Misfortune…

What is misfortune?

Someone said he had misfortune because he did not win the lottery that day. Another said she had misfortune because her boyfriend broke up with her.

Tang Li Xue could only sneer at them… Misfortune?

No one knew more about misfortune than her!

Her mother died when giving birth to her.

Her father was a heavy gambler and acquired a lot of debt.

Her father then fled, leaving only the sickly Tang Li Xue with her poor big brother.

She had poor health since she was little, so without money or an education her brother had no choice but to join a gang to pay her hospital fees and the debt their father left them.

Again, fate played with her life. Her beloved big brother was involved in a brawl between gangs and was hit by a car. In the end, he was left as a vegetable.

Tang Li Xue began to question God's existence.. How could her life be so miserable?

She forced herself to work so she could pay the hospital fees for her big brother.

There was no other choice!

Her big brother was in a coma and they were saddled with countless debts thanks to their father!

There was no time for her to complain about her misfortune and no time for her to pray for good fortune!

She could only work multiple jobs day and night.

Tang Li Xue's sickly body became weaker and weaker with each passing day…

In the end…

Everything went blank…

As her vision turned black…

Tang Li Xue slowly regained her consciousness.

'Ahh… I never felt this good before in my life!'

'It's as if my body became really light… so light… like I am flying.'

"THE HECK?! I REALLY AM FLYING!" Tang Li Xue opened her eyes and found out that she was flying in an empty white space.

'Opened her eyes' wasn't really accurate since she was actually a flying soul in the shape of a ball right now and she had no eyes to open.

"Bohoho… What a poor child!"

Tang Li Xue turned her field of vision and found there was an old granny in this empty white space.

'Eh... Granny, please don't cry. I am ok.' Tang Li Xue sighed. 'It looks like I am really dead now. But I am still really worried about my big brother. I hope... He can wake up from his coma soon and find his own happiness in the end.' Tang Li Xue thought. As a soul, she cannot speak yet the old Granny seemed to understand her anyway.

"Don't worry poor child! Everything has its own fate and destiny. By the way, this granny's name is Meng Po. You can call me Grandma Meng." Grandma Meng's smile was very gentle and full of sympathy. After reading Tang Li Xue's history, Grandma Meng truly sympathized with Tang Li Xue and mourned her previous fate. But she also knew that there was no alternative.

There were only two ways to become a deity and escape from a mortal's fate of growing old, suffering, and finally death. The first way was through cultivation, rising up from a mortal to an immortal and finally becoming a deity. The second way was through reincarnation and experienced 729 or 9x9x9 lives of suffering, trials, and tribulation.

There was no other way other than these two. Even Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and company had to pass 81, or 9 by 9, trials and tribulations on their journey to obtain Sutras and become deities.

"Do not worry child. In your next life you are destined to be a rich aristocrat's daughter. You will marry a kind-hearted second prince from a big empire, and live happily ever after." Grandma Meng said reassuringly with a gentle smile on her face before giving Tang Li Xue a cup of her forgetfulness tea.

Tang Li Xue was smiling and bouncing in happiness "After my last life of misfortunes and suffering, this time I will get a happy life! Thank you, God! Thank you, Grandma Meng!'

It was not strange that this time Tang Li Xue got a happy life, since if a soul experienced too much suffering and misfortunes in consecutive samsaras then it would acc.u.mulate resentment and become an evil spirit. So usually, everyone would get their own trials, sufferings, and happiness equally.

Tang Li Xue drank Grandma Meng's forgetfulness tea happily and gave the cup back to her.

"Good child, go and enter that tunnel over there. I hope you will quickly amass enough good karma to become a deity!" Grandma Meng pat Tang Li Xue's head… errr the top of her soul. Tang Li Xue bowed toward Grandma Meng and jumped into the tunnel.

The tunnel was not dark at all; the walls were black but there were countless light sparks of different colors, twinkling like the night sky.

'Uwaaah… It really feels like I went back to the material plane, maybe this tunnel actually connects this mysterious netherworld with the countless planets and cosmos in the material world!' Tang Li Xue sighed mentally. 'Whatever, it's not my business anymore since I will forget everything later anyway.'

But when Tang Li Xue was halfway through the tunnel…

BZZZZZZZZT… BZZZZZZZT

The ground started to shake violently!

