Chapter 1: A Second Chance, A Foreign Cage
Fang Yuan opened his eyes.
The ceiling was familiar—cracked wooden beams, a faint smell of mildew, the rough hemp blanket beneath his fingers. His body was small. Weak. Ten years old, perhaps eleven. The aperture within his dantian was a faint, flickering ember, barely able to hold a single Rank 1 Gu worm.
He was back on Qing Mao Mountain. Back at the beginning.
Five hundred years. All of it gone—and now I have it again.
His mind, sharpened by five centuries of scheming and survival, catalogued the situation in an instant. The Spring Autumn Cicada had worked. He had traveled back in time. Now he would correct his mistakes, move faster, crush his enemies before they could rise—
A blue box materialized in his vision.
Heaven's Will. So it's prepared a welcome.
He studied the floating screen with the same detachment he would give a new poison. The words were clear, their meaning a cage dressed in silk.
"Pokeball System." Ridiculous. But the implications were anything but.
He tried to sense his aperture. Empty. No—not empty. Different. Shelves. Slots. A cold, mechanical structure where his essence should have flowed. His Spring Autumn Cicada, the very reason he stood here again, was sealed behind a barrier that demanded eight "Gym Badges."
Badges. Like a dog earning treats.
His lips curled into a cold smile.
You think this will slow me, Heaven's Will? Capture and battle. Two things I perfected over five hundred years. I will play your game—and then I will break the board.
The initial screen faded, leaving a minimalist interface at the edge of his vision. Menu. He focused, and the screen expanded.
· Status
· Subjects
· Capture
· Shop
· Settings
He selected Shop.
A new interface bloomed: sharp, commercial, the unfamiliar script instantly comprehensible. Rows of items stretched down.
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SHOP SYSTEM
Currency: Primeval Stones (PS) / Immortal Essence Stones (IES)
Category Examples Cost (PS)
Pokeball / Great Ball / Ultra Ball Standard to superior capture 5 / 15 / 35
Net / Dusk / Quick / Timer Balls Situational capture bonuses 12 each
Master Ball Guaranteed capture 50 IES (8 Badges)
Potion / Super / Hyper / Max / Full Restore Healing 8–80
Revive / Max Revive Revival 40 / 100
Status Healers Antidote, etc. 5–20
Battle Items X Attack, etc. 10 each
Held Items Leftovers, Focus Sash, etc. 40–80
Evolution Stones Fire, Water, etc. 3 IES (3 Badges)
Food Moonlight Powder, etc. 2–100
Rare Candy Rank increase 100 (4 Badges)
Utility Repels, Escape Rope, Exp. Share 10–80
Ability Capsule Change ability 120 (5 Badges)
First Purchase Bonus: 50% off any mortal-tier item. Expires in 24 hours.
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Everything can be bought. No hunting, no refining, no wasted time. The system provides—for a price.
He closed the shop and opened Status.
TRAINER: Fang Yuan
Rank: 1 (Mortal) | Badges: 0/8
Primeval Stones: 3 | IES: 0
Active Subjects: 0/6 | Total Captures: 0
Three stones. Not even enough for a Pokeball. But the first capture will bring a reward.
Fang Yuan dismissed the screens and sat up. Outside the window, dawn was breaking over Gu Yue Village. Mist clung to the roofs, and the air smelled of cooking fires and dew. Somewhere in the forest, Moonlight Gu would be drifting over their spawning pond.
I need currency. Capture is fastest. But a Moonlight Gu alone is not enough—I need a team. Vine Gu for control. Rock Skin Gu for defense. And if memory serves, a White Boar Gu nests in the eastern ravine.
He reached under his bed and retrieved a small leather pouch. Three dull green stones clinked together. He tucked it into his inner robe.
The clan will notice if I move too fast. I must appear ordinary. Mediocre. Let them underestimate me while I build my arsenal.
He opened the door and stepped into the morning.
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In the Gu Yue Clan's ancestral hall, the clan leader looked up from his meditation. A tremor had passed through the clan's protective formation—subtle, fleeting. He frowned, then dismissed it as a stray beast brushing the perimeter.
On a mountain peak thousands of li away, a blue‑robed old man paused mid‑refinement. His eyes narrowed toward the southern horizon. Heaven's Will had stirred. A variable had entered the equation.
But in the small wooden room on Qing Mao Mountain, none of that mattered. All that existed was a ten‑year‑old boy with a five‑hundred‑year‑old soul, walking toward the forest with a system no one else could see.
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The forest was quiet. Mist muffled sound. Fang Yuan moved like a ghost, avoiding patrol routes he had mapped in his previous life. No one saw him leave.
He reached the Moonlight Gu pond as the sun's first rays touched the water. Three silver insects hovered above the surface, their glow softening with the dawn. Fragile things.
Worth five primeval stones each to the clan. To me, they are the first step.
He selected the smallest, most isolated from its group. Isolating prey was the first rule of capture.
He opened the Capture interface. A Pokeball materialized in his hand—red and white, humming with unfamiliar energy. The weight was strange, but his five hundred years of muscle memory adapted in an instant.
The Moonlight Gu drifted closer to the bank, its guard down.
He threw.
The sphere struck the creature's wing, split open, and enveloped it in red light. The Gu struggled—Fang Yuan could feel its tiny resistance through the ball—but it was weak. Unprepared. The sphere wobbled once, twice, three times.
Click.
[Capture Successful!]
Moonlight Gu added to Storage.
Reward: 3 Standard Pokeballs + 8 Primeval Stones.
A second notification appeared:
[Auto‑Feeding System Unlocked]
Subjects require food based on species and rank. Purchase food in Shop. Auto‑feeding will consume from inventory.
So even after capture, they must be fed. But the system sells food directly—no hunting, no refining. A cost, but manageable.
He opened the Shop, bought a pack of Moonlight Powder (3 PS, 5 days' supply), and checked his Status.
Primeval Stones: 8 | Active Subjects: 1/6
Auto‑Feeding: Active | Food: Moonlight Powder (4.8 days left)
He pocketed the sphere. Through its translucent top, the Moonlight Gu floated docile. A starter—useful, but nothing special.
I need more. Variety. Power.
He turned deeper into the forest, toward the dens of Vine Gu, Rock Skin Gu, and the nest of a Rank 2 White Boar Gu that had killed three clan disciples last year.
The system rewarded capture. More Subjects meant more primeval stones. Stones bought power—evolution stones, revives, better spheres—and food to sustain his army.
He would not waste time with friendship or bonds. He would not play by the righteous path's rules. He would capture what he needed, exploit every weakness, and use the shop to fill any gaps. Auto‑feeding was just another mechanism to optimize—a convenience that saved him from menial labor.
The forest grew darker. The sounds of the village faded. Fang Yuan smiled.
Let Heaven try to cage me. I will turn its own system into a weapon. Every primeval stone I earn brings me one step closer to breaking these chains—and ascending beyond anything this world has ever seen.
He pulled out another Pokeball and disappeared into the shadows.
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End of Chapter 1