'You know all those online stories where someone gets hit by truck-kun and dies quickly, then pops up in a different body in a magical or cultivation world where they can go on to become a god? Yeah, those stories. Well, they are at least a little bullshit. Sitting behind a computer screen reading about the silly truck-kun running people over always amused me too. But it doesn't prepare you for the reality of it happening. Or just how bored truck-kun must have been on the day he collected me.'

'Cause the thing is, dying by truck-kun wasn't quick. At least not for me. There I was, minding my own business, walking down the sidewalk. I noticed some people moving boxes out of the local butcher shop. It looked like they were closing down.'

'All of a sudden, this small box truck swerved out of traffic, headed for the movers. Not being idiots (unlike me) they dove out of the way. Somehow the box they were carrying flew in the air until it hit the grill of the box truck.'

'The box burst open, and several knives ended up lodging in the trucks grill, with the blades sticking out. That moment of hesitation as I stood there gaping at the surreal scene is what did me in. Losing the opportunity to dodge, the truck, knife points first, struck me, pushing me into the building behind me.'

'So there I was, in a scene straight out of Final Destination. Truck-kun had pinned me to the wall by knifepoint, I couldn't even feel my legs, but I sure could feel all those knives driven into my torso. It was at that point I noticed two things. There was no driver in the truck, and the sound of the truck engine was like a cat purring in pleasure.'

'Like I said, truck-kun must have been bored that day, or else he's just a sick, sadistic bastard. How can one tell the difference between a little lighthearted romp to relieve boredom or that he was getting his twisted rocks off? With minor god like truck-kun? It's not like I can ask him.'

'So that death led to my new life as a civilian of Glory City. I woke just after being born into this new life, so at least I was spared the trauma of knowing what being born is like. There's a reason newborns have such soft bones. It's so we can be squeezed out and not break our mother's hips in the process. I vaguely remember some earth cultures even practiced some weird binding of the head of babies so their heads grew into a specific shape that was considered attractive. I shudder to think of it.'

'Over the next twelve years I did everything I could to awaken my golden finger cheat that stories told me I should get for winning the reincarnation door prize. My parents must have thought me a strange kid, with all the shit I got up to. But alas, nothing worked, I was prize-less.'

'So why am I monologue-ing in my head? The fourth wall would ask. Because I'm about to start in this beginners fighter class. I just walked in, and noticed all the main players present. Ye Ziyun, Xiao Ninger, Shen something or other, and Nie Li and crew. Sexy fox teacher that's a bitch because she's from the Sacred Family who I can't remember her name at the moment. All present and accounted for.'

'And here I am, ready to hang on the coat tails of Nie Li as he drags me to the top.'

'I can already hear the bitching in the comments section if this is some kind of fanfic author tuning in to my story and writing it down for the pleasure and criticism of the masses. "Who is the main character here? Stop being Nie Li's sycophantic bitch and do something!" Yup, those guys want a power fantasy, no road blocks and screaming rocket of power straight to the top, all while stealing all of Nie Li's bitches to build a massive harem.'

'Well, too bad for both those guys, and me, I'm stuck here in a poor civilian identity, with no cheats, no super cultivation knowledge, no eidetic memory, no maps of where treasure is or strength to get it if I did. The only thing I can do is become friends with Nie Li so he'll share some badass cultivation technique with me.'

'I had 12 years to strain my brain remembering the plotline of Tales of Demons and Gods, while looking around the city and listening to the gossip network while growing up. It made me realize several things.'

'First, is that when Nie Li was complaining about the broken techniques available in Glory City, he wasn't just complaining to look cool to the reader. There's a reason Ye Ziyun, Xiao Ninger, and Shen Ten (or whatever his name is, I'll call him Ten because it rhymes with Shen) ended up in the basic fighter class with a reputation for not being really talented, cultivation wise.'

'With their family's resources to draw on for cultivating, they should have been able to at least get to mid bronze rank before class started, and go straight to the "genius" class. But because of the broken cultivation techniques, they weren't able to make the cut. Xiao Ninger even contracted that Artic Disease or whatever as a result of her shitty technique.'

