The Spirit Testing Monument loomed before Shen Yuan like an executioner's blade.
He knelt on the cold marble of the Awakening Plaza, surrounded by hundreds of disciples whose expressions ranged from pity to barely concealed mockery. The autumn wind cut through his thin outer sect robes, but he barely noticed. After sixteen years in this world—and thirty-two in his previous life—he'd grown numb to discomfort.
"Place your hand upon the Monument," Elder Bronze Sword commanded, his voice dripping with malicious anticipation.
Shen Yuan obeyed. The Monument's surface was ice beneath his palm, and he felt the probing spiritual energy enter his body, searching for cultivation potential it would never find.
Elder Bronze Sword's eyes gleamed as he examined the result. The Monument remained dark and lifeless, not even a flicker of light.
"Shattered Meridians," the Elder announced loudly. "Completely worthless. This one cannot cultivate even the most basic technique."
Laughter rippled through the crowd like poison spreading through water.
"Young Master Trash!" Feng Qian, the Sect Leader's legitimate son, called out from among the inner disciples. His Earth-Grade spiritual roots had been revealed just minutes earlier. "Perhaps you should try the servant quarters instead!"
More laughter. Louder this time.
Shen Yuan kept his face carefully neutral, though behind eyes that had lived two lifetimes, cold calculations ran. He'd expected this outcome since age five, when his shattered meridians were first discovered. Knowing didn't make the humiliation easier.
His gaze found Shen Yuhan on the raised platform. His adoptive sister—though few knew that connection—watched with genuine distress. She started to rise, her Heaven-Grade spiritual roots making the air shimmer around her.
"Sit, Yuhan." Sect Leader Shen Tianlong's voice was quiet but absolute. "This is not your concern."
She hesitated, then slowly sat, hands clenched into fists.
Elder Bronze Sword circled him like a vulture. "Sect Leader, I recommend immediate expulsion. This waste has consumed resources for sixteen years."
"One month," the Sect Leader finally pronounced. "Shen Yuan has thirty days to prove any value to this sect." The unspoken threat hung heavy in the air. "Dismissed."
The walk back to his quarters felt eternal. The Outer Sect housing was a collection of shabby buildings at the sect's edge—as far from the luxurious Inner Sect palaces as possible. His room was barely larger than a closet: a thin sleeping mat, a small table, and a chest for his meager possessions.
Shen Yuan closed the door and stood in the gathering darkness.
Thirty days to prove value he didn't possess. Thirty days to demonstrate cultivation ability his shattered meridians made impossible.
Two lives. Two failures.
In his first life, Chen Wei had died at thirty-two in a hospital bed, his heart giving out despite modern medicine. A congenital defect—nothing could be done. He remembered thinking how ordinary it all was, dying without having truly lived, without taking risks, without leaving any mark on the world.
He'd played it safe his entire life and still lost everything.
Then he'd woken as a newborn, gasping, his adult consciousness trapped in an infant's body. The terror of that moment had never faded. As he grew and learned this world's language, understanding dawned: reincarnation. Cultivation. A world where humans could shatter mountains and split seas.
And he was still broken. Still defective.
His shattered meridians were discovered at age five. The sect physician had delivered the verdict with pity and disgust: his meridian network was fragmented beyond repair, like trying to channel water through shattered pottery. He would never cultivate. Never advance. Never become anything more than mortal in a world of immortals.
Eleven years of that. Eleven years watching other disciples advance while he remained stuck at the starting line. Eleven years of mockery and crushing awareness of his own inadequacy.
"Is this my fate?" Shen Yuan whispered to the empty room. "To be powerless in every life?"
Perhaps he should just leave. Disappear into the mortal world, find simple work, live in obscurity. There were worse fates than being ordinary.
But something inside him rebelled.
No.
He'd refused to accept death once, fighting for consciousness even as his heart failed. He wouldn't surrender now either.
"I won't accept this," he said aloud, voice growing stronger. "I refused to accept death. I won't accept this either."
The words echoed in the small room, carrying unexpected weight. Something shifted in the air—subtle, almost imperceptible.