'What?! Even in this afterlife, there are also earthquakes?! I… I... I feel sick!'

'Oeeeeeeeeeekh' Tang Li Xue felt extremely dizzy and uncomfortable. When she dropped down, she puked all the forgetfulness tea back out.

"What?! What is happening?! Don't tell me that damn monkey is playing around with the samsara tunnel again!" Grandma Meng quickly stood up and cursed. "OH NO! That good child! Alas! Hopefully, nothing bad happened to her! If it did, I will make that damned monkey take responsibility for it!" Grandma Meng jumped up in panic and checked the tunnel out, but her face quickly turned pale.

"DAMN MONKEY, YOU ARE ASKING FOR IT!!!" Grandma Meng screamed in anger.

…..

…

Tang Li Xue started to regain consciousness but her body still felt numb.

'Haaaah… I puked out all the tea of forgetfulness while in that tunnel… Sorry Grandma Meng, it was all really an accident.'

'But really! I will be reborn with my previous memories fully intact like in the novels!' Then Tang Li Xue Sighed, 'Unfortunately, Earth did not have any supreme godly techniques, magic, or mystical arts… So my memories are all practically useless. I didn't even have enough money to go to school nor have the time to learn any useful skill…' She sighed again.

[Please be calm and wait, you will soon awaken to experience your new life in this world]

'Woah!!! I'm so excited! A new world! I will be a rich princess and marry a handsome prince this time! Uehe… Hehehehehe… MUAHAHAHAHA… Oops… Tang Li Xue, please mind your manners and be more feminine, you are an aristocratic princess to be after all! Pffft… Hehehe…'

[You will be reborn in the high-ranked realm, the immortal world, Lightwind Continent, South Prefecture, Moonlight Forest]

'Woooaah! High-ranked realm! IMMORTAL WORLD! Woooooaaaah! Will there be any cultivators that can ride on a flying sword like in wuxia movies there?'

[This system is given to Host as compensation for the mistake made by The Great Sage Heaven's Equal. Please use it carefully and Host can reach the deity realm far more easily.]

'Eh… Mistake? What mistake? THE GREAT SAGE HEAVEN'S EQUAL?! Woaaahhh! He gave me a SYSTEM TO REACH DEITY REALM?! So generous! Thank you very much, Uncle Sun!'

[Level 1]

Cultivation Technique: None

Martial Arts: None

Divine Ability: None

[Stats]

HP: 20/20

Strength: 1

Agility : 3

Toughness: 1

[Skills: Bite(Lv1), Scratch(Lv1)]

Stat Point: 5

Skill Point:1

'Woooooow! This… This is awesome! I have my own system?! Does it mean I am the true heroine of this world now?! I… I… I can't believe this! Am… Am I dreaming?! Whooohoo! This… This is really too good to be true!'

'But… But…Bite? Scratch? Are… Aren't these skills a little weird?'

Tang Li Xue's body started to regain some sensation, although she still felt incredibly numb. She twitched a bit and slowly opened her eyes to welcome her new world. But the first thing that caught her eyes was a pair of furry white paws in front of her.

'Eh…'

'Something feels wrong here… Don't tell me…'

'Eeehhhhh…'

[Species: Fox Cub]

[Grade: Poor]

'WHUUUUUUUAAAAAAATTTTT THE HEEEEEELLLLLLLLL???!!!!!!'

'Calm down, Tang Li Xue... Fuuhh... Fuuuh...'

Tang Li Xue looked around her surroundings and found that she was in a cave, but this cave was not very dark since there was some warm sunlight that came in from a hole in the cave's ceiling. Tang Li Xue exited the small cave, walked toward a small pond near the cave, and used its still surface as a mirror to see her reflection.

White furry body, furry paws, furry tail... Her body was so tiny, probably not even bigger than a palm. She looked really cute, far cuter than even a kitten. The most eye-catching feature was her topaz-like sparkling eyes, they were so beautiful that it almost mesmerized even herself. BUT that was not the problem here!

'OH MY GOOODDDD!!! THIS... IS THIS THE MISTAKE?!'

Tang Li Xue felt a bang in her mind and she almost passed out again in shock and disbelief.

'WAAAAAAH!!! Uncle Sun!!! Is this the mistake that you were talking about?! Quickly turn me back into a human! I don't want your damn system! WAAAAAAAH!!!'

