[RESURRECTION COMPLETE]
[WELCOME BACK TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING, CHEN WEI]
[CURRENT STATUS: ALIVE (BARELY)]
[CULTIVATION BASE: DESTROYED]
[PHYSICAL CONDITION: CRITICAL]
[LUCK POINTS REMAINING: 250/1000]
The golden text hung in my vision like a cruel reminder of everything I'd lost. I stared at it, my mind still reeling from the transition between death and life, between the void and this broken body.
"Destroyed," I whispered hoarsely, my voice raw as if I'd been screaming. "My cultivation base is destroyed."
[CORRECT]
[THE NASCENT QI ELIXIR CONTAINED SOUL-SHATTERING POISON]
[YOUR MERIDIANS WERE 87% DISSOLVED]
[YOUR DANTIAN WAS CORRUPTED BEYOND NATURAL REPAIR]
[RESURRECTION WAS POSSIBLE, BUT RESTORATION OF CULTIVATION REQUIRES ALTERNATIVE METHODS]
I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. Pain lanced through my body—not the sharp agony of the resurrection process, but a deep, pervasive ache that suggested everything was fundamentally wrong. My limbs felt like lead. My chest burned with each breath. Even my spiritual sense, that sixth sense all cultivators possessed, was completely gone.
I was mortal again. Worse than mortal—crippled.
"How?" I managed to ask, forcing the words out. "How do I fix this? You brought me back for a reason, didn't you? This Heavenly Luck System—you must have a way to restore what was taken."
[AFFIRMATIVE]
[MULTIPLE PATHS AVAILABLE FOR CULTIVATION RESTORATION]
[WARNING: ALL PATHS REQUIRE SIGNIFICANT LUCK POINT INVESTMENT]
[WARNING: ALL PATHS CARRY SUBSTANTIAL RISK]
[CURRENT RECOMMENDATION: SURVIVE THE NEXT 24 HOURS FIRST]
"Survive," I repeated bitterly, finally managing to prop myself up against the cold stone wall of my family's funeral preparation chamber. "That's your advice? Survive?"
[SURVIVAL IS NON-NEGOTIABLE]
[ANALYSIS: MULTIPLE THREATS TO YOUR CONTINUED EXISTENCE]
[PRIMARY THREAT: ZHAO MING AND LIU YUE]
[SECONDARY THREAT: UNKNOWN CONSPIRATOR(S)]
[TERTIARY THREAT: YOUR OWN CLAN DISCOVERING YOU ALIVE]
That last one made me pause. "Why would my own clan be a threat?"
[CALCULATING RESPONSE...]
[CONSIDER: YOU ARE OFFICIALLY DEAD]
[YOUR FUNERAL IS BEING PREPARED]
[YOUR PARENTS ARE GRIEVING]
[IF YOU REVEAL YOURSELF NOW, QUESTIONS WILL BE ASKED]
[INVESTIGATION WILL BEGIN]
[ZHAO MING AND LIU YUE WILL LEARN YOU SURVIVED]
[THEY WILL TRY AGAIN, MORE CAREFULLY THIS TIME]
[PROBABILITY OF SECOND MURDER ATTEMPT SUCCESS: 94%]
The cold logic was undeniable. I'd died once already—or rather, I'd come so close to death that even this mysterious System considered it a resurrection. Zhao Ming and Liu Yue had executed their plan perfectly. If they learned I'd somehow survived, they wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
No dramatic poison at a public celebration. No chance for last words or miraculous recoveries.
Just a quiet death in the night, my body disposed of where no System could find it.
"So I stay dead," I said slowly, working through the implications. "Let them think they succeeded. Let my parents grieve. Let the clan hold my funeral."
[CORRECT]
[STRATEGIC DECEPTION IS OPTIMAL]
[HOWEVER, THIS CREATES ADDITIONAL COMPLICATIONS]
[YOUR CURRENT LOCATION: CHEN CLAN FUNERAL PREPARATION CHAMBER]
[TIME UNTIL SERVANTS ARRIVE TO PREPARE BODY: APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR]
[TIME UNTIL FUNERAL CEREMONY: 6 HOURS]
[RECOMMENDATION: ESCAPE BEFORE CREMATION]
A laugh bubbled up from my chest, painful and slightly hysterical. "Escape before cremation. Of course. Because faking my death wasn't complicated enough—I also need to escape my own funeral."
