[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE RECEIVED A UNIQUE SYSTEM ABILITY!]
[NEW SPECIAL ABILITY GAINED: INTIMIDATION AURA]
[Intimidation Aura (Upgradeable)]
[Rarity: Legendary]
[Type: Active Skill]
Type:Active Skill.
Description: Projects the host's raw force of will and street reputation onto others.
Effect: Anyone with a weaker will than the MC will be affected, experiencing the urge to submit or flee, often with paralyzed movement and reduced combat ability. Stronger opponents with wavering confidence will feel a chilling discomfort or pressure, slightly impeding their focus. If the opponent possesses a stronger or equal will, the ability will have less effect.
This skill is upgradeable.
Upgrade Cost: 10,000,000 Street Cred Points
…
After a few minutes, his headache ended and he found out that his current body's name is still Gray, he was 12 years old, without a last name, and his identity was an orphan, similar to his past life.
The difference, however, was that he was adopted at an early age by Meno and Cena Anarkin, two low-ranking elders of the Anarkin family. They raised him, treating him as their own.
The Anarkin Clan was a middle-sized clan in the Swaying Moon Continent.
Regarding the world, the previous Gray didn't really understand much about it and didn't bother to study about it.
All he knew was that there were thousands of similar continents in this world, and even just the Swaying Moon Continent is a couple times bigger than Earth.
As he grew up in the clan, everyone found that he was actually quite talented, even if he wasn't amongst the top talents in the clan, he was still better than at least half of the younger generation.
The previous Gray believed that this aroused the envy of some, especially since he was just an adoptive child.
This was why some of the dissatisfied members of the younger generation hatched a plot to kill him.
The previous Gray's death was gruesome. He was tortured and his limbs were dismantled.
But probably due to the magical pills given to him by Grandpa Meno and Grandma Cena, he was able to restore his body.
However, the previous Gray wasn't able to make it, which was probably why he was able to be transferred to this body.
"How are you feeling?" asked Grandma Cena worriedly as she fed him a spoon of herbal soup.
After blanking out for a long while, trying to make sense of everything. Gray finally looked at the old woman in front of him.
"This isn't a dream. I'm really in a different world now... moreover, I actually have a System." Gray muttered.
'This is actually a world quite similar to Xianxia stories, albeit with some differences.' Gray thought to himself as he remembered some famous Xianxia novels in the past.
On the side, Grandpa Meno smiled gently at Gray with a look of understanding.
"Child... I guess you're still in shock after what happened, it's totally understandable. Those children truly went too far this time, if it wasn't for those kind-hearted adventurers finding you in the woods, you would've died and we wouldn't have known a thing about your disappearance. This is my fault for letting you leave alone."
Grandpa Meno apologized with a guilty look, he knew he shouldn't be the one to blame for something out of his control, however, he felt regret and guilt.
'Kind-hearted adventurers? Right, I wonder what happened to them…' Gray's eye twitched when he remembered that group.
"Grandpa, Grandma…" Gray hesitated, the complicated emotions in his heart overwhelming him.
Grandpa Meno and Grandma Cena were the first people who had shown him this type of genuine familial love.
'After everything I've seen, everything I've lost,' he thought, 'I learned how important relationships and friendships are. This feeling... this is what's truly important.'
It felt soothing, a comforting anchor he'd never known.
Even though this wasn't his original world or body, he couldn't help but feel warm at the thought of finally having a family.
"Don't speak, child. Just rest for a while, okay? We'll go seek for justice with the clan leader once you recover." said Grandma Cena as she stroked Gray's head gently, before getting up and preparing dinner for him.
Even though the clan had many servants, she still refused to have anyone cook or serve her grandson, wanting to personally do all of those things herself.
In the memories he inherited from the previous Gray, a lot of them were about Gray's adoptive grandparents, they were basically the only people who truly loved him and cared about his well-being in this world.
The two elders were only outer elders of the clan, which meant they held little power and had low standing.
They were not wealthy, but they had enough to give Gray a good life.
They even provided him with slightly above average cultivation resources, resources they could have used to strengthen themselves or save to enjoy their later years.
