Chapter 1

Yu Nation.

Changyang Prefecture, Qinghe City.

…

“Little Su, Little Su, wake up. It’s time to work.”

Su Jingxing, who was groggy from sleep, heard the call. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and looked at the big-faced young man beside the bed.

“Already?” he answered subconsciously.

“Yes, there’s 15 minutes before our shift starts. Hurry up and go freshen up,” said the big-faced young man.

With that said, he gave a funny look and smiled oddly. “Speaking of which, who’s ‘Wanrong’? Even in your dreams, you were calling out her name. She must be quite the looker, huh?”

“…You were hearing things,” said Su Jingxing, yawning as he got out of bed.

“You can continue talking nonsense while I’ll go wash up.”

“Haha, getting shy?”

Looking pleased, the big-faced youth continued his teasing. “There’s nothing to be shy about. I’ve been there before, the age where you start feeling things towards girls. It’s normal to fall for pretty girls. There’s no need to feel embarrassed about it, heh.”

“…”

Su Jingxing ignored him.

He put on his clothes and walked into the bathroom.

As he peed, he sighed faintly.

How he wished it was a pretty girl!

Unfortunately, Wanrong…

Or rather, it was Wan Rong!

Not only was Wan Rong not a girl, he was his enemy.

Well, to be precise, the enemy of the original Su Jingxing!

That’s right, Su Jingxing had transmigrated.

His soul had traveled from Earth to a planet known as “Earth Star” and occupied the body of Su Jingxing, who had just died.

Earth Star had its own technology, but unlike Earth, martial arts was everything here.

Powerful martial artists could single-handedly split mountains and part rivers, or even annihilate cities and nations.

Of course, this had nothing to do with the original Su Jingxing.

The original Su Jingxing was just an orphan who grew up in an orphanage.

Three months ago, he turned fifteen—the age required to leave the orphanage—and left for the streets to make a living through manual labor.

His goal was to rent a place of his own—a small house he could call home.

The original Su Jingxing lived frugally and worked hard.

As a result of over-exhaustion, he once fainted on the street while returning from work.

Fortunately, the owner of a small grocery store—Boss Wang—saved him in time.

Boss Wang was a good man; after learning about the original Su Jingxing’s situation, he introduced him to a crematorium where few people were willing to stay. There, he was offered the job of a corpse collector, and began moving corpses around all day long.

Although the job required him to deal with corpses, it provided food and accommodation, as well as a monthly salary of a thousand Great Yu coins. The original Su Jingxing was very satisfied.

Three days ago, after receiving his first month’s pay, he excitedly bought a bunch of delicious food on the way back as a present for Boss Wang.

When he reached Boss Wang’s store, he discovered to his surprise that a new owner had taken over.

He inquired about the previous owner’s whereabouts—and learned that Boss Wang had been killed.

Not only was Boss Wang killed, but his wife and daughter as well.

The one who murdered them was a martial artist named Wan Rong!

The original Su Jingxing was taken aback.

When he got back to the crematorium, he was in a stupor.

As a result, while he was moving a corpse up the stairs, he missed his footing and fell. Death came swiftly when his head hit the ground, and that was when Su Jingxing transmigrated into his body and assumed control.

Even though he died, his obsession did not dissipate.

Kill Wan Rong and avenge Boss Wang!

That was the obsession of the original Su Jingxing.

A favor of a drop of water ought to be repaid with a gushing spring.

The kindness that Boss Wang had shown was enough reason for the original Su Jingxing to pledge vengeance.

But this had nothing to do with Su Jingxing!

Wan Rong was a martial artist; what could an ordinary person like Su Jingxing do to him?

Helplessness was all he could feel.

Yet, there wasn’t anything he could do, so Su Jingxing chose to go with the flow.

As a newcomer, he hadn’t fully adapted to the situation yet.

The original Su Jingxing was happy with being a corpse collector, but not current Su Jingxing.

On Earth Star, the crematorium had very important functions, and its workers worked shifts all day and night to keep it operating.

When Su Jingxing woke up, it was still dark outside. It was three in the morning, but he had to go to the morgue to move corpses. Just thinking about it made his hair stand on end.

But he had no other choices.

The crematorium had strict rules, and Su Jingxing had already rested in the dormitory for two days, giving the excuse that he had a headache. If he continued to not show up at work, he would definitely get fired.

Getting fired now would mean ending up homeless.

After debating about it at length, he braced himself for work.

At the very least, the big-faced young man was there to keep him company.

The big-faced young man was Kong Dabao, Su Jingxing’s roommate-slash-partner.