I looked down at my body for the first time since resurrection. I was dressed in the same robes I'd worn to my birthday celebration, though they were now torn, stained with blood and worse things. My hands were pale, almost translucent, with dark bruises blooming across my knuckles. When I tried to channel even the smallest amount of qi, I felt nothing.
Emptiness where power once resided.
Silence where spiritual energy once hummed.
I was truly crippled.
"Show me," I commanded the System. "Show me everything. My status, my options, whatever information you have. If I'm going to play this game, I need to understand the rules."
[ACKNOWLEDGED]
[DISPLAYING FULL STATUS]
NAME: Chen Wei
AGE: 18
CULTIVATION REALM: None (Previously Qi Condensation 3rd Layer)
SPIRITUAL ROOT: Heaven Grade (Dormant/Sealed)
PHYSICAL CONDITION: Critical (Recovering)
MENTAL STATE: Determined (Traumatized)
ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 3/100 (Crippled)
Agility: 4/100 (Crippled)
Constitution: 5/100 (Barely Alive)
Intelligence: 67/100 (Above Average)
Wisdom: 52/100 (Gained Through Suffering)
Charisma: 41/100 (Trust Issues)
Luck: 250/1000 (Active System Boost)
SKILLS:
Chen Family Sword Arts (Inaccessible - Requires Qi)
Azure Mountain Breathing Technique (Inaccessible - Meridians Destroyed)
Scholarly Knowledge (Active)
Political Awareness (Active)
Deception (Newly Acquired)
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Heavenly Luck System (Active)
Resurrection (Used: 1/1)
Death Detection (Passive)
CURRENT QUESTS:
Main Quest: Escape Before Cremation (0/1)
Hidden Quest: Uncover the Truth Behind Your Murder (0/1)
Bonus Quest: Begin Cultivation Restoration (0/1)
LUCK POINTS: 250/1000
LP GENERATION: +10 LP per day (base rate)
LP BONUSES: Variable based on actions and choices
[NOTE: HEAVEN GRADE SPIRITUAL ROOT DETECTED]
[WARNING: ROOT IS CURRENTLY SEALED BY UNKNOWN FORCE]
[SECONDARY WARNING: SEAL APPEARS TO BE DECADES OLD]
[TERTIARY WARNING: SOMEONE HAS BEEN SUPPRESSING YOUR TALENT SINCE BIRTH]
I stared at that last line, feeling something cold and terrible settle in my stomach. "What did you just say?"
[REPEATING: YOUR HEAVEN GRADE SPIRITUAL ROOT HAS BEEN SEALED]
[ANALYSIS SUGGESTS DELIBERATE SUPPRESSION]
[DURATION: APPROXIMATELY 18 YEARS]
[CONCLUSION: YOU WERE NEVER TALENTLESS]
[CONCLUSION: YOU WERE MADE TALENTLESS]
[CONCLUSION: SOMEONE WANTED YOU WEAK]
The funeral chamber spun around me. I pressed my palm against the cold stone floor, trying to steady myself as the implications crashed over me like a tidal wave.
I had a Heaven Grade spiritual root.
Heaven Grade.
The same tier as Zhao Ming. The same tier as Liu Yue. The same tier as the legendary geniuses who appeared once in a generation, who could reach Core Formation before thirty, who could challenge Nascent Soul before fifty.
And someone had sealed it.
Someone had condemned me to a life of struggle and mockery and crawling progress. Someone had watched me fail again and again, had watched me be called trash and worthless and a disappointment, all while knowing I could have been great.
"Who?" I demanded, my voice rising despite the danger. "Who did this to me?"
[INSUFFICIENT DATA]
[SEAL IS HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED]
[REQUIRES NASCENT SOUL REALM CULTIVATION OR HIGHER TO CREATE]
[SUSPECTS: UNKNOWN]
[MOTIVE: UNKNOWN]
[HOWEVER...]
The System paused, and I had the strangest sensation that it was considering its words carefully.
