Chapter 5: The System Awakens!

The golden light of the secret realm's entrance faded, revealing a landscape that made Zhao Lingfeng's breath catch in his throat.

He stood among scattered groups of disciples in the depths of an ancient forest, where nature reigned unchecked. Towering trees with gnarled, bark-scarred trunks, their tangled roots weaving through the earth as vines draped from twisted branches, swaying.

The ground was uneven, blanketed in a carpet of moss and decayed leaves, broken only by jagged stone. Somewhere in the distance, an unseen creature let out a low roar, answered by another deeper in the woods.

"So this is a secret realm," Zhao Lingfeng murmured, drinking in every detail with the reverence of a man who had spent years dreaming of such moments.

The air itself tasted different here. Heavy with spiritual energy that made his meager cultivation base hum in response. Each breath felt like drinking wine after years of water.

Other disciples spread out across the land, their reactions varying from cautious assessment to barely contained excitement. The more privileged among them had likely seen such places before, but for outer disciples like Zhao Lingfeng, this was a first glimpse into the true wonders of the cultivation world.

He could hear someone voice carried from nearby, tight with barely contained awe. "The spiritual energy here... it's so dense it almost hurts to breathe."

She wasn't wrong. Even with his limited cultivation, Zhao Lingfeng could feel the pressure of the realm's ambient energy. It was like stepping into deep water. Comfortable for those who could swim, but potentially dangerous for those who couldn't.

Zhao Lingfeng even thought for a moment that it may even be a wise choice to spend the entire five days cultivating in seclusion here instead of risking his life fighting over treasures.

When he looked around, he could see roughly nine other disciples from various sects around him. It appeared these people also had the same spawn point as him.

He recognized two of them.

Both of them were his senior brothers of the Liuyun Sect. One of them was from the Outer court who he was much familiar with named Peng Xun. The other was one he didn't immediately recognize, but he appeared a little familiar, especially since he wore the pristine, white robe belonging to the Inner court.

"Senior brother Guo! It's him! It's that bastard who took away my Violet Spirit Grass back in Verdant City," his voice cut through the ambient hum of spiritual energy.

"Oh, so you were the one who bullied my junior disciple?"

The speaker was young, perhaps no more than twenty, but his bearing carried the arrogance of one who had never known failure. The spiritual energy around him rippled with barely contained power. Behind him, several disciples who had recognized the speaker snickered.

They looked as though they were about to watch a good show.

Senior Brother Guo Fengyuan, the genius young master of the Golden Merchant Alliance, and inner-court disciple of the Liuyun Sect stepped forward. His movements were full of confidence and control. The mark of one who had reached the peak of Qi Refining and touched the threshold of Foundation Establishment.

Under these circumstances, such cultivation was the peak of what was possible in this realm.

Although his strength was only at the bare minimum level to be in the inner-court if one wasn't a genius, but the reality was this person was also a genius.

And here, he was the king of the jungle.

Some person, who couldn't seem to read the air of the situation spoke up.

"Umm… We are all guests of this secret realm. There's no need for—"

"No need?"

Young Master Guo's laugh was sharp as breaking glass.

"When lesser sects send their dregs to sully such sacred ground no matter how mundane it may be in the eyes of others, it's a disgrace. And besides, this person was the one who bullied a fellow junior of mine. If I don't deliver justice, then everyone would mock our great Liuyun Sect!"

He walked up to the hooded youth.

But just before he could reach him, the hooded youth who looked like he was frozen in fear, suddenly moved. His speed was unexpectedly fast enough that Zhao Lingfeng couldn't follow him with his eyes.

But Young Master Guo was much faster, fast as lightning.

BAM!!

The hooded youth was sent flying, blood spraying the air.

Everyone watched with their mouths open as his body mercilessly crashed into a tree before he landed flat first into the floor.

Even Zhao Lingfeng could not believe his eyes. He could tell that his senior brother held no mercy with his punch.

It was a punch with the full intent to kill.

"Know your place trash. This young master is too busy to deal with trivial matters like disciplining ants." Guo Fengyuan sneered, shaking his fist as if disgusted by the very act of touching someone so beneath him. "Satisfied?"

"Very satisfied! Young Master Guo! Your benevolence has touched me. I, Peng Xun, will never forget this favor!"

"Hmph, come with me. I need you to help me find at least a 10,000 year old Moon Glow Grass, so I can finally create a Perfect Foundation Establishment Pill." 

The air was tense, the bystanders frozen between fear and awe, witnessing the prowess of the young master. Their eyes especially widened when they had heard his plans to make a perfect pill to breakthrough into the next realm. They could only sigh with envy.