Tang Li Xue was bawling out loud. It took her a few minutes but she eventually calmed down and stopped crying. Tang Li Xue was a poor orphan child in her previous life so her ability to adapt to her situation was actually really high; it was just that her heart was full of disappointment and frustration with the current reality since Grandma Meng had already promised her a happy life this time.

After drinking a few mouthfuls of water in the small pond...

Growl... Growl... Growl...

Tang Li Xue's stomach started to protest.

'Well... I am really hungry now...'

Tang Li Xue was aware that since she was a beast now that she needed to hunt in order to eat. So, the first thing she had to do was to examine her new system thoroughly to increase her survivability since she was in the middle of a wilderness full of dangers like predatory beasts, not to mention human hunters that would probably be showing up.

'Huh... These stat points are...'

Tang Li Xue decided to put four stat points in agility and one stat point in strength since she needed agility the most to run from any predators and also to chase her prey.

'As for this skill point… How can I use this?'

While Tang Li Xue was pondering about it, some choices were displayed in front of her.

[Hide] SP cost: 1

[Dash] SP cost:1

[Jump] SP cost:1

[Climb] SP cost: 1

[Enhanced Sense of Smell] Sp cost: 1

[Enhanced Sense of Hearing] SP cost: 1

[Enhanced Sight] SP cost: 1

[Greater Strength] SP cost: 1

[Greater Reflexes] SP cost: 1

[Greater Endurance] SP cost: 1

[Greater Flexibility] SP cost: 1

…

'Whoaaah! That's a lot of options! Aaand almost all of them are important! Ok… Calm down Li Tang Xue… I mean Tang Li Xue… Arrrgh! Why do I only have 1 Skill Point?!'

Tang Li Xue decided to take [Hide] so she could easily ambush her prey and hide from any predators later.

So her current status was now…

[Species: Fox Cub]

[Grade: Poor]

[Level 1]

Cultivation Technique: None

Martial Arts: None

Divine Ability: None

[Stats]

HP:20/20

Strength:2

Agility: 7

Toughness:1

[Skills: Bite(Lv1), Scratch (Lv1), Hide(Lv1)]

Stats Point:0

Skill Point: 0

[Item: Level 1 Newbie Gift Package]

'Eh… What is this [Level 1 Newbie Gift Package]? OPEN it then!'

[Gained: Immortal World's Newbie Guide, 1x Double Exp Card(1 hour), 3x Recovery Pill, 1x Lucky Sticker, 1x Bronze Lottery Ticket, 1x Cultivation Voucher, 50 Deity Coins, Level 5 Novice Gift Package]

'Wooooaaah! So many items! But my stomach is really starving! Oh Well, I guess I will check them out later then… Let's hunt and eat first!'

Moonlight Forest was really vast and complicated. Unlike a man-made forest on Earth, Moonlight Forest was a natural forest so all the grass was really tall, making it hard for Tang Li Xue to see what was in front of her. Moreover, there were many dense bushes and large trees that made Tang Li Xue even more nervous since she was afraid that someone may follow her or something would jump out suddenly.

Fortunately, she chose to learn the [Hide] skill first so she could use it from time to time and advance slowly for safety.

[Hide skill has increased to Lv2]

'Ooooh?! So that's how I level up the skills? I just need to use it more frequently to level it up! Ok… Here goes nothing!'

By the time Tang Li Xue found some prey, her [hide] skill already leveled up to level 3.

A MOUSE?!

The small critter jumped out from a nearby bush and ran away, but it did not notice that Tang Li Xue actually hid near it.

'No….No… No… No mice or rats, please! Even though this lady is a fox now, I was a proper lady before! So, please… No mice!!!'

It was not like she was afraid of mice or rats, but when she imagined putting a mouse or rat in her mouth… Ueeeekkh… Let's not think about it… Next!

A snake then slithered down from a big tree.

'Should I try it? It doesn't look as bad…'

But as Tang Li Xue approached the snake, she soon realized… THE SNAKE WAS HUGE! Oh, no… Actually, it was her that was still too tiny.

'Let's… Let's give up on the snake for now… The level-jump for this battle is actually quite far for a fox cub like this lady with that a.d.u.l.t old snake… That's not fair at all!'