[CORRELATION DETECTED]
[YOUR MURDER OCCURRED SHORTLY AFTER YOUR 18TH BIRTHDAY]
[AGE 18 IS TYPICALLY WHEN SEALED SPIRITUAL ROOTS BEGIN TO AWAKEN NATURALLY]
[HYPOTHESIS: SOMEONE WANTED YOU DEAD BEFORE THE SEAL WEAKENED]
[HYPOTHESIS: YOUR MURDER WAS NOT ABOUT LIU YUE'S AFFECTIONS]
[HYPOTHESIS: YOUR MURDER WAS ABOUT PREVENTING YOUR AWAKENING]
I felt something shift inside me—not physical, but mental. A fundamental reordering of everything I thought I knew. Liu Yue's sudden interest in me six months ago. Zhao Ming's friendly overtures. The convenient "gift" of a Nascent Qi Elixir that my body "couldn't handle."
It had all been orchestrated.
"They knew," I whispered. "Zhao Ming and Liu Yue—they knew about my sealed root. They knew it would awaken. They were sent to kill me before that could happen."
[HYPOTHESIS PROBABILITY: 87%]
[ADDITIONAL DATA REQUIRED FOR CONFIRMATION]
[RECOMMENDATION: INVESTIGATE ZHAO MING'S RECENT ACTIVITIES]
[RECOMMENDATION: INVESTIGATE LIU YUE'S BACKGROUND]
[RECOMMENDATION: SURVIVE LONG ENOUGH TO DO EITHER]
Right. Survive first, unravel cosmic conspiracies later.
I forced myself to stand, using the wall for support. Every muscle protested. My legs shook like a newborn foal's. Without qi reinforcement, my body was just meat and bone and failing determination.
But I was alive.
And I was angry.
"Alright, System," I said, steadying my breathing. "Tell me about Luck Points. How do I earn them? How do I spend them? What are my options?"
[LUCK POINTS: OVERVIEW]
[LP IS THE CURRENCY OF FATE ITSELF]
[SPEND LP TO ALTER PROBABILITY IN YOUR FAVOR]
[SPEND LP TO ACQUIRE ITEMS, SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE]
[SPEND LP TO HEAL INJURIES, RESTORE CULTIVATION, TRANSCEND LIMITS]
[LP GENERATION METHODS:]
Base Generation: +10 LP per day
Surviving Deadly Situations: +50 to +500 LP (scaled by danger)
Completing Quests: Variable rewards
Making Choices That Defy Fate: +25 to +250 LP
Discovering Hidden Truths: +100 to +1000 LP
Acts of Genuine Kindness: +5 to +50 LP
Clever Planning/Strategy: +10 to +100 LP
[LP EXPENDITURE OPTIONS:]
Immediate Healing: 50 LP per major injury
Temporary Stat Boost: 10 LP per +10 points for 1 hour
Probability Manipulation: 25 LP to increase success chance by 10%
Knowledge Purchase: Variable cost
Item Manifestation: Variable cost
Cultivation Restoration: LOCKED (Complete Main Quest First)
[CURRENT LP: 250]
[RECOMMENDATION: CONSERVE FOR EMERGENCY]
"Two hundred fifty points," I muttered, doing quick mental calculations. "Enough for five healing treatments, or twenty-five hours of enhanced abilities, or ten probability manipulations."
[CORRECTION: THOSE ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE]
[LP CAN BE SPENT STRATEGICALLY ACROSS MULTIPLE CATEGORIES]
[OPTIMAL STRATEGY REQUIRES ASSESSING EACH SITUATION INDIVIDUALLY]
A sound echoed from somewhere outside the chamber—footsteps, distant but approaching. My time was running out.
"System, what happens if they find me alive? If the servants walk in right now and see me standing here?"
[SIMULATING SCENARIO...]
[RESULT: IMMEDIATE ALERT TO CLAN LEADERSHIP]
[CHEN TIANLONG AND LIN YUHUA WOULD BE OVERJOYED]
[INVESTIGATION INTO YOUR 'RECOVERY' WOULD BEGIN]
[ZHAO MING WOULD BE QUESTIONED]
[ZHAO MING WOULD FABRICATE STORY: "PERHAPS THE ELIXIR HAD DELAYED EFFECT"]
[LIU YUE WOULD SUPPORT HIS TESTIMONY]
[NO EVIDENCE OF FOUL PLAY WOULD BE FOUND]
[WITHIN 3-5 DAYS: SECOND MURDER ATTEMPT]
[PROBABILITY OF SURVIVAL: 6%]
"Six percent," I breathed. "So revealing myself means death, just slower and with more false hope."
