Feng Chen stood at the entrance of his cave, his clothes soaked from the rain, and his blood-soaked appearance made him look even more menacing.
His body trembled, not from fear, but from the energy coursing through his veins, barely holding together. He looked at the egg nestled safely within the cave, glowing faintly in the dim light.
The timer above it was counting down relentlessly:- 59 minutes remaining.
His heart pounded in his chest, but it wasn't from excitement. He knew what this egg symbolized. He had been anticipating this moment, but now, with everything that had happened... the battles, the system, the truth slowly unraveling in front of him... his thoughts were weighed down with a sense of dread.
He approached the egg with steady steps, but his mind was racing with questions, doubts, and a slow-building anger he could barely contain.
He dropped to the floor beside the egg, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his knees. He stared at it, the glow from the egg reflecting faintly in his eyes. But inside, his emotions were anything but calm. The flood of thoughts crashed into him again and again, and he felt his temper rising with each passing second.
Just as he tried to focus, right on cue, a system window appeared in front of him:
-----
System Notification:-
Ah, look at you, Feng Chen... acting all calm and collected after barely surviving another near-death experience. You should be thanking me. Really. Where would you be without me? Oh, right... probably still crying about being exiled from your clan like the good-for-nothing you are.
-----
Feng Chen's jaw clenched, his fists balling up at his sides. The system's mockery continued to grate on his nerves, and for a moment, his anger nearly boiled over.
But instead of reacting, he let out a slow, deep breath, feeling his chest rise and fall with the effort to stay composed. He had no time to waste on petty arguments.
His voice cut through the tension, sharp and direct.
"Do not disturb mode."
Another window appeared almost instantly:
-----
System Notification:-
Do not disturb mode activated.
-----
For once, the system complied without another sneer. The cave fell into silence. No more taunts. No more mocking. Just the low hum of the egg and the faint glow illuminating the cave.
Feng Chen leaned back slightly, closing his eyes. His breath was shaky, as if he had been holding it all along, but now he exhaled slowly, releasing a deep, exhausted sigh.
It felt like he had been playing this game for years... years of pretending to be an arrogant, clueless fool, all to keep the system unaware of his growing suspicions. All to draw out its true nature.
"I can't believe it took me this long," he muttered to himself, his voice filled with frustration.
"How could I have let myself become this... mindless cultivator? Chasing power, chasing cultivation, just like every other fool in this world?"
He lifted a hand to rub his temple, his thoughts swirling with a storm of emotions. His fists clenched tighter, his knuckles white, as the anger in his chest slowly began to boil over.
"This system... or whatever it is, has been playing me for a fool all along."
But not for long.
His eyes snapped open, revealing the fire of determination blazing in his gaze.
"I'll keep pretending for now... keep acting the fool. But once I have what I need... once it reveals itself..." A cruel smile curled his lips.
"I'll turn the tables. And then we'll see who's really in control."
A memory from his previous life flashed in his mind... one that had been buried under layers of this new world's chaos.
"What nobody here knows..." he thought with a quiet chuckle,
"is that back in my old life, I wasn't just some kid who read cultivation stories. No... I was a strategist. An anonymous champion who dominated every match, every game, every battle I entered. I know how to outthink anyone."
His eyes narrowed, the grin on his face turning colder as he ran his thumb over his lower lip.
"Whoever... or whatever this system really is... won't see it coming."
Just then, a thought struck him like a lightning bolt.
"The locket..."
Feng Chen's breath caught in his throat, his expression growing dark. The locket... the only item he took with him when he was exiled from the Feng Clan. His eyes scanned the floor, his mind racing, trying to recall if he had seen it recently.
Where is it?
His heart skipped a beat, fury igniting once more in his chest. He had been so focused on the system, on cultivation, that he hadn't even realized the locket was missing. A priceless possession... and it was gone.
His pulse quickened, but he forced himself to remain calm. There was nothing he could do about it right now. He couldn't afford to lose his composure, not with the egg about to hatch.
With a deep breath, Feng Chen pushed the thought aside and focused once more. He was on the brink of something much more important.
The timer on the egg continued its countdown, each second ticking away, echoing in the back of his mind.
45 minutes...
30 minutes...
20 minutes...
His mind had cleared, but the anger still simmered beneath the surface, threatening to boil over at any moment.
"I need to stay focused," he reminded himself, closing his eyes again.
"I need to be in control of myself if I want to control my future."
With the timer slowly dwindling, he knew he needed to calm the storm of energy swirling inside him. The anger was feeding the yin, throwing his energy out of balance. He could feel the imbalance growing, and with it, his cultivation was at risk. He couldn't afford to lose control now.
"Nine Heavens Soul Purification Art," he whispered, placing his hands in a meditative pose and drawing in the cold, dark yin energy. Immediately, he felt a sense of relief as the energy began to flow more smoothly through his body. His anger was slowly dissipating, the darkness fading from his mind as he converted the excess yin into yang and harmonized the two.
His body hummed with energy, the yin and yang forces balancing perfectly inside him. The golden scriptures that had embedded themselves into his body began to glow faintly, tracing delicate patterns across his skin, harmonizing with the energy flow.
The yin and yang divine body was awakening again, the patterns of black and white manifesting on his flesh like flowing rivers of energy. The right side of his body glowed white, while the left side was shrouded in darkness, and the mark on his forehead split... the cerulean mark now partially consumed by a deep blood-red hue.
His hair didn't change color, but in the faint light, the tips of his white strands seemed to take on a blackish-red hue. His entire body pulsed with energy, power thrumming through every fiber of his being as his cultivation reached its peak.
He was close... so close to breaking through.
The timer flashed in the corner of his vision once more.
Three seconds.
Two seconds.
One second.
And then it happened. The egg trembled violently, shaking so hard that it rattled against the stone floor of the cave. A soft hum filled the air, growing louder and louder, until a loud CRACK echoed through the cave, followed by a blinding burst of golden light.
Feng Chen shielded his eyes for a moment, squinting against the brightness. When the light finally dimmed, he lowered his arm.. and what he saw left him speechless.
The egg had split open, and from within, two small creatures uncoiled. They slithered gracefully, their bodies shimmering in the dim light. One was black as the Void, its scales reflecting the darkness of the night sky, while the other was Pure White, glowing like polished jade in the moonlight.
They were snakes. Long, slender, and undeniably powerful, despite their small size.
Feng Chen's breath caught in his throat. He had read about this before... this balance of forces.
Yin and Yang.
The snakes slithered toward him, their bodies moving in perfect synchronization, intertwining and gliding across the stone floor. Feng Chen watched in awe as they approached him, and as they did, he felt the power radiating off of them... strong, ancient, and beyond anything he could have imagined.