[status]
>>Name: ????
>>Age: 16
>>Cultivation: 1st Level of Spirit Elementary
>>Bloodline: None
>>Physique: None
[stats]
*
*
...
As the countdown reached 0, a sudden surge of foreign information poured into the young man's mind. His body didn't move, but his thoughts stirred violently. He couldn't explain how, but he understood what was going on.
With growing curiosity, he checked the new interface that appeared before him, one line at a time.
'Name: ???? … Hmmm. Is it because I don't remember my name?' he wondered, frowning slightly. Then he continued down the list, casually reading—until one particular stat made his eyes freeze.
Soul Power: 13,295
'What's this…?' His brows furrowed. 'While my other stats don't even reach one houndered… why is my Soul Power this strong??'
He couldn't make sense of it—but it didn't feel ordinary. Shaking his head, he scrolled further.
[Cultivation Techniques]
>>Basic Qi Gathering
>>Rank: Mortal
>>Mastery: Level 10 (MAX)
>>Description: The most common and fundamental technique known across the mortal realms. It is typically used by low-level cultivators or beginners to sense and absorb Qi. Lacks complexity or potential for long-term progression, and is often abandoned once a stronger technique is found.
>>Absorbiton Rate: 5 → 50(Due to mastery) Qi per second, could increase or decrease depending on environmental quality and the user's current state.
[Innate Abilities]
>>[Inspection]
>>Description: An innate ability provided by the system. Grants the host knowledge about most non-living things under the heavens.
>>Rank: ???
>>Mastery: Level 1 (MAX)
[Soul Regeneration]
>>Description: ?????
>>Effect: Restores 1% of Soul Essence every hour.
>>Rank: Divine
>>Mastery: Level 1 (MAX)
[Soul Space]
>>Description: ?????
Also, It could be used as a storage ring.
>>Rank: ????
>>Mastery: Level 0 (only can be used as a storage ring)
'Basic Qi Gathering Technique? Mortal rank...? So that's what I suddenly remembered... Wait—Level 10 mastery??'
He didn't fully understand what was going on—but strangely, he didn't really care and continued.
'Divine??!' His eyes widened. That had to mean something special. He didn't know how special or how strong it was compared to a mortal rank.
As he continoud he noticed something strange. 'Why there is so many '???' are there...?' He wondered, there were lots of things going on that he didn't understand at all.
As his thoughts settled, his understanding of [Inspection] also became clearer. It wasn't just a trick—it was like a sixth sense in his head, subtly feeding him insights.
He slowly got to his feet and looked around the quiet room. A strange emptiness lingered in the air. Then it hit him.
There was someone here before. A certain someone…
Wait—just how long had he been sitting here??
"...Lady Fox ...Are you there??" he called out. His voice echoed across the wooden room. Though he still held some fear toward that beautiful and terrifying woman, there was now a trace of confidence in his voice.
Honestly, he felt… good. Stronger. Being a cultivator was surely a good feeling.
After a few seconds of silence with no response, his gaze dropped—and something on the floor caught his attention.
A folded piece of paper was lying there, untouched on the wooden floorboards.
"Hmm?"
He knelt down, reaching toward, and opened before started reading.
"Human... I hope you have become a cultivator after your strange session.
You should know that you have to become stronger if you want to stay alive in this world. Much stronger.
Also, don't forget that you still owe me—as I saved your life back then.
In return… I'll think about it, if fate ever lets us meet again.
Farewell, strange human.
– Xi Ling"
"Xi Ling..." the young man muttered in a low voice, his eyes lingering on the delicate handwriting. A small smile curled at the corner of his lips. She was as cold and direct as always—yet he could somehow feel the faint warmth hidden between the lines.
As he refolded the note, his gaze shifted to the side—where a small, faintly glowing crystal lay. It pulsed gently with a subtle, otherworldly energy.
Without hesitation, he activated [Inspection].
