After staring at the words in front of him for a few minutes, he gave up on actually comprehending the whole thing. He had tried and failed to understand what was happening to him. Whatever this ‘System’ was, it defied his understanding.

He walked up to the old man till he stood almost directly below the flying blade and bowed. He had no way to speak to the man, so he used his claws to write on the thankfully soft forest floor.

‘What is the System?’

Though his writing was barely legible, even to him, the old man took one look at what he wrote and nodded to himself.

“It is as I suspected. You are truly awakened,” the man said, increasing Ji’s confusion. “You belong to the very small number of mortal animals with the capacity for complex thought. I’m sure you have noticed this,”

Xiao Ji nodded. His uncle was the only intelligent creature he had seen outside of the humans. It was something he had tested extensively in the days after his uncle’s disappearance, a lonely chicken looking for a single animal that showed signs of understanding more.

“Good. Yesterday you fought a predator one stage above you. That was enough to awaken you. The system is what healed you. Even I do not know what it truly is. It is a path to great power that is available to only a small section of the spirit beast population. You need to have been sapient as a mortal beast to even qualify.”

Something the old man said caught his attention.

‘Spirit beast?’

“Oh. Spirit beasts are merely animals that are capable of cultivating the energy of the world. My disciple, Xie Sun, the rooster who I am sure raised you is a powerful spirit beast.”

Fan Guo seemed to notice the look of confusion on Ji’s face and sighed.

“That damned rooster told you nothing about cultivation, didn’t he?”

Ji simply shook his head, which led to another round of creative cursing from the man, using words he only vaguely remembered his uncle telling him were very bad.

“Well, you will learn what cultivation is when we get to the house. There is much to teach indeed. As for the system, just know it is a tool that will aid you in your journey to grow stronger. Now, I’m sure it's saying something about traits.”

He nodded in reply this time. The old man did seem to have some idea of what was going on.

“Well, whatever trait you choose is up to you. Each one is useful and will change a part of you fundamentally. Usually for the better. Let this be your first choice as my disciple. There will be much harder decisions to come.”

That did not sound reassuring, but he could not do anything about it. He was all but set in his decision to follow the man now. Strange as he was, the old human at least knew what was happening to him. Xiao Ji did not wish to get his hopes up, but all the mentions of traits and gaining fantastic power made him wonder if he truly could increase his size.

Most importantly though, he was sure that the old man knew his uncle, and seemed to be searching for him. The possibility of finding the old fowl was simply a chance too great to pass on.

Trying to ask any more questions gave him no results, as the man simply told him to pick a trait first. So though he would have preferred to confirm every variable before making a choice, he looked at his options instead.

The traits seemed to reference parts of his body, if his uncle’s lessons on chicken biology were correct. They were scarce on details, a problem that seemed to solve itself the moment he thought hard on the first option.

[Piercing Crow: The cry of the rooster marks the dawn of the day. Merchants, farmers and fishermen, all heed your call. Your crow is infused with the power of the world.]

He stared at the text that floated in front of him in wonder. He had no idea how it had known what he wanted, though he supposed it likely read his mind, which was worrying. Still, it gave him some information. He could always learn more about how it worked later.

Any attempts to ask the old man what ‘the power of the world’ meant, was met with silence. The human simply stared at him until he left in frustration. He had no idea if the trait was useful, but realistically, he doubted it would suit him. He was not a fan of crowing, after all. So he checked the next one.

[Flying Spurs: Once, the rooster was a formidable fighter defending his hens in the wild, and the spurs were his main weapon. Years of being food for humanity has made that life a simple memory, yet those weapons remain. Your spurs become perfect conduits for the energy of the world, growing longer and capable of channelling that energy outwards in deadly blades.]

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ji read the long explanation, thankful there was at least more information. The mention of how far his race had fallen; from once proud independents, to mere food, filled him with a bit of rage. He shut it down, like he always did. Feeling anger at humans for their power achieved nothing. Still, he would never enjoy seeing his kind being turned into a mere food source.

He found the option attractive, though he was not completely sure what the results would look like. Even so, it was an upgrade to his spurs, and those had been crucial in his fight against the creature from the previous night. An upgrade would make him capable of defending himself better, regardless of how it came out. At least if the old man was right about traits being positive.

