Huh… where am I?"
Li An's voice trembled, the sound oddly foreign to his own ears. His chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths as he slowly pushed himself upright from the wooden bed beneath him. The wood creaked under his weight, and for a moment he simply sat there, dizzy and disoriented.
The room was quiet—too quiet. No humming of traffic, no distant buzz of electricity, no world of steel and concrete. Instead, there were paper-screen walls, aged beams of dark wood, and the faint scent of sandalwood clinging to the air. Dust motes floated lazily in the dim light, dancing like tiny spirits.
Li An swallowed. "Shouldn't I… be dead?"
The last memory that truly belonged to him was painfully ordinary. A mundane modern life. A world without qi, sects, or cultivation. Then darkness. A finality he had resigned himself to. Yet here he was, breathing, heart pounding in his chest.
His legs shook as he stumbled toward the window. Pushing it open, a wave of crisp mountain air rushed in. He froze.
Before him stretched an endless range of towering peaks, cloaked in emerald forests. Mist curled like ethereal dragons, weaving between cliffs and valleys. The world beyond was impossibly vast, its silence broken only by the cry of a distant eagle. Far above, perched on the crest of one mountain, stood another house—larger, proud, like a crown overlooking the heavens.
"Am I… in heaven?" he whispered, wide-eyed.
Then—
A tidal wave of memories slammed into his mind.
Li An clutched his skull with both hands, collapsing to his knees. Agony flared as alien experiences poured into him: a boy's laughter echoing in courtyards, disciples bowing and calling him Senior Brother Li, endless nights of cultivation under stars so bright they painted the sky silver. His chest heaved as pride, warmth, and a fierce sense of responsibility that weren't his own took root in his heart.
This was the life of the one whose body he now inhabited.
Li An had been—no, this Li An had been—the chief disciple of the Evergreen Sect's Miscellaneous Peak. A prodigy among prodigies. A patient mentor to juniors, a shield to the weak, and so beloved that whispers dared say he might one day inherit the sect master's mantle.
Until tragedy struck.
The memory was seared into the very marrow of this body: a midnight ambush. Shadows bursting with killing intent. Crimson talismans blazing with demonic energy. The screams of disciples ripped apart in the darkness. Steel clashing, blood spraying, heart-rending despair.
The former Li An had stood like a blazing torch against the night, sword cutting through wave after wave of enemies. His will was unyielding. His spirit root, once radiant with limitless potential, cracked and splintered under the overwhelming strain. Shattered. Destroyed. Beyond repair.
By the time the elders of the sect arrived, the prodigy's future was ash.
The Evergreen Sect had not abandoned him. They honored his sacrifice, granted him a quiet dwelling in the mountains, and allowed him to fade with dignity. But a cripple was still a cripple. His glory was gone. The once-shining star was now nothing but a dim ember.
The storm of memories finally ebbed, leaving Li An trembling on the floor. He pressed his palms into the wooden planks, gasping for air.
'So… I'm him now.'
The thought was both surreal and crushing. His modern life was gone. This new body's tragedy was now his to bear.
Slowly, he dragged himself back onto the creaking bed. His gaze fixed on the ceiling beams, their wood darkened by centuries.
'At least I'm alive,' he thought bitterly. The words tasted hollow in his mouth.
His eyes narrowed. A flicker of defiance stirred within him.
'But… shouldn't I have a system?'
As though the heavens themselves answered—
Ding!
A translucent panel shimmered into existence before his eyes, glowing with faint blue light. Strange runes twisted and rearranged until the text was perfectly legible.
[System Activated]
[Host: Li An]
[Age: 23]
[Cultivation: Meridian Opening Realm]
[Spirit Roots: Trash Roots]
Options:
• Multiply
• Fuse
Li An blinked. Then a crooked smile tugged at his lips.
'So I've fallen all the way back to the Meridian Opening Realm… and my once-great spirit roots are now just trash.' His fingers brushed his temples. 'That's… pitiful.'
Still, something in his chest stirred. Curiosity. Hope.
"System," he said aloud, "what do Fuse and Multiply mean?"
[Explanation]:
[• Anything owned by the host can be placed into Multiply. It will increase in number every hour.
• Identical items may then be Fused into a higher grade.]
[Note: Different items cannot be fused.]
Li An's brows arched.