Then light exploded across his vision.
Shen Yuan jerked back, but the light wasn't external. It blazed behind his eyes, golden and absolute. Text appeared, floating impossibly:
[DIVINE CHOICE SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
His heart hammered. A stroke? Hallucination? He blinked rapidly, but the text remained steady.
[SCANNING HOST…]
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE: HOST POSSESSES TRANS-DIMENSIONAL SOUL]
[CRITERIA MET: SYSTEM BINDING TO HOST "SHEN YUAN"]
[BINDING COMPLETE]
[WELCOME, HOST. I EXIST TO SERVE YOUR WILL.]
Shen Yuan sat frozen, mind racing. Trans-dimensional soul? System binding? The words made no sense, yet he understood them perfectly, as if meaning was being directly transmitted into his consciousness.
"What are you?" he whispered.
The text shifted:
[I AM THE DIVINE CHOICE SYSTEM. MY PURPOSE IS TO PRESENT CHOICES AND GRANT REWARDS BASED ON DECISIONS MADE. I DO NOT JUDGE. I DO NOT GUIDE. I SIMPLY SERVE.]
A system. Like the web novels from his previous life—stories about reincarnation and mysterious powers he'd always dismissed as fantasy.
Apparently, he'd been wrong.
"Prove it," Shen Yuan demanded, his pharmaceutical training demanding evidence. "Show me this is real."
[UNDERSTOOD. DISPLAYING HOST STATUS…]
A translucent screen materialized in his vision:
[STATUS SCREEN]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
NAME: Shen Yuan (Chen Wei)
AGE: 16 (48 total)
CULTIVATION: None
PHYSIQUE: Shattered Meridians (Crippled)
SPIRITUAL ROOT: None Detected
ATTRIBUTES:
• Strength: 0.8 (Mortal Average: 1.0)
• Agility: 0.9 (Mortal Average: 1.0)
• Constitution: 0.6 (Mortal Average: 1.0)
• Qi Capacity: 0 (Cannot Cultivate)
• Soul Strength: 15.7 (Mortal Average: 1.0) [Trans-Dimensional Soul Bonus]
SKILLS: None
TECHNIQUES: None
TITLES: Young Master Trash, Sect Leader's Shame
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Shen Yuan stared at the screen. Everything was pathetically low except… Soul Strength? Fifteen times the average? That had to be from living two lives.
"Show me choices," he said quietly.
[INITIATING FIRST CHOICE SCENARIO…]
[SITUATION: HOST FACES EXPULSION IN 30 DAYS. CURRENT CULTIVATION: NONE. SURVIVAL PROBABILITY WITHOUT INTERVENTION: 12%]
Twelve percent. Brutally honest—somehow that made it more believable than any grandiose promise.
[PRESENTING AVAILABLE CHOICES…]
[CHOICE #1: ACCEPT FATE]
Leave the sect peacefully. Live as a mortal in the world below.
REWARD: None
[CHOICE #2: DESPERATE MEASURES]
Steal cultivation resources from the sect treasury. Flee to the Demonic Wastes. Trade humanity for power through forbidden techniques.
REWARD: Demonic Cultivation Manual (Heaven-Rank), Shattered Meridian Reconstruction Pill, Safe Passage Token
[CHOICE #3: GLORIOUS DEFIANCE]
Challenge Feng Qian to formal duel in thirty days. Win or die trying.
REWARD: Sword Intent Seed (Divine-Grade), Body Tempering Breakthrough (x3 Stages), Combat Instinct Enhancement
[CHOICE #4: THE PATIENT SHADOW]
Cultivate in secret. Hide your power. Manipulate from shadows. Strike only when victory is certain.
REWARD: Concealment Technique (Divine-Grade), Qi Condensation Breakthrough, Shattered Meridian Repair (Partial)
Shen Yuan read each option three times, dissecting every word with pharmaceutical precision.
Choice one was surrender—pointless. Why reincarnate only to waste this life as deliberately as the first?
Choice two offered immediate power at terrible cost. Demonic cultivation sacrificed humanity piece by piece, turning practitioners into monsters.
