Screeching rubber burned into his ears. Headlights blinded him, cutting through the heavy midnight rain. Pain erupted in his chest as two tons of steel slammed into his ribs, throwing his body like a broken ragdoll across the wet concrete. That was the end of his miserable, overlooked life on Earth. He had spent thirty years striving, working himself to the bone, only to be replaced by a boss's nephew and run down by a drunk driver. He remembered the long hours under fluorescent lights, the coffee that tasted like battery acid, and the constant, crushing realization that no matter how hard he worked, he would never be enough. Destiny had dealt him a terrible hand on Earth, and it seemed the universe had decided to double down on his misfortune by throwing him into this meat grinder of a world. "Young master! Please, you must open your eyes!" A desperate, high-pitched voice shattered the cold darkness. Mud pushed against his cheek, tasting of copper, rot, and stale rain. Cold water pelted his back, soaking through thin, silk robes. He gasped, his lungs burning as if filled with broken glass, each breath a struggle against the heavy gravity of this new reality. "Young master Ren! If you die, the master will skin me alive!" A trembling hand grabbed his shoulder, shaking him with frantic, clumsy energy. Ren Xian forced his eyes open, squinting through the grime and blood smeared across his face. Staring down at him was a boy no older than fifteen, dressed in a tattered grey tunic. The boy's face was pale, tears carving clean streaks through the soot on his cheeks, his eyes wide with genuine terror. "Where..." Ren Xian croaked, his voice cracking like dry parchment. He tried to sit up, but a sharp stab of agony in his ribs forced him back down into the filth. "We are in the alley behind the Cloud Jade Pavilion, young master," the boy sobbed, wiping his nose with a dirty sleeve. "Those bastards from the Zhang clan... they beat you senseless. They said a trash like you shouldn't dare look at Miss Zhang." Miss Zhang. Zhang Yue. She was one of the minor heroines of the novel, a proud beauty who would eventually fall head over heels for Li Tian after he saved her from a rogue beast. For now, she was an unattainable goddess, and the previous owner of this body had been foolish enough to try and write her a love letter, resulting in this brutal beating. Cloud Jade Pavilion. Zhang clan. Young master Ren. These names clicked together in his mind like rusty gears falling into place. A cold dread seeped into his bones, far colder than the puddle he lay in. He knew this world. He had read about it in a webnovel called Nine Heavens Supreme during his long, sleepless nights as a corporate slave. Ren Xian was not his own name anymore. It was the name of a pathetic, arrogant side character destined to be a stepping stone. In the novel, this version of Ren Xian was a minor noble's useless son who existed solely to be humiliated by the true protagonist, Li Tian. Eventually, his entire family would be slaughtered in a clan war, leaving him to die begging in the streets. Anger, hot and viscous, flared deep in his gut. He had lived a life of obscurity, constantly stepped on by those born with silver spoons. He had always been the observer, the bystander who watched others claim the prizes while he gathered the crumbs. The unfairness of it all burned like a brand in his mind. If this world operated on the law of the jungle, then he would become the apex predator, dismantling the very concept of fated heroes. He would not allow himself to be a footnote in someone else's legend. Not again. "Help me up," Ren Xian growled, gritting his teeth as he grabbed the servant boy's arm. Squeaking in fear, the boy pulled with all his might. Ren Xian staggered to his feet, leaning heavily against the damp, stone wall of the alley. Smog didn't choke the air here. Instead, a faint, pulsing energy vibrated through the atmosphere—Qi, the fundamental energy of cultivation. He closed his eyes, trying to process the sheer absurdity of his situation. He was weak. His meridians were blocked, his cultivation nonexistent, a complete contrast to the powerful martial artists he had read about. "A trash," he muttered to himself, his lips curling into a bitter sneer. "A fated victim." "Young master?" The servant boy blinked, looking at him with wide, fearful eyes. "Should we return to the estate? The patriarch will be furious if he sees you like this." "Silence," Ren Xian commanded. His voice held a cold edge that made the boy flinch and step back, trembling. --- Suddenly, a sharp chime rang inside his head. It wasn't a physical sound, but a digital resonance that vibrated through his very soul. [System initialization sequence initiated...] [Scanning host soul compatibility... 