Again, Tang Li Xue used her [Hide] to distance herself away from the snake and took another direction to hunt. After a few more hours her [Hide] skill leveled up again to level 4 but she still did not find any prey that fit her preference. She was getting even hungrier and starting to feel dizzy. Fortunately, at last, she found the right prey that fit with her taste…

A RABBIT!

Well, to be exact, it was a hare! Hares were bigger than rabbits and of course, stronger as well.

'Yuuuussss! Finally, my meal is here! C'mere little bunny! Come to momma!'

Ding!

[Quest: (First Hunt) Kill a hare and eat it!]

[Reward: Level +1, Stat Point +1, Skill Point +1, 10 Deity Coins]

Tang Li Xue only glanced at the message but she was too starving to think about it. What was on her mind right now was only the food in front of her!

'Eh… It realized that I am here? It looks like my hide is still too limited…'

Her [Hide] skill right now still had many flaws. For example, she cannot move when the skill was in use or the skill would be canceled. Another one was if someone got too close to her, the [hide] skill would be broken and that person, or beast, would be able to see her. Since Tang Li Xue could not ambush it she decided to take initiative to attack the hare first!

[Scratch]!

Some lines of blood appeared on the hare's body and the hare quickly decided to counterattack.

BANG!

The hare kicked with a hind leg toward Tang Li Xue's head!

She tried to dodge it but failed to get completely out of the way. However, at least the hare's kick hit her shoulder instead of her head!

'Ouuuuuch! You! You damn bunny, how dare you hurt this Lady Deity ….. candidate… Take this!'

Tang Li Xue used [Scratch] again and managed to hit the hare's face. Tang Li Xue's strength was still too low so she could not deal critical damage to the hare and was forced into a battle of attrition.

[Scratch skill has increased to Lv2]

'GOOD TIMING! Again! SCRATCH!'

This time, Tang Li Xue managed to land her scratch on one of the hare's eyes and made it roll over on the grass in pain.

'CHANCE! NOW OR NEVER! Eat thisssss… Ultimate attack! Ougi!'

Tang Li Xue used her [Bite] skill and chomped on the hare's vulnerable neck!

PSSSSHHH!

The blood poured out as Tang Li Xue used her sharp fangs to tear out the flesh in the hare's neck.

'YEEES! WIN! Hosh… Hosh… You… Not bad at all… To think a lowly creature such as yourself could fight for a few moves against this Lady Deity….. candidate… you should be proud of yourself, you fought well in your last moments.'

Ding!

[Quest Completed!]

[Gained: Level +1, Stat Point +1, Skill Point +1, 10 Deity Coins]

Ding!

[Congratulations! You achieved level 2, +5 Stat Points, +1 Skill Point]

'At last… Level up! But I did not gain any exp for winning the battle like in an RPG? Is it because I can only level up through completing quests?'

'Whatever... Let's eat first... But urrrggghhh... Is there really no way to roast this rabbit meat?'

After hesitating for a while, Tang Li Xue resigned herself and took a bite of the raw hare meat in front of her. The pungent smell of blood invading her nose made her almost vomit the raw meat out again, but she forcefully suppressed the urge and swallowed it down after chewing for a while.

'Well... It's taste is actually not that bad... Maybe because I became a fox cub so my taste buds also changed?'

[EXP gained!]

'Oooh?! So I just need to eat to gain exp? Haha... Easy!'

[EXP gained!]

[EXP gained!]

[Bite skill has increased to Lv2]

Ding!

[Congratulations! You achieved level 3, +5 Stat Points, +1 Skill Point]

'Great! Level 3! Sigh... It's really not easy...'

Tang Li Xue rubbed her bloated stomach in satisfaction and remembered that she still hadn't checked the items that she got from the newbie package earlier.

But before she had the time for that...

Rustle... Rustle... Rustle...

There were four more hares that came out from the nearby bushes. Tang Li Xue was surprised and glanced at her HP bar for a second.

HP: 38/50

To fight or not?

Of course not! Fighting against a single hare already reduced her HP by 12. Against four hares, she would at least get hit four times! Assuming each of them hit her once then it meant the damage that she would receive would be 48 in total. In reality, she would get hit a lot more than four times if she got surrounded in the fight!

She sighed... In her previous life, she had a weak sickly body and in this life, she became a fox cub with weak defense! God was so unfair! I hate you all!

RUN AWAY!

'Damn! Uh... Good bunnies... Kind bunnies... Let's discuss this for a bit. I really only did it out of self-defense, you believe me, right?'

