Trash to Treasure: Starting with the Seemingly “Deceased” Medusa

Xiao Chen, a veteran electronics factory worker from the twenty-first century, dies after an accidental electric shock triggered by a colleague's seduction attempt. He transmigrates into the body of a young man with the same name in the Canglan World, a realm where martial arts have reached their zenith. The original host was a direct descendant of the Xiao Family in Liuyun City, Great Qian Dynasty. Shortly before his death, the original Xiao Chen attempted to join the Taiyi Sword Sect but suffered a catastrophic defeat during the assessment. He clashed with Lin Feng, the young master of the Lin Family from Tiandu City, and had his dantian crippled by a single palm strike. Humiliated and physically broken, the original host died of resentment. Upon merging with these memories, Xiao Chen discovers he has awakened the Waste-to-Treasure System.

The system grants him five core functions: Recycle, Repair, Synthesize, Upgrade, and Appraise. Recycling allows him to convert damaged weapons, waste pills, and even corpses into points for shopping. Repair fixes damaged items, Synthesis combines multiple damaged items into advanced ones, and Upgrade enhances the quality of complete items. Appraise provides basic information about anything without cost. Additionally, the system offers a monthly random recycle function that can retrieve items from anywhere in the world. Xiao Chen immediately claims his newbie gift pack, receiving the Emperor-rank cultivation technique Creation of Heaven and Earth, the life-saving artifact Life Token, and the Emperor-rank movement technique Demonic Shadowless Steps. He also receives free uses of Repair, Synthesis, and Upgrade.

Using the free Repair function, Xiao Chen restores his shattered dantian and meridians, a feat that would normally require a legendary Saint-rank spirit medicine. He then chooses to upgrade his physique, unexpectedly triggering a ten-thousand-fold explosion rate bonus. His Mortal Body transforms into the Innate Divine Body, and his cultivation surges from the Qi Condensation Realm to the Spirit Building Realm Third Stage. Empowered, he reflects on his enemy, Lin Feng, who is only at the Qi Condensation Realm Seventh Stage but possesses Earth-rank high-grade martial arts talent. Although Xiao Chen believes he could currently defeat Lin Feng, he recognizes that the Lin Family has Heavenly Realm experts and decides to remain cautious until he is stronger.

Soon after, the system prompts Xiao Chen to perform his monthly random recycle. He accepts and is astonished when the retrieved item is not a weapon or artifact, but a corpse. The object is a snake-tailed woman with long black hair, wearing a gilded crown and fiery red armor. Her lower body is a serpent tail with purple-red scales, identifying her as a Medusa from the Snake People tribe. Xiao Chen appraises her and learns she is the Queen Medusa, the most powerful expert of the Snake People with the bloodline of the ancient Heaven Swallowing Python. She had attempted to devour Heavenly Earth Fire to break through to the Saint Realm but was ambushed and swept into a spatial turbulence. She is currently on the verge of death but can be saved if life essence is injected.

Xiao Chen faces a dilemma. The Snake People are brutal and have a long-standing enmity with the human race. Saving her could bring disaster, but the system reveals that using its functions on external objects establishes a contractual relationship that increases goodwill. Realizing this advantage, Xiao Chen decides to save her. He uses another free Repair to heal her injuries. As she recovers, her cultivation falls to the Nirvana Realm due to the dissipation of her power. She awakens, confused and suspicious of Xiao Chen’s ability to heal a Celestial Realm expert. Xiao Chen claims he used special healing methods and persuades her to stay at the Xiao Family to recuperate, offering to conceal her identity.

The Queen Medusa, whose real name is unknown as Medusa is merely a title, accepts his offer. She feels an inexplicable familiarity and fondness toward Xiao Chen. He names her Caiyan, a name she accepts with a faint smile. Xiao Chen arranges a guest room for her and requests her assistance if he encounters insurmountable trouble. With his injuries healed, his cultivation greatly enhanced, and a powerful ally from the Snake People tribe now under a contractual bond, Xiao Chen begins his new journey in the martial world, aiming to rise above his current limitations and settle past grievances.