I awoke with a splitting headache as unfamiliar scenes poured into my mind, like water gushing out of floodgates.
There were people and there were places, but it was too blurry for me to recognize anything.
With much difficulty, I opened my eyes, only to be forced to close them immediately afterwords.
The blinding lights in the room nearly burned a pair of holes through my retinas, amplifying my headache.
Slowly, I opened my eyes as they gradually adjusted to the light levels.
After a while, when I was completely adjusted, I realized that the room wasn't all that bright, and that I only felt that way because the blinding brightness was only relative.
Relative to what, that I did not know, at least not yet.
Immediately, the aches within my skull ceased and I got to breathe stably once more.
Gulping in entire mouthfuls of air, it felt as though I was living for the first time.
A very peculiar set of sensations indeed.
Regardless, I worried not over unimportant details and instead began inspecting my surroundings.
I was in what appeared to be a normal cultivation chamber, but an intricate array of formation was arranged on the ceiling, and it concentrated some mystical energies from outside into the room.
I was wearing a set of flowing robes that could only be mistaken as a sect uniform, with blue fabric inlaid with golden patterns that formed the scene of a sky dragon being stabbed by a pair of swords in alternating directions.
And then, just as I was about to assess my cultivation base, I witnessed something miraculous.
A rectangular screen of black light appeared before, and almost immediately, a group of white lines appeared upon it and rapidly rearranged themselves to form a series of words.
| Name: Han Xuanyuan
| Age: 16 Years 4 Months 23 Days
| Cultivation Base: Core Coalescence Realm Rank Six
| Cultivation Manual: God Formation Ritual (Nine Marks, Purple Legend)
| Fate Level Slot: Mortal
| Innate Powers: Nirvana Exalted Physique (Sealed), Chaos Clan's Mystic Force (Two Marks, Yellow Gold)
'How detailed!'
I could not help but exclaim in my mind as I finished reading through everything.
'It even knows about the Fate Level Slot, the creator of this artifact has great cognition.'
But then, as I saw the final few lines finish rearranging themselves at the top of the screen, it felt as though a sharp needle had pierced through my retinas and a devastating headache blew me backwards.
I could barely finish reading what it said before my sinking thoughts finally disappeared beneath the pain.
"Supreme Master System," it spelled.
~~~
I was in space, within a shattered asteroid belt, countless cultivators stood in battle formation atop these huge rocks, decked out in a militaristic uniform they appeared to be one vast army.
Holding weapons of all shapes and sizes, their gazes sharp and their determination unwavering, they exuded a great collective bloodthirsty aura.
The moment I laid my across them, a searing pang of heat spread across my body as I recalled their name.
'The First Legion'
And at the helm of this army that stretched on for as far as my eyes could see, was a red-headed figure with his hands clasped behind his back.
My body was subconsciously attracted towards the person, moving in closer, I could better assess his features.
It was a man, with an incredibly robust physique, he absolutely reeked of blood and murderous intentions, but his appearance was equally refined and not compromised in the slightest.
Just as I reached within three feet of him, he turned around and glanced at me with his dark red eyes, reminiscent of dying red stars, dull and small, yet incomparably savage and bellicose.
His face was supremely handsome, his chiseled features carved to the tip of perfection, it was the perfect depiction of devilish handsomeness.
But he was not looking at me, he was looking through me.
And as he faced his army, he brought forth his right hand, and waved it beside him.
Immediately, a colossal crimson screen of light materialized behind him, covering the endless expanse of space behind him completely, reaching the very edges of his army as it blocked the cold and depressing void behind him.
Countless white lines appeared upon the screen and rapidly rearranged to form an unfathomably gigantic catalog of resources, artifacts, and other materials.
Finally, a few remaining lines flew to the top of the screen and formed the words "True God System."
Another searing pang of heat flooded my body, only this time it was far hotter than before, and a name flashed across my mind, firmly embedding itself into my memory.
'Xia Shang'
'This red haired man is Xia Shang,' I thought, but no other information was revealed.
Suddenly, my thoughts stopped entirely, and I felt the world spinning, and receding, and almost instantaneously, I found myself back in the cultivation chamber.
~~~
My back was soaked in cold sweat as I could once more feel my body.
I moved my fingers to touch my face and see them with my eyes, as I was still in disbelief as to what had happened to me.
But I was not given the time to gather myself as an annoying sound made its way to my ears.
[Ding!]
| New Mission: Beat up a cultivator one Grade above you.
| Reward: Brick (x1)
'What sort of bullshit quest is this?'
I was thoroughly enraged. Was somebody playing a prank on me?
This had to be a joke - it was already a struggle to fight beyond one's rank, and only those heaven defying prodigies could fight beyond their realm.
But fighting those an entire Grade above? Which fairy tale was daring enough to sell such an idea?
As this vessel of mine was at the peak of the Core Coalescence Realm after only sixteen years in the world, it could only be assumed that this body was very talented.
Thus, fighting somebody at the initial ranks of the subsequent stage, the Core Congregation Realm, should not be a problem.
Only this mission commanded me to beat them up, which required me to suppress them, and this was highly unrealistic.
However, that was not even nearing the end of my troubles.
Somebody a Grade higher, would mean an expert that surpassed my Nuclear Grade cultivation and has reached the Firmament Grade's Firmament Founding Realm at the very least.
To fight somebody of such a high level, I would have to cross the Core Congregation Realm, the Core Tracing Realm, the Core Revolution Realm, and finally the Tribulation Withstanding transitional stage before barely arriving at the boundary of the Firmament Founding Realm.
And all for what?
A mere brick.
'Now that's a good joke,' I laughed.