Choice three appealed to something primal—standing up, fighting back—but it was suicide dressed as honor. Thirty days wasn't enough time to match Feng Qian.
That left choice four.
Hide power. Cultivate in secret. Manipulate from shadows.
A cold smile touched his lips. In his previous life, he'd played it safe and achieved nothing. But this wasn't cowardice choosing to hide—this was strength choosing to wear a mask until the perfect moment.
He'd lived forty-eight years total. The ones who succeeded weren't always the strongest or smartest. They understood timing. They knew when to reveal their cards and when to hold them close.
And the rewards… divine-grade concealment, cultivation breakthrough, meridian repair.
This wasn't just survival. This was a path to power.
"I choose the fourth option," Shen Yuan said clearly. "The Patient Shadow."
[CHOICE REGISTERED: THE PATIENT SHADOW]
[ANALYZING… DECISION ALIGNS WITH HOST PERSONALITY. OPTIMAL FOR LONG-TERM ADVANCEMENT.]
[REWARDS GRANTED]
Knowledge flooded his mind like a dam bursting—the Veil of Forgotten Presence, a divine-grade technique that made the user's entire existence unremarkable, beneath notice. He understood its principles instantly, as if he'd practiced for decades.
Then came pain.
His shattered meridians blazed with golden light. Energy surged through them like molten metal, not healing completely but reinforcing fragments, bridging gaps with threads of pure qi. The agony was exquisite—every nerve simultaneously burning and freezing.
Shen Yuan bit his sleeve to muffle the scream.
When the pain receded, he gasped on his mat, sweat-soaked, but he felt different.
Alive.
For the first time in either life, true power flowed through his body.
[BREAKTHROUGH COMPLETE: QI CONDENSATION REALM - FIRST STAGE]
[CONCEALMENT TECHNIQUE INTEGRATED: VEIL OF FORGOTTEN PRESENCE (DIVINE-GRADE)]
[STATUS UPDATED]
With a thought, Shen Yuan pulled up his status screen again:
[STATUS SCREEN]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
NAME: Shen Yuan (Chen Wei)
AGE: 16 (48 total)
CULTIVATION: Qi Condensation Realm - First Stage
PHYSIQUE: Shattered Meridians (Partially Repaired - 23%)
SPIRITUAL ROOT: Fractured Root (Low-Grade)
ATTRIBUTES:
• Strength: 3.2 (+2.4)
• Agility: 3.5 (+2.6)
• Constitution: 3.0 (+2.4)
• Qi Capacity: 150/150 (+150)
• Soul Strength: 15.7 (Unchanged)
SKILLS:
• Veil of Forgotten Presence (Divine-Grade) - MAX
TECHNIQUES: None
TITLES: Young Master Trash, Sect Leader's Shame, The Patient Shadow
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The transformation was incredible. His physical attributes had tripled. He had qi capacity now—actual cultivation power flowing through his veins.
Shen Yuan stood slowly, testing his limbs. Strength filled them—not overwhelming, but real and undeniable. He lifted his small table one-handed. The wood groaned but held.
He closed his eyes and activated the Veil. The technique settled over him like a cloak, making his cultivation aura vanish completely. To any observer, he would register as exactly what he'd been an hour ago—worthless trash.
Perfect.
Shen Yuan moved to his window and looked out over the outer sect. Tomorrow, they would still mock him. Elder Bronze Sword would still plot his expulsion. Feng Qian would still see him as a joke.
Let them.
"They think I'm trash," he murmured. "Good. Let them think that."
His mind raced ahead, planning. Thirty days was more than enough if used wisely. The technique library had scrolls others considered worthless—but with his knowledge and the system's support, he could turn trash into treasure.
"This system doesn't judge," he said softly. "It just serves. That means I can become whatever I choose to become."
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
Shen Yuan activated the Veil more strongly before opening the door.
Shen Yuhan stood there with a basket of food. Her Heaven-Grade roots made her radiate power even suppressed, her beauty refined by cultivation.
And somehow, she still cared about trash like him.
