Chương 3: A Fate-Changing Envelop

Somewhere high in the sky.

"Hmm... Third rank roots, and right on the borderline between third and second. It is a pity he possesses only a single element," said a man hovering in a lotus position. He looked to be about thirty-five, with a young, wrinkle-free face and dark hair without a trace of gray, though a thick beard covered half his neck. Propping his chin on his hand, he followed An with his gaze." Bah! Je Deng! Do you only want broken ones? We haven't had a single-element disciple in ages! The last time one appeared was...

about three hundred years ago, I don't recall exactly," growled a hunched old man hovering nearby. He had a white beard reaching down to his chest and hair as black as night, save for a large bald patch on the top of his head.

"Senior Sen Tuo, don't be angry, or you'll give yourself a Qi deviation, haha," a girl nearby chuckled, holding a hand to her mouth. She looked about twenty-five, with black hair ending in bright red tips.

"Forget about this third rank. His path might be cut off from the very beginning. Don't forget, his entire life was spent in slavery. It will be very difficult for him to readjust and dedicate himself to cultivation," said a man in a quiet, almost whispered voice. He looked like a scholar, wearing glasses and with light hair tied in a bun. In his hands, he held a quill with dried ink on the tip.

"Maybe you're right. But if he overcomes this barrier... The sect always needs alchemists or planters," Senior Sen Tuo replied, straightening his back with an audible creak.

"What about the heir of the Duan clan? Does anyone want to take him under their wing?" asked the girl who had been teasing Sen Tuo.

"Tomus? Why would we want that headache? Besides, Junior Sister Lua, his ancestor, will surely take him," Je Deng snorted at Lua Mou.

"Let's hope that in this group of new disciples, there will be at least a few second-ranks, or perhaps even a first-rank," the scholar whispered.

"Let's hope so..." Senior Sen Tuo nodded, slowly stroking his long beard. An approached the spot Senior Brother Shen had pointed out. Several children who had already passed the gate were standing there. They had been talking among themselves, but when they saw An, they immediately fell silent, turning away to continue their conversations in hushed tones. Several of them openly showed their dislike for him. Hardly paying attention to them anymore, An stepped aside and sat on the ground.

Leaning against a large stone, he began to think 'So far, everything except my root rank fits the standard start of every novel I've ever read. Even the way people treat me, though a bit extreme, fits the stories. Even my background, a peasant turned slave.'

"Just missing some kind of system..." he muttered.

"System? Interface? Status? Golden finger?" An ran through every possible command he could think of to summon a system.

"Looks like there's no system for me... Eh." he felt a flicker of disappointment, but his mood quickly rebounded. Looking up at the sky, he saw people flying in the distance, some on swords, others on strange boats 'The world of cultivators, immortality... How many times did I wish for this while reading? Those were just fleeting thoughts. Who would have believed it would actually happen?' He immersed himself in his reflections, completely ignoring the ongoing assessment at the gate.

Suddenly, his joyful dreams were cut short.' My parents? My brother and his family... I was only thirty. I hadn't even seen the world yet, hadn't even finished the books I bought at the start of the month.' An frowned, his mind spiraling as he thought about his family and what had truly happened to him.

"The beginning of the month... but when exactly was that? Did I die the moment before I opened my eyes here? Or was it hundreds of years ago? How long did it take for my consciousness to find this body?" The deeper he delved into these thoughts, the more he muttered to himself, his words becoming a low, frantic blur. The other kids nearby stopped paying attention to his strange behavior, dismissing his words as nonsense.' Usually when someone is reborn, they have something that sets them apart.

A crutch, so to speak. But what do I have? A stronger soul? I don't even know that for sure. A system? I don't have one!' Driven by anxiety, An began nervously tapping his elbow against the stone. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Back on the massive square.

"Tunk Perry!" the elder called out in a neutral voice. From a small group of noble children, a tall boy stepped forward. He had dark hair with a blue tint, piercing blue eyes, and a small golden half-moon crown on his right ear. Every step he took exuded royal confidence. Approaching the plaque, Tunk Perry didn't even glance at the elder, acting as if the man were beneath his notice. Placing his hand on the plaque, Perry smirked and immediately pulled back.

The stone erupted with a blinding, brilliant light that made everyone wince. A bright, burning red color clashed with slashes of deep blue. The two colors complemented and fought each other at the same time. Because they were perfectly balanced, neither could dominate the other. The elder standing next to Perry couldn't immediately announce the results, the words got stuck in his throat from the shock.

