Chapter 3

Seeing the gangsters advancing toward him, Chen Ping tightened his grip on the sword, raising it in an alert stance.

Although he had never been in a life-or-death battle, he had watched others fight and understood one thing—even a moment of distraction could be fatal.

The gangsters, too, drew their weapons—swords and iron rods. They weren't foolish enough to attack barehanded, even if their opponent looked like a weak teenager.

"Kill him!"

At the leader's command, two gangsters wielding iron rods rushed toward Chen Ping inside the cramped house.

As they closed in, Chen Ping positioned his sword for a downward strike and swung it at the nearest gangster.

The gangster instinctively raised his rod to block the attack, but instead of feeling the clash of metal, a sharp pain shot through his lower body. Chen Ping had kicked him in the nuts.

With a groan, the man bent over in agony. At that moment, Chen Ping let go of the sword just before it could make contact with the iron rod, allowing it to fall harmlessly to the side.

"Y-You little piec—"

Before the gangster could finish his sentence, Chen Ping drove his knee into the man's nose, causing blood to spurt as he stumbled backward.

Without wasting a second, Chen Ping swiftly sucked in a breath and rolled sideways toward where his sword had fallen—just in time to dodge an iron rod that whizzed past where he had been standing.

Beads of sweat formed on Chen Ping's forehead, a result of both the tension and his rapid movements.

He was also a little afraid—if he had been even a second late, the iron rod would have struck his head or neck, causing serious injury or even death.

And he wasn't willing to die so easily. If he had to go down, he'd at least try to take one or two with him to the underworld as company.

Quickly, he picked up the fallen sword and backed away slightly, putting some distance between himself and the gangster who had just attacked.

"What are you doing, trash? Can't you handle a little punk like this?!"

The leader's furious voice rang out from behind.

"All of you, go together and deal with him!" he commanded.

Following his orders, the rest of the gangsters stepped forward, slowly encircling Chen Ping.

A bitter smile appeared on Chen Ping's face.

If it had been just one or two more, he could have used the lime powder hidden in his sleeves to blind them and create an opening. But with all of them attacking at once, he doubted he could hold out much longer.

Taking a deep breath, his eyes calmed. He refused to die here, especially as a mediocre among all the other time travelers.

Just as the gangsters were about to pounce, the world suddenly turned grey and white—everything froze in place, as if time itself had stopped.

Chen Ping, unable to move his body, panicked at the strange phenomenon. He could still think, but he had no idea what was happening.

Suddenly—

[DING!!]

[Host detected. Do you want to bind?]

[Y/N]

A panel appeared before him, accompanied by a voice. Seeing this, Chen Ping was ecstatic. Without hesitation, he shouted in his thoughts—

'YES! Bind it immediately!!!'

[DING!]

[Congratulations, the 'Villain Template System' is now at your service!]

[As a newbie benefit, you have received one free White-Rank Template draw. Would you like to use it?]

[Y/N]

Just as Chen Ping was about to respond, a wave of information surged into his mind—or rather, his soul.

A brief dizziness overtook him, but it quickly faded, and his thoughts became clear again.

The information explained the system's functions:

The Villain Template System provided 'Villain Templates' to the host, categorized by rank from low to high:

White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, Red, Colorful, and finally—Black.

The higher the rank, the stronger the template.

For example, a White Template only granted strength equivalent to low-level cultivators (Body Strengthening Realm and Qi Training Realm), while higher-ranked templates granted far greater power.

However, obtaining these templates wasn't instant. Each one required the host to complete different tasks and follow specific procedures to fully accept its power. The higher the rank, the more complex the process.

As for acquiring them? It was simple in theory—just provide the necessary resources for the corresponding template.

But there was one condition—a weak cultivator couldn't obtain a high-rank template, no matter how many resources they had.

For example, a mere Body Strengthening Realm martial artist couldn't draw a Black Template, even if they somehow gathered the necessary resources for it.

Coming out of his thoughts, Chen Ping suppressed his excitement and thought—

'Perform White Template Draw.'

With his confirmation, the letters on the system panel vanished, and in their place, a massive white spinning disk appeared before him.

It resembled a gambling wheel, with a pointer at the bottom.

The disk was divided into countless tiny sections, so small that Chen Ping couldn't even make out the words written on them.

[Does the host wish to begin the draw?]

Another prompt appeared.

Without hesitation, Chen Ping replied, 'Yes.'

Immediately, the giant disk began spinning at high speed.

Its rotation was so fast that it blurred into a white vortex.

Seconds passed.

Then the speed gradually slowed.

Bit by bit, the sections became visible again.

Finally, the disk crawled to a near halt, moving as slowly as a turtle inching forward.

Chen Ping stared intensely at the pointer, his fingers crossed in his mind, hoping for something powerful.

Then—

Tick!

With a loud sound, the pointer stopped.

The disk zoomed in, revealing the exact section it had landed on.

And when Chen Ping read the words, his eyes widened slightly.

"White Template: Butcher."

[Ding!]

[Does the host wish to use 'White Template: Butcher'?]

[Y/N]

'YES!'

The moment his reply left his thoughts, his vision went black in an instant.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark, endless space, with nothing around him.

A mechanical voice echoed—

[Starting to load 'White Template: Butcher' file.....]

As the voice faded, the surroundings suddenly shifted.

The dark void melted away, replaced by a small village.

Chen Ping curiously scanned his surroundings, trying to take in the place he had appeared in.