Chapter 1: Keyboard Warrior

My entire body ached, and a faint smell of something burnt lingered in my nostrils. Wait! Zu'an remembered that he had just been fiercely debating on an online forum. Even a thunderous downpour outside hadn't affected his performance; he had truly left everyone speechless... Or rather, convinced them with virtue.

Then a violent clap of thunder, and a basketball-sized lightning bolt suddenly pierced through the wall from outside. It emitted a hazy red light and flickered erratically in the air.

Zu'an only felt a piercing, desolate shriek in his ears, a sensation difficult to describe accurately with words. Then he saw the keyboard on his desk gradually turn into ashes, followed by his hand. The annihilation spread from his hand upwards along his arm, and then he knew nothing.

Had he just been struck by lightning? What was that thing? Ball lightning? As a 'keyboard warrior,' he had read Liu Cixin's *Ball Lightning*. With his always unconventional way of thinking, he wasn't afraid now; instead, a surge of excitement replaced fear. Had he become the Flash, or a quantum-state hero?

He tried hard to open his eyes, but everything was a blur. He couldn't distinguish up from down, or left from right. Suddenly, a tingling, pricking sensation came from his fingers. He quickly turned his head to look—though he wasn't sure if he saw it with his eyes or his mind:

Near his fingertips, a keyboard faintly appeared, identical to his everyday keyboard. The only difference was that all the keys were incredibly dim. He tried to press them, but not a single key moved, as if they were all welded in place.

"'Keyboard Warrior' title successfully bound. Corresponding functions will automatically unlock upon meeting the conditions." A cold voice echoed in his mind. Zu'an was startled. Everyone else was the Flash, Spider-Man, Iron Man—each more impressive than the last. While the 'Keyboard Warrior' title somewhat fit his personality, why did it still sound so odd?

"What are the conditions for unlocking?" Zu'an quickly asked.

"Collect the secret tomes from 12 Uncharted Lands in this world and embed them sequentially into the F1 through F12 slots. Each collected tome will unlock a corresponding function," the cold voice replied.

Zu'an then noticed that the F1 to F12 keys on the keyboard were all engraved with strange markings, presumably corresponding to the 12 secret tomes.

"Good luck, Keyboard Warrior!" After leaving this message, the keyboard twisted, transformed into a phantom image, and vanished into his finger. Zu'an quickly demanded, "Wait, what are the 12 Uncharted Lands? How can I find those secret tomes?"

Unfortunately, no matter how he called out, the cold voice never reappeared, and even the mysterious keyboard was gone without a trace.

Zu'an couldn't help but curse under his breath. What kind of broken keyboard was this? Other protagonists started with legendary power-ups, so why did he need such strict unlocking conditions? These 'Uncharted Lands' sounded like dangerous places, and would secret tomes just be given away? And 12 of them? This was clearly a joke!

At this moment, the surrounding chaos gradually receded. Light seemed to permeate his vision, and he could faintly hear people talking:

"Strange, a clear sky, yet a sudden thunderbolt. It makes no sense."

"He must have done something heinous; heaven couldn't stand it."

"Hey, isn't this the infamous worthless son-in-law of the Chu family? For someone like him to catch the eye of the Chu family's eldest young lady, a fairy-like figure, his ancestors must have truly smiled upon him. But he wasn't satisfied; I heard he even crept into the second young lady's bedchamber on his wedding night!"

"My god, he wants to have both sisters!"

"Hehehe, which brother-in-law doesn't like his sister-in-law?"

"He deserved to be struck by lightning!"

"What a pity that the Chu family's eldest young lady, beautiful as a celestial being, became a widow so young."

"Quiet, be careful the Chu family hears you! They're hunting for that beast."

Zu'an was completely bewildered. What utter nonsense! The world was truly going to the dogs. These people were gossiping nearby; couldn't they have called an ambulance? Once I recover, I will definitely expose and condemn their shameless behavior online!

"Make way, make way, the coroner's here!" Someone shouted.

"Coroner?" Zu'an was dumbfounded. Shouldn't it be a forensic doctor? Was he in a historical drama?

Soon, he felt someone squatting beside him, pressing fingers on various parts of his body: "The corpse's flesh is scorched yellow, the body entirely soft and blackened. Hands clenched and splayed, mouth agape, eyes wide and ruptured. There are large patches of red and purple on the body, yet the flesh is undamaged. These are indeed the symptoms of death by lightning."