There were a total of three teams at the Xijiao Crematorium. Each team consisted of six members, and they worked in groups of two.

Su Jingxing and Kong Dabao were in Group Two of Team One.

…

Earth Star adopted pro-natalist policies, and one could get married at the age of eighteen.

As a result, every region had a large population.

More people meant more conflicts, and correspondingly, more death.

Gang fights, murder for profit, accidental death, illness…

All these led to corpses being transported to the crematorium every day.

Business was booming, and the crematorium remained brightly lit even at three in the morning.

For the sake of convenience, the crematorium’s staff dormitory and canteen were less than a hundred meters away from the working area. Luckily, the air was kept clean through special air-purifying techniques.

After a few minutes of walking, Su Jingxing and Kong Dabao arrived at the working area.

In the changing room, the two of them slipped into their work clothes before heading to relieve the previous group. After some additional preparation, they stepped into the morgue.

Kong Dabao led the way, and Su Jingxing tagged behind him. Mechanically, they approached a corpse…

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

What?

Su Jingxing paused.

For some reason, a notification had popped up in his head.

Could it be…

“What’s the matter, Little Su?” asked Kong Dabao, confused by Su Jingxing’s inaction.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Putting aside the questions in his mind, Su Jingxing came back to his senses.

Together with Kong Dabao, they loaded a corpse into a bag.

At the crematorium, if the corpse belonged to someone who had relatives, a farewell ceremony would be arranged before the cremation.

Otherwise, they would go straight into the incinerator.

A good example of the latter would be the corpse that lay in Su Jingxing and Kong Dabao’s cart, which no one had come forward to identify.

These types of corpses were easier to deal with; they could just load them onto a cart and send them to the incinerator room.

Nothing strange happened during the trip, though there was some exertion involved.

After all, corpses were considerably heavy.

By now, Su Jingxing had grown somewhat comfortable with the job.

It wasn’t as scary as he had imagined, and it provided enough for him to settle down temporarily.

In fact, not only was he no longer afraid, he was starting to get interested.

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

The notification that intruded Su Jingxing’s mind stuck with him, all the way until the corpse was inside the incinerator room.

What’s going on?

Having put everything together, Su Jingxing had a hunch.

However, he needed to verify it.

And the way to do that was easy—he just had to continue moving corpses!

As he had expected…

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

…

Every time Su Jingxing got close to a corpse, the same notification popped up in his head.

And once he got further away from the corpse, the notification faded away.

This validated Su Jingxing’s assumption; he shared the same trait as all other transmigrators.

He too had some form of a cheat ability!

And it was related to corpses.

“Would you like to extract it?” What exactly was “it” referring to?

Su Jingxing didn’t know, but was nonetheless excited.

However, knowing that Kong Dabao was beside him, Su Jingxing suppressed his excitement and did not spill the beans.

If something big were to happen during the extraction process, he would have a hard time talking his way out of it, not to mention the increased risk.

With that in mind, Su Jingxing waited patiently.

It was not until the sun had risen that Kong Dabao headed for the toilet, leaving Su Jingxing alone. Swiftly, he walked into the morgue and stopped before a random body.

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

...*****...

Chapter 2

What’s going on?

Su Jingxing frowned.

Five minutes had passed since he replied to the notification, yet nothing had happened.

“Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?” What happened to the things he supposedly “extracted”?

Or was the notification earlier just an illusion?

With flickering eyes, Su Jingxing made his way towards another corpse.

He got a little closer…

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

Then sprang back and distanced himself from the corpse. The notification vanished.

Again, he got a little closer…

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

It wasn’t an illusion!

The notification was real!

“Yes!” answered Su Jingxing as he reapproached the corpse.

This time, he carefully observed his surroundings and watched out for any potential changes in his body.

Still nothing.

That was when he realized two cards were sitting in his pockets that were originally empty, as though they had popped out of thin air.

“Are these cards what I have extracted?” mused Su Jingxing as he took the cards out of his pocket and examined them.

He had extracted one card from the first corpse…

And another from the second, making it two cards in total.

They looked the exact same; both had light purple as their background color and were roughly the size of a poker card.

A chaotic pattern was printed on the back of the card, and a full-body diagram on its front.

Essence Energy Card!

The words popped up in his mind.

Almost immediately following that, a detailed description of the “Essence Energy Card” formed in his mind.

Essence Energy Card gives “Essence Energy Pill(s)”.

Essence Energy Pill: A type of pill that could cleanse one’s fatigue, rejuvenate one’s energy, and boost one’s virility.

