The moment his consciousness plunged into the abyss, the last thing Li An heard was the shrill, unending wail of the heart monitor.
But the expected void never came.
Instead, he was met with a bone-chilling cold—not the dry chill of winter, but a slick, damp, and putrid frost that seeped into his very marrow.
Li An snapped his eyes open. His vision was a blurred haze, but he could feel his lungs straining like a pair of rusted bellows, each breath dragging in the metallic tang of blood and decay. He forced his head up, but what greeted him wasn't the sterile white ceiling of a hospital. He was lying atop a massive bluestone altar, surrounded by grotesque stone pillars carved with twisting, crimson runes that seemed to writhe like living leeches.
Instinctively, he tried to push himself up to flee, but his limbs were weak and boneless, offering no support.
He looked down, and his pupils shrank to pinpricks.
Those weren't hands.
They were small paws, covered in fine, matted white fur. The claws were still soft and immature, yet they possessed a sickly, translucent pallor.
[Stop staring, Host. Welcome to your "New Life."] The System's voice cut through the silence, laced with a trace of mocking amusement. [I forgot to mention: your current body is a White Tiger cub born with shattered heart meridians. To these "cultivators," you aren't a divine beast—you're a "premium ingredient" meant to be refined into a life-extending pill.]
Before Li An could even process this absurd reality, a sneer thick with undisguised disgust drifted up from the base of the altar.
"A useless piece of trash."
A burly man with a face full of scars strode up the steps, dragging a heavy iron chain. The jagged hook at the end scraped against the stone with an ear-piercing screech, throwing off sparks in the dim light.
"How many spirit herbs did the Valley waste on this runt? And in the end, it can't even stand! Let's not wait for the Grand Refinement Ceremony. Drain its blood now. If it dies on its own and the medicinal potency is lost, it'll be a waste of my time!"
The brute grinned viciously and swung his arm. The heavy chain whistled through the air, its shadow looming over the tiny, helpless creature.
[Warning! Lethal threat detected! Host's Current HP: 1%!] The System screamed inside his mind. [Dodge! This body cannot withstand a single hit!]
Dodge?
In the depths of his mind, Li An let out a faint, glacial scoff.
In his previous life, he had spent his time dodging—hiding in a hospital bed, lurking in the shadows of a wealthy family, only to meet a silent, lonely death. In this life, he would not retreat a single step.
Deep within that ruined, tiny frame, a terrifying will from a higher dimension suddenly awakened. It was an absolute authority that stood above all living things, a soul that had endured countless destructions and rebirths.
"Cough—cough-cough!"
Li An's body convulsed violently as he strained, a splash of vivid red staining the cold stone beneath him.
At the very instant the iron hook was about to pierce his throat, Li An lifted his head.
Those wet, cub-like eyes were suddenly filled with a cold light that mirrored the fall of the stars.
"Kneel."
The word didn't leave his mouth; instead, it transformed into a near-physical soul shockwave that detonated within the minds of everyone surrounding the altar!
BOOM—!
The once-arrogant brute froze mid-motion. His pupils shrank into needles—it was a primal, instinctive terror that transcended species.
Thud!
The man's knees slammed into the stone slabs with enough force to shatter bone. One by one, the robed priests following behind him collapsed, trembling uncontrollably, as if they were facing a tyrannical god walking the mortal realm.
Li An staggered to his feet.
His limbs were still shaking, and blood continued to seep from the corner of his mouth, matting his white fur. He looked so fragile, as if a gentle breeze could knock him over.
And yet, the gaze with which he looked down upon them caused the very air in the room to solidify.
He slowly lifted a small, blood-stained paw and drew a casual line through the air toward the iron chain.
CRACK—
The refined steel, meant to restrain adult spirit beasts, crumbled into dust as easily as a brittle wafer.
"You said… you wanted to drain my blood?"
Li An's voice echoed directly inside the brute's mind, carrying a sickly elegance and a cruelty that chilled the blood.
"Since you are so fond of blood, then this entire altar… shall be filled with yours."
His word was law.
The runes on the altar, meant to drain Li An's life force, suddenly reversed. The crimson symbols transformed into greedy tentacles, lashing out and burrowing into the bodies of everyone present.
Screams, the sound of breaking bones, and frantic pleas for mercy erupted in unison.
At the center of this bloody feast, the tiny White Tiger cub simply stood there, quiet and still. He tilted his head slightly, watching the "immortals" struggle in despair, his golden eyes filled with nothing but dead, silent indifference.
[Host… what—what did you do?!] The System was utterly stunned, its voice trembling. [Your soul strength is tearing this body apart! If you don't stop, you'll explode!]
"Shut up."
Li An replied coldly in his mind.
"In this life, if I want someone to die, they die."
He coughed up another mouthful of blood, his body swaying. But he did not fall. Instead, he forced his shattered frame to move, taking one agonizing step after another down the altar.
Beyond the field of corpses, he could smell the thick fragrance of herbs—the scent of the deep "Valley of Ten Thousand Medicines."
Since they wanted to use him for medicine, he would go and plunder their treasury until not a single pill remained.
Li An cast one final, contemptuous look at the wretched corpse of the brute behind him.
This was the price for offending a madman who had already died once.