Zu'an listened, both angry and scared. Dying was one thing, but such an ugly death was absolutely unbearable! He didn't know where the strength came from, but he suddenly sat upright: "Can you at least do my makeup before taking pictures?"

"He's reanimated!" The surrounding onlookers instantly scattered.

Zu'an was also stunned, because he saw the clothes and attire of the people around him. They were indeed ancient, and the fabric quality was generally poor, unlike the flamboyant beauty seen in historical dramas. More chillingly, there were no cameras, film crew vehicles, or anything of the sort nearby. As far as his eyes could see, there were no mobile phones, no telephone poles, no cars—no trace of his familiar world.

So he wasn't dead. Had he transmigrated? He had seen such scenarios too many times in novels, so he was already quite accustomed to it.

"You...what kind of...what kind of monster are you?" The coroner, who had fallen to the ground in fright, pointed at him, his lips trembling.

"Monster, my foot! You can't even tell the living from the dead, and you call yourself a coroner, cough, cough..." The moment he spoke, smoke continuously billowed from his mouth and nose, and for a moment, he choked. He supposed it was an after-effect of being struck by lightning.

Zu'an then noticed that his clothes were not his original set, and even his arms were much thinner than before. A horrifying thought suddenly surged in his mind. He hastily pulled open his pants to look inside and immediately let out a piteous wail: "Oh no!"

What was once a magnificent 'Great Roc Spreading Its Wings' had shriveled to a 'Little Chick Pecking Rice.' No one could accept such a drastic reduction.

Just then, the surroundings suddenly fell silent. The crowd in the distance parted to form a path, each person staring blankly in a certain direction. Many even lowered their heads guiltily, yet couldn't help but secretly peek upwards.

Zu'an subconsciously looked in that direction and finally understood why these people reacted this way: a woman in white was slowly approaching.

With bright eyes and snow-white skin, her features were as exquisite as a painting. As the mountain breeze gently brushed past, her dark hair danced, her white dress fluttered, and a pale blue silk ribbon lightly cinched her slender waist. She looked like an ethereal fairy from the clouds.

"My god!" He mentally cursed his own poor vocabulary, unable to find words to describe her beauty.

Seeing her stare down at him, Zu'an rose to his feet, unwilling to be outdone: "Beautiful lady, do you have a boyfriend? If so, would you mind a new one? If not, would you mind an additional one?"

A flicker of displeasure crossed the white-clad woman's face. She said coldly, "Alright, Zu'an, after just a few hours, you don't even recognize your own wife?"

Zu'an was instantly shocked. This woman, who looked like she had stepped out of a painting, was actually this unfortunate man's wife? Even more shocking was that this unfortunate man, struck by lightning, was also named Zu'an?

Just then, a flood of familiar yet unfamiliar memories suddenly surged into his mind.

The familiarity stemmed from this world resembling ancient Chinese society, with similar language and culture. The unfamiliarity was that this was a world of cultivators, where individual martial power was incredibly formidable. Some could even cleave the sea with a single sword, or cross the horizon in one step.

Unlike the xianxia novels he remembered, the highest martial power in this world was mostly concentrated within the imperial court. The greater a person's strength, the higher their status and power tended to be.

The current Great Zhou Dynasty's emperor was one of the most powerful cultivators in the world.

This was an exceptionally powerful dynasty, with a vast territory far exceeding any ancient Chinese dynasty. The imperial clan's various kings were dispersed across the land, guarding the four directions. Beneath these kings, dukes, marquises, counts, viscounts, and barons—nobles of all sizes—also possessed their own fiefdoms and private armies, governing their local areas alongside centrally appointed officials.

For example, Brightmoon City, where they were located, was the fiefdom of Duke Brightmoon, Chu Zhongtian.

The original owner of this body was also named Zu'an. He was an orphan raised by his uncle and was known as the city's infamous worthless youth. He was incapable in both scholarly pursuits and martial arts, yet he was arrogant, overambitious, and boastful. That was everyone's impression of him. He heard that his uncle had been literally angered to death by him.

