Chapter 01: Unexpected Marriage News

“Chanchan! Something terrible has happened! Check out the hot news on the StarNet!”

“Chanchan, who is that omega? How can they openly act as a third party? Isn’t Major General Xu your fiancé? How did he suddenly announce his engagement to this omega?”

“Chanchan, what’s going on between you and him?”

“Chanchan…”

Since the morning, Shi Chan’s personal terminal had been buzzing non-stop, all with the same message—that his extraordinary and outstanding fiancé was marrying someone else!

Shi Chan set his terminal to ‘Do Not Disturb,’ and finally, the room fell quiet.

After sitting silently in the middle of the room for a while, Shi Chan opened StarNet. The homepage was flooded with news about Major General Xu announcing his engagement.

He clicked on a couple of the articles, all of which were more or less the same—detailing the honors Xu Lihan had received, congratulating him on his new marriage, and speculating about the kind of omega Xu Lihan favored.

Shi Chan calmly opened Xu Lihan’s personal page and saw that his nominal fiancé had, in his typically terse manner, publicly announced his engagement to someone else.

After a long pause, a faint, almost imperceptible chuckle echoed through the quiet room.

Shi Chan and Xu Lihan’s engagement had been a verbal agreement between their families. They had only met a few times, as Xu Lihan spent most of his time on military missions. The last time Shi Chan had seen him was three years ago, so there was naturally no emotional foundation between them.

However, even without strong feelings, Shi Chan was still extremely displeased by Xu Lihan’s decision to marry someone else without saying a word—especially since today was the day before his twentieth birthday.

To alleviate the declining birth rate, the Empire had long implemented a rule requiring all omegas who turned twenty and all alphas who turned twenty-eight to marry. If they remained unmarried by the deadline, their genetic data would be entered into the matching pool, and the system would automatically assign them a marriage partner.

However, due to the rarity of omegas, most were married off long before they turned twenty. As a result, the matching pool was often filled with alphas waiting for the few omegas to join.

Shi Chan’s twentieth birthday was tomorrow, and if he remained unmarried by the end of the day, the system would begin searching for a suitable alpha match for him.

Xu Lihan and Shi Chan’s engagement was a source of pride for Shi Wen, Shi Chan’s father, as it symbolized his family’s connection to the prestigious Xu family. Shi Wen often bragged about it, and nearly every family that had dealings with the Shi family knew about the engagement.

Now that the news of Xu Lihan marrying someone else had spread, Shi Chan was certain that Shi Wen would feel even more humiliated than he did.

Shi Chan closed StarNet.

He lifted his head and looked out the window, lazily curling up on the sofa by the window. His delicate toes stretched as his body relaxed, gleaming almost blindingly white in the sunlight.

The servants working in the Shi family’s garden exchanged worried glances when they saw his figure by the window.

None of them understood how any alpha could bear to give up someone as perfect as Young Master Shi Chan.

Shi Chan wasn’t just a rare omega—he was also incredibly beautiful. His flawless features showcased the creator’s utmost care.

Newcomers to the Shi household often needed a few days to recover after seeing Shi Chan for the first time, with his perfect, delicate image lingering in their minds, leaving them in awe of his beauty that transcended gender.

After seeing Shi Chan, any thoughts of those so-called “Top Ten Most Desirable Omegas” on StarNet would inevitably be replaced by Shi Chan’s face, making the other omegas seem average at best.

Regardless of a family’s power, any alpha who had seen Shi Chan would feel a subtle jealousy towards Xu Lihan, the alpha engaged to him.

Moreover, due to the rarity of omegas, especially among the noble families, omegas were often spoiled, arrogant, and demanding, expecting the world to revolve around them.

But even other omegas acknowledged that Shi Chan had a gentle personality, a trait uncommon among his kind.

Had the Shi family not announced Shi Chan’s engagement so early on, there would have been no shortage of alphas chasing after him at the academy.

And now… Xu Lihan had abandoned Shi Chan to marry someone else!

An omega being abandoned by their fiancé, who went on to marry another person—no one believed that an emotionally sensitive and fragile omega could survive such a blow.

A sudden surge of hostility arose against Xu Lihan among the alphas.

