immediately caused the four prominent families to fight over the treasure.
However, the lotus suddenly fled in panic toward Su Zhan. Without hesitation, Su Zhan had consumed it. Unfortunately, the medicinal potency contained within was too overwhelming for his body to handle, causing severe damage to his internal organs and meridians. Shortly afterward, he had fainted and died several days later, only to be replaced by the current Su Zhan.
The three major families were understandably furious about the incident, and today they had come to verify whether Su Zhan was still alive and to demand compensation from the Su family.
Heavenly treasures were wondrous things that only the fortunate could obtain.
What right did trash like Su Zhan have to consume the lotus before their very eyes? It was only because he was protected by the Su family patriarch at the time that they couldn't act against him.
If Su Zhan couldn't digest the power of the treasure he had consumed, it would represent a complete waste of precious resources, and the three prominent families could use this as justification to pressure the Su family.
...
"What right do you have as a mere servant to question my talent?" Su Zhan said with authority.
Su Zhan certainly recognized this servant—he belonged to Su Heng, Su Zhan's younger brother who was also the most brilliant genius currently cultivated by the Su family.
Being directly reprimanded, the servant naturally felt angry, but he quickly composed himself and answered in a subdued voice, "Very well, I understand. Please forgive my insolence."
Although he frequently looked down upon Su Zhan, he certainly didn't dare to directly confront him due to his noble status. As a servant, challenging Su Zhan directly would be tantamount to seeking death.
"Young Master, let's depart. The representatives from the three prominent families are waiting for you." After saying this, the servant immediately left with a cold expression.
Hmph, let's see how long you can maintain this arrogant facade. Soon the people from the three prominent families will come seeking trouble. Let's see if you can still act so high and mighty then!
"Ding! Congratulations, Host! The Protagonist's Halo System has been activated!"
As Su Zhan was about to rise and prepare to leave, a mechanical voice suddenly resonated in his mind.
Immediately, a translucent interface materialized before him, displaying various protagonist aura classifications.
"System! Finally, you've arrived! If you hadn't come, I would have been in despair!" Su Zhan exclaimed with joy in his heart as he examined the projected screen.
"Protagonist's Cultivation Halo, Protagonist's Charisma Halo, Protagonist's Romance Halo..."
After studying it for a minute, he felt somewhat perplexed.
"System, can you tell me exactly how many protagonist halos I possess?" Su Zhan inquired.
"Ding! The host possesses one hundred trillion protagonist halos!" the system announced proudly.