"Um... rank... First rank of spiritual roots! Dominant fire and water elements of the highest degree!" the elder finally managed to compose himself and announced the result. Complete silence fell all around. You could hear leaves rustling on the stone pavement of the square from the passing wind. Finally, after some time, everyone simultaneously began buzzing loudly.

"F-first rank?! Oh my god!"

"Did I hear that correctly? First rank roots?"

"Ah, why couldn't it be me?! I'm sure my rank will be between fourth and seventh... Ha~""Eh... The higher the status of your parents, the higher your potential rank... My grandfather was right after all." The buzz on the square did not subside.

"Silence! Continue the testing." a voice from the sky, like thunder, deafened everyone on the square except the elders. Even the inner disciples twisted their faces in discomfort from the loudness of this voice. Some children on the square even lost consciousness for a time, more from fright than from the volume. An looked up in fright toward the sky, trying to see the source of this voice, but due to the dense clouds, he couldn't find it.

When he gave up and lowered his head, he saw that Tunk Perry had already passed through the gate and was standing surrounded by several inner disciples.

"Even the inner disciples don't forget to flatter prodigies?" An smirked at the behavior of those around him. He decided to continue watching the testing of the new disciples, but then he frowned.

"What is this feeling?" An turned his head toward the stone he had been leaning his back against. Waves of some kind of energy were emanating from the stone. Very weak, and at the same time very distinct. Easy to mistake for a light breeze, but An felt that these waves carried within them something like information, a description, but which he couldn't understand or read. An stood up and began staring intently at the stone, trying to understand the source of these waves.

After a few moments, he determined that the source was under the right corner of the stone. He walked around the stone, which was two meters high and over six meters wide. Reaching the corner from which, as he understood, the source emanated, he fell to his knees and began digging with his hands. After digging just a few handfuls, An saw what it was. In the ground lay a piece of paper, folded into an envelope. Taking the envelope in his hands and dusting it off, An opened it.'

Oh, what language do they use for writing in this world? The language spoken around me is clearly not English or Chinese, as is usually the case in novels...' this thought flashed through An's head. Indeed, the language everyone around spoke was unlike any language An had heard on Earth. And at the same time, An understood it like a native, as if he had spoken it his entire life.

An chalked this up to muscle memory, the memory from the original owner of this body, even though in the memories the original owner hardly spoke to anyone during all his years working in the fields. Unfolding the paper, An exhaled. The language on the paper, though unfamiliar to him, was not difficult to read.

"Little brother or little sister who found my note. Know that this is fate! This means luck is on your side and the heavens have recognized you as the chosen one! I am Bo Lup, an inner disciple! On one of the missions of our beloved Heavenly Soul Sect, I came across a funnel in a vast empty field. In this funnel was a coffin made of Dark Wood. Luck was on my side! I managed to open the coffin effortlessly. Inside, I found a small chest and a map pointing to a mysterious location.

Fearing that someone might see me, I grabbed the chest and the map and ran back to the sect for three days without stopping. But I was caught by a group of disciples from the Blood Moon Sect. It seems they managed to track my trail all the way from the coffin... What I feared most happened. Realizing I couldn't shake them off, I hid the chest and map in a cave. I marked the location of this cave on the map. Eh...

If you're reading this note, it means I couldn't retrieve those things and perished on the way to them... My dear junior, now this opportunity is yours! I wish you luck, junior, but you need to hurry and take possession of this chest and map. Your senior brother, Bo!" An read the entire note, and the further he read, the bigger the smile on his face.

"Heh, what nonsense? What idiot would believe this? Only someone completely out of their mind... There's definitely some super-powerful cultivator in there, waiting for your soul, or some old grandpa spirit, dreaming of getting a new body... Nonsense..." An, shaking his head, crumpled the envelope, stuffed it back into the hole, and buried it, patting the dirt down with his palms. Standing up and dusting off his hands, he returned to his spot.' Strange, I still feel these waves of energy...

Is this done on purpose as bait or something? With the gate, it was the same, the energy is very similar to what was in the note, only much stronger and purer, if you will.' An wondered, sitting down in a lotus position.

"It's kind of uncomfortable to sit like this, to be honest... Eh~ I should probably start getting used to this position early anyway." he tried to sit in what he considered the perfect lotus position. Finding the perfect balance between comfort and discomfort, he decided to continue watching the ceremony taking place at the gate.