Shi Xiaole woke up from unconsciousness, and with a glance around, he saw cliff walls covered with thin snow, the occasional emerald green sprouting, and the sea of clouds in the distance rolling incessantly at the horizon, carrying a slight chill with it.
"Have I, actually traveled through time?"
A cascade of memory fragments rushed into his mind. After a while, he muttered incredulously to himself.
In his previous life, he was a graduate from a top-tier engineering university in his country. Because of his outstanding performance, he was selected by a major company ahead of time. Just as he was about to carve out his own path in society, he woke up and found himself here.
According to his memory, the land where he was now was called the continent of East Victory. Its territory was so vast that it was hundreds of times larger than the Eurasia continent of his previous life.
Unlike his previous life, the civilization of East Victory had endured thousands of years, resembling ancient China and could be deemed as a feudal society.
What shocked Shi Xiaole the most was that this world had little scientific development but the legendary martial arts truly existed. Skills like hitting a bull through a mountain, injuring people with internal force, flying through the skies, and digging through the earth, were nothing special for the masters here.
"Could this be... was this fate? In my past life, I imagined a life full of chivalry and roving the martial world with a sword. It seems like heaven has fulfilled my wish."
Shi Xiaole was a calm person by nature. Additionally, having been an orphan in his previous life, unburdened by any emotional attachments, he surprisingly accepted this reality almost immediately.
As he pondered upon his situation, the humorous part was that the person this body belonged to was also named Shi Xiaole, who was only fifteen years old and was a disciple of the Huajian Sect, located in the Emerald Feather City on Mountain Luyan.
But this fellow didn't have much of a pleasant life. Although relying on his aunt's relationship with the Sect Master allowed him to secure a position as a personally tutored disciple, he unintentionally impinged on the benefits of others. Added to the fact that he transferred here just a year ago, he wasn't exactly popular within the sect.
For example, on this occasion, he was ganged up on and beaten by a few of his senior brothers. Not only was his head split open, but he also shockingly rolled off a slope, giving the opportunity for Shi Xiaole to take over the original master's body.
"You've given me a second life, don't worry, I will live well for you."
With a sigh, Shi Xiaole touched the blood on his head, then limped along the mountain road, heading in the direction of the Huajian Sect.
The top priority was to heal his injuries.
Enduring pointing fingers and whispers along his way, Shi Xiaole returned to his yard, and following the memory of the original owner, took out several bottles of medicinal wine from a box in the house, and started wiping it on his wounds.
Hiss!
These people are ruthless. Were they trying to beat him to death?
In his memory, the original Shi Xiaole had decent talent. In one year, he had progressed from having no foundation to reaching the second level of Hidden Qi, which could be deemed as above average.
What a pity, how could he fight against the sect disciples who had practiced for five to six years, and moreover, it was a group fight.
"I became a favored disciple as soon as I arrived, which blocked certain other people's path."
Shi Xiaole chuckled bitterly, but anger was also building up in his heart.
At the very least, he should be considered a person with connections. He shouldn't have had to put up with such bullying from fellow disciples, even if they had the Grand Elder shielding them.
Unfortunately, the sole pillar of his support — the Sect Master of the Huajian Sect — was someone who spent all his time cultivating and didn't take the sect matters seriously. As a result, his influence was gradually suppressed by the Grand Elder.
Even towards Shi Xiaole, after meeting him once, he hastily granted him the identity of a personal disciple, then went on with his closed-door cultivation. As a result, he, despite his relationships, wasn't highly regarded by others.
Especially recently, with the three prominent personal disciples all leaving the mountain for tasks, these people became even more unbridled.
"Should I bide my time and swallow my anger?"
Laying back in the bed, Shi Xiaole calmly weighed the pros and cons in his mind. He wasn't an impulsive person. Although revenge was necessary, the prerequisite was to first improve himself.
In this world where learning martial arts was a norm, every sect cherished their martial arts scriptures. Even third-rate martial arts were rarely found in the market.
As a personal disciple of the Sect Master, Shi Xiaole had only practiced the fundamental Mind Methods and sword techniques from Huajian Sect so far. Only when he reached the third level of Hidden Qi, would he be eligible to access higher martial arts.
This was already considered a privilege. Ordinary disciples had to wait until they reached the fourth level of Hidden Qi.
"So, should I put up with this for a while longer?"
Ding!
During his period of depression, a voice sounded in his mind: "Initiation of the Grand Wuxia System Recovery, detection of cerebral optical wave confirmed, system requirements met, preparing for fusion."
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."
...
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
With a bang, Shi Xiaole's vision turned white. The next moment, he found himself standing in front of a five-story palace with sharp edges, imposing vitality, and golden splendor.
The plaque on the first floor of the palace read "Martial God Hall" in resplendent, dancing dragons and phoenixes. The words were awe-inspiring.
"Fusion successful. Congratulations, host, for being the very first owner of the Grand Wuxia System in history. You are about to create a dazzling glory never seen before."
A mechanical voice echoed.
It took Shi Xiaole some time to regain his senses before he asked, "What is this place? And who are you?"
"This is your mind space, host. And I am the Grand Wuxia System."
"What does that mean?"
