Liu Ming opened his eyes and found himself lying in a stone chamber.The room was damp and cold, the walls covered in moss. Thick iron bars sealed the entrance—it was clearly a prison cell.
He suddenly sat up, only to feel a sharp pain at the back of his head.
"The last one has finally woken up."A clear and unfamiliar voice came from the side.
Liu Ming turned and saw a thin man leaning against the wall, a strange smile curling at his lips.
"Where is this?" he asked instinctively.
"Congratulations." The man avoided his question, grinning instead. "Like us, you've caught Miss Su's eye."
Liu Ming was utterly confused.Caught her eye? What did that mean?
Clack—
The stone door swung open, and several masked maids walked in.
"On your feet! Miss Su wants to see you." The maid in front, wearing a black mask, barked an order.
One of the maids yanked Liu Ming up with surprising strength. He realized with a shock that he couldn't resist at all, despite her seemingly delicate appearance.
He was escorted out of the cell along with other men and brought into a spacious hall.
A red carpet stretched across the center, the air thick with a cloying fragrance. Atop a dais, a young girl in a crimson dress lounged lazily on a soft couch.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, her skin pale as snow, with large swaths of it left exposed. At a single glance, one's blood seemed to surge with desire.
Noticing the newcomers, she cast a casual glance over them.
"Not bad, not bad." Her voice dripped with seductive sweetness. "You are the ones I have chosen. If you perform well, the path of cultivation, even ascension to immortality, will not just be a dream."
With a wave of her hand, she said:"Each of you, take a pill."
The maids approached with trays, each holding a single black pill.
Liu Ming hesitated, wondering what she meant by "cultivation."But before he could resist, a maid clamped his jaw open and shoved the pill down his throat.
The pill melted instantly, a hot current sliding into his stomach.He was powerless to stop it.
"This Yin-Yang Induction Pill will stimulate your potential." Su Mei'er rose gracefully and stepped down from the dais. "The stronger your foundation, the longer it will take to activate. And the more potent the yang energy it will produce."
She stopped before a man, tracing a finger across his chest as her red lips parted:"I will grant you a fragment of the Mysterious Yin Sutra. Whoever can endure three days without their yang energy being activated will not only survive—I will cultivate with him personally."
A fragile piece of paper was slipped into Liu Ming's chest pocket. He looked up and realized it had been done by a maid. He hadn't even seen when she produced it. The vast gap in strength between them became even clearer to him.
Suddenly—"Ahhh!"
One man screamed in agony. His skin flushed red, steam rising off his body.
Su Mei'er narrowed her eyes. "So fast? Useless trash."
In a blur, she appeared before him, pressed her hand to his forehead.The man stiffened, his eyes glazing over as his flesh shriveled rapidly, leaving only a dried husk of a corpse.
"Too weak. Boring." Su Mei'er licked her lips and tossed the body aside. "Lock the rest away until the medicine takes effect."
Liu Ming was dragged back to the cell.
Sitting against the wall, he tried to calm his breathing, praying that his own yang energy wouldn't be triggered so soon.
Now he finally understood what "being chosen by Miss Su" meant.Cultivation? No—it was feeding her!
Surviving three days was the only chance at life. But who could guarantee lasting that long?Perhaps escape was the only hope.
"We're all dead men," the thin man sneered. "I heard only one in ten survives three days. The rest get sucked dry."
"Shut up!" a burly man roared. "I won't just sit here waiting to die!"
With a snarl, he charged at the iron gate, shaking the bars violently.But no matter how hard he pulled, the bars didn't budge. Not even a guard came to check—clearly, they were certain escape was impossible.
Liu Ming frowned deeply in the corner.He was still thinking.How could he possibly escape?
He knew nothing about this place. Even if he broke free of the cell, where could he go? What if the outside was even more dangerous?
Suddenly—
[Host's intent detected. "Myriad Avatars System" has been activated.]A mechanical voice rang in Liu Ming's mind.
[This system allows the host to summon avatars.][Upon an avatar's death, innate abilities will be generated based on its achievements.]
Liu Ming's eyes widened, his heart pounding wildly.A system? He had a system too?Finally—something to rely on for survival!
Overjoyed, he called out inwardly: System, give me—
"What are you laughing at?!"
A thunderous roar exploded in his ears.
He looked up to find the burly man towering before him, his massive frame like a mountain.
"You think this is funny?" The man sneered, thrusting out a huge hand toward Liu Ming. "Hmph. If I can't escape, you think you can? Don't worry—you'll die before me."
As the hand drew closer, Liu Ming's expression remained calm.
Just before contact, the thin man suddenly spoke:"I'll go out and take a look. If there's a chance, I'll come back to free you."
"How?" the burly man asked, bewildered.
The thin man smiled mysteriously. With a sickening crack of bones, his body shrank, thin enough to slip through the bars.
No one stood guard outside. He glanced around, picked a direction, and crept away.
Then—silence.
Time passed slowly. Oppression filled the cell once again.
"Why hasn't he come back yet?" the burly man muttered irritably. "Did he die out there? Or did he just run off?"
Leaning against the cold wall, Liu Ming said quietly:"Maybe he was caught. Maybe he ran."
"Damn it! Is he coming back or not?!" the burly man roared, slamming a fist against the wall. But he couldn't even leave a dent. "Then what the hell are we supposed to do?!"
Liu Ming wondered the same.But unlike the burly man, he was far calmer.
After all, he now had a system—and the ability to summon an avatar.If he wanted to know what happened to the thin man, he could just send one to find out.
Of course, he would never tell anyone…the avatar was his.