Qin Ge is a poverty-stricken freshman at Donghai University who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, given only months to live. Leaving the hospital, he passes through a crowded alley where a vendor sells trinkets and peace charms. He spots a tattered book titled "Joy of Union Manual" and flips through it, finding diagrams and texts about "Cultivating Yin Yang, Joy of Union" and "The Art of the Courtesan" with strange names like Headlong Charge and Old Man Thinking of His Bride. He dismisses it as porn but buys it for ten yuan after the haggling vendor claims it is a peerless manual. Soon after, his counselor Lin Yao, who feels guilty because his scholarship was stolen by richer students, insists he take a tutoring job she found. He arrives at the luxurious Champs Elysées Villa district and meets Qi Yingzi, the stunning CEO of Tianying Group. Instead of discussing tutoring, Qi Yingzi directly proposes a deal: she wants a child. She explains her parents died when she was sixteen, leaving her to run the company; every man who approached her had ulterior motives, so she wants a child without marriage. She has investigated Qin Ge, approving of his health, grades, and lack of background. She offers one million yuan as compensation, with strict contracts ensuring no future contact. Qin Ge, knowing he has nothing to lose, accepts, thinking the money would support his parents after his death. He does not reveal his illness. She transfers fifty thousand yuan upfront, and he signs the confidentiality agreements. That night, in the villa's dim bedroom, the two attempt conception. Qin Ge, extremely nervous, finishes too quickly and blames his distraction on thinking about the novel Water Margin, feeling humiliated. Qi Yingzi remains composed but leaves after washing. However, during the act, Qin Ge's mind inexplicably recalls the manual's descriptions of Yin Yang cultivation, and he suddenly understands its cryptic meaning. A strange energy stirs in his dantian, moving according to the previously incomprehensible cultivation method. After Qi Yingzi departs, Qin Ge feverishly studies the manual and realizes it is a genuine cultivation scripture of the Joyous Union Sect. He spends hours cultivating, feeling the spiritual energy grow and his body fill with strength, though he cannot yet guide the energy to his limbs. He becomes hopeful that the cultivation might cure his cancer. The next day, he returns to the alley to find the vendor and learn more about the book, but the man has vanished. He leaves his phone number with another vendor and returns to school, feeling more energetic than ever despite no sleep. Lin Yao calls him for dinner at a nearby restaurant. They are eating and chatting when Zhao De, a notorious local thug known for preying on female students by offering large sums of money, notices Lin Yao. He sits down uninvited and lewdly propositions her, starting at ten thousand yuan and raising the offer to one hundred thousand yuan for a night. Lin Yao furiously refuses, but Zhao De signals his three underlings to surround Qin Ge. To everyone's surprise, Lin Yao suddenly leaps from her chair and kicks two of the thugs flying, then knocks down the remaining man and Zhao De with a spinning kick. Infuriated, Zhao De pulls out a gleaming dagger and stabs at Lin Yao's back. Qin Ge quickly wraps his arms around Lin Yao and spins to shield her, taking the blade in his waist. Bleeding, Qin Ge grabs a glass bottle, smashes it over Zhao De's head, and punches him hard. He then brawls with the three thugs, taking more hits but ultimately knocking them all to the ground. The restaurant is in chaos as bystanders watch. Lin Yao panics at the sight of Qin Ge's bleeding wound. The story leaves off with Qin Ge wounded, but his journey has only begun: he now possesses a cultivation manual that may save his life, and he has already made a dangerous enemy. His ultimate goal becomes to master the cultivation technique, cure his cancer, and chart his own destiny despite the obstacles ahead.
