BTTH: At the beginning of BTTH, I received my suicide note

After carefully reading his own will three times, Chen Guan fell into deep thought.

He couldn't be sure whether the experiences described were real, but deep down, he believed about eighty percent of it. The descriptions, after all, matched his personality quite closely.

The sleepiness that had gripped him earlier was completely shaken off, and Chen Guan began to consider the significance of this will. It seemed to be his "golden finger" of sorts—though not as extraordinary as the ones described in stories, it still provided him with some valuable information about the future.

Of course, the details needed to be verified.

After pondering carefully, Chen Guan decided to trust it this once. He would temporarily set aside his extreme plans to acquire martial arts techniques and instead wait for the first key figure who could change his fate.

Jia Xingtian!

According to the will, Jia Xingtian's first visit to Wutan City had been around the time Xiao Xun'er arrived—just about half a month ago.

Half a month was something Chen Guan could wait for!

With a firm decision in his mind, Chen Guan began calculating the potential benefits of the information from the will. He saw a glimmer of hope for growth and became somewhat excited, staying up late until dawn, before eventually drifting off to sleep in a daze.

Half a month later.

On this day, Chen Guan, who had been barely scraping by at the same old spot, noticed that the atmosphere around the Xiao family had grown tense. His heart stirred, and he immediately got up, moving closer to the main gate.

"You think this distinguished guest is someone important? The clan leader and elders are all going to greet them."

"Who knows? But they must be a big shot. Doesn't concern us, though."

...

After overhearing for more than an hour, Chen Guan finally heard two members of the Xiao family discussing something that caught his attention.

Sure enough, it was Xiao Xun'er who had arrived!

With the information he wanted in hand, Chen Guan began to anticipate Jia Xingtian's arrival, returning to wait quietly for him.

One day, two days...

Five days passed. Just as Chen Guan was starting to doubt, that night, as he was about to fall asleep, a figure appeared in front of him like a ghost.

The figure had an old face, but his eyes were sharp and clear, carrying a subtle but undeniable aura that made Chen Guan feel as though he was standing at the foot of a mountain.

It was him! It was really him!

Chen Guan was almost certain in his heart, but his face froze in shock as he stood still.

"You…"

"Heh, child, do you want to eat your fill every day from now on?" Jia Xingtian asked, looking down at him while stroking his beard.

Jia Xingtian had no doubts of being rejected. As a member of the royal family of the Empire, he often took in homeless, struggling children during his travels, intending to train them as bodyguards and assassins for the royal court.

Thus, despite their simple backgrounds, these children were still investigated before being taken in. Jia Xingtian was well aware of Chen Guan's current situation. To a child like him, asking whether he wanted to become a revered powerhouse was less enticing than the simple promise of a full stomach.

As expected, the child nodded, his eyes filled with longing.

"Then come with me."

Chen Guan, 'nervously,' stood up and replied with his actions.

"Child, what's your name?"

"Chen... Guan."

His answer wasn't very smooth, but it was the best he could manage at the moment.

Jia Xingtian nodded slightly, not saying much else. He simply led Chen Guan to the City Lord's residence.

At the residence, there were seven other children around the same age as Chen Guan—four boys and three girls—none of whom had yet begun training. They were all blank slates, as Jia Xingtian was not going to take them directly to the imperial capital himself. The task of transporting them fell to the City Lord of Wutan City.

After giving a brief explanation, Jia Xingtian left without delay.

The next day.

Eight children with full bellies boarded a carriage. This was Chen Guan's first full meal since arriving on the Dou qi Continent!

It was almost tear-jerking...

A soldier drove the carriage, and his attitude was neutral—neither good nor bad, just fulfilling his duty.

The children on the carriage were very quiet. In the first five days of travel, their combined conversation didn't exceed five sentences.

They were all unfortunate souls, and it was no surprise that they were shy and introverted. It would have been strange for any of them to start chatting away.

Chen Guan didn't have the mood to talk to them either. For the first time in a long while, he didn't have to worry about his next meal. This rare respite gave him the opportunity to think about his future plans.

This was the Dou qi Continent, where strength determined everything.

Chen Guan had ambitions. He wanted to control his own destiny, and if possible, ascend to even higher realms, perhaps even the Great Thousand World. But to achieve this, he needed power.

His "golden finger" wasn't much. So far, all he had was a will, and the future information it provided was limited. Now that he was on the Gama Empire's side, one could even say the will had lost its use and would no longer be of any benefit.

In that case, if he wanted to rise to the top of the Continent, his options were limited.

He envied those who possessed systems, simulators, or other cheats—those who could casually acquire an endless amount of external resources and easily obtain things like Source Qi. For them, becoming a Dou Di (Dou God) was just one of many choices.

But for him, he only had two paths.

First, the inheritance of the ancient Tuo She Emperor.

Second, the semi-finished Emperor Pill.

Though there were two paths, the latter wasn't really suitable for him.

He wasn't the Soul Heaven Emperor, and he didn't have the resources to lay out a vast empire and refine the Emperor Pill.

So, the inheritance from Tuo She Emperor was his only hope!

Otherwise, he'd have to wait for Xiao Yan to become an emperor and hope for a chance to open a path to the Great Thousand World.

Thinking of Yao Chen's strength, Chen Guan couldn't help but sigh.

At this point in the timeline, Xiao Yan had just begun his training. It would still be a few years before his Dou Qi was absorbed by Yao Chen, but Chen Guan suspected that Yao Chen was already aware of the situation.

After all, Yao Chen had only appeared after observing Xiao Yan for quite some time, though no one knew exactly how long that observation had been.

Since Chen Guan couldn't be sure, he decided to prepare for the worst.

Taking Xiao Yan's ring was not an option!

"I'll just have to wait and see if any opportunities come up."

He didn't have many opinions on Xiao Yan. All he wanted was to stay out of trouble.

But he was certain that in the future, he would seize some of Xiao Yan's opportunities, since the memories in his mind were his only advantage right now.

The battle for the Dao was brutal, and Chen Guan would never hold back in his quest for strength.

But there was no need to specifically target Xiao Yan. That would be unnecessary and petty.

As for whether they would become enemies in the future—well, that depended on how fate unfolded.

Lost in thought about how to obtain the Flame Mantra, Chen Guan didn't realize that a month had passed. The carriage finally entered the imperial capital, and after a few handovers, they reached the Gama Empire's royal palace.

"We're here. Get down and stand in line."