"Yuan-er," she said softly. "I brought food. You didn't eat after the ceremony."
"Sister Yuhan, you shouldn't trouble yourself."
"You're not fine." She pushed inside, setting the basket down. "Father was too harsh. One month isn't enough—" She stopped, not wanting to voice the truth: it's impossible.
"I'll manage," he said with false confidence. "Maybe I can become a librarian? Help in the pill halls?"
Her expression flickered with pity. "Yes! The libraries need help. I'll speak to—"
"No." He cut her off gently but firmly. "You've done enough. If I'm to prove my value, I need to do it myself."
She looked like she wanted to argue but finally nodded. "At least eat. And Yuan-er? Don't give up. Sometimes paths appear where we least expect them."
If only you knew how right you are.
After she left, Shen Yuan ate while his mind churned with plans. He needed to test his abilities properly, away from eyes.
He waited until midnight, then slipped out.
The outer sect was quiet, most disciples sleeping or cultivating. Shen Yuan moved through shadows like a ghost, his concealment making him forgettable even to those who glimpsed him.
He reached the training grounds—a large courtyard with practice dummies and weapon racks. Moonlight painted everything silver and black.
He picked up a practice sword, testing his enhanced body. Strength flowed through each movement. His reactions were faster, balance perfect—
[NEW CHOICE AVAILABLE]
The system's announcement made him freeze.
[SITUATION DETECTED: THREE OUTER DISCIPLES APPROACHING. INTENT: HOSTILE. FENG QIAN ORDERED THEM TO CRIPPLE YOU TONIGHT. ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 30 SECONDS.]
Shen Yuan's blood went cold, then hot with rage. Of course Feng Qian wouldn't wait thirty days. Why give trash any chance when you could eliminate the problem immediately?
[PRESENTING CHOICES…]
[CHOICE #1: STRATEGIC RETREAT]
Flee. Use concealment to escape. Live to fight another day.
REWARD: Enhanced Stealth Movement, Night Vision (Permanent), Danger Sense (Passive)
[CHOICE #2: OVERWHELMING FORCE]
Kill all three. Leave no witnesses. Send a message written in blood.
REWARD: Killing Intent (Aura), Sword Mastery (Advanced), Qi Explosion Technique
[CHOICE #3: CALCULATED MERCY]
Defeat but spare all. Demonstrate power while maintaining moral high ground.
REWARD: Disabling Strike Technique, Intimidation Mastery, Reputation Boost (Mysterious Expert)
[CHOICE #4: SELECTIVE BRUTALITY]
Kill the leader. Spare the followers. Create fear through calculated violence.
REWARD: Execution Sword Art (First Form), Fear Manipulation, Leadership Aura
Three figures emerged from darkness. The leader was Zhao Kun, a scarred man known for the sect's dirty work. The other two were younger, nervous beneath forced bravado.
"Young Master Trash," Zhao Kun drawled. "Out for a stroll? Dangerous. Accidents happen in the dark."
Shen Yuan's mind raced. The fourth option resonated. Zhao Kun had chosen this path—old enough to know better, taking money to cripple someone weaker. He deserved consequences.
But the younger two? Probably pressured by hierarchy. If he spared them, they'd spread word. Fear and respect would do more than corpses.
"I choose the fourth option," he said quietly. "Selective Brutality."
[CHOICE REGISTERED: SELECTIVE BRUTALITY]
[REWARDS PROCESSING…]
Knowledge flooded in—the Execution Sword Art, designed for one purpose: swift, unavoidable death. Its first form, Severance, was about reading an opponent's energy and striking when defense was impossible.
Zhao Kun drew his sword. "Young Master Feng sends regards. He wants your legs broken."
His cultivation flared—Foundation Establishment Realm. The sword flashed forward in a thrust, blurring with speed.
To Shen Yuan's enhanced perception, it might as well have been slow motion.
He stepped sideways, minimal movement, letting the blade pass a hair's breadth from his chest. His sword moved in response, following Severance's pattern—reading Zhao Kun's qi, finding the microsecond when energy committed and couldn't redirect.
Shen Yuan's blade took the man's head off in one perfect cut.
