"Feng Hao!"
A husky but womanly voice rang out. "Yes captain!" Feng Hao shouted back. The two were currently in the bridge of a dreadnought class battle cruiser heading for the outer reaches.
"Is your memory lock secured?"
"Yes captain"
The memory lock was an important safety net when traveling to the outer reaches. It was also referred to as an aether seal.
The majority of the creatures in the outer reaches were too outrageous for the human mind to comprehend, so it would shutdown after seeing them.
Many different computer chips and implants were attached into the brain in order to stop this effect, but if they ever shutdown, then the memory lock would completely seal the memories.
"Feng Hao! We will arrive shortly, get to the drop pods, I expect the same performance as your last mission, Understood!"
"Yes captain" Feng Hao said, quickly saluting before leaving the main bridge.
As soon as Feng Hao left the bridge, captain Jiao collapsed. Her heart beat wildly and adrenaline coursed through her body. 'He is a monster' she though.
One of her attendants quickly rushed towards her, his eyes secretly looking over her curvy body that was constrained in the tight captains uniform. He was not daring enough to take more than a slight glance though, the captain would become frightening if she was displeased.
Although she was scared of Feng Hao, captain Jiao also needed him. Feng Hao was a valuable asset which was as powerful as a small battalion of spaceships.
She was glad that he was only on par with spaceships, if he could fight starships, then there was no telling the destruction that he could cause.
...
Feng Hao was lying on the ground, uncontrollably quivering in an attempt to stand up. He glanced at the three bars in the corner of his vision.
[spirit energy: 0/0
Aether shards: 70/1000
Stamina (vital) 98/100]
His normally yellow stamina bar had turned red. He questioned the system about the sudden change.
[stamina (vital): . When stamina is empty, the body will start to sacrifice itself, this is generally referred to as stamina (vital) the life energy that runs through all beings, once this is depleted, the candidate will die.]
Once Feng Hao read the message, he quickly stopped trying to get up and just gathered his aether shards while lying down.
It was best to gather aether shards when physical energy was at its lowest, that way, there would be less physical energy that he had to push through in order to grab an energy shard.
Ming Ai stared at Feng Hao, surprise filling her eyes as his body began to glow. Hundreds of tiny shards of light covered his skin. The flecks of light at the ends of his fingers began to move towards his core first. They stopped just before reaching the large glowing ball at his centre and more shards began to do the same.
Feng Hao did not connect the aether shards to his core, he decided to use the riskier but more beneficial method of collecting aether shards. He had not been able to use this method in his previous life because he needed to continually gain strength instead of instantly becoming strong after a long period of time.
Everyone had a small ball of energy at their centre, for ancient Qi cultivation, that ball was located around the dantian, for aether that core was by the heart.
Every time an aether shard was connected to the core, a small wave of aether would go through the body. That wave would slightly increase resistance to aether attacks and mostly just energy attacks in general. If more than one aether share was connected at once, the effects of that resistance would multiply. It would create an aether explosion.
It had taken a while for Feng Hao to decide to use this method, luckily, he had not yet connected 1/10th of his ether shards and because that would create a stable foundation around his core. Once an aether core reached 1/10th completion it would stabilize and aether shards would no longer slowly get released from the core.
Since Feng Hao only had 70 aether shards, they would slowly separate from his core over the next few years and he could create an even bigger aether explosion.
Feng Hao contemplated on his thoughts and realized just how insane they were. Actively trying to kill himself in order for a small advantage. He wanted to shake his head at the thought, but this life was his second chance, he intended to use every advantage he knew of.
Feng Hao had one advantage which may trump all of the others, he knew the future. He had discovered a series of novels with the same name as the continent.
Douluo Dalu.
He found the novel during his most memorable incursion into a Milky Way galaxy.
He had also found a version with pictures, he had never found a book with pictures in his previous life so he decided to call them picture books.