Su Jingxing had heard his Team Leader mentioning such pills before. They were originally developed for the use of scientific researchers so that they could strengthen their essence and spirit. However, after they circulated outside, they completely took over the sildenafil market.

This was only to be expected since sildenafil was harmful when taken regularly while Essence Energy Pills had no side effects.

The thing he extracted turned out to be the improved version of sildenafil.

For a moment, Su Jingxing was at a loss of words.

“Hold on!”

If Essence Energy Cards give Essence Energy Pills, what about other cards?

Su Jingxing recalled the notification that accompanied the appearance of the Essence Energy Cards; it did not state anywhere that Essence Energy Cards were the only things he could extract.

Kong Dabao had yet to return, so with these thoughts in mind, Su Jingxing walked up to a few other corpses.

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

…

Walking briskly through the morgue, he extracted every corpse he came across.

As he walked, he took out the cards that materialized inside his pocket and inspected them one by one.

Essence Energy Card, Essence Energy Card, Essence Energy Card…

Most of them were Essence Energy Cards, but there were some others as well.

Strength Enhancement Card!

Strength Enhancement Card gives Strength Pill(s).

Strength Pill: A type of pill that can increase one’s strength. Each pill can increase one’s strength by ten catties.

Jackpot!

Suppressing his excitement, Su Jingxing stored the cards away. Together with Kong Dabao, who came back from the toilet, they continued moving corpses.

As expected, the cheating ability did not disappoint him.

Even though he couldn’t eat all the Essence Energy Pills from Essence Energy Cards by himself, he could sell them for money.

For instance, Gu Bo—the leader of Corpse Collection Team One—was among those who had bought it before.

One Essence Energy Pill could fetch over 300 Great Yu coins!

Strength Enhancement Card was even better; each pill from it could increase one’s strength by ten catties.

Likewise, they did not have any side effects!

Both cards were definitely good stuff.

As to whether there was a third type of card…

Su Jingxing was optimistic. Something in his subconscious told him it had to exist!

On top of that, the key to extracting cards was to get close enough to a corpse, which was perfect for Su Jingxing’s current job.

Now, Su Jingxing wouldn’t leave even if someone paid him to leave.

The crematorium was great!

In fact, this place was simply amazing.

There were not many opportunities to come into contact with corpses outside.

But over here, corpses would be delivered to his doorstep every day!

Su Jingxing made up his mind—before he was strong enough to protect himself, he wouldn’t leave the crematorium no matter what.

…

“Why do you look so happy? Did they put a thousand-year-old ginseng in your food?” asked Kong Dabao puzzledly, looking at Su Jingxing’s plate that had the exact same content as his. It was afternoon, and they were in the hall of the canteen.

“Cough…” Su Jingxing drew a deep breath to suppress his excitement and grinned. “Nothing, I just thought of something happy.”

“What is it? Share the good news with me,” pressed Kong Dabao as he munched on his food.

“Well…”

“Hey! There you are!” a cheery voice broke in.

Kong Dabao took a glance at the comer. “What do you want, sleazebag?”

“Don’t say that, Brother Bao. Can’t I look for you for no reason?” said the comer, shrugging innocently. “Brother Bao, you have to believe me. I…”

“That’s enough.” Kong Dabao raised his hand to forestall him, and raised his eyebrows. “If there’s no reason, you can get out of our sight now. Don’t you realize you are interrupting our meal?”

“…”

“Brother Jian, tell me about your problem. I’ll definitely lend a helping hand if it’s within my capabilities,” offered Su Jingxing as he regarded the embarrassed man with a smile.

This man’s name was Feng Tiejian, and he was also a member of Team One.

Kong Dabao and Feng Tiejian were both veterans on the Corpse Collecting Team and had worked in the crematorium for more than three years.

They knew each other very well, and it wasn’t rare to see them bickering.

Feng Tiejian coughed.

“That’s why Little Su is the best. You should work on your bad habit of being impatient, Dabao,” riposted Feng Tiejian. Before Kong Dabao could make a comeback, he quickly went on. “The thing is, I have an errand to run in the afternoon, and I can only make it back by around nine in the evening. Can you cover my shift, Little Su?”

“Sure,” Su Jingxing replied offhandedly.

Deep down, his heart was full of joy.

He would love to help!

He couldn’t wait to move more corpses.

If he got tired, he could always pop an “Essence Energy Pill” and be as fresh as a daisy again.

“Thank you so much,” said Feng Tiejian gratefully, not privy to Su Jingxing’s thoughts. “You have my gratitude, my good brother. Let’s find a day to visit the city. I’ll treat you to a feast at the Golden Jade Pavilion!”