[Royal Crown: The proud chicken, from humble roots, yet they are the most successful of birds. The royal crown trait infuses your crown with the energy of the world, slowly increasing your Authority. Small chance of unlocking a Phoenix bloodline.]

The explanation was just as confusing as the first one, with many terms that were unfamiliar to him. He was not sure what ‘Authority’ meant, for example. What he had heard of at least, was the Phoenix. He remembered his uncle speaking of them with a little awe. Flaming birds that were the masters of the sky. They were the very apex of birds, superior to all others.

From those stories at least, unlocking the bloodline of the phoenix would give him miraculous abilities, including the power to control fire and heal from near death. It would even allow him to fly eventually, something that made the option very enticing.

He still found it a little hard to believe all those ridiculous tales his uncle told were real, but enough evidence pointed in that direction and so he would act like they were.

[Force of Mind: The humble chicken is a flightless bird known for being numerous and not particularly intelligent. You are different. For whatever reason, you gained sapience without any cultivation or special parents and have used it to overcome foes greater than yourself. Unlocking this trait strengthens your mind and allows it to influence your surroundings.]

Ji stared at the text and sorely wished the old man would not be so stubborn. There was a lot of context he was missing that did not allow him to fully understand the implications of the trait he would choose .Nevertheless, this one was also quite tempting for the simple fact that it seemed to enhance his mind.

There had never been any doubts as to why he was special, even growing up. Though he was not the best fighter, nor did he have the loudest crow or the biggest crown, he was the only one that escaped the village as it was. He fended of a dangerous predator that was supposed to kill him for a simple reason: his intelligence.

It was the sole thing he was truly proud of and undeniably his best trait. So even if he was sorely tempted by the possibility of a phoenix bloodline and the ability to fly, he already knew what he would choose when he read the description.

After spending a few minutes going over the options and contemplating his choice, he mentally hit himself. He was just stalling as it was. He really wished he knew what the ‘energy of the world’ was. Or what things like ‘Authority’ meant. There was a strange emphasis that told him there was more to those words than he knew.

After throwing one last, pleading look at the old man that was promptly ignored, he focused on [Force of Mind] and selected it.

The world turned white for a brief moment and he felt his muscles spasm a few times before settling down. When he could finally see again, the text that still took up a part of his vision had changed.

[You have chosen the trait [Force of Mind]. Your mind will be strengthened and attuned to the laws of the world over the next 24 hours]

He looked around and found that the world was still mostly the same. He thought he could see some plants glow faintly, but the effect was too weak to be sure. The sound of the old man’s voice brought him back to focus.

“You have chosen your trait, true?”

Ji nodded simply. Maybe he would finally get some answers from the man.

“Good. You can tell me what you picked when we get home. For now, we will need to travel back, so hop on.”

The sword floated down till it was low enough for him to jump on it. That did not stop him from staring at it with scepticism. The blade did not look like it was capable of holding him properly for a flight. He had no idea how it could even hold the man.

“What is it?” his new Master said, tone impatient. “Did you think we were going to walk there? Jump on the blade and let us go. Nothing will happen to you. Your uncle had one of his own, in fact.”

Xiao Ji looked at the sword for a moment, then shrugged his wings in the strange way his uncle often did. He supposed the old man used it to fly himself so there was no harm In trying. Besides, there was not exactly much he could do as he could not fly himself and had no desire to walk through the forest.

He jumped on the sword, finding it surprisingly stable. It was almost like there was something holding him to it to prevent him from falling. They slowly lifted off the ground. Soon they were floating high above the trees in the forest.

“See, did you fall down?” the old man asked. “There's no reason to worry. Oh, and don't forget to check your status.”

They sped off, and it took him a while to get used to the blistering speeds they were moving at. He watched as the forest rushed past them. Soon they were leaving it behind. Passing through vast swaths of green plains.

‘Status?’ he thought to himself. What was that supposed to mean?’

He thought hard about it, And suddenly, text appeared in front of his vision, nearly unbalancing him. He would likely have fallen if not for the strange force keeping him stable on the sword.

[Status]

[Name: Xiao Ji]

[Race: Chicken]

[Cultivation Realm: Mortal]

[Trait: Force of Mind]

[Techniques: None]

[Cultivation Path: None]

[Titles: Locked]

[Spiritual Root: Locked]