Li Tian woke before dawn, his consciousness rising under the weight of a life that had already ended once.
For a moment, he did not move.
Because he remembered.
---
---
Sheng Fang was twenty-nine years old.
His name had never appeared on any toppers' list, yet anyone who had truly spoken with him knew his understanding rivaled that of experts. He was an engineering student, but his mind extended far beyond textbooks. Business strategies came naturally to him. Medical and pharmaceutical knowledge settled easily in his memory. Agricultural cycles, political dynamics, systems of power—everything made sense, as if the world itself followed patterns only he could read.
There was only one thing that never followed logic.
Bad luck.
Every exam ended in failure for reasons beyond control. Difficult papers, missing answer sheets, sudden illness—something always went wrong. People whispered about him, unable to understand how someone so capable could fail so consistently.
But his parents never doubted him.
"Marks are not life, son," his father would say calmly.
"Your time will come," his mother would add with quiet warmth.
They never pressured him. Never compared him.
After every failure, their belief remained unchanged.
Sheng Fang endured because of them.
---
Then one night, everything ended.
Rain poured over a dark highway. A phone call came. A crash followed.
His parents were gone.
Killed instantly.
That day, Sheng Fang did not just lose his family—he lost direction.
---
He stopped studying. Exams no longer mattered. The future felt empty.
Life reduced itself to survival.
For three years, he worked whatever job he could find—delivery, cleaning, waiting tables, construction. Day after day, he exhausted himself simply to continue existing.
People looked at him with regret.
"Such potential… wasted."
They did not know.
Inside his mind, nothing had disappeared.
---
Then came the final blow.
"Pancreatic cancer. Late stage."
He accepted it quietly.
Lying on a hospital bed, he did not think about success or failure.
He thought about his parents.
Their belief.
Their patience.
Everything they had given him—and everything he had failed to return.
That was the real pain.
Not failure.
Not bad luck.
But never proving them right.
A single thought formed in his final moments.
If I am given another life…
I will become someone worth believing in.
For them.
---
His breathing stopped.
---
His eyes opened.
---
The ceiling above him was old wood. The air smelled faintly of herbs and dust. His body felt lighter—young.
This was not a hospital.
He moved to a mirror.
The face reflected back was not Sheng Fang.
Memories surged.
Li Tian.
Nineteen years old.
A world of martial arts, sects, and shifting power.
A merchant family once respected—now collapsing under debt, stripped of stability, standing on the edge of ruin.
Sheng Fang was gone.
Li Tian remained.
---
He sat on the edge of the bed, letting the memories settle.
No panic.
No rush.
Only understanding.
No hidden system.
No sudden power.
No external advantage.
Only a failing family—and himself.
---
He clenched his fist slowly.
In his previous life, knowledge had brought him nothing.
Effort had led only to exhaustion.
Hope had ended in loss.
But here, the equation was different.
Business understanding could rebuild structure.
Medical knowledge could create value.
Agricultural insight could secure supply.
Political awareness could prevent unseen threats.
I was not lacking, he thought quietly. I was misplaced.
---
He stood and walked to the window.
The city below was waking. Merchants prepared goods, voices rose in negotiation, movement spread like a living network.
Power existed here.
But not only in strength.
This time, he thought, I will not leave things to chance.
His reflection stared back at him.
Young face.
Calm eyes.
And something that had survived everything.
He placed his hand against the window.
A silent promise.
I will become someone worth believing in.
---
Before anything else—
He needed to understand how deep the Li family had fallen.
---
He stepped into the main hall.
The house was quiet, but the silence carried weight.
His father, Li Hua, sat at the table, shoulders slightly hunched, gaze distant. Beside him stood Li Ming—his elder uncle—pacing in short, restless steps, unable to remain still.
"You think they'll give us more time?" Li Ming asked, his voice tight.
Li Hua did not answer immediately. His hands were clasped tightly together.
"I've asked before," he said at last. "They don't listen anymore."
Silence followed.
Li Tian stood at the entrance, watching.
"If they take the shop…" Li Ming exhaled sharply. "If they take the house… what do we even have left?"
Li Hua said nothing.
Because there was no answer.
---
Then—
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Each step echoed through the courtyard.
Li Ming froze.
Li Hua's hands tightened visibly.
The footsteps stopped.
The door opened.
---
Men entered without hesitation, their presence filling the room. Their expressions were indifferent, their movements controlled.
Then the leader stepped in.
He moved without haste, his gaze sweeping once across the room before settling.
A faint, certain smile touched his lips.
He raised his hand slightly.
The others stopped.
Silence.
Then he spoke.
"Master Li," his voice was calm. "We've come to settle accounts."
Li Ming stepped forward. "We just need a little more time—"
"Time?" The man tilted his head slightly. "You've had time."
Li Hua stood, maintaining what dignity he could.
"Please," he said. "Give us a few more days. We will repay everything."
The man watched him quietly.
"I've heard that before."
One of his men shifted, glancing around the house as if already assessing its worth.
Li Ming clenched his fists. "We are not refusing to pay!"
"No," the leader replied calmly. "You are simply unable."
The words settled heavily.
Li Hua's posture weakened slightly.
That was the breaking point.
---
Li Tian felt it clearly.
This was the moment everything would be taken.
And for a brief second—
He hesitated.
Three days.
If he failed, he would not just lose.
He would belong to them.
His throat tightened.
The risk was absolute.
---
Then he stepped forward.
"Give us three days."
Every gaze turned.
Li Hua's expression changed sharply. "Tian—what are you saying?"
Li Ming stared at him. "Have you lost your mind?!"
Li Tian did not look at them.
He looked only at the leader.
"Three days," he repeated. "We will repay everything."
A pause.
"And if we fail… I will work for you. Five years."
The room went still.
Li Hua's composure cracked. "You don't understand what you are offering—!"
"I do," Li Tian said quietly.
---
The leader watched him closely.
For the first time, interest appeared in his eyes.
"Five years…" he repeated.
He stepped closer.
"You would bind yourself for their debt?"
"Yes."
Silence stretched.
Then—
Tap.
Tap.
His fingers struck lightly against his sleeve, slow and measured.
A smile formed.
"Interesting."
He turned slightly, then looked back.
"Three days," he said.
Relief had barely begun to form—
"Not a moment more."
---
He moved toward the door, then paused.
His gaze returned to Li Tian.
His voice was quiet.
Cold.
"Three days…"
A faint smile.
"After that—"
"You belong to me."
---
The footsteps faded.
Silence returned.
Heavier than before.
---
Li Tian stood still.
Three days.
Behind his calm expression, his thoughts moved rapidly.
Precise.
Calculated.
This was not a gamble.
It was a narrow path.
Three days… is enough.
If he was right.
If not—
He did not let the thought finish.
---
A new life had begun.
Not with power.
Not with strength.
But with a deadline.