The Path To Qi

My mind was buzzing, not from the excitement of Li Wei's victory, but from the Sect Master's casual mention of "Layers" and the System's truly unhelpful (and terrifying) comment about King Theron being an "ant."

I paced my room, my pristine white robe trailing behind me.

King Theron. A Fourth Layer cultivator. The strongest in the realm.

And the System, my sarcastic, omnipotent guide, had dismissed him as an ant.

What did that even mean? What kind of power existed beyond Fourth Layer? What kind of power did the System itself wield?

And then there was me. Alex. The Systems Trader. I had cool systems, sure.

I could fly (sort of), deflect punches (minor ones), and make pebbles dance.

I could even kick really hard through my disciples. But I wasn't a cultivator. I had no Qi. I had no Layers. My body was still, at its core, a simple human body from Earth.

"This is a problem," I muttered aloud. "A big problem."

I imagined myself in a direct fight with a true cultivator, someone like Urg, or even one of my disciples.

My systems were great for enhancing what was already there, or giving me unique utility.

But they didn't give me the raw, fundamental power of Qi. If a powerful cultivator unleashed a full-blown elemental attack, my little Kinetic Shield might deflect a minor impact, but it wouldn't stop a literal fireball from Ignis. I'd be toast. Burnt toast.

"I need to be stronger," I declared, stopping my pacing.

"Not just system-strong. I need raw power. I need… Qi. I need to be a cultivator!"

The thought was both thrilling and daunting. I had no cultivation talent.

The Facilitator had said I was selected for a "special role," not for my innate spiritual aptitude.

Could a system even give me Qi?

My dashboard, showing [Points: 4,710], remained stubbornly silent. No helpful hints. No sarcastic commentary.

"System," I pleaded mentally, "I need to become a cultivator. I need Qi. Can you… can you give me a system for that? Something to make me, you know, not just a squishy human with cool gadgets?"

Silence.

I sighed. "Come on, System! This is important! If I'm going to be a Sect Master, I can't just be the guy who hands out superpowers.

I need to be able to use them myself, in a way that makes sense in this world! I need to be able to fight alongside my disciples, not just cheer them on from the sidelines!"

More silence. The System was being particularly unhelpful today. Maybe it was still mad about my "ant" comment.

I slumped onto my bed, utterly frustrated. How was I supposed to become a cultivator? I couldn't just sit down and meditate like everyone else. I didn't have the spiritual roots, the innate talent.

Minutes stretched into what felt like an eternity. I stared at the dashboard, willing it to give me a solution. And then, a single, simple message popped up, glowing with an almost bored tone.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE: OPEN THE SHOP.]

My eyes widened. "The shop?" I blurted out loud. "But… but I don't want weapons! I want raw power! I want Qi! The shop is for… for items!"

The System remained silent, the message stubbornly fixed on the screen. [OPEN THE SHOP.]

"Fine!" I grumbled, mentally clicking the "Shop" button.

The familiar interface bloomed in my mind, with its categories:

[SYSTEMS], [WEAPONS], [CONSUMABLES], [UTILITY],

I scrolled through [SYSTEMS] first.

Nothing explicitly about "gaining Qi." Lots of things about optimizing Qi, or controlling Qi, but not getting Qi if you didn't have it.

I then went to [CONSUMABLES].

I saw the familiar [Minor Healing Potion], [Strength Elixir], [Armor Coating Potion], and [Flash Bomb Scroll].

All useful, but not what I needed.

I scrolled further down, past the more common items. And then I saw a new category, one I hadn't noticed before, probably because it was so far down the list and I was usually looking for combat stuff.

[MEDICINE]

I clicked on it. A new list appeared. Various pills, elixirs, and strange glowing concoctions.

Most were for healing, or boosting stamina, or curing poisons. But then, at the very bottom, almost hidden, I saw it.

[Qi Pill (High Risk of Death)] - Cost: 3,000 Points

(A concentrated pill of pure spiritual energy. Consuming it may forcefully open cultivation pathways and grant a basic Qi Layer.

WARNING: High risk of death or permanent spiritual damage if body is not strong enough to withstand the influx. Not for the faint of heart or weak of constitution.)

My breath hitched. A Qi Pill. It could grant a basic Qi Layer. But… "High Risk of Death." And 3,000 points.

That was a huge chunk of my remaining points. It would leave me with only 1,710 points. But it was the only option. The only way to get Qi.

