The Black Void stood before the young man in its senseless splendor. Huan Wei could not understand the origin of the fear that was growing inside him. Standing in the bottomless darkness frightened his heart as if he were caught in the vortex of annihilation.
"We will help you."
The young man thought he was having a nightmare. He closed and opened his eyes several times. He tried to wake up but realized it was a futile effort. "Who are you!?" he asked, despite his terror.
"We will remind you of ourselves."
"You will remember the deal you made with us.
"You belong to us."
"We will help you."
At that moment, dozens of different memories flooded Huan Wei's mind. Everywhere he looked in the darkness, he saw a different fragment of memory. As his brain began to throb, he collapsed to the ground, holding his head with both hands.
He groaned in pain. Many different memories continued to fill his mind.
He remembered the pain he felt. The way the acid melted his whole body. He remembered when he had shot his own family without realizing it. The breakfast his mother prepared for him, the smile, if not the face, of the woman he loved... He remembered the man in the suit laughing as he melted in the acid.
His heart was filled with great anger. The remnants of a past life had returned to its original owner. As the memories of two lives merged, the pain Huan Wei felt increased. He remembered why he was here. He remembered the deal the Black Void had offered him.
He slowly stood up as the pain gradually subsided. His eyes had faded. They were no longer the gaze of a young man, but the piercing eyes of a cold-blooded killer. As he stared into the endless darkness, he let the anger and desire for revenge embrace him.
"We will help you."
Huan Wei stared into the darkness. "Tell me why. Why will you help me? Whatever you are, why did you offer to help?"
"Because you belong to us."
"You will serve us."
"You will kill for us."
"You will send them to the Black Void."
"You will send them home."
The young man asked. "Who? Who are the people you want me to kill?"
"They are like you."
"We gave them power too."
"They will want to kill you."
"Be powerful."
"Be the survivor."
"Then we'll help you."
Huan Wei was confused. "Why did you give power to the people you wanted me to kill? If you can give people power, why don't you kill them yourself?"
"People?"
Countless laughs rose simultaneously.
"Your mortal mind is far from understanding our purposes."
"We know."
"We know who you are."
"We know what you do. "
"You belong to us. "
"Live or die."
"Make your choice."
The young man suddenly opened his eyes. He took a deep breath, as if he had come back from the dead. He felt a wetness on his face. When he reached out his hand, he saw blood flowing from his nose.
His pillow was also soaked in blood. It took him a while to make sense of what he had seen. He thought quietly for a few minutes. It must have been after midnight.
Was what he had seen a dream? The memories he was watching, the anger he felt... Maybe he had seen such things because he had been so angry during the day?
But he remembered. He remembered a long life. Much of it was not clear, yet he could feel his experiences. The anger and resentment in his heart was too much for him to ignore.
He swung his feet off the bed. His head ached. He wiped the blood from his nose.
"Which is real?" he asked himself. "Here or there?"
He could not be sure. His sense of reality was severely shaken.
"I remember Chung Minsheng, I remember dying in the acid tank, yet my memories here, they all seemed real. Am I in some kind of simulation? Chung Minsheng had enough money to have this done."
Then he stopped. "No, even if he had the money, technology hasn't advanced that far. The pain, the sadness, the anger I felt all this time, it was all real. I haven't seen an exit button, and I don't want to try it by dying."
Huan Wei looked into his hands. Was what he was feeling fake? Anger at his father, love for Chiu Ti...
"It's all real." He spoke to himself. "I don't know exactly what the Black Void is. It's clearly a power that transcends the limits of my mind. It gave me a second chance. But how..."
Huan Wei looked at his own body. He didn't feel anything different. He was still in the early phase of the Wandering Realm. He was no stronger than the Oak Body.
"Maybe it really was a dream? But why would a dream bring me memories from a universe I believed could never be real? I remember a second life. How can so much be fake?"
At that moment, a screen appeared in front of Huan Wei. The young man jumped back in bed, startled. "What is this!?"
The holographic screen read, "Welcome to the system, User." Huan Wei didn't know what to do.