100%] [Destiny Usurping System online. Welcome, Host Ren Xian.] A semi-transparent, dark blue screen flickered into existence before his eyes. The servant boy didn't react, clearly unable to see it. [Host Status:] [Name: Ren Xian] [Identity: Side Character (Fated to die in 3 months)] [Cultivation: None (Blocked Meridians)] [Usurpation Points: 0] Ren Xian's heart hammered against his ribs. A laugh bubbled up in his chest, raw and hysterical, but he forced it down, clamping his jaw shut to avoid spitting more blood. A system. The ultimate cheat of transmigrators. He stared at the glowing blue text, feeling a strange warmth spreading from his chest to his fingertips. It was as if a dormant power was finally waking up, responding to his absolute refusal to submit. The interface was clean, devoid of unnecessary fluff, displaying only what he needed to survive and conquer. "Show me how to use this," he whispered under his breath, his eyes gleaming with a sudden, predatory light. [Host can earn Usurpation Points by stealing opportunities, resources, fated lovers, and the destiny of the original protagonist, Li Tian.] [By stripping the protagonist of his destiny, the host will unlock unprecedented cultivation speed and comprehension.] This was his ticket. He wouldn't just survive; he would tear down the fated order of this world. He would take everything that belonged to the 'chosen one'—his power, his women, his allies, even the devotion of his family. "Where is he?" Ren Xian muttered, looking down the dark, narrow alleyway. "Who, young master?" the servant asked, trembling under the sudden, terrifying aura radiating from his master. "A boy. About my age. Wearing a faded blue robe." Ren Xian scanned the shadows. If the novel's timeline was correct, the opening scene of the book took place in this exact alley on this exact night. Li Tian, the fated protagonist, was supposed to be beaten by the same Zhang clan thugs. But unlike Ren Xian, Li Tian's beating was the catalyst for his awakening. His gaze locked onto a pile of discarded wooden crates near the end of the alley. Trash and rotting wood lay scattered across the wet cobblestones, casting long, distorted shadows under the pale moonlight. The faint sound of string instruments and drunken laughter drifted from the main street, a stark contrast to the grim reality of this forgotten corner. A soft, golden light pulsed from behind the debris. The light was invisible to the physical eye, but through the system's interface, it was a blinding, radiant glow. [Warning: Protagonist Aura detected.] Ren Xian pushed past his servant, ignoring the agony in his side. He limped toward the crates, his boots splashing through the filthy puddles, each step leaving a trail of red in the muddy water. He kicked a broken plank aside, revealing a figure huddled in the shadows. It was a youth, unconscious, his face covered in bruises. He wore a simple, coarse blue robe, but even in this pathetic state, there was an air of destiny clinging to him. This was Li Tian. The future sovereign of the Nine Heaven Realm. Even in his unconscious state, the boy's face held a stubborn, unyielding determination. It was the face of a classic protagonist, the kind of person who would suffer a thousand defeats only to rise stronger every single time. Ren Xian despised that look; it was the face of someone who believed the universe owed them a victory. Right now, he was nothing but a beaten dog. Ren Xian stared down at the boy, his fingers twitching. He felt a sudden, violent urge to wrap his hands around the boy's throat and squeeze until his breath stopped. System warnings flashed in urgent red letters. [Warning: Direct assassination of the protagonist at this stage will trigger Heavenly Backlash. Host's soul will be obliterated.] Ren Xian clicked his tongue in annoyance, stepping back slightly, his eyes narrowing. "So I can't just kill him," he murmured, a dark grin spreading across his face. "Fine. I will strip him of everything first. I will leave him with nothing but his pathetic life, watching as I claim his destiny." He looked closer at Li Tian. On the boy's right hand, a simple, tarnished bronze ring sat on his index finger. That was it. The fated encounter. Inside that ring resided the soul of an ancient, powerful cultivator—a beautiful female mentor who would guide Li Tian from a trash to a god. If Li Tian woke up and dripped his blood onto it, the bond would be sealed forever, setting him on a path that Ren Xian could never catch up to. "Young master, what are you doing?" the servant boy whispered, stepping closer, his eyes wide with confusion. "That's just Li Tian, the servant from the outer sect. Why are you looking at him like that?" "Leave us," Ren Xian commanded, his eyes never leaving the bronze ring. "But..." "Go!" Ren Xian snapped, his voice carrying a dangerous weight that brooked no argument. Scurrying away, the servant boy gasped, bowing frantically before turning and running out of the alley, his footsteps splashing away into the night. Now, it was just Ren Xian and the sleeping giant. He bent down, his knees popping under the strain of his battered body. He reached out a trembling, filthy hand toward the bronze ring. His heart pounded in his ears like a war drum. This was the moment his new life began. If he could take this ring, he would take the first step toward rewriting the heavens. Suddenly, a sharp spasm of pain wracked his body, forcing him to drop to one knee. His blocked meridians rebelled against the sudden exertion, spitting a mouthful of dark blood onto the cold stones. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes burning with a fierce, unyielding light. "I won't let a weak body stop me," he hissed, forcing his hand forward again. His fingers hovered mere inches from the ring. A chilling, ethereal voice echoes in his mind, 'Target: Li Tian's Beginner Luck activated. Quest: Claim first fated encounter. Time remaining: 1 hour.' The digital clock ticks down from 59:59.

Chapter 1: A Destined Side Character