"Grand Wuxia System, only those with extraordinary tenacious souls can possess it. Inside this Martial God Hall, it contains all the martial arts from your previous world."
As soon as the words fell, the Martial God Hall flashed brightly. The windows and walls of the five-floor temple disappeared and were replaced with a forest of stone walls, each one inscribed with martial arts names with which Shi Xiaole was incredibly familiar.
"Dugu Nine Swords."
"Sunflower Treasure Manual."
"Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms."
"Dao Mind Devil Cultivation Technique."
...
At first glance, Shi Xiaole found it unbelievable. His tenacious temperament made him force down his excitement and ask after a while, "How can I obtain these martial arts?"
This was a case of a dream coming true.
Just a moment ago, he was feeling upset because he could not obtain better martial arts, but now, with the Grand Wuxia System, what was there to fear?
But he knew that things would not be that simple.
As expected, the system explained mechanically, "In order to synchronize with this world, I've divided these martial arts into five ranks: third-rate, second-rate, first-rate, top and divine. Each rank is divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower. You need to complete the corresponding tasks to draw them. Of course, every month you also have a chance to draw for free."
Just as the system finished speaking, a large, three-meter-tall, one-meter-wide, stone wall suddenly emerged from the ground next to the Martial God Hall. It was blank.
This was the Task Stone Wall.
"The tasks are divided into two types: system-assigned and self-driven. You can refuse the former, but not the latter. Otherwise, I would have to penalize you."
"In addition, tasks range from easy to difficult, ranked from one to five stars. The higher the difficulty, the greater the reward. Of course, the penalty for failure is also more severe."
Shi Xiaole was still wrapped up in the system's previous words and asked with a frown, "Drawing? You mean, even if I complete the task, there is a chance I'll draw nothing?"
"Correct. For a one-star task, the chances of drawing nothing is 10%, for a two-star task it's 20%, and so forth. As for the free draw in the middle of the month, the chance of drawing nothing is 50%."
Shi Xiaole felt cold. This meant even if he completed the highest five-star task and drew for a divine martial art, there was still a 50% chance he would get nothing!
As for free drawing, that was even harder.
Perceiving Shi Xiaole's disappointment, the system added, "There's another way to obtain martial arts, that is, to buy them with the reward points received after completing tasks."
According to the system, every time a task is completed, the host will receive corresponding reward points.
Shi Xiaole questioned, "If that's the case, why set up a drawing project at all?"
"Because the rewards you get can be exchanged for time for cultivation in the system. The time flow of the system is three to one compared to the outside world. That means, if you cultivate in the system for three '2-hour periods', only one '2-hour period' shows as passed in the outside world."
Shi Xiaole breathed a sigh of relief. This was good news. Since he only started martial arts training at the age of fourteen, his foundation was weaker than others, so time was of the essence.
However, the system was quite cunning. It clearly didn't allow its host to have the best of both worlds. Every martial artist would have a headache choosing between martial arts and cultivation time.
"As you're first integrating with the system, you're entitled to one '2-hour period' of free cultivation time as a benefit. Also, you can draw a third-rate martial art."
Shi Xiaole was delighted and said, "Good, then let's draw."
A round square halo flickered between the stone walls on the first floor of the Martial God Hall. Shi Xiaole was somewhat nervous, especially when he saw the halo flashing on the blank stone wall.
It was his first draw. He hoped he wouldn't draw nothing.
Ding!
In the end, the square halo stopped on a stone wall with words. A burst of light rushed out and into Shi Xiaole's mind.
"Congratulations to the host for drawing a third-rate lower-level martial art technique, the Huashan Sword Technique."
Shi Xiaole raised an eyebrow, the Huashan Sword Technique? Okay then.
As an entry-level sword technique of the Huashan sect, the Huashan Sword Technique did have some merit. In particular, once Shi Xiaole got familiar with the moves and sequences, he realized that this set of sword technique was superior to the basic swordsmanship of the Huajian Sect.
Without any delay, Shi Xiaole started practicing the sequence.
He had always excelled at concentrating. Once he immersed himself in something, he could easily focus, which was why he could easily get into a top university in his previous life.
However, his state of immersion this time was extraordinarily quick. Wielding the system-generated sword, his movements at first were clumsy, sluggish, and even laughable.
But after fifteen minutes, he seemed to have the hang of it. By the end of half a '2-hour period', his movement became more graceful, and the sword emitted a faint glow as it swung.
Little did Shi Xiaole know, due to the integration of his two lives, not only was his willpower extraordinary, his intelligence and comprehension abilities had also improved significantly. Consequently, his martial arts learning was going smoothly.
A '2-hour period' passed in the blink of an eye. Shi Xiaole thrust out one last sword, its movement faintly embodying a sense of 'strangeness.'
The Huashan Sword Technique was always known for its strange and treacherous movements, and from this point of view, Shi Xiaole had gained a basic understanding of it.
"Your cultivation time is up, host, please return."
Before he had a chance to feel proud, his vision blurred and Shi Xiaole found himself back on his bed. Everything that just happened felt like a dream, but when he clenched his fist, he found that his injuries had unexpectedly healed.
He got up from the bed, picked up the sword hanging from the wall, and after swishing it around a few times, the smile on the corner of his mouth grew broader.