'Don't pay attention to all the fellow classmates that kept saying stuff like "Shen Ten is a genius! Ye Ziyun is so talented!" Those were civilian and minor clan kids trying to butter up the nobles and get close for benefits to them and their families. The higher ups in the city and clans have a very different perspective from the lower classes.'

'But the moment those two beauties and Nie Li's friends got hold of well matched cultivation techniques, their progress took off.'

'Second thing I noticed, is there was a reason the civilians in Nie Li's class in the story were so touched by a few words from Nie Li. In order to maintain their power, the noble clans will reserve the best cultivation techniques for their own people. The only way for a civilian to get hold of a better technique is to go to the fighter class, get the shitty low rank technique they pass out to everyone, and work hard to get the attention of a sponsor. That way you end up in some noble's guard, instead of being a subsistence farmer or shop keeper. But that's about as high as the civilian born can go.'

'When Nie Li's friends threw in with him and offended the Sacred family, they took a huge risk of being blacklisted for life. If Nie Li had just been spouting nonsense, they would have ended up living very miserable lives.'

'So because I was born a civilian with no prospects or cheats, the only chance I have to improve is to hold the thigh of a sponsor. Power fantasies and realities collide, and power fantasies get knocked the fuck out (when reincarnators don't have a cheat). So, yes, I plan to be Nie Li's little bitch until I can stand on my own. And I'll remain his friend, because I'm not the kind of guy to bite the hand that feeds me.'

Class started and Murong Feng stopped his inner monologue to pay attention. He was quite excited, sitting on the edge of his seat, leg bouncing.

The teacher, Foxy Bitchy Shen started her bullshit "lecture" of rubbing in the fact that the nobles will always keep the civilians down and exploit them, and there's not a thing the civilians could do about it.

Feng kept glancing at Nie Li out of the corner of his eye, just waiting for him to bust out his frog in the well denunciation of Foxy Bitchy Shen.

And Feng waited.

And waited some more.

Halfway through the morning class, Feng had a horrifying realization. He wasn't in Nie Li's second play through. He was stuck here in the brat's first play through. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do to change Glory City's fate. It was doubtful if he could even survive the beast hordes with his orange soul realm and the shitty techniques available.

He was so screwed.

After barely paying attention to the morning's lectures, Feng thought hard about his situation during lunch break. There was no way around it. He and the whole city were screwed.

The reality of being a poor civilian limited his options. And the only thing he could do was to work as hard as he could while hoping to get a sponsor.

So he did the physical exercises like a madman. He practiced the basic cultivation technique every chance he got. And he spent the remaining time in the school library trying to learn as much as he could. With Nie Li not being a several hundred year old monster with candy-er, cultivation techniques that Feng wanted, he didn't have time to be to be wasting.

So while he made friends with Nie Li and his posse on the chance that an alternate timeline version of him was right now benefiting from being Nie Li's friend, in this life he had to be responsible for his own safety. So he worked hard.

Unfortunately the basic cultivation technique was an especially bad match up for him. After the first couple of months of class and Feng didn't show much talent, the academy let him go. But he did get that sponsorship, someone noticed his hard work. The Sacred family took him in and apprenticed him to a blacksmith. Joy. The traitors of Glory City sponsored him. /sigh

With no other choice in the matter, since no one would give a poor blacksmith apprentice with no cultivation talent a better technique, Feng focused on becoming the best blacksmith he could. All day he would work hard, ask questions, and learn all he could. On his rare evenings off, he would go hang out in a tavern with Nie Li, Du Ze, and Lu Piao. They were amusing friends to hang out with and alleviate the depression Feng had sunk into because of his hopeless situation.

Feng shortly showed he had great talent in the blacksmithing profession. His ability to focus and almost feel the needs of the metal being shaped was a great talent that the Sacred family made sure to exploit. At least they gave him drinking money. So that was something

Several years after being discharged from the academy, word started to get around about an enormous beast horde coming their way. The tone of the city was somber, but not hopeless. They had fought off such hordes before. Even though many defenders would die, that just firmed up the citizens spines. A sense of pride in having always survived, no matter how battered, was seen in the very bones of each citizen.

