Tianyuan Domain.

Outer Sect of the Infinite Sanctuary.

“Can’t believe I really ended up inside ‘Martial Sky Dominion’...”

In the small wooden cabin, Ethan Morrison sat up on the bed, face full of helplessness.

He hadn’t expected to cross over like this.

With a long sigh, frustration seeped through his chest—but more than that, relief.

Back on Earth, he remembered it clearly.

He was just walking across a crosswalk, minding his own damn business, when a cement truck came barreling down the street, driven by some guy in a frilly Lolita dress.

That thing hit him like a cannonball. Flew over ten meters. No way anyone could survive that.

If crossing over hadn’t happened, he figured he’d already be reporting to the King of Hell by now.

“Damn truck driver...” Ethan clenched his teeth. “At least it got the job done. Lucky I died fast.”

“Better than being a half-dead vegetable... that’d be worse for my family than for me.”

He exhaled, trying to comfort himself. There were fates more cruel than death.

But then the bitterness crept back in.

“What pisses me off is—why the hell did I get dropped in a damn novel?”

His mouth twitched.

Yeah. Most folks who crossed over ended up in alternate worlds or ancient dynasties.

But not him.

He landed right inside a damn webnovel.

And not just any novel—one he’d devoured back in middle school. Every second he could spare, he’d spent reading that thing.

Martial Sky Dominion.

In those days—ten years ago—there was no TikTok, no mobile games.

Any kid lucky enough to have a phone used it one way: reading novels under the desk, at lunch, on the toilet, even while fake-showering.

And Martial Sky Dominion was his all-time favorite.

The story? Classic.

Three thousand major realms, a hundred thousand minor ones. The main character started dirt poor, backed by a mysterious old man with a golden finger cheat. Climbed all the way to the top, crushed every rival, became the strongest in history.

But that wasn’t what kept Ethan hooked.

What got him was the harem.

Dozens of impossibly gorgeous women fell for the guy. Every one of them drop-dead beautiful, the kind poets die writing about.

And back then? Censorship was a lot more forgiving. He and his “brother” cried manly tears reading those romantic bits. Right now? Good luck finding webnovels with that much fire.

Still—Ethan ground his teeth—why’d he have to become this guy?

Why not cross into one of those villain princes from the main arc instead?

He remembered how Lucas Warren, the protagonist, stepped on countless genius heirs along his journey.

Each one of those “villains” had the potential to become legends in their own right.

And yet here he was…

Stuck in the role of a background nobody in Tianyuan Domain—a speck in the hundred-thousand minor worlds.

Fate really did him dirty.He ranked among the top hundred,

while the Ethan Morrison he’d become was just an outer disciple of Harmon Sanctuary.

Sure, even though he held that title,

his talent was average at best.

But his true identity? Far from ordinary.

Among the top ten realms of the Three Thousand Worlds,

he was the son of the Divine Maiden from the Futuo Clan.

The Futuo Clan alone controlled a top-ten world,

a terrifyingly powerful force.

With that kind of background,

Ethan should've grown up in luxury, revered by countless people.

But fate had other plans—

he was born to the Divine Maiden and a mere mortal.

And within the Futuo Clan, where bloodline meant everything,

such impurity was seen as an utter disgrace.

They considered Ethan a stain on their name,

someone best erased.

Even though his mother was the Divine Maiden, no matter how strong she was,

she couldn’t take on the entire clan.

So to protect her son,

she made a deal.

She left baby Ethan in the Tianyuan Domain,

and returned willingly to the clan to face punishment.

That was his identity.

Impressive, yet tragic.

He wasn’t meant to be anything more than a throwaway character.

A stepping stone in someone else’s story.

His whole purpose in the original novel

was to help the male lead pick up girls.

Three stunning heroines, all supposed to be his,

ended up with Lucas Warren instead.

Two of them only fell for him because Lucas impersonated Ethan.

He was the most pitiful supporting role ever.

Just thinking about it made Ethan’s face twitch.

He felt like a green glow was sprouting from his head—

and it was getting stronger.

Suddenly—

Cough!

Blood sprayed from his mouth.

His body slumped onto the bed, completely out of his control.

The moment he crossed over,

his mind had been flooded with memories.

He’d gotten lost in them.

But as the transfer ended,

pain snapped him back to reality.

Now he truly felt it—

his insides were wrecked, organs torn up.

Even moving a finger was brutal.

He looked deathly pale, like he wouldn’t last the hour.

“Seriously? Just got here, and I’m dying already?”

The pain dragged a bitter smile from him.

Once the memories settled,

he understood exactly how he’d gotten this way.

Beaten by some other outer disciple from Harmon Sanctuary.

Killed off in his very first scene.

He remembered clearly—

according to the book, Lucas Warren should’ve arrived in the Tianyuan Domain by now,

and Ethan’s death was what kicked off his romantic conquests.

Realizing this,

Ethan felt an icy stab of misery.

Who wants to die just so someone else can score girls?

Who signs up to be the expendable pawn?

