The loud strike of a copper gong echoed across the Outer Peak of the Burning Plum Sect, causing flocks of birds to panic and soar into the morning sky. Today was the day of the Annual Examination. The sect's law was unforgiving: those who failed to break through to the fifth stage of Body Tempering before coming of age would forever be stripped of their cultivator status and shamefully exiled to the mortal world—to serve merchant clans.
Xuan Li stood in the inner courtyard, paved with white jade, among hundreds of other disciples. He had recently turned eighteen, and today was to be his sentence. The wind whipped his worn gray robes. His meridians had been ruthlessly ruptured three years ago during a vile ambush set by masters from a rival clan. Since then, his progress had ground to a halt.
"Look, it's Li! That same 'former genius'," a spiteful whisper rose behind his back, followed by a quiet chuckle. "They say the Elder will personally kick him out past the gates today. What a fall from grace!"
Xuan Li didn't even turn his head. His face remained a mask of absolute, icy calm. None of these arrogant fools knew what had happened last night.
Yesterday evening still echoed with phantom pain in his ribs. Li remembered the cold mud of the backyard where Young Master Zhao's lackeys had thrown him. They had beaten him long and methodically, enjoying their impunity. When they left, Li remained lying in a pool of his own blood, clutching the only thing left from his parents in his hand—a smooth, unremarkable black ring.
At the moment a drop of his blood absorbed into the dark metal, reality shifted. The ring grew white-hot, melting and searing directly into his flesh, fusing with his bones. The pain vanished, giving way to icy clarity, and a translucent neon-blue screen flashed before his eyes. A lifeless, mechanical voice sounding directly within his mind changed his destiny forever:
[Initiating "Heaven's Devouring" protocol.]
[Analyzing host... Spiritual meridians are damaged by 98%. Critical energy loss detected.]
[Cultivation system failure. Launching backup restoration...]
While Li, gasping, stared at the symbols floating in the twilight, the interface continued to scan his body. This world's spiritual energy (Qi) no longer seemed to him a mystical, incomprehensible force. The System translated it into pure information. It looked like heavy, bulky code—an archaic language he hadn't worked with in five or six years, yet the basic architectural principles remained unchanged. His broken meridians were merely damaged cables, and the System acted as the perfect system administrator, rerouting data flows around the burnt-out nodes.
["Absorption" skill unlocked. Access rights to ambient Qi expanded.]
Over a single night, the System rebuilt his inner world, erecting new energy channels that were as unassailable and strong as the walls of an ancient citadel, transforming his body itself into a hidden arsenal of lethal algorithms.
The return to reality was jarring. The crowd of disciples in the yard scrambled back as if facing a leper. The exam overseer, Deacon Wang, was approaching the youth with measured, commanding steps. His narrow eyes gleamed with contempt. Wang forcefully shoved the end of his heavy bamboo cane, infused with dense, aggressive Qi, directly into Li's chest.
"It's your turn to approach the Power Measurement Stone, trash. I hope you've already gathered your belongings," the overseer hissed.
The interface before Xuan Li's eyes immediately flashed scarlet.
[Warning: Hostile influence detected. Source: 6th stage of Body Tempering. Launch absorption protocol?]
Li mentally canceled the command. Now was not the time to reveal all his cards. He looked silently at the deacon, demonstratively brushed an invisible speck of dust from the spot where the cane had pressed, and confidently stepped toward the center of the square.
A massive black obelisk loomed there—the Power Measurement Stone. The smooth surface of the thousand-year-old monolith was etched with faint runes. On a jade platform, the Sect Elder lazily opened one eye, not even bothering to pick up his recording brush.
Xuan Li stopped half a meter from the obelisk. To everyone else, it was a divine artifact, the unquestionable authority of the sect. But the glowing interface in the youth's eyes dispassionately deconstructed it:
[Analyzing object... Structure: Spiritual data storage terminal. 2 levels of protective formations detected.]
[Scanning for vulnerabilities... Defenses are critically outdated. Security protocol bypass successful. Root access granted.]
[Colossal core reservoir detected within the object. Extract 10% to complete host restoration?]
Xuan Li's lips twitched in an icy, ruthless smirk. Three years of humiliation. Three years of pain and mockery. It was time to hack this world.
"Confirmed," he said internally.
He slowly raised his hand and placed his palm on the cold surface of the monolith. Outwardly, nothing happened—no explosions, no blinding light. But inside the obelisk, the System ruthlessly tore into the ancient core, siphoning off the purest, concentrated energy of ages, hiding the process behind perfect digital camouflage.