Feng wasn't very strong, stupid cultivation techniques, and was housed with the civilians during the fighting. Word got to them that the Sacred family opened the gates to the horde and ran. The traitorous scum.

What followed was a nightmare escape. People died all around Feng, being eaten alive, torn in two, and all other kinds of atrocities. Seeing the horrendous scenes of slaughter, Feng began to understand Nie Li's perspective when given a second chance to save the city. He wouldn't be forgetting this night for a long time.

Feng knew that Nie Li would be evacuated and would end up with the Temporal Book sometime in the future, so he tried to find his way to Nie Li. If he had the chance to take the book himself and help them both with cultivating, then Feng would take the chance.

Unfortunately, Feng ended up with a different group that ended up being captured by the Dark Guild and brought to the Nether Realm as slaves.

Feng sighed a lot, thinking how he should have had a cheat to make it impossible to be kept as a slave. But it is what it is. So Feng got on as best he could, doing menial labor as a lowly slave.

During the next few months Feng got close to one girl that was the daughter of a minor clan. She was having a hard time adjusting to the life of a laborer, especially in the environment of the Nether Realm. The sulfur and stink made food and drink taste especially bad. Feng tried his best to comfort her and make her life a little better. It gave Feng some comfort to help her, and she didn't look half bad too.

Unfortunately for Feng, the girl desired more in life, and she traded the knowledge that he was a talented blacksmith to become a concubine to one of the guild's leaders so she could have her creature comforts. Feng was pissed at the betrayal after all he'd done to help her, but was powerless to do anything. After that, Feng's life wasn't his own. He was fitted with a more stringent slave collar and spent all his time in the smithy, crafting weapons for the Dark Guild.

At first Feng's work was mediocre, due to his conflicted emotions. He loved blacksmithing, but he hated making weapons for the Dark Guild. It took several days of wrestling with the issue and quite a few punishments from his slave masters, but eventually Feng decided that he would forget everything else, and simply live for his blacksmithing. Fate had put him here, and he was bound by inscription magic so he couldn't escape. The only thing he could do was to accept his lot in life as a slave and focus on his art in order to forget everything else. Everything else would just depress him more, so he cast it from his mind.

The more Feng lost himself in the art of blacksmithing, the more he realized something amazing. He was able to cultivate through smithing. His spirit was being nurtured by the act of creation, and was able to store the energy, upgrading his physical and spiritual strength.

As Feng rose up the ranks from Bronze to Silver, to Gold, to Black Gold, his skill in forging likewise rose to the top. The Dark Guild was making a mint off of his skill as his weapons became sought after by all the higher ups in the Nether Realm.

Several decades later, Feng was closing in on becoming Legend Rank in both body and Spirit. That was the time Feng was looking forward to greatly. It would give him a chance to break the slave bindings and make his escape. Feng knew that even though he almost had the strength of a legend rank expert, his fighting skills were nearly nonexistent and so he wouldn't be a match for any of the legend or demigod ranks in the guild. The best he could hope for would be to escape slavery and stay free. He lacked the ability to defeat his captors.

The very night he broke through, he made his escape. He broke the slave collar, and rushed out of the Dark Guild's compound. He only brought his tools and the most recent sword he'd crafted with him as he escaped.

Feng had remembered some of the lessons from the cultivation novels in his past life, and meticulously acted weaker than he was, even when suffering humiliation. All for the opportunity to escape. And his long planned ruse worked. They only sent gold ranked fighters after him, thinking him only a level 1 gold ranked fighter.

Thanks to Feng's act, he was able to remain free as he made his way to the vaguely remembered exit from the Nether Realm.

Feng's memory of the plot line of TDG was vague, and he couldn't remember if it ever said how Nie Li got to the draconic ruins realm the first time through. And Feng didn't want to chance relying on anyone else in this shitty Nether Realm.

And he wasn't sure if he could trust the Nether Realm Lord. Some of the fics he'd read had painted the Nether Realm Lord as an enemy to the humans. They said that the Realm Lord knew about the Dark Guild and let them operate with impunity from his realm, otherwise Glory City wouldn't always be plagued by the Dark Guild.