[CORRECT]
[YOUR ENEMIES ARE PROTECTED BY THEIR CLANS' INFLUENCE]
[YOUR WORD ALONE CANNOT PROVE MURDER]
[WITHOUT EVIDENCE, YOU ARE MERELY A CONVENIENT CORPSE THAT REFUSES TO STAY DEAD]
The footsteps were getting closer. I could hear voices now—female, elderly, speaking in the soft tones servants used when discussing tragedy.
"Poor Young Master Chen Wei..."
"...only eighteen years old..."
"...his mother hasn't stopped weeping..."
Aunt Zhou and Mei Ling, coming to prepare my body for viewing. I had maybe ninety seconds before they entered the chamber.
"System," I hissed urgently, "I need an escape route. Now. Show me the fastest way out of this chamber without being seen."
[ANALYZING CHAMBER LAYOUT...]
[SCANNING STRUCTURAL WEAKNESSES...]
[PROCESSING SERVANT PATROL PATTERNS...]
A translucent blue line appeared in my vision, overlaying reality like a divine path. It led from where I stood to a small ventilation grate near the ceiling, then traced a route through the compound's air channels—narrow, uncomfortable, but navigable.
[OPTIMAL ESCAPE ROUTE IDENTIFIED]
[DIFFICULTY: HIGH (REQUIRES CLIMBING WITH CRIPPLED BODY)]
[PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: 41%]
[ALTERNATIVE: HIDE IN CHAMBER AND MAINTAIN FALSE DEATH STATE]
[PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: 73%]
[COST: 1 LP PER HOUR TO SUPPRESS VITAL SIGNS]
The voices were right outside the door now. I had to choose.
Climb through ventilation shafts with a body that could barely stand? Or play dead for hours while servants prepared my corpse for public viewing?
"Neither option is good," I muttered.
[CORRECTION: BOTH OPTIONS KEEP YOU ALIVE]
[IN YOUR CURRENT SITUATION, 'ALIVE' IS THE ONLY METRIC THAT MATTERS]
The door began to open.
I made my choice.
I dropped to the floor like a puppet with cut strings, positioning myself carefully in the center of the chamber. I let my eyes fall shut, my mouth open slightly, my limbs arranged in the awkward sprawl of a body that had died in pain.
[FALSE DEATH STATE ACTIVATED]
[SUPPRESSING HEARTBEAT TO 1 BEAT PER MINUTE]
[SUPPRESSING BREATHING TO IMPERCEPTIBLE LEVELS]
[LOWERING BODY TEMPERATURE BY 4 DEGREES]
[COST: 1 LP PER HOUR]
[CURRENT LP: 249]
The door swung fully open, and I heard Aunt Zhou's sharp intake of breath.
"Oh, young master," she whispered, her voice thick with tears. "Look at him, Mei Ling. He looks so peaceful now. Not like when they first brought him here—that was terrible, the convulsions, the blood from his nose and ears. At least he's at peace now."
I felt gentle hands touch my arm, checking for... what? Stiffness? Temperature? Signs of death? Whatever Aunt Zhou was looking for, she seemed satisfied.
"Help me move him to the preparation table," she said. "We need to wash him, dress him properly. The Patriarch wants everything perfect for the viewing."
They lifted me carefully, and I remained completely limp. Every instinct screamed at me to help, to move, to do something other than be dead weight in these kind women's arms. But I forced myself to stay motionless as they carried me to the stone preparation table and laid me out like a piece of meat.
"Fetch the ceremonial water," Aunt Zhou instructed Mei Ling. "And the white burial robes. I'll start the blessing incense."
For the next three hours, I endured the most bizarre experience of my two lives. They washed my body with cold water infused with purification herbs. They dressed me in fine white silk robes embroidered with my family crest. They arranged my hair, placed coins on my eyes, inserted jade between my lips to "preserve my soul for the journey to the afterlife."
Through it all, I didn't move. Didn't breathe more than the shallowest sips of air. The System kept my heart beating so slowly that even if someone put their ear to my chest, they'd hear nothing.
[LP CONSUMPTION: 3 HOURS = 3 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 246]
The servants talked as they worked, and I learned more about the aftermath of my "death" than I'd expected.
My father had locked himself in his study, refusing food and visitors.
My mother was in the ancestral shrine, prostrating herself before my grandparents' tablets, begging their forgiveness for failing to protect her son.
