The afternoon sun, with its scorching heat, pressed heavily against Gu Han's back.
She was crouched in the tiny vegetable patch in the courtyard, wrestling with a tangle of stubborn weeds.
"Hah!"
With a muffled grunt, she finally uprooted the stubborn thing.
Just as she was about to toss the weed aside—
"[Ding!]"
A crisp, metallic sound suddenly exploded deep within her mind, making her eardrums ring.
[Host detected to have been persevering (working like a slave) for a full ten years. Conditions for 'System' activation met!]
['Strongest Sect System' binding in progress... 1%... 50%... 100%!]
[Hello Host, I am your System. You can call me... uh, whatever you want.]
Gu Han's movements instantly froze.
The weed slipped quietly from her fingers.
The sun was still blinding, the scent of earth still mingled with the smell of grass; everything was exactly the same as a moment ago.
But her entire being felt as if she had been struck by an invisible bolt of heavenly lightning, numbing her from the crown of her head to her heels.
An illusion?
Heatstroke?
She shook her head violently and even instinctively raised her hand, giving herself a sharp slap across the face.
It hurt!
A burning pain!
It wasn't an illusion!
Her heart, which had been silent for ten years and as still as stagnant water, instantly began to boil!
"Sys... System?"
Her throat was dry, and her voice shook uncontrollably, filled with both tears and ecstasy.
"You... you're finally f*cking here?!!"
She sprang up from the ground with a "whoosh."
But her legs were numb from crouching, causing her vision to go black for a moment, and she nearly tumbled into the nearby manure bucket that was emitting a strange odor.
"Blegh..."
She scrambled to steady herself against the nearby fence, finally managing to regain her balance.
"Ten years! A whole ten years!"
"Do you know how I've spent these ten years?! Huh?!"
"When others transmigrate, they become princes or young masters. Even at their worst, they at least don't have to worry about food or drink."
"What about me? I've been transmigrated for ten years, and every day I've been pulling weeds, fertilizing, feeding pigs, and chopping wood!"
"I thought I was done for, that I'd rot here along with this broken Taoist temple!"
[Apologies, Host. There was a traffic jam on the way.]
"A traffic jam?!"
"If you were ten days or half a month later, I might have had to marry Wang Ergou from the foot of the mountain and become his wife!"
[System Analysis: Based on this System's scan of Wang Ergou's physical data, his health is good, and his farming ability is acceptable.]
[From a reproductive perspective, it is the optimal solution for the Host's current environment. Of course, physiologically, the Host would need to adapt.]
Gu Han: "...Adapt my ass!"
The ecstasy and excitement receded slightly like a tide.
A question that had been suppressed for ten years and had almost become her Heart Demon suddenly surged into her mind.
Her voice suddenly dropped, carrying a hint of cautious, almost pleading trembling:
"System... since you're here and you're so powerful... can you, turn me back?"
She instinctively tugged at the collar of her coarse hemp clothes and pointed at the body she had been using for ten years.
Her eyes were filled with desperate anticipation.
"I mean... turn me back into a man."
"I still find this body a bit awkward."
[Ding! Apologies, Host. This System cannot do that.]
The expression on Gu Han's face instantly froze.
Her heart full of expectation and hope shattered completely, like a bubble popping with a "pop."
She was silent for a long time, then let out a long breath, as if exhaling all the frustration of the past ten years.
"Forget it..."
She shook her head, a relieved smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Being able to wait for you is already a huge miracle. What more could I ask for?"
"As for being male or female... it doesn't matter anymore."
"As long as I have enough strength, regardless of gender, I can still pick up girls."
"It's nothing more than the difference between a 1 and an 8..."
Her eyes refocused, becoming incredibly determined.
"So, where's the Newbie Gift Pack? The standard equipment for transmigrators?"
"You're ten years late; you have to compensate my poor little heart, right?"
The System was unusually silent for a moment!!
After a while... [Ding! Newbie Gift Pack being distributed...]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained Ascension Realm cultivation!]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained one Holy Land Construction Card!]
"As... Ascension Realm?"
Although Gu Han only had a superficial understanding of this world's cultivation System, the name alone sounded incredibly powerful.
[Host, shall we begin the Fusion of cultivation?]
"Fusion! Right now! Immediately! Fuse it for me!"
Gu Han almost screamed it out, fearing that if she were a second late, the System would encounter another traffic jam.
[Friendly reminder: Since the Host has no cultivation foundation, the Fusion process will involve a certain degree of 'comfort.']
[Please try to remain conscious to better experience the joy of power enhancement.]
