chapter 4: Jaune Aurelius And Liu Ren
Immediately, Jeo, Doyun, Lee, and Jin got on edge when they saw the blonde man with the aura of the master, while Zhen was paralyzed on the spot as he thought, "Why can't I move!?"
As he thought that, the system replied, {As you are in the presence of a master, the blonde man in front of us, you are feeling an effect of being in his Qi aura field at such a low level of power. You are like— "a prey animal before a dragon. Too terrified to move despite instincts telling you to run away." Immediately, Zhen turned to look at the man, and if the system could have eyes, it would also be looking, as the system said {WHAT!?} As the blonde man smiled, he got closer and said,
"Lemme guess the system is shocked? Yeah, well mine was too when we met the one who could see it. So I'm gonna assume you're Zhen, correct?"
The man had a kind smile even as he— wait, when did he take out his sword? At first, Zhen assumed he was going to cut him down, but instead, he blocked a fist swing from Jeo that cracked the ground under them. As the blond turned to Jeo and said, "Now, was that necessary?" as he grabbed what looked like a set of chopsticks and channeled qi into them? Before Zhen could ask what he was doing, he already pressed the sticks against several points on his body. As the system said, {Dantian maturity rate sped up, estimated time for maturity: 2 weeks} as Zhen had felt a surge of Qi go through his body down to my Dantian as the man said.
"There we go. Now we gotta have a little more time." Now Zhen had been quiet for a while now, so he's just gonna speak my mind: "Who the hell are you!?" Then Zhen thought 'NOT LIKE THAT, ME! '
Now everyone seemed on edge as the 3 swords of Mudang, aka Jin, Doyun, and Lee, tried to attack the blond at once, only for the blonde to weave Jin's sword slash, block Doyun's, and then just kick Lee in the face. Rude.
Then the system says {examination of the figure is complete; here's his bio}. Zhen does not know what bio means, but he'll take what he can get.
{System User Number 270: Jaune Aurielus}
{Titles: Sword demon of Sanghae, Wandering Blade Master, That Jerk.}
{Attack power: ????}
{Defensive power: ????}
{Health: 20,000,00)
{Qi: ???}
{Miracle body: SWORD DEMON}
Immediately Zhen's heart dropped to the depths of his stomach. This guy is so powerful that the system can't get a good read on his power. And system user number 270!? There's more like him!?
The system chimed {correct. There are more than one system user present. You are number 300 and the latest system user to exist so far}. $3 then said under my breath "I feel less special now." As the system replied {You're the 300th user of a system that only appears in 1 in 10,000 people. You are special.) and Zhen's face lit up as he noticed how time stopped again and then the system said {do you notice the miracle body he has?} as he looked at the tile thing and saw 'sword demon"' as he said
"What's the sword demon?" As the system then did its magic and showed a large tile saying
{The sword demon miracle body is one of the 'demon' miracle bodies alongside the mad demon, poison demon, Blood demon, and the lost indulgence/Lust demon body, the sword demon to be specific focuses on Mastery of the sword and a manifestation of sword aura early on. Basically this body focuses on mastering the blade and is coveted by demon cults for its skill. However, this user is different. Jaune seems to possess pure yang Qi. This is unheard of…maybe it's because he's a reincarnate?} Zhen was confused. He had no idea what that meant as Jaune said unexpectedly. Because you know, time stopped when the system is speaking.
"Reincarnates are those from other worlds who ended up in this world through either death or warping. In my case, I fell through a portal." Zhen was shocked, so he replied, "You can talk in time st- oh, right, you also have the system." Jaune smiled and said, "Yeah, and here's another bit of advice. People with mental-based Qi techniques can hear the system. Best to keep it just manifesting screens if you don't want to risk someone finding it out." He says calmly as he then says, "Sooo, you're Zhen. The uhh what did that guy say, 2nd of the 4 Famed beauties of Gongmen…Weird thing to say."
Zhen blushed and grumbled. Because of his immense beauty and lack of muscle mass, he was often fawned over as one of the 4 famed Gongmen beauties. To explain his entire adult life, which was for about 5 years so far, yes he's 23, he has been called the most beautiful man in the city due to a combination of Zhen's long flowing white hair, delicate frame despite the fact he had been trying to get muscle for years now, and his neutral tone voice, he has often been fawned over by the city, combine that with his amazing singing voice, made him an idol for the population of Gongmen, much to Zhen's chagrin.