I stared at the warning. High risk of death. That was a pretty serious warning.

Like, "don't try this at home, kids" serious.

But if I wanted to be a real Sect Master, if I wanted to truly understand this world, if I wanted to not be a squishy human in a fight against a real cultivator… I had to take the risk.

My [Minor Kinetic Shield] hummed.

My [Basic Elemental Affinity (Earth)] felt grounded.

Were my systems enough to make my body "strong enough to withstand the influx"? I had no idea. But I had to try.

"Okay," I whispered, my voice a little shaky.

"Okay, System. You want me to be a cultivator? You want me to be a real Sect Master? This is how it happens."

I mentally clicked "Buy."

The [Qi Pill (High Risk of Death)] materialized in my hand.

It was a small, unassuming black pill, no bigger than my thumb, but it radiated an incredibly dense, almost suffocating spiritual energy. It felt warm, almost alive. It looked like a tiny, condensed black hole of pure power.

I stared at it. This was it. The ultimate gamble. My life, my future as a Systems Trader, all rested on this one little black pill.

I took a deep breath. My heart hammered against my ribs. I could feel the Qi of the Azure Cloud Sect, the power of the city, all around me. It was time to join them. Or explode trying.

"Here goes nothing," I muttered.

I popped the pill into my mouth. It had no taste, surprisingly. But the moment it touched my tongue, a searing, unimaginable heat exploded through my entire body.

It wasn't just heat; it was like every single cell in my body was being forcibly ripped open and then crammed full of raw, untamed spiritual energy.

My vision swam. My muscles spasmed.

I fell to my knees, clutching my chest, gasping for air that wouldn't come.

CHUNK!

It felt like a thousand tiny needles were piercing my skin, simultaneously burning and freezing me from the inside out. The warning was not kidding. This was agony. Pure, unadulterated, terrifying agony.

My [Minor Kinetic Shield] flared, trying to protect my internal organs from the overwhelming influx, but it was like trying to stop a tsunami with a teacup.

I screamed. Or tried to. No sound came out. My body arched, my vision flickering between blinding white and absolute black.

This was it. This was death. Again. And this time, there was no banana peel to blame.

Just as consciousness threatened to slip away, a familiar, exasperated voice echoed directly in my mind, cutting through the agony.

[SYSTEM ALERT: USER IS BEING A DRAMA QUEEN. YOU'RE NOT DYING. YET. JUST… EVOLVING. PAINFULLY.]

[SYSTEM STATUS: ANNOYED AT THE NOISE.]

Then, a new message, pulsing with a grudging admiration:

GOOD JOB, DOOFUS. YOU BOUGHT THE QI PILL. NOW, TRY NOT TO EXPLODE. I'M NOT GIVING YOU A REFUND.

The pain, though still immense, suddenly felt… manageable.

The System's voice, its sarcastic commentary, somehow grounded me. It was like being told by a cosmic drill sergeant that you were being a wimp, even as your body felt like it was tearing itself apart.

I focused on that voice. On the image of my dashboard. On the sheer stubborn refusal to die. I pushed. I fought. I embraced the agony, letting the raw Qi surge through me, forcing it into pathways I didn't even know existed.

Hours passed. Or minutes. I couldn't tell.

The pain slowly, agonizingly, began to subside, replaced by a profound, overwhelming sense of fullness.

My body felt… different. Stronger. Lighter. And when I finally opened my eyes, the world seemed sharper, more vibrant. I could feel it. The Qi. It was flowing within me. A warm, powerful current.

I instinctively closed my eyes, focusing. And then, I felt it. A connection. A Layer.

My dashboard, which had been silent, flashed.

[SYSTEM ALERT: QI PATHWAYS ESTABLISHED. FIRST LAYER CULTIVATION ACHIEVED.]

[SYSTEM STATUS: GRUDGINGLY IMPRESSED.]

I did it. I was a cultivator. A Ninth Layer cultivator, the weakest layer, but a cultivator nonetheless!

I had Qi! I had raw power! And I had survived the [Qi Pill (High Risk of Death)]!

I stood up, my legs feeling surprisingly steady. I stretched out my hand, and with a thought, a tiny, flickering spark of Qi appeared on my palm. It was small, barely visible, but it was mine.

All that pain, all that risk, for a single Layer and a huge chunk of points. But it was worth it.

I was no longer just a Systems Trader. I was a Systems Trader and a cultivator.