At first, the four hares were also shocked and afraid of her but when they saw how tiny Tang Li Xue's body was, she was still a cub after all, they regained their confidence and started to dash toward her.

'Uuugyaaaaa! You... You all... Are... Are you really men? Actually, you are beasts, not men... Fight This Lady one on one if you dare?!' Tang Li Xue shouted in her mind but her petite fox body had already run away and dove into the bushes frantically.

However, the speed of a.d.u.l.t hares was actually higher than a fox cub like Tang Li Xue, so they caught up to her in only a few seconds.

'Right! I still have unused status points!'

She immediately put 8 points into agility to help with escaping and the last 3 points into strength for counter attacking if possible.

'Aaaaand buy [Dash] ability!'

[You have gained Dash ability!]

With her agility combined with her [Dash], Tang Li Xue could easily escape now, so she started to think... Should she spend 2 more of her current Skill Points to buy an offensive Skill like [Greater Strength] or [Pounce] and counterattack?

'Meh... No need for that, I will save it so I can buy the skills I need in a critical time later! My stomach is already full anyway...'

'Goodbye, bunnies! Remember this Lady already reserved your lives for this Lady's meal tomorrow!'

Fwoosh… Fwoosh… Fwoosh…

Tang Li Xue's speed was already twice as fast as before and she used her [Dash] skill on top of that! She ran so fast that she could even feel the wind fiercely blowing against her furry, petite body.

Tang Li Xue felt that 10 points in agility basically made her speed the same as an a.d.u.l.t human when sprinting and now she had 15 points in agility so she was one and a half times faster than an a.d.u.l.t human. Furthermore, the [Dash] skill increased her speed by twice, so she was three times faster than an a.d.u.l.t human now!

But of course, there were also drawbacks when using [Dash]… She was also expending her stamina twice as fast.

'Woohoo! I am so fast now! I am the wind, no one can catch me! Just kidding… Haha… Let's go back to my cave first before checking my items, there are so many dangers in the wilderness… Better off playing safe than sorry! Go… go… go! Destination: Home!'

This time, she did not use [Hide] continuously, skulking behind the bushes to check what's in front of her and proceeding carefully like before. Instead, she just dashed straight home as fast as she could. But heading back toward the small cave, her decision proved to be deadly this time!

RRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!!!

'OH MY GOD!!!'

A majestic king of the jungle!!!

A mighty lion was standing right in front of her?!

'Brake! Where is the damn brake pedal?!'

Tang Li Xue quickly used her four small furry limbs to stop, but it was already too late since she now stood right in front of the lion! Even if she was still a human, standing in front of a lion would still make her freeze in fear and terror. Much less, now that she was only a fox cub as big as a palm! For the current tiny Tang Li Xue, the a.d.u.l.t lion in front of her was three times bigger than a container truck would be to a human, possibly even more!

'HolySh*t! Calm down, Tang Li Xue! Big kitty… Good kitty… Did you know that when I was a human before I was actually a kitty lover? I often shared my milk with some kitties in the slums, you know?! So… For their sake, please spare me this time! Pretty pweaaase…..' Tang Li Xue said in her mind while retreating slowly.

ROOOOAAAAAR!

The lion kept staring at Tang Li Xue full of vigilance, its majestic pressure, and bloodl.u.s.t made it hard for her to breath and her heart was beating so fast that it hurt her chest.

The tawny yellow lion also walked toward Tang Li Xue's right side while approaching her slowly.

At first, Tang Li Xue did not get why it walked toward her right side so she retreated bit by bit to her left-side, but when her back touched a giant tree behind her she understood that this damn lion actually cornered her.

Tang Li Xue sighed. 'So this is my end huh... When I go back to the netherworld again Grandma Meng will certainly fulfill her promise and give me a rich and happy life with a kind handsome prince for my next life, right?'

'Please Uncle Sun, don't mess with my life next time and let me be happy for once, ok? Also, could you give my next reincarnation a system too?! Please!!!'

RRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!

The lion pounced toward Tang Li Xue! Even though Tang Li Xue was probably a bit faster than the lion after activating her [Dash], it was bigger and stronger than her and the lion also cleverly sealed her escape route! Her back was against a big tree!

THERE IS NO ESCAPE!

DEAD END!

BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!