There was a lot of assumptions, speculation, and no cold hard facts in all that. And since Feng didn't feel like trusting his newfound freedom in the hands of another, he figured he would wander the tiny world for a time instead. He was probably too old by now for the Realm Lord to recruit to the draconic ruins realm anyway. It was probably for the better that he enjoy what time he had left in this life.

Feng began to wander the world. With his Legend rank body strength, he was able to keep himself safe, or escape if the danger proved too great.

He would occasionally find small settlements of humans scattered around. Feng would then set up as a blacksmith for a time, teaching what he'd learned to the different human groups. Many children, especially orphans, had their fates changed due to the skills he taught them. It made Feng feel good that he was able to help his little apprentices make their lives better.

After about forty years of wandering, Feng came upon the ruins of Glory City. Because he had the memories of his past life, Feng wasn't quite as attached to Glory City as someone born and raised who only knew Glory City. But he was still attached to it. For nearly 17 years it was his home. His parents in this life had treated him good. There were a lot of good people here that died because one shitty brat (the demon lord) couldn't handle grief.

Was the city perfect? Hell no.

But did everyone in the city kill the shitty brats old man? Hell no.

Just the one clan did. And the demon lord already killed them by the time Feng was around. So everything else was just overkill. Psychopathic, murderous overkill.

Sighing again at the massacre that occurred because one shitty brat couldn't get over himself, Feng began gathering what he could from the remains of a once great city of refuge for humans.

Combing through the wreckage, Feng found lots of left overs. In the clan compounds he even found records of their cultivation techniques. Which didn't do him much good. Despite having absorbed lots of energy through his blacksmithing, he still didn't understand cultivation too much. Too bad he didn't have a time locked library to educate himself.

Feng gathered tons of metal and ores that would last him years and moved on. Wandering the land. He wasn't quite sure why he didn't just find a place to settle down. Probably all those stories he'd read in his past life still telling him to seek out his golden finger cheat.

Eventually he ended up at a village on the Heavenly Fate Plateau. Everyone was barely eking out a subsistence living. Food wasn't plentiful, no cultivation to speak of. Right, Feng decided he would stay here for a while. He had all those shitty cultivation techniques from Glory City, which is better than this village had. He would teach them what he could about cultivation, blacksmithing, and whatnot. At least it will improve their lives.

Several years later the village was doing much better. The hunters were stronger and able to bring more meat back. Feng had brought seeds from Glory City so there was now farmers that grew more food and herbs and whatnot.

The hunters had better weapons, and were better able to protect themselves. Feng was proud of these people and their better lives. It was something he'd done, something he'd built.

One day, from the back of the mountain behind the poisonous swamp explosions were heard. Feng and the rest of the defense force stood ready. Whatever it was back there making the racket could come out here and ruin everything he'd been building.

Out of the swamp raced a beautiful short lady. It looked like pieces of her were translucent. Strange. She was being followed by two peak legend ranking beasts. Shiiiit.

When the lady saw the village, she tried to lead the beasts away from the village. The beasts had different ideas. One of them continued to chase her, while the other stopped for a bit of fun, snacking on the humans.

Feng wasn't about to let that bastard eat his village. He'd just gotten them to the point their lives weren't completely shitty. With his blacksmith hammer in one hand and sword in another, he raced forward to stop the beast.

Feng wasn't at the peak of legend rank, so his blows lacked the power of the beast. And beasts usually had more body strength than humans of the same rank. But Feng's body was unusual, in how he attained Legend rank. He'd gained it through blacksmithing. Like metal being hammered and purified over years, Feng's body was stronger than someone who only employed cultivation techniques, or beasts who lazed around most of the time they weren't eating.

So while Feng lacked in cultivation power, his body made up for the difference and the battle was about even.

Feng continued to hammer and slash the bastard beast, dodging as best he could, but he was still taking hits. The villagers weren't able to get close to the battle between legend ranks. They tried to help by using projectiles, but they couldn't even pierce the beast's skin. Despite bleeding from all his wounds, Feng continued to fight. The beast was just as tattered as he was.

What felt like hours later, the beast finally fell, the light dyeing from its eyes. Once Feng saw that, he collapsed, the drive and energy keeping him moving left him. He fell unconscious.

