In the center of the Capital, within an ancient courtyard house right next to Panjiayuan, a young man in his early twenties was wielding a long saber, practicing relentlessly in the courtyard.
"Swoosh—swoosh—"
Every time the blade swept through the air, it seemed to tear a rent in the atmosphere.
As his movements grew increasingly swift, visible blade-winds condensed around him, spinning and dispersing outward.
The next moment, the young man exerted a sudden burst of force and slashed fiercely at the ground!
In an instant, a dazzling blade radiance burst forth, its scorching brilliance swallowing the surroundings like fire, carving a gouge several inches deep and several meters long straight into the hard ground.
The surrounding bluestones were covered in fine cracks spreading like spiderwebs, even tinged with wisps of scorch marks and char.
"Hah..."
The young man withdrew his saber and stood straight, slowly exhaling a foul breath as he gazed at his own hands with a complex expression.
"It has already been three years, yet my cultivation realm remains stubbornly stagnant at the Peak of the Houtian Ninth Layer. No matter how hard I try, I cannot step into the Xiantian Realm."
Feeling the True Qi within his Dantian growing increasingly dense yet proving entirely useless, his heart was filled with helplessness and unwillingness.
Right at that moment, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind: "Ding! The tomb-raiding omnibus plot is about to begin. The system check-in function has officially started. The host only needs to travel to the designated location to check in and claim rewards."
This sudden prompt gave the young man a surge of spirit, and a long-absent smile appeared on his face: "I've finally waited for you! It's been five years. I honestly thought you only gave me a token beginner's gift pack and would then vanish without a trace."
Thinking of the so-called "tomb-raiding omnibus world," a flash of anticipation crossed his eyes: "I can get rewards just by checking in? It seems this world is far more exciting than I imagined."
This young man was named Gu Gang, a name with a classic and lingering charm, but his background was far more intriguing.
Strictly speaking, he was not a native of this world.
After waking up from a drunken accident, he discovered to his shock that he had transmigrated to this place. Even more bizarrely, the clothes he had been wearing had traveled with him.
However, his body had become young, like a child of about five years old.
During the transmigration, due to his hazy consciousness, he had no idea what had happened.
When he regained consciousness and found himself lying by the roadside, a kind-hearted old woman rescued the unconscious boy and brought him home.
At the time, the woman assumed he was a child abandoned by heartless parents and kindly adopted him.
Realizing the truth of his transmigration, Gu Gang lived alongside the old woman ever since.
That era was the 1980s; without her care, survival for a young child would have been practically impossible.
It wasn't until five years ago, on her deathbed, that the old woman revealed an astonishing matter and instructed Gu Gang to place her grave in a specific location. This finally unveiled the secrets behind this world and her true identity.
Carved upon the tombstone was a single line of text: "Tomb of Heibei Laoliu."
At that moment, understanding dawned on Gu Gang: the world he inhabited was not an ordinary human society, but the legendary underworld of tomb-raiding!
Speaking of "Heibei Laoliu," he commanded extremely high prestige within the underground forces, ranking sixth among the Nine Gates.
His saber techniques could be described as peerless; rumor had it that "as he walked all the way through a bustling street, heads would continuously roll to the ground" — such was his terrifying renown.
Throughout that entire faction, Heibei Laoliu's combat prowess could truly be called peerless across the realm.
As for Granny Bai, the woman who had raised Gu Gang for many years, she was the person Heibei Laoliu had deeply loved in his youth. Although she had originally worked in a pleasure house, she was upright, open, and placed great emphasis on affection and loyalty.
Back then, after Heibei Laoliu passed away, it was Granny Bai herself who arranged his funeral and had his remains moved out for burial.
Toward this elder who was like a mother to him, Gu Gang held deep respect and gratitude.
Despite her unusual background, she had never done anything to harm others and had even risked danger to preserve the dignity of the deceased.
Therefore, from the 1980s to the present day, no matter how busy he was, he would go to pay his respects multiple times every year, out of gratitude for the kindness she had shown in raising him for over a decade.
And just shortly after Granny Bai passed away, the ability yearned for by all transmigrators finally appeared — his very own golden finger had arrived!
"Congratulations to the host for successfully transmigrating to the tomb-raiding omnibus world. The Heavens Martial Dao System has awakened!"
The system's cold voice sounded once more, followed by the distribution of a series of rewards — top-tier martial arts manuals such as the [Nine Yang Manual], [Wudang Nine Yang Skill], and [Rampant Wind Saber Technique] poured into his mind all at once, accompanied by a precious bottle of [Marrow Cleansing Pills] to enhance his physical constitution.
"The relevant items have been stored in the System Space. Please retrieve them at any time."
As the system prompt faded, Gu Gang's mind was instantly struck by a massive flood of information, taking a good while to clear again.
The Nine Yang Manual!
This was indeed a top-tier existence within Jin Yong's martial arts world. When cultivated to the ultimate limit, the True Qi within one's body would flow endlessly like a great river.
Furthermore, when studying other martial arts techniques, it allowed one to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Yet the version of the Nine Yang Manual rewarded by the system was even more terrifying, appearing to stem from a far higher martial arts world.
This set of techniques was divided into nine layers. Once cultivated to perfection, it could manifest nine scorching suns hanging in the firmament, pushing right up to the realm of the Martial Golden Core.
From lowest to highest, martial arts cultivation could be divided into five major realms: the Houtian Ninth Layer, Xiantian Ninth Layer, Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, and Golden Core.
As for higher mysteries, the "Nine Yang Manual" did not touch upon them.
As for martial arts like the "Wudang Nine Yang Skill" and the "Rampant Wind Saber Technique," they belonged to relatively ordinary martial arts of the Jin Yong variety.
The former originated from the Daoist Zhang Sanfeng, who created it based on one-third of the "Nine Yang Manual"; when mastered to completion, it could reach the Peak of the Houtian Ninth Layer. The latter was Tian Boguang's signature unique skill, emphasizing speed and ferocity, with "speed" being its greatest characteristic.
Though he felt some confusion as to why a system related to martial arts had bound itself to him in a tomb-raiding world, Gu Gang did not dwell on it overly much. After all, the Heavens Martial Dao System was far more powerful than any ordinary tomb-raiding system.
...
After acquiring the "Nine Yang Manual" from the beginner's gift pack, he immediately retrieved three Marrow Cleansing Pills from the System Space, intending to consume them before embarking on his cultivation.
After taking the medicinal pills, Gu Gang quickly entered a meditative cultivation state.
Yet he soon discovered that the spiritual qi of heaven and earth in this place was extremely thin.
Even so, within a mere two years, he had still achieved the Houtian Ninth Layer.
During the three years that followed, no matter how hard he tried, he remained perpetually stuck at the Peak of the Houtian Ninth Layer, unable to break through.
Moreover, over the past five years, every attempt to summon the system had met with total silence, as if all connection had been lost.
If not for the fact that he intended to explore an ancient tomb, which suddenly caused the system to issue a warning, he would have nearly thought the system had run off right after handing over the initial gift pack.
Though baffled as to why the system forbade him from setting foot in ancient tombs, Gu Gang didn't mind and harbored a vague suspicion.
Since he could not participate in tomb raiding activities, he shifted his focus to establishing his own forces.
After all, the two martial arts manuals inside the beginner's gift pack were clearly not designed with just him in mind.