However, the fragile omega, who everyone imagined would be crying in sorrow, was merely sitting there in a daze, resting his chin on his hand…

This world appeared to be one of equality and democracy, yet when it came to marriage, it was even more backward than his previous life.

Yes, Shi Chan had transmigrated.

Shi Chan wasn’t sure if the term “transmigration” accurately described his experience because it felt more like he had suddenly awakened to memories of his past life.

When Shi Chan was around ten years old, dreams of a strange world started appearing. By his teens, he had fully remembered everything from his previous life.

In that dream world, there were no divisions between Alpha, Beta, or Omega. There were only two genders: men and women. However, a small number of men had the ability to bear children, and they were called “Ger.”

Shi Chan had been a Ger in his past life.

Ger were similar to male omegas in that they could bear children while retaining their male identity. However, they were relatively freer; they didn’t have to experience the heat cycles or be marked like omegas.

In his previous life, there were also no rules about being forced to marry by a certain age, and Shi Chan himself had never married.

After regaining his past-life memories, Shi Chan initially found his new omega body quite dissatisfying. But he soon realized the perks of this world—safety.

As someone seen as a fragile, sensitive omega, Shi Chan had never been yelled at, not even once.

In the eyes of many alphas, an omega was a delicate creature that could be frightened to death just by raising one’s voice. Because of that, whether at home or outside, as long as Shi Chan didn’t hide his omega identity, he was naturally treated with care and protection by most alphas.

Compared to the constant dangers of his previous life, this peaceful and comfortable world felt like paradise.

In his past life, Shi Chan had lived in a cultivation world. He had originally been an orphaned beggar, but a passing cultivator detected spiritual roots in him and took him away.

Shi Chan had cultivated to the sixth level of Qi Refining under his first master’s guidance, but then he had almost been drained by that same master. He narrowly escaped with his life and began his journey as a rogue cultivator.

In the world of cultivation, one competed not only with the heavens and earth but also with beasts, enemies, and fellow cultivators. Shi Chan’s journey had been filled with bloodshed and danger. Several times, he had almost been turned into nothing more than a resource for other cultivators, his soul and blood to be used in their own cultivation.

By the end, Shi Chan wasn’t cultivating for the sake of advancement but simply to survive. If his realm slipped or his spiritual power ran low, he risked being used as “resources” by others.

In that vast and magnificent world, Shi Chan’s talents were below average, and he had to rely on experience and battle to gather resources. Luck, that elusive quality, never seemed to be on his side. As a rogue cultivator with no advantage, his path was filled with endless dangers, ambushes, and treasure hunts.

To survive, Shi Chan had become extremely cautious and could trust no one, nor did he dare to seek a Dao companion. Eventually, Shi Chan even forgot about his identity as a Ger, constantly in a state of high alert, only focused on staying alive.

In that glittering yet treacherous world, Shi Chan wasn’t exceptionally gifted. He lacked resources and good fortune, and his survival had been a battle from start to finish.

In the end, Shi Chan fell during the process of forming his Golden Core because he lacked the resources to resist the tribulation lightning. He could still recall the intense pain and pressure of the tribulation as well as the greedy gazes of cultivators waiting outside the lightning zone for him to die.

Thinking back to his previous life, Shi Chan sighed, adjusting to a more comfortable position on the sofa. He gazed out at the beautifully manicured garden and felt his mood lift again.

Even though his fiancé had betrayed him! Even though he would be paired with a stranger for marriage tomorrow! He still liked this world!

Call him a coward, or say he lacked ambition, but Shi Chan never wanted to experience the “freedom” of his past life, where he couldn’t even sleep peacefully.

That said, the cultivation techniques he learned in his past life were still valuable. Shi Chan hadn’t given them up, and since his teens, he had begun to cultivate again. Now, his cultivation had reached the fourth level of Qi Refining—though his current body was even less gifted than his last. But that was enough for him.

With the fourth level of Qi Refining, Shi Chan had more confidence than other omegas. His physical strength alone was enough to take on many alphas. Coupled with some other techniques, there wasn’t an alpha out there who could mark him against his will.

Shi Chan wasn’t even slightly upset, but those around him clearly didn’t think the same. People who thought he needed comforting were soon at his door