“I appreciate the offer, Brother Jian, but you don’t have to splurge on me. There’s nothing for me to do back in the dormitory anyway,” said Su Jingxing, smiling.

Golden Jade Pavilion was one of the finest restaurants in Qinghe City, and one meal there could easily cost over 4,000 Great Yu coins.

“I insist. It’s only natural for me to pay you back for your help. I’m a man of principles,” said Feng Tiejian, grinning from ear to ear. He shot a perfunctory glance at Kong Dabao. “Unlike some people who only know how to take and never show any gratitude!

Thud!

Kong Dabao glared at Feng Tiejian and slammed his chopsticks on the table. “You wanna get roughed up, sleazebag?”

“Hey, what got you so riled up? Was it something I did?” asked Feng Tiejian, feigning ignorance.

He gave Su Jingxing a quick wave before Kong Dabao could blow up.

“Alright then, Little Su. I’ll be off,”

With that, he scurried towards the canteen exit.

“What a douchebag!” cursed Kong Dabao as he watched Feng Tiejian’s back, then shifted his gaze towards Su Jingxing. “Little Su, you don’t have to accommodate him. This guy has always been like this. It wasn’t this bad in the past, but nowadays he’s looking for every opportunity to slack off and fool around. Don’t be afraid to turn him down if you don’t want to cover his shift. I’ll deal with that sleazebag if he dares give you trouble.”

“It’s fine,” said Su Jingxing, smiling. “I meant what I said earlier— I really don’t mind covering his shift. But thank you for the concern, Big Brother Dabao.”

“Bah, there’s nothing to thank me for!” said Kong Dabao, waving his hand dismissively.

Seeing that Su Jingxing was fine with it, he stopped trying to persuade him.

After all, covering a shift wasn’t much of a big deal.

…

After lunch, they took a short break.

Then, the two of them continued working together to move corpses.

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“…”

...*****...

Chapter 3

Without any disturbance, Su Jingxing spent the following of his days hopping between the dormitory building, the working area, and the canteen.

In order to increase the opportunities of coming into contact with corpses, he covered other members’ shifts from time to time.

In just a few days, Su Jingxing had earned the nickname of “Helpful Little Su”.

Some people mocked him behind his back, but Su Jingxing couldn’t care less.

Only a real fool would reveal such a profitable ability.

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

…

As time passed, his inventory of Essence Energy Cards and Strength Enhancement Cards increased.

The number of pills a card gave varied, ranging anywhere from one to five.

Su Jingxing only consumed a few Essence Energy Pills, but gobbled down every last one of the Strength Pills he acquired.

Every Strength Pill gave ten extra catties of strength.

Furthermore, Strength Pills also had the effect of tempering one’s body.

As a result, in just a few days, Su Jingxing not only got stronger, but also became more muscular. He even grew from 1.7 meters to 1.8 meters.

But this wasn’t too abnormal, since he was around fifteen—the age where growth spurts happen.

Thus, Su Jingxing’s physical changes did not attract much attention.

Even Kong Dabao didn’t get suspicious and only teased Su Jingxing, claiming that he would soon become the taller one out of them.

Su Jingxing, who had secretly been building up his strength, simply smiled at those words.

He had been taking Strength Pills for some time now; sure enough, he was growing taller, but that wasn’t the most important thing. There was something he was unsure about—his overall physical strength.

He needed answers.

Seizing an opportunity where nobody was around, Su Jingxing entered the dormitory and went into one of the empty rooms in the hall on the first floor. He stopped before a device.

This was a Strength Measuring Device, designed to measure one’s physical strength.

Su Jingxing had always wanted to try it, but there were always people around.

Now that he was alone, he clenched his fist and punched at the contact part with all his strength.

Bam!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

With a dull thud, the numbers on the dial of the device began rising rapidly.

When it stopped, the number “818” appeared on the display.

Su Jingxing took a glance, then threw a punch with his other hand.

Bam!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The numbers on the dial flickered rapidly, ultimately stopping at “936”.

“Nice!”

“936 catties on the left, and 818 on the right. If I continue taking Strength Pills, I’ll be on the same level as a ninth-grade martial artist soon!”

Su Jingxing drew a deep breath to contain his excitement.

On Earth Star, martial artists were divided into nine grades based on their abilities.

Ninth-grade was the weakest, and first-grade the strongest.

One of the defining features of a ninth-grade martial artist was having over 1000 catties of strength on each arm.

This wasn’t hard to achieve for Su Jingxing; all he had to do was take more pills.

However, there was no way for him to become a true ninth-grade martial artist.

To become a ninth-grade martial artist, the foundation that truly mattered was one’s internal force, rather than having over 1000 catties of strength.