Sometime later, Feng woke up in bed. His wounds were bandaged, but he was feeling it. His wounds were deep. He wasn't sure how he'd been able to keep moving in the fight. Many of the tendons in his legs and arms were broken. It was difficult to move. How he'd continued fighting in that condition mystified him and the villagers both. Sheer willpower? Subconsciously utilizing his cultivation energy to move his limbs?

Thank goodness the second beast hadn't come back. The beast Feng had killed made many a stew that helped the villagers gain in strength and cultivation. The threat of the second beasts return and the fear of what it could do with Feng all but crippled caused the villagers to step up their efforts to cultivate.

Feng was assigned a helper lass to clean his house, cook his food, and when he had a wheelchair made, she would push him around to the blacksmith to teach his apprentices. He could no longer forge weapons, but he could still teach. And at least he was able to feed himself, if someone else cooked. It's the small blessings in life that make a man happy.

Several months later, the five foot short lady who had been running from the beasts reappeared. She introduced herself as Yu Yan, the fire goddess. She had been able to slowly kill the other beast because the beast that Feng killed didn't rejoin the hunt. So she had come back to the village to see just what had happened.

Hearing the tale of how Feng killed the beast at great cost to himself, Yu Yan was moved. She decided to setup shop, so to speak, with the village and try to help humanity make a come back. She still wasn't 100% of what she was before, but she would get there. And she would protect their village.

After some weeks of getting to know Yu Yan, Feng confided in her his whole history in this world. Feng had never bothered to tell anyone about his reincarnation, that this was his second life because it was irrelevant. He'd been a normal dude with no super skills in his past life. Sure, he knew about electricity, t.v., and whatnot. But how to replicate it? He wasn't McGuyver, so he had no clue how to start. He couldn't even remember the formula for gunpowder without looking it up on the internet. So no industrial revolution for the Tiny World.

Unfortunately Feng was to remain crippled in arms and legs for the rest of his life. There was no super medicine or doctors around to repair his broken body. The brightest point in his life was his little helper lass, Xiao Biyu. She was an orphan, and became like a daughter to him.

When she married, he followed her to her husband's house. Having the hero of the village at his place was a great honor, that little brat that took a liking to his little girl said. No sense in trying to throw his weight and reputation around. His welcome would be shortly worn out if he did that.

So he just enjoyed his time, watching his adopted daughter raise her cute little rug rats. Occasionally teaching an apprentice the finer points of blacksmithing. And continuing to have conversations with Yu Yan about the goings on around the continent as she continued her own recovery of her powers.

And one day, after his adoptive grandchildren had grown up, Feng passed away. He'd led a full life. He'd had his share of love. He had enemies he hated that he would cheerfully slit their throat. He'd traveled. He'd built up several villages, passed on his knowledge to the next generations of brats. He'd had a full life. He was ready for what came next.

Which is why it was a complete shock that he woke up to the sound of Nie Li berating that Foxy Bitchy Shen teacher (he'd never bothered to remember her name).

Looking around with confused eyes, he saw the rounded eyes, gaping mouths, and shocked faces of everyone in class, staring at Nie Li's rant.

Feng pinched himself hard. Yup, it was real. He fell into a daze, thinking about what he had to do from now on.

Seeing Nie Li walking to the back of the class and several kids joining him, Feng quickly shook himself from his thoughts and joined them. No way was he sticking to mediocrity and a fate of being a slave smith!

As he listened to the banter between Nie Li, Lu Piao, and Du Ze, Feng centered his mind and thoughts. A moment ago he was an old, crippled man on his death bed. He'd led a full life. But now he was a 13 year old brat. Even though he was no longer crippled, he hadn't felt this weak in years. It was time to explode in the springtime of YOUUUTH! (Thank you Gai.)

[System booting up]

[User found]

[Binding to user]

[Welcome user to the Youthful System]

[The system with help the user fight his way to the top in an energetic manner]

…

…

…

'Bastard system only chooses now to finally show itself. I could have used you in my last play through.' Feng thought as he gritted his teeth in anger.

[User didn't meet the criteria. Only when a user has returned to the springtime of youth can user fully feel and understand the importance of the springtime of youth. Work hard in your youth, user.]

Bullshit systems.