First Visitor!

A gentle breeze rustled the trees as Qin Chen sat cross-legged on a smooth boulder, overlooking the endless mountains that had been his home for the past year. The early morning mist curled around the jagged peaks, painting a scene that could be mistaken for a celestial realm. He exhaled slowly, gazing into the sky with a wry smile.

"Has it really been a year?"

He still remembered the day he woke up here. One moment, he was just another person in an ordinary world, and the next, he was in the body of an "ancient expert"—or so his Sign-In System had told him. The problem?

This expert had never existed.

His entire identity was a fabrication. No legends, no disciples, no sect history. His past was nothing but a script written by the system. And even though his body's strength kept recovering, he couldn't sense Qi or wield the so-called godlike power that should belong to him.

"I've been living like a mortal for a year now, and I still feel like one. What's the point of having power if I can't even tell that I have it?"

The system didn't care about his complaints. Every day, it asked him to sign in, gifting him unfathomable treasures and world-shaking abilities, none of which he could properly understand. It was as if he were an emperor with a treasury full of divine weapons but no idea how to wield a sword.

Today was no different.

[Daily Sign-In Complete!]

[You have received: Divine Sky-Piercing Bow!]

Qin Chen glanced at the elegant golden bow that appeared in his hands. It gleamed under the sunlight, its surface engraved with intricate Dao patterns that pulsed faintly.

[Quest: Fire an arrow in a random direction!]

Qin Chen arched a brow. "...That's it?"

It wasn't the weirdest task he'd received. Last time, the system had him toss a rock, which later turned out to be a Heavenly Dao Stone that could create celestial realms. Not that he'd ever find out where it landed.

With a shrug, he took out an arrow, nocked it onto the bowstring, and drew back. His enhanced god-tier vision allowed him to see the world in absurd detail—he could count the veins of a leaf on a tree miles away. Yet when he loosed the arrow, something unexpected happened.

Fwshhhh!

The arrow disintegrated mid-flight, torn apart by an invisible force before it could even travel a few feet.

Qin Chen: "..."

"What the hell? This thing was supposed to shoot ten times faster than a normal bow, and yet it barely moved?! What kind of scam bow is this?!"

What he didn't realize was that the bow's power was beyond his comprehension. The moment he released the arrow, the force behind it had already pierced through the sky itself, obliterating the arrow before his eyes could even register its movement. To him, it looked sluggish and weak. To reality, it was a force that defied logic.

Qin Chen sighed and shook his head, laughing at himself. "Even with an artifact like this, I still shoot like a beginner... What a joke."

He tossed the bow aside carelessly, thinking nothing of it.

But at that moment, far away, an intense battle was unfolding.

At the Foot of the Mountain: A Life-and-Death Battle

"Senior Sister, we're losing! We need to retreat!"

A group of young cultivators was engaged in a desperate struggle against a monstrous beast. Towering over them, the Azure Fang Tiger—a vicious spirit beast known for its unbreakable hide and terrifying speed—let out a deafening roar.

Among them, a young man clenched his fists, his breathing ragged. He was Lin Yu, a disciple of a renowned sect and a man destined for protagonist-level fate. He had fought alongside these women before, protecting them, gaining their admiration, and slowly earning their trust.

He knew that this was the moment where he could prove himself. If he saved the female lead, she would start seeing him in a different light.

Lin Yu's mind raced. If he could just—

Schlick!

Before he could even act, a divine arrow tore through the sky.

It pierced through the Azure Fang Tiger's skull, reducing it to ashes before it even had time to react.

The battlefield fell into absolute silence. The disciples, who had been fighting with all their might, stared in shock.

"Wh-what just happened?" a female disciple stammered.

"The beast… it's dead?"

Lin Yu's heart sinks. That was supposed to be his moment. He turned his head, scanning the area for the expert who had interfered. But there was no one in sight. The only thing visible was the towering mountain peak in the distance.

His hands clenched into fists.

"...Who?"

Little did he know, the "expert" responsible was just a clueless man laughing at his own 'failed' shot up in the mountains.

Back at the mountain peak, Qin Chen stretched his arms. "Well, that was a waste of time. I'll go cook some fish instead."

And just like that, an entire sect's crisis was solved without him ever knowing.

The battlefield remained eerily silent. The Azure Fang Tiger, a beast that should have taken hours of coordinated effort to defeat, had perished in an instant—struck down by a divine arrow so fast that even the sect's strongest disciples couldn't perceive its path.

Among the group, Su Lingxi, the lead female disciple, was the first to react. She was a renowned beauty with long black hair and sharp, intelligent eyes, wearing the traditional robes of the Cloud Jade Sect. Unlike the others, who were still staring in shock, she immediately pulled out a small, intricate jade pendant hanging from her waist.

The pendant glowed faintly, sensing the dissipating Qi from the slain beast.

If an expert had intervened, this artifact would guide them to their location...

The treasure spun in her palm, pointing toward the mountain peak in the distance—directly to where Qin Chen was.

Su Lingxi's breath caught. "There really is someone there..."

Lin Yu, still reeling from the unexpected interference, narrowed his eyes. "Senior Sister Su, what are you doing?"

She didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she turned to the other female disciples. "Someone saved us. Someone unbelievably powerful. If they hadn't stepped in, we'd all be dead by now."

The girls exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement.

Lin Yu grated his teeth. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He should have been the hero of this moment. But now some unknown expert had stolen his chance—worse, the female lead herself seemed interested in finding him.

"Wait!" Lin Yu called out, but Su Lingxi had already leaped into the air, leading a small group of female disciples toward the mountain.

Meanwhile, at the Mountain Peak

Qin Chen yawed, stretching lazily. He had already forgotten about his so-called failed arrow shot and was about to return to his little hut when suddenly—

[Ding! System Notification: A guest will be arriving soon. Host's approval is required.]

Qin Chen blinks. "A guest?"

He was about to decline—after all, he had enjoyed a whole year of peace and solitude. But then again... he had spent an entire year alone.

Maybe having a visitor wouldn't be so bad?

"Fine, let them come," he muttered.

The moment he agreed, several figures were already making their way up the mountain, unknowingly about to meet the so-called 'hidden expert'—who was nothing more than a clueless man enjoying his retirement.