Pain did not arrive all at once.
It seeped in gradually—first as a dull tightness behind the eyes, then as a suffocating pressure crawling through his chest, limbs, and bones, as if his body were wrapped in chains he had never agreed to wear.
Lin Xuan lay still, breathing shallowly.
Every inhale felt wrong. Weak. Thin. As though his lungs could not fully expand.
"This body…" he thought, frowning.
He did not need to move to understand. The feedback coming from his nerves was too clear. His muscles were soft, underdeveloped. His heartbeat was uneven, faintly sluggish. Even his circulation felt poor—hands cold, fingers slow to respond.
This wasn't the body of a trained killer.
This was the body of someone who had never pushed himself past comfort.
Before he could sink further into thought, something flickered in the darkness behind his closed eyelids.
A sharp, crystalline sound echoed in his mind.
[Ding!][System Binding Successful][Soul Compatibility: 100%][Host Identity Confirmed]
Lin Xuan's breath hitched.
"…System?"
The word came instinctively, pulled from countless novels he had skimmed during brief moments of rest in his previous life—stories he had once dismissed as escapism.
Yet now, the sensation was undeniable.
It wasn't a voice.
It wasn't hallucination.
It was presence—structured, cold, and unmistakably artificial.
Before he could resist or question it, light burst across his vision.
A translucent panel unfolded in midair, floating just above his chest.
[SYSTEM PANEL – HOST STATUS]
Name: Lin Xuan
Age: 19
Realm: Qi Refining Realm
Stage: Novice
Progress: 3%
Physique:• Meridians: Damaged (Congenital Weakness)• Bones: Inferior Grade• Musculature: Underdeveloped• Vitality: Low
Soul Strength: Above Average
Mental Fortitude: High
Combat Experience: Extreme (Locked)
Lin Xuan stared.
His eyes didn't widen. His breathing didn't spike.
Instead, something inside him settled.
This—this—made sense.
The body was weak, but the soul rating stood out like a knife in the dark.
"Combat experience… locked?"
Before he could dwell on it, the panel shifted.
[WARNING]
Host body incompatible with soul data.
Recommendation: Immediate physical repair required.
"So you noticed too," Lin Xuan muttered.
He tried to sit up.
His arms trembled.
The simple action drained more strength than sprinting across rooftops in his previous life.
A bitter smile tugged at his lips.
"If this body were in my old world," he thought, "it wouldn't survive a week."
Another panel slid open, smooth and precise.
[SYSTEM MODULES UNLOCKED]
• Status Panel ✓
• System Shop ✓
• Quest Interface ✓
• Inventory ✓
• Cultivation Assistance (Basic) ✓
Locked Modules:• Advanced Combat Simulation• Dao Comprehension Assistance• Fate Observation• Soul Tempering
Unlock Conditions: Progress-based
Lin Xuan exhaled slowly.
"This isn't a charity system," he concluded. "It's transactional."
That was good.
He trusted systems that demanded payment more than those that gave freely.
His gaze flicked to the Quest Interface.
[QUEST INTERFACE]
Daily Quest:• Perform Light Physical Activity (Minimum 30 minutes)→ Reward: 5 System Coins
Long-Term Quest:• Repair Damaged Meridians (Partial)→ Reward: Unknown→ Progress: 0%
Survival Quest (Hidden):• Remain Alive for 7 Days→ Reward: Unknown
"…Survival quest?"
Lin Xuan's eyes narrowed.
That single line told him more than a hundred warnings could.
This body—this identity—was not safe.
Not yet.
His gaze dropped to the System Coins explanation hovering beside the panel.
[SYSTEM COINS]
A universal currency generated through:• Quest completion• System-approved actions• Host growth milestones
Usage:• Purchase skills• Acquire items• Unlock system features
Note: Coins cannot be stolen, traded, or destroyed.
"Good," Lin Xuan murmured.
He disliked variables he couldn't control.
Next, he opened the System Shop.
[SYSTEM SHOP – BASIC TIER]
Skills:• Basic Breathing Technique – 20 Coins• Body Tempering I – 30 Coins• Efficiency Boost (Minor) – 50 Coins
Items:• Low-Grade Healing Pill – 10 Coins• Meridian Nourishing Paste – 25 Coins• Bone Strengthening Liquid – 40 Coins
Equipment:• Training Blade (Unranked) – 15 Coins
Lin Xuan didn't rush.
He memorized everything.
Prices. Names. Tiers.
The shop wasn't generous—but it was fair.
That meant progress was possible.
Just not immediate.
Before he could plan further, a sharp pressure bloomed behind his temples.
His vision blurred.
Fragments—foreign yet intimate—began to surface.
Memories.
Not his.
But his now.
A grand estate beneath mist-covered mountains.
Stone courtyards etched with ancient formations.
Servants lowering their heads.
Clan elders watching with thinly veiled disappointment.
A boy—this body—standing at the center of it all.
Lin Xuan.
Born to the Lin Clan, one of the region's powerful cultivation families.
Father: Lin Tianhong—cold, distant, once proud.
Mother: Xu Yulan—gentle, often ill, increasingly silent.
Talent test at age six.
Meridians revealed to be weak.
Qi circulation sluggish.
A verdict spoken softly, yet heavier than a blade.
"Below average."
From that moment onward, everything changed.
The once-promising heir became a burden.
Resources redirected.
Expectations withdrawn.
Respect replaced with politeness—and politeness slowly rotted into indifference.
Then disdain.
Lin Xuan clenched his fists as the memories poured in.
Not humiliation.
Not abuse.
Something worse.
Neglect.
Being ignored in a place where strength was worshipped was a death sentence waiting to happen.
He saw it clearly now.
Inner clan politics.
Power struggles.
Hidden hostility.
This Lin Xuan had survived by shrinking—by staying out of sight.
By enduring.
Yet even that hadn't been enough.
A sudden memory spiked sharply.
A physician shaking his head.
"His body can't handle aggressive cultivation."
"Force it, and he'll cripple himself."
That was when this body stopped trying.
Stopped training.
Stopped hoping.
And slowly… began to fade.
Lin Xuan opened his eyes.
The ceiling above him was unfamiliar—but the danger was not.
"So that's it," he murmured.
"Weak body. Weak talent. Powerful clan."
He chuckled softly, though there was no humor in it.
"In other words… a classic setup."
The system panel flickered again.
[NOTICE]
Soul integration complete.
Combat Experience unlocked: 10% (Passive)
A faint warmth spread through his chest.
Not strength.
Not power.
Clarity.
Muscle memory he didn't consciously control.
Instincts sharpening beneath the skin.
Lin Xuan closed his eyes and smiled—just slightly.
"I don't need talent," he thought.
"I don't need pity."
He had survived betrayal.
He had hunted monsters far more dangerous than clan politics.
And now—
Now he had time.
A system.
And a world that ran on strength.
"Let's start by fixing this body," he whispered.
The first step had already begun.