The Book of All Things: Born for Joy

Fengdu, the underworld. Inside the Ghost Market Exchange, Li Zichun was frantically pulling at his hair.

He probably never dreamed that he would be stumped by so-called ghost money living expenses. He was a billionaire who dominated the world when he was alive, and he had made proper arrangements for his funeral while he was alive. Why is it that no one burned paper money for him during the three major festivals of Qingming, Double Ninth Festival and Ghost Festival?

Completely baffled, he discovered through the Mirror of the World that his children were staging a power struggle within the wealthy family. Dissatisfied with his arrangements, some claimed the will was forged, while others produced a new fake will. Lawyers and several company partners and executives also seized the opportunity to form alliances. In short, they were all fighting their own battles, vying for shares and engaging in lawsuits, causing a huge uproar and tearing each other apart. The mess was endless, and no one cared about him, the deceased.

Now, Li Zichun's only option is to accumulate merit through accumulating negative karma, but this mysterious thing relates to one's fortune in the next life, and he doesn't want to be reborn into a life of misfortune. Unwilling to rely on accumulating merit, he has no choice but to walk to the reincarnation platform to face his judgment. A flash of white light appears before his eyes, spreading out onto a screen displaying his choices:

Due to overwhelming passenger volume, the waiting time for the regular transfer to the underworld is 500 years. The following options are available; please choose carefully, and you will bear the consequences: 1. Continue waiting. 2. Pay to access the VIP exclusive channel. 3. Randomly travel to a secondary world with the subsystem to complete contribution points and gain a chance for reincarnation. Upon completion, you will receive a Tier 1 ticket to the Eternal Heaven.

The Eternal Heaven, as its name suggests, is the so-called Immortal Continent in the mortal world. It is located within the Mountain and Sea Realm, and ordinary people cannot enter without great merit and opportunity. However, it also carries risks. Once you enter, you will be freed from the cycle of reincarnation. If you fail to cultivate immortality, you will die and your cultivation will dissipate, turning into dust forever.

He couldn't wait any longer. If he waited any longer, without enough ghost money to buy the water of the underworld to maintain his soul's state, he even suspected he might perish and become a ghost spirit in the underworld. These so-called ghost spirits were essentially free civil servants of the underworld, such as soul ferrymen, underworld enforcers, and clerks of the netherworld. What sounded strange and prestigious in his previous life, he now knew, was nothing more than a group of unpaid laborers pretending to be willing walking corpses, with terms of service lasting a hundred thousand years. He even doubted whether the underworld's history was even a hundred thousand years old.

It seems there's only a third option left. Who would want to be a ghost for life if given the chance to be human?

Li Zichun didn't want to waste his good karma in his next life, so he could only grit his teeth and take a gamble; maybe he could turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.

And so, Li Zichun, a penniless man who was a billionaire in his previous life, had no choice but to embark on the journey of ascending to immortality and transmigrating.

After a bout of dizziness and vomiting, Li Zichun finally sat down in Lan Xing's chair and recovered.

Seeing the disdainful looks he received from those around him as he looked at the homeless man, he knew he had successfully traveled through time.

The flood of memories rushed into his brain, making him realize that he was on Blue Water Star, which could be considered one of the countless parallel worlds of Earth. The original owner of this body shared the same name as him. He was abandoned by his parents when he was young and grew up in an orphanage. He studied music at Rongcheng University in the Great Zhou Kingdom through part-time jobs and scholarships. He was currently a sophomore during summer vacation and had two more years before graduating. He was able to successfully enter this body because this guy worked tirelessly to earn money. He worked during the day and waited tables at nightclubs at night. He rested less than four hours a day and finally died from overwork. It was a tragic ending for an ordinary person.

Just as Li Zichun was thinking about how to quickly complete his contribution points and get out of there, a blue screen appeared in front of him.

[Goal: To become a major player in the next-generation entertainment industry.]

[First day of check-in today, received a guaranteed S-level survival song, "Blue and White Porcelain".]

