Yang Xuan - in denial - began shouting, “How could that be possible?! Are you certain-“
“Silence,” uttered Elder 1Liu, his voice calm and quiet. It was one word, yet it was more than just that. Yang Xuan did not stop talking of his own will; he was forced. It was that storm again. However, this time it was not constrained by the bounds of his torso.
Instead, it raged all around him. He could barely keep standing. This was qi2, Yang Xuan realized. He had read too much about it to not realize. “Kneel,” Elder Liu ordered, and his qi3 enforced. What he willed, his qi4 made reality. Suddenly, both Yang Xuan and Elder Li were forced to their knees.
It was not a gentle fall.5 Yang Xuan would’ve screamed in pain, had control of his body still been within his hands. Instead, he listened. Intently, as Elder Liu willed. “You. Puny. Mortal. How dare you raise your voice at me? How dare you doubt me? How. Dare. You,” he questioned. Yang Xuan should’ve been too shocked to focus, yet every single word rang in his head.
Promptly, the pressure lessened. Yang Xuan could speak again. The cultivator had decreed as such, and his qi had realized his vision of the world. Yang Xuan franticly apologized, “Forgive me, Great Cultivator! My shock possessed me. I would not dare disrespect you! And how could I ever doubt the words of such a mighty man?”
Elder Liu stared at him, his expression neutral. His eyes, however, betrayed his fury. His eyes conveyed a great disdain, a blind hate towards all he decides is below him. He could not allow an insect of such meagre scale to disrespect him, to even doubt him, the Almighty Cultivator. Just as he could never treat an inner disciple in this manner.
Yang Xuan remained on his knees, and Elder Liu continued staring at him in silence. Elder Liu had decided - and telepathically confirmed with the other cultivator. This could not be tolerated. Punishment was due. He placed his hand on Yang Xuan’s head, and Yang Xuan’s face immediately started twitching and convulsing wildly.
Within a span of seconds, Yang Xuan had become a cripple. He would never walk, would never punch, would never do again. His back remained straight solely by the power of Elder Liu’s qi. His life was all but over.
The next half-hour felt like merely a second to him. Elder Liu had said something about showing mercy and then left, Elder Li had renounced him and then also left; it had all went in one ear and out the other. He was left alone in the village center, forced to kneel until Elder Liu’s qi dissipated. His mind was a frenzy. He was, in a word, shocked. He simply could not believe what had just happened to him, the prodigy of Bushui, the otherworlder. He was destined to become something greater, something more… How could his journey end like this?
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Then, as despair began to dominate his thoughts, he heard - and saw - it. A blue window, and a vaguely feminine robotic voice.
[Congratulations on unlocking the Heaven-Defying Heavenly Infernal Divine Demonic Cultivator of the Extraordinary Demolition Dao; Supreme Imperial Royal Majestic Graceful Brutal Horrifically Beautiful War God of Extreme Slaughter, Ruination, Torpedo Annihilation, and Carpet Bombing; Bipolar Liberal Conservative of Yin-Yang; Wise Sagacious Profound Hidden Master of the Wind; Crafty Astute Shrewd Shameless Money Grubber of Legend; Defy the Dao, Purge the Heavens and Unite the Earths, Cradlin’ on ‘Em System, or simply, the Super Powerful Cheat System! As you are currently crippled, a body reconstruction process will commence free-of-charge. Take care, however, as any subsequent operations will cost system points, or SP.]
As Yang Xuan skimmed and scanned the window that had popped up, he started chuckling. Then, the chuckle turned into a calm laugh. Eventually, he started cackling madly, “I knew it! I am special! I, Yang Xuan, shall become the greatest cultivator with this cheat-!” At once, he stopped speaking. Then, he began screaming. Pain. Incredible pain assaulted him. He felt as if he was being burned alive. He recited, ‘Pain is just weakness leaving the body.’ His blind trust in his ‘specialness’ had changed into blind trust in his [System].
Eventually, the pain subsided. And as soon as it did, he was overcome with an urge to exert himself, so he jumped. It seemed like any other jump. Only, it was ten meters tall. He had been blessed with a truly extraordinary body, and he was curious to learn more.
He knew not how to use this… [System], but as soon as he started thinking about it, a window accompanied by a robotic voice appeared before him.
[Welcome to the Super Powerful Cheat [System]! This is the tutorial. To continue, please toggle the system window two times either by using the voice command, “System”, or by simply willing it to appear or disappear.]
{Task: System Window Toggle}
[Progress: 0/2]
[Reward: 10SP]
Yang Xuan quietly read the system text. ‘This… is like those video games from back on Earth,’ he thought. He did not play much video games, but he had fond memories of Craftstar 2. Focusing on the task at hand, he followed the instructions. ‘Will it to disappear…” he tried, and the system listened; the window had disappeared. He then made it appear again.
[Congratulations! You have completed the [System Window Toggle] tutorial. You have received 10 system points. All further tutorials are optional.]
{Status}
[Name: Yang Xuan]
[Species: Human]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 5]
[Cultivation: Mortal]
[Bloodline: None]
[Constitution: F-rank [Perfect Human Body]]
{Perfect Human Body}
[Improves physical abilities]
[Slightly improves cultivation speed and potential]
[System Points: 10]
Yang Xuan finished reading his status and started exploring it. The system would not increase his cultivation directly, he found. It could only increase his cultivation speed. He still needed someone to teach him about cultivation and a manual to cultivate. There were manuals he could buy inside the system, but they cost numbers of [System Points] that were multiple orders of magnitude larger than the puny amount he currently possessed.
‘A master and manuals…’ He pondered. And then, it came to him. He knew where to go.