However, what truly flabbergasted everyone recently was that such a worthless man had actually won the favor of Brightmoon City's Duke's eldest daughter, and was taken into the Chu household as a son-in-law.

How could such a worthless man be worthy of the noble Miss Chu, especially when she was such a stunning beauty? Everyone felt they would be a better match than him.

And this beautiful woman in white standing before him was Chu Chuyan, the Chu family's eldest young lady.

Faced with her questioning, Zu'an reacted quickly, smiling as he reached out to put his arm around her waist: "Wasn't I just worried you'd be sad and upset, so I made a joke to lighten the mood?"

Since this was another version of himself from a parallel world, this wife was naturally also his wife—of course, if she had been less attractive, he would never have accepted this marriage.

Chu Chuyan seamlessly turned away, just avoiding his hand: "Sad and upset? For you?" A hint of coldness was discernible in her calm voice.

Zu'an didn't mind, thinking she was merely embarrassed to show affection in public. He quickly followed, hoping to seize the opportunity to increase her favorability.

To his surprise, a lithe figure stepped between them. Zu'an focused his gaze and saw a girl in emerald-green clothing blocking their path. She had straight bangs, many delicate little braids tied on her head, and a remarkably slender figure. Her most striking feature was her incredibly slender 'water snake' waist.

Zu'an was about to compliment the pretty girl when, to his surprise, her words were quite unpleasant: "Have you forgotten your place? You have no manners. Get to the back."

Zu'an froze, vaguely recalling that this girl was apparently Miss Chu's personal maid, Xue'er. He thought to himself, 'You, a mere maidservant, dare to speak to your master like this?'

At this moment, whispers came from the surroundings:

"So this is the Chu family's eldest young lady. She's indeed unbelievably beautiful."

"Even her maidservant is so pretty!"

"This guy who got struck by lightning really is the Chu family's worthless son-in-law. I wonder what virtues or abilities he possesses."

"Who in this area doesn't know he's living off the Chu family? Look at how servile he looks even in front of a maidservant."

Worthless son-in-law? Zu'an's expression was strange. His counterpart in this world seemed to be having a rough time. But he didn't care about that now. So what if he was living off others? Eating soft rice with a hard bite was a skill; they couldn't even manage that!

Chu Chuyan quickly got into a carriage. Zu'an wanted to follow, but Xue'er, the maidservant sitting at the front of the carriage, glared at him and blocked his way. The other servants, seemingly accustomed to this, simply started the carriage, completely ignoring his presence.

Zu'an became annoyed. After all, her husband had just been struck by lightning and was still very weak. Were they really going to make him walk all the way back like this?

So, without thinking twice, he jogged over and plopped down directly onto Xue'er's thigh.

Xue'er was startled and quickly dodged to the side, creating a gap. Zu'an then slipped directly into the carriage.

Inside the carriage, there was a faint, elegant, and alluring fragrance. Chu Chuyan was reading, clearly not expecting him to enter; he had always stayed dutifully outside before. For a moment, she was stunned.

Zu'an was about to say something when he suddenly noticed the title of the book in her hand: *Sweet Pampered Wife: The Overbearing Sword Immortal's Ninety-Nine Days of Demanding Love*.

Xue'er entered angrily, intending to grab him: "Hey, I told you, you..."

Chu Chuyan quickly tucked the book into her sleeve. A faint blush flashed across her flawless white face: "It's alright, Xue'er, let him stay here."

Xue'er glared at Zu'an and huffily returned to her seat at the front of the carriage.

"What did you just see?" A dangerous glint appeared in Chu Chuyan's eyes.

Zu'an waved his hand: "I didn't see anything." Were there romance novels in this world too? The title was as embarrassing as ever. He truly hadn't expected a woman as aloof and dignified as her to secretly read such books.

Seeing her disbelieving expression, Zu'an, fearing she might silence him, quickly changed the subject: "Wife, do you know about the Uncharted Lands in this world? Which one is closest to us?"

Chu Chuyan looked at him with surprise: "Where did you hear about the Uncharted Lands?" Outside the carriage, Xue'er's eyes also flashed with a sharp glint, but she quickly lowered her head to conceal it.

Zu'an instinctively replied, "I heard it from someone else."

"Impossible!" Chu Chuyan frowned. "Ordinary people have no chance of knowing that term."