The Divine Physician's disciples, their laughter fading into the corridor, left Jun Hao alone in the dimly lit room. Their words, callous and dismissive, hung in the air like a suffocating cloud. "Passed the age of enlightenment..."
Jun Hao, his heart leaden with despair, slumped back against the pillows. The joy he'd felt at surviving the attack of lightning and a nyx, the hope rekindled by the prospect of becoming a cultivator, all seemed to crumble into dust.
"What do you mean, I'm past the age of enlightenment?" he whispered, his voice thick with disbelief. He slowly pushed himself up, his bandaged limbs protesting with every movement. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he clenched his fists, his knuckles white. "That old spirit… he lied to me! He should have told me from the start that I can't cultivate! All this hope... for nothing." A wave of anger, sharp and bitter, washed over him.
Suddenly, a voice, clear as a bell, echoed within his mind.
[Master, it is true that you are past the age of cultivation. But I can help you awaken your spirit root, making it easier for you to cultivate with no issues at all ]
Jun Hao froze, his eyes darting around the room. "Who's there?" he hissed, his heart pounding against his ribs. "Is someone mocking me? Where are you?" He scrambled off the bed, ignoring the throbbing pain in his body, and began to search frantically. He peered under the bed, into the empty cupboard, behind the meager furnishings – anything to find the source of the disembodied voice.
[Master, I have scanned a 500-kilometer radius. There are no life forms actively searching for you... unless you are looking for me]
"Who are you?" Jun Hao demanded, his voice trembling. He looked up at the ceiling, suspecting some kind of hidden speaker. " are you messing with me?"
[I am the Supreme Chaos System, directly born from Chaos itself, I was created and drawn here by your desire as expressed to the Shattered Mirror, an ancient artifact, that has been with your clan for eons]
"Are you… in my head?" Jun Hao sank back onto the bed, his mind reeling. This was insane. Utterly, completely insane. Yet, the voice felt… real.
With a deep breath, he tried to regain some semblance of composure. He sat up straight, folded his hands in his lap, and spoke to the empty air, trying to sound calm and rational.
[I am not within your head, Master. I have become one with your soul. No human being, nor god, will be able to eavesdrop on our conversations… unless that person or god is all-knowing, which is a concept beyond comprehension]
Jun Hao's brow furrowed. "What is a 'system'?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "My father never said anything about systems. Neither did that old spirit."
The System paused for a long moment, as if struggling to formulate simples answers that he could understand .
[That is because there is nothing quite like me in this universe. If a soul who lived in a universe where 'systems' exist were to reincarnate here, they might recall something similar to me, but different… fundamentally different]"
Jun Hao's head swam. The System's explanation only deepened the mystery. He decided, for the moment, to stop asking questions. It simply wouldn't make sense. Not yet.
He stood up, his legs still shaky, and forced himself to walk to the center of the room. There, he knelt down, bowing his head in reverence.
"I bow to the… god within my soul," he murmured, unsure of what else to say.
The System responded instantly.
[I am not a god, Master. I am the Supreme Chaos System, the only one of my kind. I am here to serve you, to guide you, for all eternity. You will become the Ever-Evolving God, the pinnacle of cultivation, the end of all cultivation paths]
Jun Hao slowly rose to his feet, his eyes wide with a mixture of awe and disbelief. "How… how can you help me?" he asked, his voice filled with a newfound hope.
[First, you must grant me permission to fully integrate with your body. I am currently merged only with your soul. If I am not fully integrated within the next three hours, I will cease to exist]
[If it will help me with my cultivation… if it will make me stronger…" Jun Hao swallowed his fear and straightened his shoulders. "Then there is no problem. Merge with me, System]
As the words left his lips, a searing pain ripped through him, like molten fire coursing through his veins. It clawed at his bones, tore at his muscles, and shredded his nerves. He screamed, a primal sound of pure agony that echoed through the silent room.
"Haaaaaaaah! It hurts! It hurts! Someone, help me"
Tears streamed down his face, mingling with the sweat that poured from his skin. He felt his body twisting, contorting, his bones shattering and reforming, his blood boiling in his veins. It was as if he was being torn apart from the inside out, remade into something new.
The door to his room burst open. Fang Gu, the Divine Physician, rushed in, his face a mask of shock and confusion. He moved with super speed, using his spiritual energy to lift Jun Hao gently from the floor and lay him back on the bed.
He quickly pressed his fingers against Jun Hao's wrist, his eyes widening in alarm. His pulse was erratic, almost non-existent, yet the boy was alive, screaming in torment, his body writhing in unimaginable agony.
Fang Gu felt a surge of helpless panic. He'd never seen anything like this before. No injury, no illness, no poison could explain what was happening to Jun Hao. It was as if the very fabric of his being was being unraveled and rewoven.
"I... I don't know what's happening," he stammered, his voice trembling. "I have never experienced such a phenomenon before. Never!"
Jun Hao, his face pale and contorted with pain, reached out, grabbing Fang Gu's hand with a desperate grip. "Sir…" he gasped, his voice choked with sobs. "Help me… I think I'm going mad…"
[Master]
The System's voice echoed in his mind, calm and reassuring amidst the chaos of pain. [I apologize for the discomfort I am causing. But this is a necessary process. I am currently repairing your meridians and removing the impurities from your body. Have patience, Master. It will only last a little longer]
Summoning what little strength he had left, Jun Hao turned his pleading eyes to Fang Gu. "Sir… I don't know what's happening to me. I... I think I'm going mad for some reason."
Fang Gu, his face etched with concern, pulled out a small vial filled with a shimmering blue liquid. "Hold still, Jun Hao," he said gently. "This will help you rest. Whatever's happening, we'll figure it out." He swiftly injected the liquid into Jun Hao's arm.