"Comfort? Joy?"
Before Gu Han could complain about the System's strange choice of words, an indescribable sensation suddenly hit her!
At first, it was like a tiny spark ignited in her Dantian with a "pop," giving rise to a faint but incredibly pure warm current.
"Is this... Spiritual Power?"
Just as a hint of realization dawned in Gu Han's heart, that faint current of air suddenly turned into a prairie fire and exploded!
If it was a trickling stream a moment ago, the next moment it turned into the roaring Nine Heavens Milky Way!
Vast and boundless energy originated from her Dantian, frantically washing and surging through every inch of her flesh and every Meridian!
"Ugh—!"
Gu Han couldn't help but let out a suppressed groan of pain.
This sensation was nothing like the "comfort" the System mentioned!
It was more like countless red-hot steel needles forcibly expanding and piercing through her slender and fragile Meridians!
It was also like billions of grass mud horses galloping through her body!
Fine beads of blood began to seep from the surface of her skin—minor injuries caused when her Meridians were being widened and reshaped.
Qi Refining Level One, Two, Three... Qi Refining Level Nine!
Almost the instant the energy exploded, she crossed nine minor Realms without a single pause.
Viscous gray-black Impurities seeped out from the pores of her skin; these were the Acquired filth and Turbid Qi hidden deep within her Physical Body.
That power did not stop; instead, it drew in the Spiritual Qi from the surrounding heaven and earth, forming a visible pale green vortex that poured frantically into the crown of her head.
Foundation Establishment!
A flawless, translucent, and spiritual dao foundation was instantly forged within her body.
Her bones emitted a faint hum, becoming denser and tougher.
Her flesh was being frantically tempered and compressed, removing Impurities and nurturing a vibrant spirituality.
"Too... too fast..."
Gu Han's teeth were clenched, and her whole body trembled uncontrollably.
She could clearly "see" the earth-shaking changes happening inside her body.
Golden Core Stage was reached almost the moment Foundation Establishment was completed.
Majestic Spiritual Power frantically compressed and condensed at her Dantian.
A round and brilliant golden pill the size of a longan quickly took shape, slowly rotating above her Dantian's Qi Sea.
As the Golden Core was first formed, a vision immediately appeared.
Centered on this dilapidated Heavenly Maiden Temple, faint five-colored spiritual clouds began to gather in the sky for dozens of miles around.
The mountain wind became brisk, birds in the forest took flight in alarm, and beasts crouched uneasily on the ground, whimpering.
In the quiet village at the foot of the mountain, all the villagers felt a mysterious sense of oppression in their hearts, as if something extraordinary was about to be born.
Looking up at the sky, they saw only a clear expanse for thousands of miles, yet they knew not where this palpitation came from.
"It's not enough... nowhere near enough!"
Gu Han could feel that the so-called "Ascension Realm" cultivation was currently just the tip of the iceberg.
The Golden Core reached Perfection in an instant, and then—shattered with a bang!
An inch-tall figure that looked seventy to eighty percent like her, its whole body emitting a soft glow.
It leaped out from the shattered Golden Core and sat cross-legged atop the Dantian's Qi Sea.
Nascent Soul, formed!
At this stage, the physical pain gradually subsided, replaced by a wonderful, unprecedented "sense of control."
Her Divine Sense skyrocketed with the birth of the Nascent Soul, like spilled mercury or a surging tide.
Ten feet, a hundred feet, a thousand feet... the entire Heavenly Maiden Temple, along with every blade of grass, tree, insect, and beast on the back mountain, became clearly visible in her mind.
Her body was also undergoing earth-shaking changes simultaneously.
Her skin, which had been slightly rough and even somewhat dark from years of labor, was now becoming translucent and smooth as jade at a visible rate.
Those thick calluses and hideous scars fell off one after another, revealing the new, faintly glowing skin beneath.
Her thin frame, caused by long-term malnutrition, became full and upright, with smooth and elegant lines, brimming with a sense of healthy power.
Her delicate face, which always bore the marks of weather and numbness, seemed to have its features meticulously refined by an invisible hand, shedding all traces of fatigue.
Her skin was as white as snow, her eyes as bright as stars, and her brow gained a hint of indescribable agility and charm.
However, the changes did not stop.
The Nascent Soul grew rapidly, becoming incredibly solid, almost indistinguishable from her original body.
Then, her Divine Soul and Physical Body began a deeper Fusion, her Divine Sense power skyrocketed again, faintly touching the edges of the world's rules.
Soul Transformation, formed!
Void Returning, formed!
Fusion, formed!
...