Zhen works so hard to get some muscle and not a single shred of muscle despite the fact he does lift some heavy stuff and he has trained with a staff and several weapons that require a level of strength to use and he's still a short, slender, young man. So yeah that makes him a bit annoyed.
Jaune seemed to notice and said, "I guess you don't really like that nickname, sorry. Anyway, uhh, so what's with the stick?" He says, pointing his finger at Zhen's shortstaff, which he then said, "Oh, it was a gift from Ren. He's the leader of the new beggars-." Immediately, he saw Jaune's eyes crack, and his eyes began to twitch as Jaune says,
"Ren. Like Liu Ren the mad demon? Leader of the new beggars association, black hair, reddish-pink eyes, has his hair in a ponytail, often spouts poetry when bored? That Ren?" Zhen nodded, and immediately he grabbed a set of prayer beads and tapped them in a certain number before Zhen heard a weird sound, and then from the beads he heard "Hello, Jaune?" It was Ren…okay, now Zhen is majorly confused as to what the heck was going on, as Jaune then said
"Ren! We agreed I would get to teach the next system user we find correct?" Zhen then heard Ren say "yes?" Jaune's eye twitched and said back, his eyes flashing red for a second
"Well then, why the hell did the new system user, Zhen, say you gave him a shortstaff?"as then Ren said back
"Wait, Zhen is the new system user? But that doesn't make sense; he never showed the system at any time when he was at the—" immediately Jaune interrupted
"Wait, he just awakened it? He didn't have it beforehand? You gotta be messing with me; we know how the system works, you awaken it either when you die and come back to life, or when you enter this world for the first time-" Jaune stopped and turned to Zhen saying
"Zhen. Did you by chance die and come back to life immediately?" Zhen nodded, still too confused and stunned to speak, and he then said to Ren
"Oh, I get the problem; he's a revived." Ren made a sound of "ooohhh" before continuing
"So that means he was lucky enough to awaken the system while dying." Jaune nodded and said "he's nearby if you wanna talk?" Jaune put the beads near Zhen's head and Ren says
"Zhen you listening?" As Zhen simply held the beads and said
"Hello Lord Ren! Uhh can you guys explain what you're talking about?" He said throughly confused as to what they were talking about as Ren said
"Well Zhen, you are the user of what's called the system. You know those tiles and voices you see and hear? Those are the system manifesting. The only people who can see the tiles are other system users, and the only people who can hear it are also system users. And anyone with mental techniques that invade the mind, as Jaune mentioned, the system also does this thing where it rapidly speeds up your progress of either a sorcerer or martial artist, alongside a certain gift you get once you finish your first "quest" or basically an objective that the system gives." Zhen nodded in understanding, and then he remembered something.
"What do you mean by you 2 came into the world? You weren't born here?" Jaune sighed and said, "Well, to put it simply, you have 3 different ways of being a system user. If you aren't born with it, you're either a revived meaning you came back to life and got the system, reincarnated meaning you came from another world and got it, that's how me and Ren became system users, or…well, let's hope you don't meet the last category." He said grimly and Zhen replied
"Ok…and what is the gift of this 'quest'?" As Jaune chuckled and said "you get 3 different options, if you're familiar with games of chance, the 3 options are basically a Game of chance each where you get a digital Spin wheel and when spun it lands on something and you get that something, but you can only choose one of the 3 options, the first option lets you get a miracle body, the 2nd lets you get a special weapon, the third you get a special martial arts or sorcerer tome, the quality and rarity of which depends entirely on what the wheel lands on." Zhen immediately got confused as he said
"Wait. So I can only choose one and the one I get is a game of chance, no matter what option I choose, that I don't have a say in what I get?" Jaune nodded and Ren said
"Yeah it's unfair but hey? For the chance to win something good? I'd say it's worth it." They nodded as then the system said
{first mission unlocked; perform the Qi locking ritual to lock your Qi into one of 4 categories; Pure yin, Pure yang, Demon yin, Demon yang}
Ren then said "ok that was quick. Guess we gotta perform the qi locking ritual. I'll be there to witness it soon. Where are you guys?" Jaune then replied
"We are at the gates of the Mudang sect. Was about to talk to the old man to apologize for the random barging in, anyway time to unpause time before we piss off the Tai Sui again." As time resumed and Then they heard
"Jaune. What did I say about barging in. And beating up the 3 swords?" As zhen turned and saw an Old man, seriously this man Was old like zhen was surprised he's able to walk with a walking stick, let alone on 2 feet, but despite this zhen could tell he was barely holding back a Lot of His power, and if the old man at the new Beggars associations shops told him anything worth while it was "Fear an old man in a profession where men die young."
