The Heaven-Defying Road from Transmigrated Reborn Outcast to New Emperor

The protagonist, Lu Chuan, is a modern special police officer working undercover among drug lords. After his superior is bribed by the drug lord and exposes his identity, Lu Chuan is tortured to death. He transmigrates into the body of a discarded son of an ancient aristocratic family who was assassinated. In life, the original owner was dull-witted and timid, and suffered endless abuse. Reborn, Lu Chuan is fierce and courageous, highly skilled in martial arts, learned, and exceptionally resourceful. He promptly cuts all ties with his family, sets up on his own, and builds a new aristocratic legacy.

Lu Chuan is also exceptionally talented, with no equal in poetry or couplets. When the commandery princess holds a poetry and couplet gathering at her academy, offering a thousand gold coins as a prize, anyone with talent is welcome to participate. He enters just to give it a try, yet wins with ease and declines the prize money, while also winning the princess's heart. His poems and couplets become the talk of the town. Later, he happens upon a martial arts family holding a tournament to find a husband for their daughter. The beautiful young woman is spoiled and sharp-tongued, so Lu Chuan, annoyed by her arrogance, takes the stage to teach her a lesson. He defeats her in a single move, but she becomes attached to him and insists she will marry no one else. On the road, he comes across a wealthy merchant's daughter who has been robbed and kidnapped by bandits, and rescues her. She intends to repay him by offering herself to him.

When a neighboring kingdom invades the frontier, the court has no capable general to appoint. It posts an imperial proclamation: anyone who is highly skilled in martial arts and strategic thinking and takes it down will be made a Great General Who Protects the Nation. Lu Chuan steps out of the crowd and casually tears it down. After passing a series of tests and demonstrating his true abilities and knowledge, he faces a female general in a contest and defeats her. She follows him as his deputy, and together they lead troops to victory after victory. He is eventually made a prince of a different surname. Now a prince, he contends with rivals at court, roots out corruption, and devises ways to improve the lives of the people. When the emperor dies, all four princes perish in the struggle for power, and the people throughout the land support Lu Chuan in becoming emperor.