Although the novel had worn pages, they were readable. Same with the book made out of pictures. Feng Hao planned to monopolize all of the valuable resources. He knew that strength was equal to fame and influence, both of which he would need in order to protect his family.
Feng Hao was taken out of his thoughts by something poking him in the cheek.
"Hey, hey" a flat voice came out of Ming Ai. "Are you awake? I don't know the way back so can you wake up quickly."
Feng Hao paused for a moment before sitting up, his stamina had turned yellow again so he would be alright. He was slightly surprised with Ming Ai's attitude, she had been incredibly mature while the spirit beast was chasing them so her childish attitude was a shock to him.
"Hey... um..." Ming Ai began to talk but stopped after a moment, she looked as if she was incredibly confused by something. "What your name?" She asked after a few moments, Feng Hao almost wanted to laugh. They had been through a death defying event and she still didn't know his name.
Feng Hao smiled a little bit, looking far more approachable compared to his usual bored look. "My name is Feng Hao, nice to meet you." Feng Hao extended his hand, he waited for a handshake to commemorate their acquaintance but Ming Ai left him hanging as she looked at the two unconscious children.
"How do I get back?" She asked once again. "We won't be able to make it back before nightfall if we carry those two, it's probably best if we stay here. I know of the common resources around this area and there are no spirit beats because of..." Feng Hao looked at the carcass of the dragon spirit beast and the small crack in the ground.
Ming Ai seemed to understand as she sat on the ground staring intensely at the crack in the ground, as if waiting for it to open again. "It won't open" Feng Hao said, calming her.
The two of them sat in silence for a while before Feng Hao drew a small pattern in the dirt. "Can you find a tree that has this pattern?" Feng Hao asked. The pattern that he had drawn was that of the seventh step tree. It had incredibly hard wood and was great at starting a fire, it was common around the area.
He had also noticed that the ground had a strange texture, he rubbed some between his fingers for a moment before figuring out what the ground had. A mixture of dirt and clay would create an interesting texture, if there was clay in the ground, it meant that there was probably a river not too far away.
Feng Hao looked up and noticed that Ming Ai was gone, 'she must have gone to find the seventh step tree' he thought.
Now that everything was taken care of, Feng Hao decided to check his system. First, he looked at his new title, he was rather excited about finally replacing his idiot title.
[savior: only granted to those who have saved someone from imminent death. 10% chance to add 10 body condition when stamina drops below 30% (lasts 30 seconds)]
Feng Hao was surprised, the effect was quite good. Although it wasn't a guarantee that the effect would activate, it might come in handy.
Feng Hao look at the second system message that he had gotten.
[special rank skill received, would you like to activate?]
Feng Hao stared at the slightly flickering text for a few moments. He opened his mouth, "acti-" he got halfway through saying activate before a system message popped up.
[are you sure you want to activate this skill, special rank skills cannot be removed and neither the power nor usefulness of the skill can be guaranteed, would you like to activate?]
Feng Hao was silent for a moment, he knew that the system could give negative titles, that was obvious from his now replaced idiot title. He contemplated the decision for a moment.
'I prefer to be safe, but that will get me nowhere, Feng Hao thought. He took a deal breath and winds slowly spun around him. He could feel a mysterious flow of knowledge enter him, he knew what to say to activate the skill. He stated in a steady voice.
"System... Activate special rank skill, ID NO 226:"
"the paths of those around us may change, but there is no such thing as change, once one has though, it shall be done. One fate born, zero paths changed. That is the truth that all things followed. The plan of fate looks ever changing but it is all the same. I am now the planner of fate, it bends to my will or is broken under my hand. I am the one who now wields fate planning" - Carter Ryu, the fate planner.
Feng Hao fell to the floor, clutching his head as information flowed into his head. The last echoes of both his voice and someone else's disappeared in the thick forest.
Sweat formed on Feng Hao's face as he clutched his head, waiting for the pain to end.
One though ricocheted through Feng Hao's mind, 'just what type of skill was fate planning?'