The evening winds howled across barren plains.
The stars overhead, distant and cold, shimmered like silent witnesses to fate's ever-turning wheel.
In the dilapidated Willow Leaf Town, tucked away between forgotten mountains and abandoned spirit fields, a single youth lay unconscious beneath a withered willow tree.
The youth's clothes were ordinary, almost ragged. His face, however, was shockingly handsome—delicate yet masculine, like jade sculpted by the heavens themselves.
Moments later, his eyelids trembled.
A breath—so soft it almost escaped reality itself—left his lips.
Then, slowly, he opened his eyes.
"Where… am I?"
Memories surged into his mind like crashing tides.
Earth.
An ordinary existence.
Books filled with stories of soaring swords and immortal cultivation.
A life full of yearning... and regret.
And now, reborn here—into a world where such myths were no longer fantasy, but reality.
> [Ding!]
[Hidden Sovereign System Binding Completed.]
[Congratulations, Host: First Hidden Gift acquired — "Primordial Body Refining Technique."]
[Current Identity: Qin Yuan, orphaned youth of Willow Leaf Town.]
The voice echoed not from the air, but from deep within his soul.
Qin Yuan sat up slowly, ignoring the aches in his muscles.
His gaze turned to the endless sky above, deep and dark like a slumbering beast.
"Cultivation... a new life..."
"This time, I will not be ordinary."
"But the path I walk... will be hidden from the world's eyes."
A faint smile played at the corner of his lips.
No one would know.
No sects would hear his name.
No enemies would see his rise.
Not until it was too late.
---
A cough broke his thoughts.
An old man approached, hunched over with a crooked staff, his face a web of wrinkles. His eyes, however, were strangely sharp.
"You finally woke up, boy," the old man grunted. "You're lucky. Any longer under that tree and you'd have frozen like a popsicle!"
Qin Yuan nodded politely. "Thank you, Senior."
The old man snorted. "Hmph. 'Senior' my foot. I'm Old Wu, the caretaker of this godforsaken Willow Leaf Town. Get up. Work starts tomorrow. Sweeping streets, carrying water, tending the spirit fields. You look strong enough."
Qin Yuan smiled faintly.
Tending fields?
Carrying water?
Perfect.
The more ordinary his life appeared, the less attention he would draw.
The quieter his cultivation would grow.
"Understood, Old Wu."
The old man chuckled hoarsely and tossed a bundle of coarse clothes toward him. "Change into these. You'll find the others at the eastern square tomorrow morning."
Without another word, Old Wu vanished into the night.
Qin Yuan sat quietly for a long while.
Under the ancient willow tree, the moonlight painted him in pale silver.
The air smelled of dry earth and distant pine.
Inside his mind, the System's panel flickered to life.
---
> [Hidden Sovereign System]
• Hidden Status: 100%
• Cultivation Technique: Primordial Body Refining Technique (Level 1)
• Dharma Treasure: None
• Dao Seed: None
[Hidden Tasks Available:]
Survive as an Ordinary Mortal: 0/30 days
Secretly Cultivate without Detection: 0/3 techniques
Rewards: Rare Techniques, Dharma Treasures, Dao Opportunities
---
Qin Yuan's lips curled into a serene, nearly invisible smile.
"A new life... a hidden path... a sovereign destiny..."
He leaned back against the willow trunk, closed his eyes, and for the first time in both lives, truly fell asleep.
In the stillness of that forgotten town, under a forgotten tree, the seeds of a legend were quietly planted.
A legend that would one day shake the heavens themselves.
But for now...
he was just another orphan...
another ordinary youth...
...at least, that's what the world believed.