Chapter 10:You can't see it, can you?
"So it's still here…"
Wei's fingers tightened around the ancient manuscript.
A voice responded from behind him.
"Yes. It is."
Wei froze.
He turned slowly.
The man standing at the cave entrance wore plain grey robes, but the air around him felt… wrong. Not heavy. Not oppressive. Just wrong — like the world itself was avoiding touching him.
Wei immediately activated his Jade Eyes.
Nothing.
No aura.
No Qi flow.
No spiritual pressure.
It was as if the man did not exist.
A chill crawled down his spine.
"You can't see it, can you?" the man said lightly.
Wei stepped back. "Who are you?"
The man smiled faintly.
"I am a Sovereign."
Wei's throat went dry.
"In your little town, you only know High Humans. You think that is the peak." The man's eyes gleamed. "Beyond High Humans are Sovereigns."
Wei's heart pounded.
The man continued calmly:
"Oh yes. There are beings almost a million times stronger than what you call powerful. There are Great Gods who bend planets with their aura alone."
Wei's legs nearly gave out.
The man's smile thinned.
"But you… you will die here."
He extended his hand.
"Hand over the book and die peacefully. Or refuse… and die painfully."
Inside Wei's mind:
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Host survival probability: 0.0000003%
Conclusion: Host is embarrassingly weak.
Wei: …Can you not announce that out loud in my head?!
[SYSTEM RESPONSE]
Host requested honesty during activation. Honesty delivered.
Wei: This is not the time!
The Sovereign took a step forward.
Wei couldn't even sense his movement.
[SYSTEM WARNING]
Host cannot defeat enemy.
Initiating Defense Mode.
"What—"
Wei's body suddenly erupted with power.
Qi roared through his meridians like a tidal wave.
The cave trembled.
The ground cracked.
The air compressed violently outward.
The Sovereign's eyes sharpened instantly.
Years of battle experience screamed one thing:
Do not let him finish charging.
He moved.
No sound.
No trace.
He struck—
—and hit nothing but dust.
The cave exploded inward.
Wei stumbled backward—
—and slammed into something soft.
His bed.
His room.
Back in the clan.
He stared at the familiar wooden ceiling in disbelief.
"…I'm alive?"
[SYSTEM REPORT]
Emergency Spatial Relocation successful.
Energy consumption: catastrophic.
Host training speed: unacceptable.
Wei sat up weakly.
Then his stomach churned violently.
He leaned over and vomited onto the floor.
"…You teleported me across the forest and you're complaining about my training speed?!"
[SYSTEM RESPONSE]
Yes.
Wei wiped his mouth.
"Shouldn't you reduce difficulty after I nearly died working hard?!"
[SYSTEM RESPONSE]
Incorrect.
Host survived due to System.
Therefore difficulty increased.
Wei: "WHAT LOGIC IS THAT?!"
[SYSTEM UPDATE]
Increasing cultivation difficulty.
Side effect: nausea, internal instability, emotional damage.
Wei: "Emotional damage?!"
[SYSTEM CONFIRMATION]
Yes.
Wei fell back onto his bed in despair.
A moment later—
[SYSTEM REWARD]
Host awarded: Comprehension +1
Reason: Did not drop book and cry.
Wei blinked.
"…That was an option?"
[SYSTEM RESPONSE]
Highly probable option.
Wei groaned.
Meanwhile — outside the clan.
The Sovereign stood in the forest clearing where the cave had been.
He scanned the surroundings carefully.
No residual aura.
No spatial distortion trace.
The boy had vanished completely.
The Sovereign frowned.
"That was not normal…"
He looked toward the direction of the clan.
"I will find you."
And then he disappeared into the wind.
Back in Wei's room.
Wei reopened the manuscript.
The words were shifting.
Rewriting themselves.
The manual was alive.
He focused.
The text adjusted to his Qi signature.
New diagrams appeared.
New meridian pathways.
Offensive techniques.
Defensive formations.
Body refinement.
Movement arts.
The title remained:
Jade Skin
Wei's breathing slowed.
He understood now.
This was not just a cultivation manual.
It detected your Qi and auto-generated techniques tailored perfectly to you.
Meaning—
If someone cultivated this, every move would align perfectly with Jade Skin.
Unmatched compatibility.
Unmatched efficiency.
He would look like a once-in-a-generation prodigy.
No wonder the Sovereign wanted him dead.
Just then—
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Security Risk Detected.
Manuscript too valuable.
Initiating Absorption Protocol.
Wei: "Wait— WHAT?!"
The book dissolved into streams of light and entered his body.
Wei panicked.
"YOU ATE IT?!"
[SYSTEM RESPONSE]
Correction: Secured it.
Wei: "How am I supposed to read it now?!"
[SYSTEM UPDATE]
Manuscript will be reconstructed once every 48 hours.
Host may study within limited window.
Wei stared blankly.
"So I can only read it every two days?"
[SYSTEM CONFIRMATION]
Yes.
Wei clenched his fists.
"You're the worst system in history."
[SYSTEM RESPONSE]
Yet you are alive.
Wei paused.
"…Fair."
[SYSTEM ADDITIONAL NOTE]
Host must grow faster.
Sovereign threat level: active.
Death probability within 30 days: 67%.
Wei's eye twitched.
"Can you stop giving percentages like that?"
[SYSTEM RESPONSE]
No.
Wei lay back down, staring at the ceiling.
Two days ago, he was the clan's biggest joke.
Now a Sovereign wanted him dead.
"…This is insane."
[SYSTEM CORRECTION]
This is cultivation.
Wei closed his eyes slowly.
Somewhere beyond the forest…
A Sovereign was searching.
And the manuscript now lived inside him.