Like a god watching his creation.
"I have big hopes for you."
He happened to be in a forest.
To be honest.
He felt very uncomfortable without his abilities.
He felt extremely weak.
He choose a random direction to walk in...
But then he encountered a wolf.
He tried backing away.
But it rushed at him.
He sent out a punch and it exploded into a bloody paste.
Zero then looked at his hands in shock.
"I could of sworn I made a normal human body... with normal limits."
"I see... simply being controlled by the soul of a rank 7 imbues a certain amount of power..."
Zero was then surrounded by wolves.
This time there was a giant wolf with a horn.
The rest looked like the one he had killed.
They rushed at him
But he easily evaded their attacks.
"Hmm... I am far slower in this form."
In the end of things, he had killed almost all the wolves.
The rest had hid behind the giant wolf.
The giant wolf opened up its mouth and shot out a shockwave.
Zero wasn't expecting that type of attack.
His movements also weren't as fast as he was used to.
So he was hit directly and sent flying into a tree.
The tree made a crunch noise and folded partially.
Zero then coughed up blood.
He got back up and ran towards the wolf.
It continued to shoot shockwaves.
Zero barely managed to dodge them.
He broke through its gait.
Right as he was about to hit it...
It vanished.
The rest of the wolves dispersed.
Zero continued to wander around.
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He eventually found a town and settled down.
He wasn't in a rush.
As he saw the stalls on the street selling food.
He realized he wasn't hungry at all.
But he was quite dirty... without having the nanites to cleanup.
His clothes and shoes had gotten covered in mud.
He also didn't have any money.
Nor did he give this body access to his storage dimension.
He didn't feel like becoming a beggar again.
So he went to the outskirts of town.
He found an empty spot.
Then carved out a large formation with a stick into the ground.
He then used some of his lifespan in exchange to activate the formation with blood.
Losing life vitality doesn't matter to him.
He is a timeless existence either way.
The formation successfully opened to his storage dimension.
He pulled out a few gold coins and then destroyed the formation.
At least now he isn't broke.
He went back to the center of the town.
Found a stall selling relics.
He showed off one of his golden coins and the man instantly offered to buy it for 5,000 points.
Zero agreed and kept the other two coins for a rainy day.
He then went shopping and bought himself some new clothes to wear while he gets his current set cleaned.
Afterwards, he spent 150 points to spend the week at a hotel.
It was here where he also got his clothes cleaned.
He also took a shower.
He felt way better afterwards.
He spent the rest of the week at a tea house.
Sipping on tea and listening to people gossip about nonsense.
"Did you guys hear? The Elite Warrior Sect is going to be doing a trial at our town this year."
Zero's interest was peaked.
He wondered just how different the power system developed by his world would be.
"I heard you have to be less then 25 years old to participate in the test."
"What a shame."
Zero decided to stay in this town until it was time for the test.
He didn't continue to pay to stay at the hotel.
He simply would idle outside and use the local laundromat to clean his clothes.
He also had a monthly membership to a gym and would use that place to exercise and take showers.
It still seemed like he didn't need sleep or food.
Zero could feel the chaos slowly bleeding into this body.
He couldn't really do anything about this...
Unless... he cuts off his connection with it entirely.
But then it would be an entirely different person.
So that's a nope.
Time flew by.
A man with a white beard appeared flying in the sky.
"All of those participating in our sect trial. Line up!"
Zero went to stand in line.
The man flew down and looked at all those lined up.
"There will be three test you must pass to be able to become part of our sect."
"The first test is aptitude."
"The second test is willpower."
"The third test is combat ability."
The old man held out his hand and floating in it was a small building.
"You will all enter this Pagoda to take our trial."
A light covered everyone.
Then most of them vanished.
Zero was familiar with this pressure.
It was similar to when he 'walked' through time and space.
He then found himself in a place with a white sky.
There was very pretty green grass as the foundation.
There was also a statue of Patriarch Elite.
Zero saw the group of people he had been in line with.
Only about a tenth had come.
"Very good batch this year, you have passed the test of aptitude."
"But we didn't do anything?"
"Being able to cross space means you are compatible with cultivation."
"Your aptitude was judged to be enough if you were able to make it here without dying."
"Those that couldn't stand the pressure, for safety reasons got left behind."
"Only those with a dantian can enter this Pagoda."
"Now time for part two of the trial."
"A test of willpower."
Out of nowhere a white staircase appeared.
"There are 999 steps on this staircase. With each step you take the mental pressure will get exponentially more taxing. If you can make it pass 13 steps... you pass."
"Only 13 steps? Easy."
A buff man started to walk up the steps quite quickly.
When he got to the 10th step.
He was sweating quite badly.
He took one more step and could no longer take it.
He lost his balance and came tumbling down.
"Next person!"
9 steps.
12 steps.
10 steps.
10 steps.
13 steps.
"Passed!"
It was now Zero's turn.
He took a step and didn't feel anything.
Another step.
Another...
Another...
He did 13 steps but didn't feel any pressure at all.
14 steps.
15 steps.
----------------------------------------
998 steps.
At this point Zero was starting to sweat and shake.
The mental pressure from the steps was accelerating the rate of chaos leaking to this body.
He was becoming stronger with each step.
the 999th step!
He heard a crack in the center of his head.
His body then relaxed.
He looked down at the old man.
That man was looking at him in shock.