Jaune stood fully and rubbed the back of his head saying "apologies Old man. May have entered a little too strongly, should i have knocked?" The old man smiled and chuckled saying
"Most definitely. Anyway I assume you're here about the young man Zhen?" Jaune nodded and said
"Saw a sign of a new miracle body in the city. Headed over here the first moment I could." The old man chuckled but then looked at Zhen and his eyes widened in worry and he said
"Young man. Are you aware of Your Body cores damage!?" Zhen immediately looked confused until he felt a sharp pain in his Gut and began to cough uncontrollably as the system said
{Warning body core overloading; must perform Qi locking ritual} as Jaune caught Zhen when he began To fall and he looked at him with his Gray eyes and he said
"Ahh crap! Lord Hyeon-" he turned in where he was looking and realized he was referring to the old man. "Send a letter to the nearest sorcerer. We gotta perform the Qi locking ritual, NOW." As he picks Zhen up and drags him inside the temple, zhen closed my eyes and fell unconscious, only for his eyes to be forced open and I saw a set of pitch black eyes with red pupils looking back. The eyes moved backwards revealing they belonged to Lord Ren as he said.
"Mister re-" zhen tried to sit up but was forced to lie back as Ren said, "Don't move. Not until we finish the preparations for the ritual. Shit. How did you take damage to your body core…unless…shit did someone try and possess you?" Ren muttered under his breath as he tried to think. As Zhen saw the systems tile about Ren.
{Liu Ren}
{Titles: Master of the New Beggars Association, the mad demon of Gongmen, The Master of the Beatings, that jerk's best friend}
{Attack power: ????}
{Defensive power: ????}
{Health: 20,000,000
{Qi: ???}
{Miracle body: MAD DEMON}
{mad demon description: The miracle body of unpredictable Chaos. Basically, Ren has absolute control over his body movements and possesses an ability to madden himself and enter a berserk state where he's an uncontrollable beast of slaughter, and also possesses an innate ability to predict an opponent's moves by listening to something called 'the rhythm of madness' and a few others not even I understand}
As zhen read that, Ren said, "Yeahyeah, my abilities make the system have a seizure. It's not important. Just lie down and keep lying down while the rest of us make preparations." As Ren grabbed a spindle of red string and began applying it throughout the room, Zhen saw Doyun, Lee, and Jin write down red ink on paper seals, and he saw Jeo in the corner performing Buddhist prayers, and he then saw the old man and Jaune discuss next to the open door.
"You sure they won't be able to get here in time?" Jaune said pacing as the old man , whose name zhen only knows to be Hyeon, replied.
"Yes. We will have to perform the ritual ourselves." As Jaune angrily said "and they wonder why I don't trust sorcerers." As Hyeon put his hand on Jaunes shoulder and said
"Calm down. You're in the Mudang sect grounds, we are the best prepared to perform the Qi locking ritual out of all the 16 great sects and cults." Jaune then said
"I thought you weren't In the 16 anymore?" Cue Hyeon stopping and being quiet only to bonk Jaune on the head with his walking stick
"Don't patronize me boy. Just because Mudang lost the title to the Heaven crashing fist sect doesn't mean we don't know how to do what we've always done" Jaune rubbed his head and then nodded as he walked to Zhen and said
"Ok Zhen. Imma need you to close your eyes for this next part." Zhen nodded and immediately shut his eyes and felt himself getting tired and he fell into unconsciousness only to see a bright light in front of me and the system said
{choose? demon yin or demon yang} and a second message saying
{pure yin and pure yang are for some reason unviable as options if you wish to live}
As zhen sighed and immediately began to think about his choices
If he chooses demon yin he'll be stuck as the cutesy Young man but he"ll be able to learn some impressive martial arts like possession and soul thought …but even then. Demon yin isn't Zhen . Zhen doesn't fit in with demon yin as a style, he's not a quiet reserved man, he's Loud he's crude he's more in line with demon yang…but would that be a good option? Zhens heard that demon yang is the most volatile of the 4 Types of Qi users. Often losing themselves to mania…what does he choose?
What does he choose…