[Peak Grade Spiritual Stone]
Description: A rare crystal imbued with immense spiritual energy, often used as currency in higher planes of existence. Due to its purity and density, it is considered overwhelming and highly unstable for mortals to absorb or use.
His eyes widened slightly.
"...She left me this....?"
It was clearly precious but why she left it for him...? he wondered.
Unbeknownst to him, to Xi Ling, this crystal was less than a drop in an endless ocean compared to her wealth.
After gathering his thoughts, he made his decision. He would leave the forest now. Fragments of memory had started to surface after he became a cultivator, slowly repairing his understanding of the world. While he still didn't know who he was or where he came from, one thing was clear: he was a cultivator now. And a cultivator must grow stronger.
With that thought, he began his journey out of the forest.
As he moved through the dense woods, leaving the deeper areas behind, he noticed something strange.
Beast cores.
Littered across the forest floor, embedded in trees, half-buried under leaves—cores of defeated spirit beasts, still brimming with faint energy.
Surprised, he began collecting them one by one, placing them into his soul storage. It was instinctive—his body knew how to access it, like a natural extension of himself.
And strangely… no matter how many cores he stored inside, the space didn't shrink.
The Soul Space seemed limitless.
A quiet awe settled in his chest.
"Just… what am I?"
Days passed while the young man kept moving toward the outer edges of the forest. He continued cultivating during every moment of rest—whenever he was too tired to run or when hunger made him pause. His cultivation kept increasing rapidly, not just due to his high mastery over the technique, but he was also truly talented in cultivation.
In just under a month, he had amassed an astonishing number of beast cores—from Spirit Elementary beasts to even some from Spirit Master-level ones. There were thousands of them, glittering in his vast soul storage like gems in a treasure vault.
What was even more shocking—he had already become a 5th Level Spirit Elementary cultivator.
For normal cultivators, reaching that level would take over a year, possibly more than that. But for him, it hadn't even been a full month. And most of that time… he had spent running rather than cultivating!
Eventually, the trees began to thin out. The air felt lighter, and the terrain changed—patches of cracked ground replaced the once-dense forest floor. As he stepped beyond the final line of withered trees, he knew:
He was out.
He looked toward the horizon.
There was nothing. Only silence and emptiness stretched ahead.
So he picked a direction—completely at random—and began running at his full speed.
As the wind howled around him and dust kicked under his feet, he couldn't help but mutter:
"There are cracks in the ground too... just what happened to the world? It's like an earthquake hit everywhere at once..."
He had noticed it earlier—the forest ground wasn't natural. It was torn, ruptured, unstable. He assumed it was a phenomenon limited to the Silent End Forest. But now, even the outside world bore the same scars.
What unsettled him more was the complete absence of humans.
Not a single soul.
Where were the people?
Unknown to him, the guards or people once were at the edge of the forest—and all the nearby places—had long since fled.
Just a month ago, a world-shaking catastrophe had struck. Tremors had ravaged the mortal plane, and the Silent End Forest was at the heart of it. The devastation had been strongest near its borders—leaving only one conclusion in the minds of the terrified sects and survivors:
Something had happened inside that cursed forest.
And not long before that, there had been a warning.
A monster had issued a terrifying threat to the sects of the land.
And now, with the disasters tied so closely to that region, many feared the beast would emerge.
The guards and the people nearby didn't wait to find out.
They ran.
Meanwhile, the young man, unaware of the fear he had unknowingly caused, continued onward.
And just a few days later, his body shimmered once again. The familiar warmth of Qi surged through his meridians.
He had broken through.
6th Level Spirit Elementary.
His body glowed faintly as the energy stabilized within him. At the same time, as he started to run, his eyes caught something in the distance—faint at first, but growing clearer:
A small town on the horizon.
A victorious smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
"Finally... Even though I don't know what my future holds, I can at least sell some beast cores and buy some cultivation techniques."