Internal force was a powerful force that had to be specially cultivated through internal energy.

On Earth Star, every citizen was required to learn martial arts. However, ordinary people did not have the chance to come into contact with real martial arts.

For instance, in the Yu Nation, ordinary people only had access to one set of basic martial arts—The Thirty-Six Forms of Body Forging.

Even though The Thirty-Six Forms of Body Forging was referred to as martial arts, it was actually closer to a form of exercise.

If ordinary people wanted to cultivate internal force, they had to take other paths.

The first was to get into various martial arts schools by examination, the second was to join sects, and the third was to train at a dojo.

Out of these three paths, entering a martial arts school was the fairest, since talent decided everything.

Talent not only referred to one’s aptitude for martial arts, but also one’s ability in studying.

The logic behind it was simple; without a certain level of comprehension skills, one could not even understand certain profound martial arts, let alone cultivate them!

The first path was out of the question, since Su Jingxing wasn’t gifted and had already dropped out of school.

Similarly, he did not have any illusions about joining a sect.

That was because sects were even more strict when it came to recruiting disciples. They only accepted elites with an outstanding aptitude for martial arts.

Therefore, the last of the three paths was the only viable option for Su Jingxing.

The dojo!

As long as one can afford it, one can learn martial arts from the various dojos in Qinghe City.

By the time he acquires internal force and increases his strength to 10,000 or even 100,000 catties…

Getting revenge on Wan Rong would no longer be a pipe dream!

Thanks to the obsession of the Original Su Jingxing, revenge was never far from Su Jingxing’s mind, not even in his dreams.

He had to get rid of this annoyance as soon as possible!

For that, he had to continue moving corpses.

Getting close to corpses meant getting more Essence Energy Pills and Strength Pills, which translates to more money and strength.

What a great spot to be in!

…

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

[Corpse discovered. Would you like to extract it?]

“Yes!”

…

Extract… Extract… Extract…

Essence Energy Card… Strength Enhancement Card… Essence Energy Card… Strength Enhancement Card…

The days flew by.

Patiently, Su Jingxing accumulated more and more Essence Energy Pills. The strength in both his arms had exceeded 1,000 catties, and was creeping towards 2,000.

However, no new cards came into his possession.

Just when Su Jingxing thought that there were only two types of cards, a new card emerged.

Internal force card!

Based on the card’s description, the Internal Force Card he had contained two years of cultivation.

To put it simply, once Su Jingxing uses it, he would immediately gain the same amount of internal force that would have taken a regular martial artist two years to cultivate.

To use it, he just had to stick it in between his eyebrows.

What a pleasant surprise!

Originally, the plan was to resign to fate and continue selling Essence Energy Pills until he had enough money to enroll in a dojo.

This development was beyond his expectations.

His cheat ability had provided him with two years of internal energy, turning Su Jingxing into a real ninth-grade martial artist overnight!

“Hahaha…”

Swelling with uncontainable excitement, Su Jingxing laughed out loud. He had specially come to the back mountains of the crematorium to use the internal force card. A warm energy coursed through his body upon activating the card.

How great it was to immediately acquire internal force!

Even though cultivating martial arts could make one stronger, its process was tedious.

On the other hand, Su Jingxing acquired internal forces without having to cultivate.

If other martial artists knew about this, they would be green with envy.

He figured it would be best for him to keep a low profile.

Cough! Cough!

He coughed a few times to calm himself down.

Previously, all I could extract was Essence Energy Cards and Strength Enhancement Cards. How did I end up getting an Internal Force Card this time? wondered Su Jingxing.

Everything happens for a reason.

If he managed to figure out the reason, he might be able to extract even more new cards!

The thought spurred him into action.

Returning to the crematorium, Su Jingxing got his hands on the corpse records.

The crematorium had strict rules.

The information of every corpse that was sent to the crematorium had to go into the records, whether or not anyone came forward to identify them.

After getting hold of the corpse records, Su Jingxing went through the entries one by one.

It wasn’t long before he got his answer.

A martial artist!

The corpse from which he extracted the Internal Force Card belonged to a ninth-grade martial artist!

All of the other corpses he had encountered so far belonged to ordinary people.

The deciding factor was that the corpse belonged to a martial artist!

That makes sense since internal force only forms in the body of martial artists.

If I’m right, my cheat ability allows me to somehow extract a person’s past possessions from their corpses …

Hey, wait a minute!

Su Jingxing’s eyes lit up.

If I can extract the internal energy of a martial artist from their corpse, can I also extract the secret martial arts manuals they practiced?

...*****...