[The system has detected a gold-devouring beast approaching. A self-protection mechanism will be activated, and will only be reinstated once the host achieves their goal. A daily check-in module will be automatically activated from now on; please prioritize completing your goals and escape this hellish sea of ​​suffering as soon as possible.]

Current progress: 0%.

With a "biu" sound, the screen went out, displaying "Today's check-in" before becoming unresponsive.

Just as Li Zichun was engrossed in the story, a meow reached his ears. A little stray cat was rubbing against his trouser leg, its large, jet-black eyes blinking at him, drawing him in like yellow gems in the desert—both cute and eerie.

Accompanied by a temporary headache from forced information input, Li Zichun lay down on a roadside chair. The stray cat jumped onto him and stomped around, seemingly unafraid and sniffing at something.

Li Zichun then realized what the system meant by the gold-devouring beast. Could it be referring to this little cat? Looking around more closely, he saw no other birds or beasts, so it seemed to be this stray cat.

Li Zichun slowly and tentatively picked it up. Seeing that it did not resist, he was overjoyed. This was the first day he had transmigrated and he had obtained a divine beast. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Can you understand what I'm saying? If you can scare away the system, then I'll call you 'Seven of Bamboo'."

The little stray cat meowed and snuggled into Li Zichun's arms to show its friendliness and affection, but the smell of dirt on its body still made Li Zichun sneeze.

This was the first companion Li Zichun met after transmigrating, but since cats weren't allowed at the school, he had to temporarily place it in a nursing home. He also wanted to take a look at the original owner's living environment from childhood to adulthood before making any further plans.

Originally, the original owner was on his way to work, but Li Zichun usurped his place and erased his plans. So he didn't want to go anymore. After making a phone call to resign, he carried the little "Seven of Bamboo" he had just picked up and rode his bicycle to the orphanage.

The welfare home is located in the suburbs about ten miles southwest of Chengdu. It is a dilapidated three-story building with a large courtyard where various vegetables and fruits are grown. Five children live there. When they saw him come back, they were not surprised and greeted him before continuing to play.

As soon as Li Zichun entered the gate, he was spotted and called over by Dean Li Xian. Seeing his once handsome face now gaunt from malnutrition and his sunken dark circles, Li Xian felt a pang of heartache and couldn't help but advise, "Xiao Chun, I know you study hard, but you can't ruin your health. Remember, health is the foundation of everything. How can you make a lot of money without good health? The illnesses you accumulate when you're young will come back to haunt you when you're old. You need to rest more, you can't..."

"Okay, Aunt Li, I understand. I'll be more careful in the future."

"Meow~"

The meow interrupted their conversation. Li Zichun continued, "Aunt Li, I just found this cat by the roadside. Can I leave it here for now? I'll come back to pick it up when I find a place to live."

"Huh? Stray cats? You've always been in poor health, why are you raising these things? You're a role model for our orphanage, these kids all look up to you. Don't bring just anything here, what if it carries some bacteria or virus and causes an infection?"

"Alright, alright, look how cute it is! Just tie it to a corner of our backyard with a red string. It'll only take two days at most. Once I find a house, I'll take it with me. Okay, Aunt Li?"

"Don't try that. Acting cute won't work. Where are you going to live if you're not staying on campus?"

“The school is too far away in the suburbs, and it’s inconvenient for me to work. I’m going to be a junior soon and I need to do an internship and find a job. You can’t bear to let me live alone without any company. Just leave it some of the kids’ leftovers every day. I believe it won’t be picky about food.”

Under Li Zichun's persistent pleading and Qi Tong's tearful eyes, Aunt Li finally softened and placed little Qi Tong in a corner of the yard, making a nest out of a waste cardboard box to prevent anyone other than herself from touching it. After all, the orphanage was full of children, and she had to have her own principles.

After Li Zichun prepared water and food for it, he said to it, "Stay here and wait for me. Don't run around. I'll come pick you up in the next couple of days when I find a place to live."

"Meow~"

Seven-Card rubbed against his hand obediently and nodded. If he had previously thought it was just the system joking, Li Zichun was now even more certain that it was no ordinary cat. A cat that could understand human speech and threaten the system? It seemed he had struck gold.

