I'm Definitely Taking This Power-Fantasy Protagonist Role!

Jiang Baiyu, a former office worker who died from overwork and gaming, transmigrated into a cultivation world as a goose-like character he had customized in a game. He joined the Stargazing Pavilion, a sect specializing in divination and fate manipulation. His primary skill allows him to divine fortune, which initially seems useless but proves critical for survival in a dangerous world filled with ghosts and monsters. His first experience involves cleaning the scattered bones of a victim from a mudslide, guided by repeated "great fortune" results from his divination. While cleaning, he encounters a beautiful, pale young man floating in the water, who appears to be a powerful and dangerous entity. Jiang Baiyu refuses to help him, fearing bad luck, but the young man wakes and attacks him, revealing a ruthless and inhuman nature. A brief confrontation ensues, interrupted by the arrival of assassins targeting the young man. Jiang Baiyu flees, only to be hunted by the same assassins. He manages to defeat them using his sect's star-based array skills, which slow and weaken opponents.

After escaping, Jiang Baiyu reaches Fumo Town, where he learns that a "man-eating evil spirit" on Demon Head Mountain has been destroyed by a coalition of cultivators. He suspects the beautiful young man he met is the spirit, given the timing and the mountain's destruction. The town is soon targeted by the Linchuan Chen family, who blame the townspeople for their son's death. The Chen family uses a massive aerial fortress to abduct the entire population, intending to flay them alive. Two survivors from the Tianji Sect, Lou Yuzhu and Bai Xianzhu, resist the Chen family's attack but are overpowered. Jiang Baiyu intervenes, seizing a dropped dagger and using his displacement skills to swap places with the Chen family matriarch, taking her hostage. He forces the Chen family to retreat by threatening the hostage and collapsing a spatial tunnel, trapping their fortress.

Jiang Baiyu, along with the Tianji Sect survivors, captures the Chen family matriarch and her guard, Qin Ling. He interrogates them, learning that the Tianji Sect was destroyed due to political conflicts with the royal dynasty, which suppresses independent sects. The Chen family's attack on Fumo Town was retaliation for their son's death, which they believed was caused by the townspeople. Jiang Baiyu, displaying a ruthless pragmatism that contrasts with the Tianji Sect's moral code, tortures the captives to ensure they cannot seek revenge. He cripples their cultivation and disfigures them, arguing that mercy towards such enemies is fatal. The Tianji Sect disciples struggle with this cruelty but ultimately comply, having witnessed the Chen family's indiscriminate massacre.

The story highlights Jiang Baiyu's adaptation to a brutal world where survival often requires morally ambiguous actions. His divination skill continues to guide him, revealing connections between him and the bones he collected, suggesting a deeper fate tied to the mysterious young man. The destruction of Demon Head Mountain and the fall of the Tianji Sect indicate a larger political upheaval in the cultivation world, with the royal dynasty consolidating power over sects and families. Jiang Baiyu's journey from a naive transmigrator to a calculated survivor sets the stage for future conflicts, as he navigates the dangerous landscape of cultivation politics and ancient mysteries.