A desolate mountain. A torrential downpour!

Suddenly, a long, clear whistle echoed from a ruined temple halfway up the mountain.

It was like a dragon’s roar over a great marsh, like a tiger’s cry in an empty valley.

The moment it sounded, the pouring rain itself seemed to pause for a fraction of a second.

The sound spread for over ten li, lasting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before fading.

When the whistle finally died down, a figure shot out from the temple.

He landed before a stone tablet engraved with the three large words "Mountain God Temple."

From about a zhang away, the man thrust out a single palm.

With a loud BANG, his palm strike shattered the stone tablet from a distance, sending fragments flying everywhere.

A bolt of lightning split the sky, illuminating the figure’s face—it was a handsome young man.

He stared fixedly at his own palm, a look of utter astonishment on his face as he murmured to himself:

"This sixty-year cycle of Inner Strength... is it really this powerful?"

At this thought, a translucent panel appeared before him.

[Assassin System]

[Host: Jiang Ran]

[Capture Target: Iron Swallow Zhou Chang]

[Capture Progress: Complete]

[Reward: One 60-year cycle of Inner Strength (Claimed)]

[Nine Deaths Meridian: Repairing...]

[Remaining Lifespan: One year and twenty-nine days!]

"One year and twenty-nine days..."

Looking at this line of text, Jiang Ran felt not a trace of disappointment. Instead, a low chuckle escaped his lips.

The chuckle started small, then grew louder, until finally it became a wild, unrestrained laugh filled with exhilaration!

"The heavens haven’t abandoned me!!"

After a long while, Jiang Ran took a deep breath and stopped laughing, the light in his eyes flickering uncertainly.

He turned and stepped back into the ruined temple.

He sat down by the fire. Next to it lay a bundle and a black, sheathed single-edged saber.

He set the saber aside, took a roasted chicken wrapped in oil paper from the bundle, skewered it with a stick, and placed it over the fire to warm.

His thoughts, however, turned to the Nine Deaths Meridian as it was described in medical texts.

The Nine Deaths Meridian was an incurable condition.

The affliction didn’t originate from the twelve main meridians or the eight extraordinary meridians.

The root of the problem was that those born with it possessed nine hidden meridians more than an ordinary person.

Its symptoms were bizarre; it was less a disease and more a constitution that deviated from the norm.

As one medical classic stated: "Those with the Nine Deaths Meridian are like a leaky funnel. Their life force drains away on its own, and there is no cure."

Thus, though few had possessed this constitution throughout history, not one had ever lived past the age of twenty.

And Jiang Ran was exactly twenty years old this year...

Ever since he transmigrated into this world twenty years ago and was taken home by that slovenly old drunkard.

For these past two decades, the Nine Deaths Meridian had been a blade hanging over his head.

He could only watch as the blade descended, inch by inch, powerless to do anything.

It seemed his life had been heading towards its end from the very day he transmigrated.

The old drunkard had exhausted every means to save him, and Jiang Ran himself had endured no small amount of suffering in the process.

But it was all in vain.

When he finally awakened the system, there had only been one month left until his fated death!

’If the old drunkard hadn’t suddenly sent a message asking me to save him in Cangzhou Prefecture...’

’If I hadn’t been short on silver and forced to take a bounty on a flying thief to get some travel money...’

’I’m afraid I would have died without ever knowing I had a system...’

’It’s true what they say: misfortune can be a blessing in disguise.’

Jiang Ran let out a soft breath, his expression a little strange.

After all, he truly hadn’t expected the system’s activation condition would be to accept a bounty!

And he had only completed a single mission.

Yet not only did he receive a sixty-year cycle of Inner Strength as a reward, but even his incurable Nine Deaths Meridian could be repaired through it.

’Doesn’t this mean that as long as I keep capturing wanted criminals, I could even... completely cure this Nine Deaths Meridian?’

A fire ignited in his heart at the thought.

And achieving this wouldn’t be difficult at all.

In this day and age, if there was one thing the world had in abundance, it was arrest warrants and wanted criminals.

While the Golden Cicada Dynasty couldn’t be called an era of great turmoil, it was hardly a time of peace and prosperity.

Especially after the thirteenth year of the Tianzong Emperor, when the ten-year-long War of Five States ended. The Golden Cicada Dynasty’s power had declined, and the world had grown increasingly hostile to the common folk.

The Court’s influence was weak, and conflicts erupted throughout the martial world.

In the cities and towns, gangs were rampant, and armed brawls were a common occurrence.

Every clash left behind a pile of corpses.

Powerful martial artists took advantage of their skills to run amok, committing evil and treating human life as worthless.

When the Government Office was powerless to catch these villains, it would issue arrest warrants and request skilled practitioners from the martial world to capture them on its behalf.

The "Assassins" of the martial world referred to those who made a living by collecting these bounties.

Judging by the name of his system, this was precisely its purpose.

’In other words, this entire martial world is filled with the medicine that can save my life!!’

He clenched his fist lightly, calmed his emotions, and suppressed the urge to rush into the county town and tear down a bounty notice immediately.

’Remain calm in the face of great matters. This cannot be accomplished overnight.’

’Now that my life has been extended by a year, I can take my time and plan carefully.’

’I can’t afford to make the mistake of acting too hastily.’

With that, he let out a breath and took off his soaked clothes, intending to dry them by the fire.

Wuxia novels might have written about masters of the martial world using their Inner Strength to dry their clothes.

The reason Jiang Ran didn’t do so was simple... he didn’t know how.

Just as he was looking for a few sticks to hang his clothes on, he suddenly heard the sound of something slicing through the air.

Jiang Ran was slightly taken aback. ’Someone is still out and about in this weather?’

And from the sound of it, they were heading straight for this temple.

Sure enough, in just a moment, the newcomer arrived at the entrance of the ruined temple.

As Jiang Ran set up a crossbar with the sticks, he glanced back and saw a woman with a cold expression step into the ruined temple.

Their eyes met, and Jiang Ran froze for a second.

’I really didn’t expect the person scrambling around the mountain in the dead of night would be a woman.’

The woman, however, was staring at the bare-chested Jiang Ran, her normally cold eyes now wide and round.

Jiang Ran wasn’t bothered by her stare. He was only bare-chested; he still had his pants on.

He just silently sized up this uninvited guest...

She wasn’t very old, probably around his own age.

She had delicate features, but her face was pale, and she looked a little disheveled.

She had more than one injury. Her simple white dress was stained with blood, which the rain had diluted, giving her entire figure a faint reddish hue.

That was likely the reason for her pale complexion.

She held a sword in her hand, already drawn. Its cold gleam was brilliant, clearly a weapon of no ordinary quality.

It was countless times better than the single-edged saber Jiang Ran had bought from a blacksmith for two taels of silver.

No matter how you looked at it, this seemed to be a swordswoman of the martial world who had just survived a fierce battle.

Only right now, she seemed to be completely dumbstruck.

Jiang Ran was a little puzzled. ’Am I really that good-looking?’

He glanced at the longsword in her hand and decided he should probably give her a little reminder.

So he coughed lightly and said:

"Miss, you’re holding a dangerous weapon. Are you here to rob me of my money, or my virtue?"