Their own cultivation had long since stopped at the early stage of Foundation Establishment due to not having enough talent.
At their age of around 270, their lifespans were nearing the end, with only about thirty years left at most. As Foundation Establishment cultivators could only live up to 300 years old.
Yet instead of resting and enjoying their remaining years, both of them continued to work hard.
They bore the burdens of their duties as outer elders, all so they could earn more money and resources to support Gray's cultivation.
Looking at them, Gray's chest felt heavy. He also vowed in his heart that he would repay his grandparents no matter what.
"Thank you, grandpa, grandma…" Gray replied with care in his eyes. After losing his closest friends, his heart had been broken beyond repair.
But now, because of his grandparents, he felt a strange warmth which truly moved his heart.
He looked at Grandma Cena's fading back before looking through the rest of the previous Gray's memories, which were now merged with his own memories.
He couldn't absorb all of it, only the important parts, which amounted to less than 20%.
The previous Gray didn't really have a lot in common with him in terms of personality, although it wouldn't be a problem to impersonate him, he decided that he didn't want to do so.
After his death his old dream of becoming the king of delinquents had turned into an almost laughable memory.
The idea of being the toughest kid in a district seemed so small, so incredibly stupid.
But that was on Earth, a world governed by quiet rules and civilized norms. He wasn't on Earth anymore.
This was the cultivation world, a place where the strong preyed on the weak, where survival of the fittest wasn't just a theory, it was the law.
Here, being the strongest wasn't a childish dream; it was the only way to live without being someone else's stepping stone.
He thought of his friends. Leo, Specs, Knuckles... their faces as they fell together were still clear in his mind.
He remembered their loyalty, their belief in him.
Rat's last, desperate shout before he went into that vortex echoed in his memory: "Let's look for each other once we reincarnate! Find us, okay?!"
Could it be true? Were they out there somewhere, in new bodies, new lives? The thought sent a jolt of desperate hope through him.
His old dream of being the King of Delinquents seemed small now.
But the promise he had made to his crew, the promise they had all believed in, to reach the top together, that still burned.
And in this new world of impossible power, a wild idea sparked. Rat said reincarnate. If souls truly continued, then with enough strength... maybe he could do more than just find them.
As he silently tried to grasp this new reality and the path ahead, his uncertainty vanished.
Hope and excitement filled him. He knew exactly what he wanted.
"Alright," he vowed silently, his gaze hardening with determination.
"In this life, there are two things I will do. Find my friends. And become the strongest."
…
"So you're telling me, there are actually people who can lift mountains, split the seas, and pluck the stars?" Gray asked, his voice filled with wonder and curiosity.
After a few days, Gray had finished absorbing and integrating his memories and started to have conversations with his adoptive grandparents, asking them about a number of subjects, and now, the one that got him truly interested were the abilities of 'immortal cultivators' in this world.
Although he had some idea due to his absorbed memories, hearing the confirmation from his grandpa was still a different feeling.
Immortal Cultivators were people who could utilize an energy called Spiritual Energy, it was present almost everywhere, but few were gifted with the ability to sense and learn how to use it.
Through the use of Spiritual Energy, one could do things unimaginable in his previous life such as splitting mountains, parting seas, and flying through the air or even going to space.
It could even make a human being stay in their peak condition forever, their bodies no longer aging and being able to survive for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years, if they are lucky.
According to Grandpa Meno, there are even those who could achieve true immortality and live longer than heaven and earth, but all these are mere legends.
With his measly talent, it was still a huge question whether he could even live for over a hundred years.
Grandpa Meno was polishing his cherished sword while talking to Gray.
"...that's right, so work hard in cultivation and I'm sure that you'll reach great heights." Grandpa Meno had a doubtful expression as Gray asked such obvious questions that was common knowledge.
But he just chucked it to the fact that Gray was still in shock after what happened and maybe lost a part of his memories.
In any case, he didn't mind bonding with his grandson by answering these questions.
"By the way, grandpa, why are you always polishing that sword of yours?" asked Gray, in the past few days he had spent with his grandparents.