Zhao Lingfeng was amongst them. He had already furtively distanced himself from the scene when nobody was watching, afraid that this ruthless senior brother of his would force him into slave work.

He was sick of that.

He looked at the hooded figure on the floor and said to himself, "...This is the reality of the cultivation world. The strong trample on the weak, and the weak... they can only bleed, crawl, and endure. And sometimes the result is…"

Zhao Lingfeng shook his head, sparing a final glance at the hooded youth's crumpled form. The boy's robes were tattered, his body limp against the dirt, yet no one moved to at least check if he was alive or not. The crowd had already turned their attention to Young Master Guo, and some of the smarter ones were already giving up their opportunity and willing to be a licking dog.

He wanted to reach out and at least give that poor person a burial, but he had to accept his position now.

This was no longer Earth.

Here, people can kill without even blinking an eye.

He sighed and turned away, muttering under his breath, "I hope you carry this lesson into the next life, whoever you are. In this world, pride without power is a death sentence."

He didn't know the history behind his senior brother and this person, but he knew what kind of person the other senior brother Peng Xun was.

Ding!

The sound resonated through his consciousness with the pristine clarity of a temple bell, yet somehow carried the nostalgic echo of achievement notifications from his past life. His heart skipped a beat and he was snapped out of his sympathy.

He stared ahead, blankly.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

Was this?

Could this be the legendary golden finger? The cheat that was given to many transmigrators in those fantasy web novels and comics.

"Five years," he whispered. "Five years...better late than never."

As though he was possessed, muscle memory from countless gaming sessions made his fingers twitch as if reaching for a non-existent mouse.

He tapped the screen in front of him.

[Welcome to the RPG System.]

[You have unlocked basic features: Status Window, Quests, Inventory, Inbox.]

"Ha..."

The laugh that escaped his lips carried equal measures of incredulity and relief. After five years of scrubbing floors and running errands, after watching his cultivation stagnate while others soared past him, the Heavens had finally answered.

And the System the Heavens gave him appeared to be tailored to him.

The interface materialized like pixels assembling on a loading screen, each element flickering into existence with a slight delay, as if rendering in real time.

Nameplates floated above the heads of nearby disciples that haven't left the area left. They had a yellow indicator on them. He guessed it may mean neutrality or it might mean something like to be wary of.

First, he closed it manually with his fingers. Then, he tried to check if he was able to talk in his mind to navigate the System.

System, he called in his mind.

The System interface opened.

Status window.

…

….

...

"Status window," he tried calling out this time.

This also didn't work.

Zhao Lingfeng was not upset. He already understood that this System was something that would unlock more features over time. After all, there were too little options available for him right now.

Ding!

[System Notice: Two System Features Will Be Unlocked Soon. Due to the early activation of the RPG System, there has been a delay in providing all the basic features. Please wait patiently for their full arrival.]

[Progress toward the arrival of new System Features: 18%]

Speak of the devil, Zhao Lingfeng chuckled.

He was curious as to what caused the System to awaken prematurely. He wondered if it was because he had entered a secret realm. In any case, it was good news for him.

Making sure nobody had his attention on him, he opened his status window.

Name: Zhao Lingfeng

Age: 18 (24 previous life)

Level 4: Qi Refining Realm (3rd Level) (EXP until next level 820)

Affiliation: Liuyun Sect

Title: Liuyun Sect's Outer Court Disciple

Talent Grade: D

Body Constitution: None

Reputation: A trash menial disciple that diligently accomplishes his menial jobs.

Attributes:

Strength: 9

Dexterity: 12

Endurance: 8

Spiritual Power: 10

Perception: 13

His status window appeared in his peripheral vision. He didn't know if his Attributes were good or not, but the D grade talent was enough for him to understand.

Well, even without the System's grading, I already knew I was weak.

He tapped the "?" to obtain further information.

Strength: Determines physical might, influencing attack damage, lifting ability, and mastery of brute force techniques.

Dexterity: Measures agility, speed, and precision, affecting accuracy and evasion.

Endurance: Represents stamina and resilience, impacting health, defense, and resistance to fatigue.

Spiritual Power: Governs spiritual energy (Qi) capacity and potency, influencing spiritual arts and spiritual techniques.

Perception: Enhances sensory awareness, including sight, hearing, and intuition, aiding in detecting hidden threats or opportunities.

"No intelligence stat? Could it perhaps be a hidden or unique stat? No, considering it's a cultivation world, it may be referred to something like "Comprehension". In any case, the basic framework is there," he mumbled to himself.

What caught his attention next was a blue exclamation mark that was above an image of a box.

That must be the inbox, he thought to himself.

But before he could tap it…

DING!!

[Special Quests have been issued. Please check your Quests to view the corresponding details.]