Almost immediately, Jun Hao's struggles subsided. His muscles relaxed, his breathing slowed, and his screams faded into soft whimpers. He drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep, leaving Fang Gu alone in the room, staring at the still form of the boy, his mind racing with unanswered questions and a growing sense of unease.
An hour crawled by, each tick of the grandfather clock in the corner of the room echoing in the silence. Outside, the late evening sky was heavy with the promise of rain, the wind whistling mournfully through the narrow streets of Han County.
Jun Hao remained unconscious, his body unnaturally still beneath the crisp white sheets. Fang Gu, however, was far from idle. He sat in a chair beside the bed, his gaze fixed on the young man's face, his brow furrowed in intense concentration. He had been observing Jun Hao with meticulous care for the past hour, monitoring his pulse, his breathing, his spiritual energy, searching for any clue that might explain the bizarre phenomenon he had witnessed.
What he found defied all logic.
It was as if, during his brief, pain-wracked slumber, Jun Hao had undergone a complete transformation. His meridians, once weak and underdeveloped, now flowed with vibrant, pulsing energy. His bones, once brittle and fragile, were now reinforced with a subtle, almost metallic strength. He was brimming with untapped potential for cultivation
In essence, Jun Hao had, impossibly, broken through to the first stage of cultivation - the Bone Tempering Realm - at the age of twenty.
The Bone Tempering Realm was considered the foundation of all cultivation. It was a grueling process, involving the slow and painful restructuring of the body, fortifying the bones, strengthening the muscles, and opening the meridians to the flow of spiritual energy. Most cultivators began this process as children, their bodies still malleable and receptive to change. It was said that starting too late was a waste of time as it's painful and to a limited result. The idea that someone could accomplish this feat at twenty, a time when most cultivators had already progressed far beyond this initial stage, was unheard of, a blatant contradiction of established cultivation theory.
"What have I been doing all these years?" Fang Gu murmured to himself, shaking his head in disbelief. "So it's actually possible to break through at the age of twenty… I must research this. My understanding of the body's potential... It has failed me."
His gaze softened, a flicker of genuine concern replacing the scientific curiosity in his eyes. The breakthrough itself was remarkable, but the sheer agony Jun Hao had endured to achieve it… that weighed heavily on Fang Gu's conscience.
He forced a cheerful smile, though it felt strained and unnatural. As Jun Hao began to stir, he decided to play as if nothing had happened, he couldn't let Jun hao know to much about the past or present.
"Ah, you're awake!" he exclaimed, his voice deliberately jovial. "Did I not tell you to stay in bed, unless you plan to eat or… well, you know."
Jun Hao blinked, his eyes unfocused. As his mind cleared, he sat up, a puzzled expression on his face. "I… I'm sorry, Doctor. I just wanted to… exercise?"
Fang Gu raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Do you think I was born yesterday, boy? I'm almost two hundred and fifty years old this year, have some respect!" Despite the mock sternness in his voice, a hint of genuine affection crept in. He had always had a soft spot for the earnest, if somewhat clumsy, young man.
He stood up and placed a hand on Jun Hao's wrist, checking his pulse once more. "Anyway," he said, his voice turning serious again, "I don't know what happened to you while you were unconscious, but not only have you broken through to the Bone Tempering Realm, all the impurities in your body have been… uh… snuggled out, as you say. And you're fully healed. So, you'll be discharged in an hour. Here's your bill for the treatment."
He thrust a slip of paper into Jun Hao's hands.
Jun Hao stared at the figure printed on the receipt, his jaw dropping in disbelief.
"Fees?" he croaked, his voice barely audible. "Seventy… seventy thousand AMB?!"
He looked up at Fang Gu, his eyes wide with disbelief. AMB, or "Astral Meridian Bucks," was the standard currency of the cultivation world, used to trade for everything from spiritual herbs to enchanted weapons. Seventy thousand AMB was an astronomical sum, enough to bankrupt a small family.
"What happened to me?" he asked, his voice laced with panic. "What kind of sickness could possibly cost that much?!"
Fang Gu sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's… complicated, kid. Let's just say your injuries were akin to a cultivator who'd been struck by a heavenly tribulation. You were damaged from head to toe, as if some malevolent force tried to rip you apart. Hence the exorbitant fee."
"That's enough to feed me for twenty years, Doctor!" Jun Hao protested, his eyes pleading for mercy. "Couldn't you, you know, find it in your heart to reduce the pay?"
Fang Gu sighed again, though this time, a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes. "Alright, alright. You can pay me back later, I am still an old man so you are still going to take care of me and give my proper funeral.
Remember, you owe me seventy thousand AMB, so don't go dying on me before you pay me back! You may leave after you take a bath. You stink. You will never be as strong as the main lead".
With a final chuckle, the Divine Physician turned and left the room, leaving Jun Hao staring at the receipt, his mind reeling.
Alone in the room, Jun Hao's initial panic gave way to a surge of… excitement? Seventy thousand AMB was a crippling debt, no doubt about it. But it was also proof that something extraordinary had happened to him. He was a cultivator now, against all odds.
"System?" he whispered, his voice filled with a nervous anticipation. "System, are you still there?"
The Chaos System responded immediately, its voice clear and unwavering within his mind.
[Yes, Master]
Jun Hao took a deep breath. "Can you explain… can you explain what happened to me? How did I break through? What exactly did you do?"
The System paused, a brief silence that seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Finally, it spoke, its words sending a shiver down Jun Hao's spine.
[Master, I will start with explaining what I can do it's quite actually long you see]