The clan elders had concluded their investigation quickly—too quickly. Elder Feng had declared it an "unfortunate accident caused by the deceased's reckless ambition to advance beyond his natural talent." Case closed.
Zhao Ming had been praised for his "quick thinking" in trying to save me with qi infusion after I collapsed.
Liu Yue had wept beautifully at the investigation, claiming she'd "only wanted to help him improve" by gifting the Nascent Qi Elixir.
Both of them were being hailed as the victims of my foolishness.
I listened to all of it, rage building in my motionless chest like a furnace. But I couldn't act. Not yet. Not until I was stronger.
Finally, mercifully, Aunt Zhou and Mei Ling finished their preparations.
"There," Aunt Zhou said softly, adjusting my burial robes one final time. "Young Master Chen Wei looks dignified now. Like the gentleman he always tried to be."
"He was a good boy," Mei Ling agreed quietly. "Better than most of the clan's young masters. I hope his next life treats him more kindly than this one did."
They left, closing the door softly behind them. I waited five minutes—counting each second—before I finally opened my eyes and took a deep, gasping breath.
[FALSE DEATH STATE DEACTIVATED]
[WELL DONE, CHEN WEI]
[YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DECEIVED YOUR CLAN]
[+50 LP FOR MAINTAINING DECEPTION UNDER STRESS]
[CURRENT LP: 296]
I sat up slowly, my body screaming in protest. The burial robes they'd dressed me in were actually quite comfortable, soft silk that probably cost more than most servants earned in a year. The jade in my mouth tasted bitter, and I spat it out unceremoniously.
"What now?" I asked the System. "I've bought myself some time, but I'm still trapped in my clan's compound, still crippled, still being hunted by forces I don't understand."
[QUEST UPDATE: ESCAPE BEFORE CREMATION]
[TIME REMAINING: 3 HOURS UNTIL FUNERAL CEREMONY]
[RECOMMENDATION: SEEK ALLY WITHIN COMPOUND]
[OPTIMAL CANDIDATE IDENTIFIED]
A name appeared in my vision, highlighted in gold: Xiao Lan.
"Xiao Lan?" I repeated, surprised. She was a servant girl, barely fifteen years old, assigned to the outer kitchens. I'd spoken to her maybe three times in my entire life. "Why her?"
[ANALYZING CANDIDATE...]
[XIAO LAN: AGE 15, SERVANT CLASS, FAMILY STATUS: POOR]
[RELEVANT HISTORY: TWO YEARS AGO, HER BROTHER XIAO FENG CONTRACTED WINTER FEVER]
[CLAN PHYSICIANS REFUSED TO TREAT SERVANT'S CHILD]
[YOU PROVIDED TWO SPIRIT STONES FOR MEDICINE]
[XIAO FENG SURVIVED]
[XIAO LAN'S LOYALTY TO YOU: ABSOLUTE]
[PROBABILITY SHE WILL HELP: 99%]
[PROBABILITY SHE WILL BETRAY YOU: <1%]
The memory surfaced slowly. Yes, I remembered now. A small boy, burning with fever. His sister crying in the kitchen courtyard. I'd given her the money without thinking much about it—two spirit stones was nothing to me then, barely enough for a week's worth of cultivation pills.
But to them, it had been the difference between life and death.
"And you think she'll help me now?" I asked skeptically. "Even though I'm supposed to be dead? Even though helping me could get her family killed?"
[CORRECT]
[XIAO LAN UNDERSTANDS DEBT]
[XIAO LAN UNDERSTANDS LOYALTY]
[XIAO LAN WILL HELP]
I looked down at my white burial robes, at the coins that had been on my eyes now scattered on the floor, at the ceremonial preparations that marked me as dead to the world.
"Then I guess I'd better find her before someone tries to burn me," I said, forcing myself to stand on shaking legs. "Because this? This is just the beginning."
[AGREED]
[YOUR RESURRECTION WAS MERELY THE FIRST STEP]
[NOW COMES THE HARD PART: LIVING]
[NOW COMES THE IMPOSSIBLE PART: REVENGE]
[NOW COMES THE DIVINE PART: ASCENDING TO GODHOOD]
I limped toward the chamber door, each step agony, each breath a victory.
Chen Wei was dead.
But something new was being born in his place.
Something that would make the heavens themselves regret ever trying to suppress his fate.