1 Becoming Stronger and More Handsome

"One day, I'll become a legendary figure in the web novel industry. One of my novels will sell for tens of millions of yuan. I'll live in a luxurious mansion, marry a beautiful wife who hails from an affluent family, and then reach the pinnacle of success in life!"

In the dim, dark basement, the ceiling lights cast a dappled light onto the floor.

Bai Xiaowen was sitting in front of the computer, furiously typing away. In the empty basement, he was working toward his dream career as a famous novelist.

Bai Xiaowen's shadow was his only accompaniment.

After completing another chapter, Bai Xiaowen logged into the website easily—seeming like he had done this often—and opened his homepage.

Copy! Paste! Successfully uploaded!

"I wonder how many subscribers have I increased by?" Bai Xiaowen clicked on the analytics page with anticipation.

"I have three new subscribers, so I have over 100 subscribers now… Ahem! No matter what, I'm now one step closer to becoming a legendary figure," Bai Xiaowen consoled himself as he shuffled his fat ass in his chair, the chair's wooden frame creaking under his weight.

He threw a glance at the time that was shown at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Bai Xiaowen rubbed his tummy, which had a generous layer of belly fat, and felt a pang of hunger.

"It's already 11 p.m., I'll take a stroll at the night market and buy some supper to eat." Bai Xiaowen pushed open the door to the basement and followed the steps leading out of the run-down place he called his home.

Bai Xiaowen was an impressive figure in the past. When he was in high school, he was always the first in class. Whenever the results were released, none of his classmates would bother asking who got the first place. Instead, they would ask who got the second place. In his three years of high school, the student getting second place was always changing. However, all of them were under Bai Xiaowen's shadow.

Unfortunately, after getting into a focal university, Bai Xiaowen lost his drive and direction in life. He became a geek.

In the end, he obtained his graduation certificate with much difficulty and encountered numerous obstacles in his search for a job. Due to an unexpected turn of events, he joined the web novel industry and became a web novelist.

Bai Xiaowen was wandering on the streets like a grizzly bear foraging for food. He did not notice that there was a speck of starlight in the sky that was flying toward him at an increasing speed.

What were the chances of a person being hit by a meteor? That was hard to say. There was a 50 percent chance of getting hit by the meteor.

The starlight hit Bai Xiaowen's head accurately as if there was a navigator installed in it. In an instant, Bai Xiaowen only had time to raise his head.

An eyeball-shaped object crashed into Bai Xiaowen's left eye socket.

Bai Xiaowen felt the world spin. In the endless darkness, the only thing he could see was a blood-colored eyeball.

-

When Bai Xiaowen regained consciousness, the smell of disinfectant filled his nose. He opened his eyes to an all-white ceiling.

"This is a hospital? I didn't die after being hit by a meteor?" Bai Xiaowen thought, feeling a little puzzled. He touched his left eye. "The meteor clearly pierced through my left eye, but my eye is still there. Am I dreaming?"

"Elder Brother, you're awake!"

A surprised voice sounded. In front of the bed, a girl rubbed her bloodshot eyes and looked at Bai Xiaowen. A look of joy and disbelief crossed her face. Upon seeing that Bai Xiaowen was awake, she pounced forward and grabbed his arm.

The girl was about 13 or 14 years old. She was wearing a washed-out blue school uniform. Her face was delicate and pretty. She was an adorable-looking girl.

"You…" Bai Xiaowen was a little dumbfounded. He did not expect a beautiful girl to call him brother the moment he woke up. He did not remember having such a sister. With the Bai family's genes, even if he had a sister, it was impossible for her to be so beautiful.

The adorable girl laughed and cried at the same time. She helped Bai Xiaowen sit up slowly. "This is fantastic! Elder Brother, I knew you wouldn't leave me behind. After Elder Sister went missing, there were only the two of us left in the family. You can't leave me behind too!" As she said that, she started sobbing.

Bai Xiaowen sat up straight and saw a small round mirror on the bedside table. In it, he saw his own reflection.

"Oh my god, that's me? This… This is such a handsome-looking face!"

The reflection staring back at him had dark eyes, fair skin, and a perfect jawline. He was definitely a handsome youth.

Bai Xiaowen was still in a daze. He subconsciously wanted to pinch himself, but both of his hands were held tightly by that cute girl, and he could not break free of her iron grip. When he panicked, countless images appeared in his mind, and Bai Xiaowen's eyes rolled back and he fainted.

That girl immediately shouted and dashed out of the ward. She yelled for a doctor, her voice echoing loudly in the hallway.

In the empty ward, Bai Xiaowen gradually regained consciousness. However, this time, he had already figured out what was going on and was no longer in a daze.

"I have transmigrated… This body that I've transmigrated into is called 'Bai Xiaowen'. It's pronounced the same way as my original name, but it's written a little differently."

This was Earth from the Spiritual Energy Era!

In A.D. 2021, a special energy called spiritual particles surged into Earth through gaps found in the Spiritual Realm. The Earth became digital under the influence of spiritual particles, and countless species mutated.

At the same time, groups of creatures from the Spiritual Realm invaded Earth.