As despair gripped him,

a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

“Ding! Congratulations, Host. Alteration System has successfully loaded!”

“Binding in progress...”

A system!?Ethan Morrison’s heart skipped a beat.

As a transmigrator, he knew damn well what a system was.

And just like that, hope lit up in his eyes.

If he’d really awakened a system... maybe he didn’t have to die. Maybe—just maybe—he could climb to the peak of martial cultivation, live forever in this world.

“Ding! Rewrite System successfully bound!”

“Rewrite System?”

Still immersed in the thrill of getting a system, Ethan suddenly realized the name didn’t sound quite right.

“System,” he asked quickly, “what exactly does it do?”

“Ding. This is the Rewrite System,” the mechanical voice answered in his head. “When the host rewrites…”

As the explanation unfolded, Ethan’s face grew darker by the second.

In short, as long as he altered events from the world’s original plot, he’d receive a reward.

The rewards were randomized.

But there was a catch—the changes had to affect Lucas Warren, the main protagonist of this world.

The bigger the impact on Lucas, the better the reward. At least, that was the theory.

Messing with a minor event might earn a top-tier reward. Stirring up something huge? Maybe just a piece of crap.

“I'm lying in bed right now. How the hell am I supposed to rewrite anything?”

Ethan couldn’t help but curse in his head. His expression sank even further. He looked like a man already halfway in the grave.

And then—

“Ding! Congratulations, host has successfully altered the storyline.”

“You’ve received: ‘Xuanqing Wood Spirit Core’!”

Right after the prompt, Ethan felt something appear in the system space—a fist-sized object, pulsing like a living heart, wrapped in a faint azure mist. A divine aura clung to it.

“Wait... I already changed the plot?”

“Xuanqing Wood Spirit Core?” he muttered, stunned.

It was a treasure of heaven and earth.

Its description was simple—if you still had a breath left, consuming it would heal you completely. Even better, it would skyrocket your comprehension.

Any martial art, any cultivation method, no matter how deep or complex... once you had the core inside you, enlightenment came as easy as eating and drinking. Others spent their whole lives chasing insight—whoever took this core dealt with insight like it was breakfast.

Ethan’s face lit up. Even his deathlike pallor began to fade, a rush of color returning.

But that wasn’t the best part.

The core could boost comprehension so much that even a total nobody could turn into a martial genius overnight.

And in this world, nothing mattered more than talent in martial arts.

Even the lowest of the low, if talented enough, could catch the eye of some elder from a sacred land and turn their life around.Taken in as a disciple and rose to the top overnight.

Ethan Morrison, though a Sacred Land disciple too, had little talent in martial arts. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have ended up beaten half to death by other outer sect members.

“I messed with the plot… could be tied to me crossing over,” he muttered to himself, calming his racing heart.

If he hadn’t come to this world, the original Ethan would’ve been dead by now. Because he crossed over, the plot shifted, and the system rewarded him for that.

Lucky for him. Without that reward, he’d be waiting to die on that bed right now.

Thinking about it made him a little speechless. Crossed over, and first thing that happens—almost dies. Among all transmigrators, he might just be the unluckiest.

“System, absorb the Xuanqing Wood Spirit Core.”

He took a few deep breaths, readied himself, and spoke in his mind.

Buzz—

The moment he said it, a surge of pure energy exploded in his abdomen. It split into countless threads and shot through his limbs and entire body.

A deep, indescribable comfort spread through him. Every cell in his body soaked in that power like starving beasts.

He felt it clearly—his shattered bones, damaged organs… they were all healing fast under this energy’s wash.

After circulating through his body, the energy rushed straight into his brain.

“Hiss…”

Ethan let out a low moan. Too damn satisfying.

He’d never felt anything like this, not even in his last life. Pure bliss surged through his mind as if his brain was undergoing some unknown transformation.

Outside, his body lay wrapped in a glowing blue-green light. Even in the dim room, it shone brilliantly.

Roughly an hour passed before Ethan fully absorbed the Xuanqing Wood Spirit Core.

He slowly sat up, checked his body—and grinned.

“All healed.”

He couldn’t hide the joy in his heart. The pale color on his face had faded. Every injury in his body was gone without a trace.

But what shocked him most—his cultivation had jumped. From the third level of Spirit Origin Realm straight to the fifth level of Profound Core Realm.

Early realms: Body Tempering, Qi Condensing, Spirit Sea, Spirit Origin, Profound Core, Divine Art, Soul Palace, Lord, Royal, Immortal, Transcendence—each realm has nine levels

Advanced realms: False Saint, Saint, True Saint, Grand Saint, Saint King, Saint Sovereign, Dao Forging, Great Dao, Supreme, Quasi-Emperor, Emperor!

That leap crossed more than a major stage.

“The original me trained for years and only reached Spirit Origin Level Three…”

“Now just one core, and I’m already at Profound Core Level Five.”

He murmured to himself, feeling the strength roaring within. Deep down, he couldn’t help but feel a little in awe.