Jin clutched the silk pouch from Elder Wu as if it were a bag of gold and not a collection of spiritual herbs. The weight of it felt monumental, not because of its contents, but because of what it represented: a future. He had cultivated! He was no longer a useless sweeper, a ghost in the hallowed halls of the Golden Willow Sect. He was a cultivator, a person with a purpose, with a defined path to walk.
He needed to find a place to properly consolidate his foundation. The system's quest was clear, but where could a lowly disciple like him go? He knew the sect's spiritual energy was most dense on the peaks, but those were reserved for the most senior disciples and elders. The best he could hope for was a quiet corner of the outer sect's training grounds, a place no one would think to look.1
He turned down a winding path that led away from the central courtyards, toward a less-traveled area of the mountainside. The trail was overgrown, and the air grew thin, but the spiritual Qi was noticeably purer here, humming faintly in the silence. It was the perfect spot. He found a small, hidden cavern tucked away behind a waterfall, its entrance shrouded by a curtain of mist. It was a secluded and peaceful place for his new-found self to begin a new journey.
As he was about to step inside, a voice startled him.
"Brother Jin, what are you doing all the way out here? This path leads to the forbidden Misty Peaks! Only masters with the most profound comprehension would dare to cultivate here!"
It was a senior disciple, a stern-faced man named Wei. He was known for his rigid adherence to sect rules. Jin's stomach knotted.
"I… I was just looking for a quiet place to meditate," Jin stammered, his hand instinctively tightening on the pouch.
Wei's eyes narrowed, not with suspicion, but with what appeared to be profound understanding. He looked at Jin's grimy robes and the faint smudge on his cheek that Jin had missed. "Of course. To cultivate in such a place, a true master would need to absorb a hundred times more Qi than a normal cultivator, and what would a simple outer disciple know about such matters? Brother Jin, I am sorry for my insolence. Please, continue on your journey. I will stand guard here to ensure no one disturbs your profound seclusion."
Jin was utterly confused. He wasn't doing anything profound. He was just trying to hide. He gave a nervous nod and quickly slipped behind the curtain of the waterfall. Inside the cavern, the air was cool and crisp. The light from the entrance cast a soft glow on the rocky walls, illuminating a flat stone in the center.
"Okay," Jin whispered to the voice in his head. "I'm here. Now what?"
A new panel flashed in his mind.
[Quest: Consolidate Foundation]
[Objective: Find a secluded area and begin your cultivation with the acquired resources.]
Well, he's in the right spot, at least. But if he uses that Divine Purity Pill in here, the shockwaves are going to be felt for a thousand miles. Good. Let them tremble.
Jin took out the pearlescent pill from the pouch. He'd never seen a pill of this quality before. The herbal scent was so pure it was intoxicating. He sat on the stone and closed his eyes, placing the pill on his tongue. He had expected a slow absorption of energy, a gentle tide of spiritual Qi flowing into his dantian.
He was wrong.
The pill exploded in his mouth.
A wave of pure, divine energy, a hundred thousand times more potent than the divine aura he had sensed before, surged through his body. It was a searing, glorious inferno that felt as if it would tear him apart from the inside. Jin's face contorted in pain and surprise as he tried to channel the force, his meagre meridians screaming under the strain. He felt like a small creek attempting to contain a celestial ocean.
He felt his own spiritual root, the "trash" root he had been mocked for his entire life, writhe and groan under the pressure. The system's voice was calm, a soft counterpoint to the raging storm inside him.
A little pain never hurt anyone. Besides, he needed this. He was getting rusty. Once he's done, he'll be unstoppable in this little world.
Outside the cavern, the world shifted. The air, once serene, began to churn. A vortex of spiritual Qi formed high above the Misty Peaks, drawing in all the ambient energy for miles. The sky, a clear azure just moments before, darkened as storm clouds gathered overhead, swirling into a perfect, celestial funnel of power. Bolts of pure, radiant energy sparked within the storm, a silent lightning that shook the very foundation of the earth itself.
On the path below, Senior Disciple Wei looked up, his face a mask of awe and terror. "A Heavenly Tribulation? But... for a Foundation Establishment breakthrough? No, this must be a Divine Tribulation! Who... who is that terrifyingly powerful being cultivating on the peak?!" He knew, without a doubt, that the unassuming 'Brother Jin' had just performed a feat no one in the history of their sect had ever seen. He quickly sent a message via a spiritual jade slip to the elders, his hands shaking.
Inside the cavern, oblivious to the celestial chaos he had caused, Jin endured. He grit his teeth, focusing on the pain. The process was agonizing, but as his meridians expanded and his dantian filled with a solidified, crystalline spiritual Qi, a sense of immense, unbridled power began to bloom within him. The storm was now a part of him.
After what felt like an eternity, the storm subsided. The torrent of Qi coalesced into a calm, powerful sea within his body. He felt a newfound connection to the world, a sense of clarity he had never experienced before. He stood up, feeling taller, stronger, and more alive than he had ever felt.
[Quest Complete: Consolidate Foundation]
Jin frowned. "Soul Manifestation? What's that? And I'm supposed to join a tournament? But... everyone there is so much stronger than me."
Of course they are. Right now. But with your new physique, a few more of my interventions, and the right dose of dramatic irony, you'll be a legend by the end of it.
The chapter closed as Jin looked at the system panel, a hint of genuine worry clouding his face. He felt powerful, but he didn't feel like a legend. He felt like a fraud. He had no idea what was happening, but he knew one thing for certain: his life was no longer a lonely, quiet cycle of dust. It was a series of terrifying, hilarious, and cosmic misunderstandings, and he was at the very heart of them all.