There were Zombies that could withstand bullets, Dreadclaw Monsters that could skim over rooftops and walls and were difficult to aim at, Mountain Giants that had immense strength and treated tanks as toys, and malicious ghosts that could tear apart souls with a single look.

Most importantly, these monsters were protected by the energy of spiritual particles. Hence, the effects of Earth's weapons were greatly reduced, and humans could not deal much damage to them.

Thankfully, spiritual particles had also changed the bodies of humans on Earth, opening up a new path of evolution. Humans who had successfully evolved were known as Awakened!

An Awakened had the strength to fight monsters head-on. After the first generation of Awakened grew up, finally, there was a fragile balance between humans and monsters on Earth.

The Spiritual Energy Era began. The year 2021 was known as the first year of the Spiritual Energy Era.

This year was the 96th year of the Spiritual Energy Era. Bai Xiaowen traveled to a hundred years later, and he had transmigrated into the body of a high school student called "Bai Xiaowen". The two memories of his life overlapped like a dream, making him unsure whether this was his real identity and the web novelist Bai Xiaowen was merely a dream of his, or the vice-versa was true.

"From now on, I'm Bai Xiaowen from the 96th year of the Spiritual Energy Era," he thought to himself. Admittedly, the life of a web novelist caused Bai Xiaowen to have a strong mentality. Moreover, his soul had successfully fused with this body. Thus, he had no problems accepting this identity, not to mention he had become a handsome man. What else was there to be dissatisfied about?

Whether a person was successful depended on aptitude and hard work, in which the former took up seven points while the latter took up three points. One's appearance made up the other 90 points.

Bai Xiaowen picked up the small round mirror and stared at his reflection carefully.

"Tsk tsk, I have broad shoulders, a slender waist, and long legs. This is a model's figure and a celebrity's face. It's hard for me to not become famous in the entertainment industry."

Just as Bai Xiaowen was staring at himself in the mirror, a string of information flowed into his mind.

[Bai Xiaowen]

[Race: Humanoid/Human]

[Talent: Insight]

[Attributes: Strength 1.8, Agility 2.1, Physique 1.7, Spirit 4.9]

[Specialty: Basic Combat Level 1, Basic Machinery (Single-handed Sword) Level 2, Basic Meditation Level 1]

"This is my personal data in the Spiritual Energy Era. But wait, what's with the 'talent'? From the original host's memory, this body doesn't have any talent! Also, why did the 'spirit' attribute increase so much all of a sudden? Bai Xiaowen's original 'spirit' attribute was only 1.9."

"That's right. The new Insight talent and the soaring Spirit… are probably related to that huge blood-red eyeball!"

As soon as Bai Xiaowen had a question in his mind, the answer immediately popped up. The speed of his thoughts was so fast that even he was a little surprised. He felt that his brain had also evolved! Compared to his previous brain, it was like the difference between a supercar and a hand-guided tractor—simply put, Bai Xiaowen had a super brain!

With just a simple glance, the tables, chairs, and bed cabinets in the ward were all clearly engraved in his mind like photos. Even the slight erosion and scratches on them were clearly visible! What was even more terrifying was that Bai Xiaowen memorized all of this while he was calculating the square for five-digit numbers mentally.

This observational ability, this memory, this computational ability… Not only was this brain much more powerful than what Bai Xiaowen, who was a third-year student in this time and space, originally had, but it was also a hundred times smarter than Bai Xiaowen, that web novelist in another time and space. This was definitely a super brain!

The super brain should also be a perk brought about by the blood-red eyeball.

Bai Xiaowen carefully observed his left eye in the mirror. In the depths of his pupil, there was a faint red light circulating. He silently chanted to cancel 'Insight', and the red light disappeared.

"Activate the personal attributes panel."

The transparent page opened in front of Bai Xiaowen like a page. His race, attributes, talents, and specialties were exactly the same as the data that Bai Xiaowen had just obtained through his Insight ability. This meant that there was no mistake in his Insight talent. It was very precise!

"Awesome." Bai Xiaowen was very excited. In the Spiritual Energy Era, only a small number of people had innate abilities. No matter how trashy one's talent was, one would receive due attention once their talent was confirmed.

Bai Xiaowen felt as if he had obtained his favorite toy. He looked around for items to test his talent, including cabinets, beds, and mirrors. He did not miss a single thing. However, the notifications he received were all: "The target contains negligible spiritual energy. It's not a spiritual item."

In the end, Bai Xiaowen found a used box of bandages that emitted a dim light. His Insight gave the results.

[Cotton Veil Hemostatic Bandage (Used)]

[Grade: 0]

[Composition: Lifeforce 0.71%, Disinfectant 0.28%, Blood 12%, Cotton Yarn 86.01%]

[Effect: It can quickly heal wounds and scabs, shortening the duration of bleeding]

"My talent, Insight, can work on items that contain spiritual energy! Not only can I identify the effects, but I can also see its composition! I feel like this is much stronger than ordinary detection abilities!" Bai Xiaowen was secretly pleased as he threw the blood-stained bandage back into the trash can.

However, the moment he threw away the bandage, Bai Xiaowen suddenly remembered something.

"The blood on this bandage… is mine? F*ck, which bastard did this to me?"