Energy flooded into Li's body like a stream of molten lava. The System instantly distributed it, healing old wounds, strengthening bones, and expanding meridians to unprecedented sizes.
[Synchronization complete. Outputting set parameters to terminal.]
A golden ripple ran across the surface of the Power Measurement Stone. The runes flared with a steady, blinding light, plunging the entire square into deathly silence. The Elder on the platform choked on his tea, dropping the cup from his hands. The sound of shattering porcelain broke the quiet. Deacon Wang turned pale, his jaw dropped, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets.
Clear symbols burned on the smooth surface of the monolith:
"Xuan Li. 5th Stage of Body Tempering. Perfect Foundation."
The silence on the Outer Peak was so thick it felt as though it could be cut with a knife. These words burned the pride of those present like a red-hot iron. Deacon Wang, whose face flushed red, gripped his bamboo cane so tightly his knuckles turned white. He opened his mouth to shout an accusation of cheating, but was preceded by a dry, cracked voice.
"5th Stage of Body Tempering. Exam passed," Elder Lin pronounced indifferently from the jade platform.
The Elder didn't care about Wang's personal scores or Xuan Li's past glory. For him, only the rules of the Burning Plum Sect existed. The Stone had reacted—meaning the power was genuine. Lin waved his withered hand, signaling that the incident was over.
Xuan Li slowly removed his palm from the ancient monolith. He felt the foreign energy, stolen from the stone's core, circulating in a steady, humming stream through his new, System-built meridians. It was an intoxicating feeling of absolute control over his own body, which he had been deprived of for the last three years.
Without uttering a word, Li turned and walked away from the square. The crowd of disciples parted before him in dead silence. Yesterday they spat in his wake; today, they were afraid to meet his gaze. This was the sole and immutable law of this world: strength decides everything.
The path to his dwelling took about half an hour. The Outer Peak of the order was huge. The further Li walked from the central square with its white stone pavilions, the poorer the surroundings became. The air here smelled not of expensive incense, but of damp earth, pine needles, and cheap coal.
His home was a dilapidated wooden shack on the very edge of a cliff. The roof had long been leaking, and the cold mountain wind roam through the gaps in the dried-out boards. Xuan Li closed the flimsy door tightly behind him, slid the wooden bolt, and sat on a rough mat thrown over a plank bed.
Only here, in complete solitude, did he allow himself to exhale.
"System," he called mentally.
A translucent neon-blue interface instantly unfolded before his eyes.
[Protocol "Heaven's Devouring" is active.]
[Current Status: Body Tempering — 5th Stage.]
[Host Condition: Backup meridians formed at 15%. The remaining 85% of channels are still blocked by fragments of foreign Qi.]
Li frowned. So, absorbing ten percent of the energy from the thousand-year-old Stone's core was only enough to restore a small part of his circulatory and spiritual system.
[Analysis of absorbed energy complete. Source: "Power Measurement Stone". Type: Purified Earth Qi of the lowest order.]
[Warning: Further energy absorption from Sect terminals will attract the attention of entities at the Golden Core stage and above. Risk of host destruction: 99.8%.]
[Recommendation: Safe breakthrough to the 6th stage of Body Tempering requires an external energy source of a different nature. Optimal variant: Blood essence of 1st-rank demonic beasts.]
Li chuckled. The System thought absolutely logically. If he continued to suck energy from the sect's artifacts, the Elders would quickly realize why the Order's shrines had begun to turn to dust. He needed an independent source.
In the Burning Plum Sect, resources—spiritual stones and alchemy pills—were only issued to Inner Court disciples. Outer Peak disciples like him received only a handful of rice and the right to listen to lectures. To become stronger, one had to obtain resources oneself.
To the west of the Sect territory lay the Broken Fang Ridge—an endless, grim primordial forest inhabited by demonic beasts. A place where weak cultivators became food, and strong ones grew rich selling monster cores.
"Blood essence, then," Li thought, thoughtfully rubbing the smooth surface of the black ring on his finger.
There were only three months left until the next intra-sect tournament, where disciples would be selected for the Inner Court. If he wanted to avenge himself on the Zhao clan that crippled him and reclaim his rightful place, the fifth stage would not be enough. He needed a breakthrough.
He rose from the bed, went to a hiding place under a loose floorboard, and took out his only asset—an old, notched hunting dagger. In this world, there was no room for weakness, and Xuan Li was going to prove that to anyone who dared to write him off.