The screen changed on its own and many statistics began to appear. Many panels appeared. Some were open, some were locked. The young man watched in amazement as the numbers changed.
"It's real..." Huan Wei said quietly when the changes on the holographic screen were over. "But what kind of power is this? There is no place for such a system in this world."
He started to look at what was written on the screen. There were his statistics and some information.
---
[System Panel]
Name: Corrupt Cultivation System
User: Huan Wei
Strength: 15
Endurance: 15
Agility: 10
Dexterity: 12
Intelligence: 20
Luck: 5
Perception: 12
[Cultivation Realm] Wanderer Realm Early Phase
Xp Remaining to Next Level: 2000
[Body Tempering Realm] Oak Body
Xp Remaining to Next Level: 3000
[Wisdom]
Fire Wisdom Level 1
Blood Wisdom Level 0
---
"Corrupt Cultivation System," Huan Wei said to himself. "It gave me some kind of game system. I wish I hadn't stopped playing games thirty years ago. And Luck 5? No wonder my father was Huan Chao."
He looked at another tab. Here he hoped to see what he really needed.
---
[Special Abilities]
[Special Ability] Oozing Soul
Blood spirit with a range of 50 meters. Controlled by the user transferring consciousness.
Skill 1: Oozing Soul consumes the blood in corpses, creating Blood Tempering. When it reaches a sufficient amount, it grants stat points to the user.
[Special Skill 2] Corrupted Seal
Consumes the life essence of an exhausted opponent and provides cultivation. Used at close range. Provides extra stat points if used against people with higher Cultivation Realm than the user. Can be used 3 times per month.
Remaining Usage: 3/3
---
"That's why Oozing Soul was with me..." Huan Wei understood better now. This system was given to him the moment he was born. He couldn't remember a time when he couldn't use his blood spirit. So that was the reason.
"Corrupt Seal?" Huan Wei read his description as well. This surprised him. He had never felt that he had such power until now.
"It consumes the life essence and gives me growth." He spoke while smiling. "I could have used it if it had been with me when I killed Ran Qianfan."
Huan Wei was a murderer. Despite his low strength, he had killed several people before thanks to his plans and conspiracies. He covered up the murders. So that no one knew about it.
"Shit..." Ran Qianfan's corpse had been found and Chiu Ti had killed his sister to protect Huan Wei. "It's going to come back to us."
He went through the rest of the system.
---
[Quest Panel]
[Main Quest] Ascend to the Gods Dimension
Reward: Return to your own universe with all the powers you have
[Daily Quest] Earn 500 xp
Punishment: 12 Hours of Death Pains
---
"Okay," He raised one eyebrow. "I suppose there are punishments. But ascending to the Gods Dimension? That's a bit much... I'm only at the very beginning."
He glanced at the other panels. But they all seemed locked.
---
[Special Missions]
Locked. Reach the Path Realm Early Phase to unlock it.
[Create Technique]
Locked. Reach the Life Link Realm Early Phase to unlock it.
[System Storage]
Locked. Reach the Origin Awakening Realm Early Phase to unlock it.
[Fast Travel]
Locked. Reach the Soul Shaping Realm Early Phase to unlock it
[System Market]
Locked
---
"The Black Void must really want me to get stronger. It even added a panel so I can create my own technique."
Huan Wei took a good look. But there were a few more panels that he couldn't see what they were. There was also no indication of when the System Market would open.
"My entire cultivation seems to have been planned. A new feature has been added for each realm. The panels I can't see probably belong to higher realms."
The young man was amazed by the system. "This is... It's tremendous. I could be the king sitting on top of the world. Even better... I can ascend to the Gods Dimension. I could become a god." His eyes again took on the cold-bloodedness of a killer. "Then I can mete out the punishment."
Huan Wei was excited. The more he saw the powers the system had already given him, the more excited he became. He stood in front of the holographic screens for almost an hour. He read and re-read everywhere. Tomorrow was going to be a completely different day.
"Looks like it's time to play."