'So… I can duplicate anything I own, and then merge them into something stronger.' His pulse quickened. 'That's… broken.'
He scanned the room. Ragged robes. A wooden bed. Dust. Nothing useful. With a sigh, he reached into his sleeve and produced a single copper coin—the only thing of worth left in this forgotten dwelling.
"Well then… let's start small."
The coin shimmered and disappeared into the panel.
[Multiply in progress: Copper Coin ×1 → Next increase in 59 minutes.]
Li An leaned back against the bedframe, smirking.
'This… might just be the start of something big.'
—
An hour crawled by, every tick of time heavy with anticipation.
Ding!
[Multiply Complete: Copper Coin ×1 → Copper Coin ×2]
Two dull coins clinked into his palm. Li An stared at them, then grinned, twirling the pair between his fingers.
"It works."
The words were soft, but his eyes gleamed with dangerous light.
Then his grin slowly faded. A thought slipped into his mind—dark, absurd, and yet far too tempting to ignore.
'System… just to confirm. Can I multiply anything? Does it have to be physical property?'
[Answer]:
[No. Anything owned by the host—whether physical or metaphysical—can be placed into Multiply.]
Li An froze. His breath caught in his throat. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
"Anything I own…" he whispered. His lips curved into a feral smile.
Closing his eyes, he focused inward. Deep within, he felt it: the broken remnant of what was once his spirit root. A husk, a dead weight. Once a vessel of brilliance, now a mark of failure.
Worthless. Unless—
His lips trembled with suppressed excitement. "System. Put my spirit root on Multiply."
[Affirmative]
[Multiply in progress: Trash Root ×1 → Next increase in 59 minutes.]
For a moment, silence consumed the house.
Then Li An threw back his head and laughed, raw and unrestrained, the sound echoing against the old wooden walls.
"Hahahahahahahah! I'm a fucking genius!"
Those demonic bastards had crippled him, turned him into a joke unfit to touch qi again. But now—every hour would grant him another spirit root. Roots he could fuse. Roots that could evolve beyond heaven's chosen.
His laughter faded into a hoarse chuckle, eyes glowing with feverish ambition.
'The world isn't ready for me.Huh… where am I?"
Li An's voice trembled, the sound oddly foreign to his own ears. His chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths as he slowly pushed himself upright from the wooden bed beneath him. The wood creaked under his weight, and for a moment he simply sat there, dizzy and disoriented.
The room was quiet—too quiet. No humming of traffic, no distant buzz of electricity, no world of steel and concrete. Instead, there were paper-screen walls, aged beams of dark wood, and the faint scent of sandalwood clinging to the air. Dust motes floated lazily in the dim light, dancing like tiny spirits.
Li An swallowed. "Shouldn't I… be dead?"
The last memory that truly belonged to him was painfully ordinary. A mundane modern life. A world without qi, sects, or cultivation. Then darkness. A finality he had resigned himself to. Yet here he was, breathing, heart pounding in his chest.
His legs shook as he stumbled toward the window. Pushing it open, a wave of crisp mountain air rushed in. He froze.
Before him stretched an endless range of towering peaks, cloaked in emerald forests. Mist curled like ethereal dragons, weaving between cliffs and valleys. The world beyond was impossibly vast, its silence broken only by the cry of a distant eagle. Far above, perched on the crest of one mountain, stood another house—larger, proud, like a crown overlooking the heavens.
"Am I… in heaven?" he whispered, wide-eyed.
Then—
A tidal wave of memories slammed into his mind.
Li An clutched his skull with both hands, collapsing to his knees. Agony flared as alien experiences poured into him: a boy's laughter echoing in courtyards, disciples bowing and calling him Senior Brother Li, endless nights of cultivation under stars so bright they painted the sky silver. His chest heaved as pride, warmth, and a fierce sense of responsibility that weren't his own took root in his heart.
This was the life of the one whose body he now inhabited.
Li An had been—no, this Li An had been—the chief disciple of the Evergreen Sect's Miscellaneous Peak. A prodigy among prodigies. A patient mentor to juniors, a shield to the weak, and so beloved that whispers dared say he might one day inherit the sect master's mantle.
Until tragedy struck.
The memory was seared into the very marrow of this body: a midnight ambush. Shadows bursting with killing intent. Crimson talismans blazing with demonic energy. The screams of disciples ripped apart in the darkness. Steel clashing, blood spraying, heart-rending despair.