Looking at Li Xian's busy work for the cat, she felt both sorry for him and amused. After all, it was a child she had raised. Because he was an orphan and came from an orphanage, he didn't have many friends growing up. So, she thought, "Let him have a cat. As long as he's happy, that's all that matters." As long as she was careful to keep other children away from it, she wouldn't go wrong.

After leaving the orphanage, Li Zichun began to calculate his assets. After some searching and rummaging, he finally figured out that the original owner had saved up more than 16,700 yuan in his card and wallet over the years by living frugally and fighting wits with the old ladies to sell scrap and work odd jobs. Ha, he had worked himself to death for such a small amount. Life was really ironic. No wonder people say that money is hard to earn and shit is hard to eat. He now doubted whether the people who said that had actually eaten shit.

After searching for a place for two days, Li Zichun, relying on her silver tongue honed in her previous life, fought hundreds of rounds with the landlord and finally managed to get her to reduce the rent by 200 yuan. Li Zichun got this 25-square-meter one-bedroom apartment near the Third Ring Road subway for 2,000 yuan a month, with water, electricity and gas to be paid by herself.

After completing all the formalities, Li Zichun finally had a place of her own in this world and went to the orphanage to pick up Qitong as promised. After exchanging pleasantries with Aunt Li and receiving earnest advice on taking good care of herself and living a good life, she finally returned home. On the way home, she bought a laptop computer. Although she was a little reluctant to spend the money, she knew she had to.

After moving everything from school and taking care of everything, Li Zichun took a shower for himself and Qitong, then lay in bed exercising his frail body. Seeing Qitong lying motionless on the pillow, Li Zichun didn't bother with her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he reviewed the information from the past few days: "The system's goal is to become a big shot. What are the standard requirements for a big shot? Money? Power? Status? These are just the basics. The goal won't be that simple. After all, with a system like the sign-in system, anyone can become a superstar or a lyricist in the entertainment industry. So, it seems the goal can only be to find a way to change the entire world's arts and culture scene. Ha, they really don't treat poor people like human beings. Just thinking about it is exhausting."

Li Zichun only dared to secretly grumble about the Ghost Mansion's audacious actions. After all, the fact that they could casually distribute something like a system made him somewhat apprehensive. The idea of ​​directly connecting and issuing tasks within a person's mind was terrifying, which was why he kept Qi Tong by his side. Looking at Qi Tong, who was half-asleep and soundly asleep, he felt a sense of relief. He slapped it aside, reclaimed ownership of the pillow, and went to sleep.

Qi Tong curled up in a ball on the blanket and continued sleeping, whimpering and muttering sleepily, "Damn it, everyone's a dog after all. If it weren't for the otherworldly aura you have, would my noble and aloof bloodline even look at you? Once I get back to the Spirit Realm, I'll bestow upon you the honor of cleaning the floor and shoveling poop for me every day."

After a comfortable nap, even though his whole body ached from moving, Li Zichun was still very satisfied watching Qi Tong obediently lick his breakfast of pickled vegetables and porridge while he held his head down.

With half a month left before the start of the semester, Li Zichun decided to organize everything he still remembered. After all, he was going to become a big shot, and without some reserves, he would easily be drained by the ever-young entertainment industry.

Li Zichun now finally understands the benefits of having a good memory. After spending the morning at home writing down all the songs he could remember, he finally picked up his phone to register the copyrights for all the songs he owned, only to find that he didn't have enough money for the registration fee. He could only selectively register a portion of them first, and then began connecting with the world of entertainment through music.

After sifting through all the current music charts in China, Li Zichun put down his phone, rubbed his temples, and, after a moment of hesitation, finally couldn't resist taking it out: "These things are supposed to be songs? 'Mouth pouting,' 'Pa la pa la pa pa pa,' the melody splicing and the lyrics padding for word count don't need to be so obvious. Is this some kind of elementary school essay? Pah, it's an insult to elementary school students..."