As the sun began to dip toward the west, painting the sky over the Burning Plum Sect in crimson tones, Xuan Li fastened the scabbard with the old dagger to his belt, hiding it under the wide folds of his robe, and stepped out of the hut. His path lay toward the Western Gates—the only exit from the sect territory leading directly to the Broken Fang Ridge.
He moved silently, his breathing even and measured. The System had established a perfect rhythm of energy circulation, so each of his steps felt light, as if he were gliding above the ground, feeling no fatigue.
However, he did not manage to reach the gates without hindrance.
In a narrow alleyway between abandoned warehouses, where the shadows were particularly thick, three figures blocked his path. Xuan Li stopped. His face showed not a single emotion, but his gaze became cold as ice.
It was them. The very same henchmen of Young Master Zhao who had dragged him through the mud last night. In front stood Sun Ba—a burly fellow with a bull neck and fists the size of small melons. A mocking smirk played on his lips, though a slight uncertainty was readable in his eyes. Rumors of Xuan Li's triumph at the exam had already spread across the Outer Peak, but believing that the "trash" had suddenly found strength was too difficult.
"Where do we think we're going, Li?" Sun Ba drawled, cracking his knuckles. His cronies moved threateningly along the sides, cutting off avenues of escape. "Heard you put on a show at the Stone today. Probably used some dirty trick to pull the wool over the Elders' eyes? Young Master Zhao is very displeased. He told us to check just how firm your 'perfect foundation' is."
Xuan Li remained silent. He didn't even adopt a fighting stance. Instead, he mentally addressed the ring.
"System, analysis."
A neon-blue interface instantly unfolded before his eyes. Red frames locked onto the figures of the three opponents, and lines of green code ran above their heads.
[Analysis of targets complete.]
[Target 1 (Sun Ba): Body Tempering — 4th Stage. Combat Style: Bull Technique (brute force). Vulnerabilities: Shift in center of gravity when striking with the right hand. Chronic damage to ligaments of the left knee (probability of rupture upon lateral strike — 94%).]
[Targets 2 and 3: Body Tempering — 3rd Stage. Threat: Negligible.]
[Recommendation: Direct elimination. Use of "Absorption" skill is impractical (energy quality of targets is too low).]
"Just trash, then," Li noted mentally.
"Are you deaf?!" Sun Ba roared, infuriated by his opponent's indifference.
With a guttural growl, he lunged forward. His massive fist, enveloped in a weak, unstable Qi aura, aimed straight for Xuan Li's face. To an ordinary disciple, this strike would have been devastating, but to Li, it looked as if it were playing in slow motion. The System helpfully highlighted the attack trajectory with a dotted red line.
Xuan Li took a short, economical step to the left. Sun Ba's fist sliced through empty air with a whistle. Due to the excessive force put into the strike and the shifted center of gravity, the big man lunged forward from inertia, opening himself up completely.
At that moment, Xuan Li struck.
No beautiful stances or pretentious Sect techniques. Pure, mathematically calculated efficiency. His right leg snapped out like a steel whip, embedding itself precisely into Sun Ba's left knee—exactly at the spot the System highlighted with a pulsing marker.
A wet, sickening crunch of rupturing ligaments and breaking bone rang out.
Sun Ba screamed agonizingly. His leg buckled at an unnatural angle, and he collapsed face-first into the dirt of the road, convulsively grabbing at his crippled knee.
His two cronies froze in place, paralyzed by shock. Their leader, the pride of the Outer Peak among fourth-stage disciples, had been defeated by a single, elusive movement. Xuan Li slowly turned his icy gaze upon them.
"Do you wish to check anything else?" he asked quietly. His voice was devoid of anger, and from this lifeless, mechanical void, a chill ran down the guys' spines.
"N-no... Senior Brother Li..." one of them stammered, backing away in terror. "W-we were just passing by!"
They grabbed the wailing Sun Ba under his arms and, stumbling, dragged him away out of the alley, leaving drops of blood on the stones. Xuan Li did not pursue them. Wasting time on these insects was irrational. Besides, this short fight had been an excellent test. The new meridians worked flawlessly, and the System transformed him into an ideal fighting machine capable of dismantling foreign styles into lines of vulnerable code.
Adjusting the hems of his robe, he stepped forward confidently. Fifteen minutes later, the heavy leaves of the Western Gates were left behind. Ahead, shrouded in evening mist, loomed the Broken Fang Ridge. The wind brought from there the smell of dampness, rotting leaves, and wild magic.