The former Li An had stood like a blazing torch against the night, sword cutting through wave after wave of enemies. His will was unyielding. His spirit root, once radiant with limitless potential, cracked and splintered under the overwhelming strain. Shattered. Destroyed. Beyond repair.
By the time the elders of the sect arrived, the prodigy's future was ash.
The Evergreen Sect had not abandoned him. They honored his sacrifice, granted him a quiet dwelling in the mountains, and allowed him to fade with dignity. But a cripple was still a cripple. His glory was gone. The once-shining star was now nothing but a dim ember.
The storm of memories finally ebbed, leaving Li An trembling on the floor. He pressed his palms into the wooden planks, gasping for air.
'So… I'm him now.'
The thought was both surreal and crushing. His modern life was gone. This new body's tragedy was now his to bear.
Slowly, he dragged himself back onto the creaking bed. His gaze fixed on the ceiling beams, their wood darkened by centuries.
'At least I'm alive,' he thought bitterly. The words tasted hollow in his mouth.
His eyes narrowed. A flicker of defiance stirred within him.
'But… shouldn't I have a system?'
As though the heavens themselves answered—
Ding!
A translucent panel shimmered into existence before his eyes, glowing with faint blue light. Strange runes twisted and rearranged until the text was perfectly legible.
[System Activated]
[Host: Li An]
[Age: 23]
[Cultivation: Meridian Opening Realm]
[Spirit Roots: Trash Roots]
Options:
• Multiply
• Fuse
Li An blinked. Then a crooked smile tugged at his lips.
'So I've fallen all the way back to the Meridian Opening Realm… and my once-great spirit roots are now just trash.' His fingers brushed his temples. 'That's… pitiful.'
Still, something in his chest stirred. Curiosity. Hope.
"System," he said aloud, "what do Fuse and Multiply mean?"
[Explanation]:
[• Anything owned by the host can be placed into Multiply. It will increase in number every hour.
• Identical items may then be Fused into a higher grade.]
[Note: Different items cannot be fused.]
Li An's brows arched.
'So… I can duplicate anything I own, and then merge them into something stronger.' His pulse quickened. 'That's… broken.'
He scanned the room. Ragged robes. A wooden bed. Dust. Nothing useful. With a sigh, he reached into his sleeve and produced a single copper coin—the only thing of worth left in this forgotten dwelling.
"Well then… let's start small."
The coin shimmered and disappeared into the panel.
[Multiply in progress: Copper Coin ×1 → Next increase in 59 minutes.]
Li An leaned back against the bedframe, smirking.
'This… might just be the start of something big.'
—
An hour crawled by, every tick of time heavy with anticipation.
Ding!
[Multiply Complete: Copper Coin ×1 → Copper Coin ×2]
Two dull coins clinked into his palm. Li An stared at them, then grinned, twirling the pair between his fingers.
"It works."
The words were soft, but his eyes gleamed with dangerous light.
Then his grin slowly faded. A thought slipped into his mind—dark, absurd, and yet far too tempting to ignore.
'System… just to confirm. Can I multiply anything? Does it have to be physical property?'
[Answer]:
[No. Anything owned by the host—whether physical or metaphysical—can be placed into Multiply.]
Li An froze. His breath caught in his throat. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
"Anything I own…" he whispered. His lips curved into a feral smile.
Closing his eyes, he focused inward. Deep within, he felt it: the broken remnant of what was once his spirit root. A husk, a dead weight. Once a vessel of brilliance, now a mark of failure.
Worthless. Unless—
His lips trembled with suppressed excitement. "System. Put my spirit root on Multiply."
[Affirmative]
[Multiply in progress: Trash Root ×1 → Next increase in 59 minutes.]
For a moment, silence consumed the house.
Then Li An threw back his head and laughed, raw and unrestrained, the sound echoing against the old wooden walls.
"Hahahahahahahah! I'm a fucking genius!"
Those demonic bastards had crippled him, turned him into a joke unfit to touch qi again. But now—every hour would grant him another spirit root. Roots he could fuse. Roots that could evolve beyond heaven's chosen.
His laughter faded into a hoarse chuckle, eyes glowing with feverish ambition.
'The world isn't ready for me.'