The body stood for a moment, blood fountaining, before collapsing.
Silence.
The two younger disciples stood frozen, faces white with shock.
Shen Yuan turned to them, sword dripping. His concealment had dropped, revealing his Qi Condensation cultivation. He felt something new activate—Fear Manipulation—making his presence suddenly oppressive.
"Zhao Kun made his choice," Shen Yuan said calmly. "He chose to attack someone weaker for profit. He chose wrong. You two can choose differently."
"W-we didn't—we were just—"
"I know. Following orders. That's understandable." His voice was almost gentle. "So I'm giving you a choice: Leave. Go back to your quarters. Don't speak of this to anyone except Feng Qian himself. Tell him exactly what you saw. Make sure he understands."
"Understands what?" one whispered.
Shen Yuan smiled coldly. "That trash sometimes has teeth. And that I am far more patient than he realizes."
The two disciples fled.
Shen Yuan stood alone with the corpse, feeling new power settling into his body.
[CHOICE COMPLETE]
[REWARDS GRANTED: EXECUTION SWORD ART (FIRST FORM), FEAR MANIPULATION, LEADERSHIP AURA]
[ADDITIONAL REWARDS: COMBAT EXPERIENCE INTEGRATED, KILLING INTENT UNLOCKED (MINOR)]
[STATUS UPDATED]
He pulled up his status screen:
[STATUS SCREEN]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
NAME: Shen Yuan (Chen Wei)
AGE: 16 (48 total)
CULTIVATION: Qi Condensation Realm - First Stage
PHYSIQUE: Shattered Meridians (Partially Repaired - 23%)
SPIRITUAL ROOT: Fractured Root (Low-Grade)
ATTRIBUTES:
• Strength: 3.2
• Agility: 3.5
• Constitution: 3.0
• Qi Capacity: 140/150 (-10 from combat)
• Soul Strength: 15.7
SKILLS:
• Veil of Forgotten Presence (Divine-Grade) - MAX
• Fear Manipulation (Rare-Grade) - LV 1
• Leadership Aura (Rare-Grade) - LV 1
TECHNIQUES:
• Execution Sword Art: First Form - Severance (Heaven-Grade) - LV 1
COMBAT STATS:
• Killing Intent: Minor
• Kills: 1 (Foundation Establishment - Early Stage)
TITLES: Young Master Trash, Sect Leader's Shame, The Patient Shadow, First Blood
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The screen reflected his growth. He'd gained two new skills and an actual combat technique. His first kill was recorded—Foundation Establishment realm, no less.
He looked down at Zhao Kun's body. First blood in this life. He'd expected to feel guilt, remorse, horror.
Instead, only cold satisfaction. This was a world where strength determined everything. Guilt about self-defense would be as pointless as guilt about breathing.
He was adapting faster than expected.
Shen Yuan cleaned his sword and returned it to the rack. The body would be discovered in the morning. There would be investigation, but without witnesses and with his cultivation hidden, he'd just be the trash who slept through whatever "accident" befell Zhao Kun.
He walked back toward his quarters, night air cool against his skin.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: HOST DEMONSTRATES ADAPTABILITY AND DECISIVE ACTION. PERFORMANCE EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS.]
[NEW CHOICE OPPORTUNITIES WILL SCALE ACCORDINGLY.]
As he reached his door, he glanced back toward the training grounds. Tomorrow everything would change. Feng Qian would learn what happened. Investigation would begin. And Shen Yuan would play his role—confused, frightened trash who knew nothing.
But beneath that mask, he would cultivate. Grow stronger. Make choices that built power piece by piece.
He looked up at the distant inner sect palaces where true power resided.
"Thirty days," he murmured. "They gave me thirty days to prove my worth."
His hand clenched into a fist.
"I wonder what I can become in thirty days with a god serving my will."
The moon hung overhead, cold and distant, witness to something new in the Heavenly Sword Sect—something that wore the face of trash but carried the soul of someone who'd lived two lifetimes and refused to waste the third.
Shen Yuan smiled in the darkness.
The game had begun.