It was everywhere. The stench of blood, the chunks of flesh and the blood on the old weathered stone walls covered in moss, painting the whole scene into a spine chilling sight.
Knives stabbing and blood spraying. Fists pounding and teeth flying.
Such had been the nature of Wan Ling's previous life. His life had been seethed in revenge and his hands stained with the blood of countless people, men and women, young and old alike.
He had killed countless not showing mercy to any and this is how he had died, shot to death in a face off against countless policemen who saw him as a menace to the country and to the world.
But unexpectedly, a month ago he had woken up in another body and in another world to live another life.
Yes, Wan Ling was a transmirgator from Earth. He was originally a young promising graduate from an average university who had gotten a job as a data analyst. Truly a stable life.
Although one could say that he didn't live for himself but for his younger sister who lived a life of agony, she had been given birth to young, frail and prone to all sorts of diseases with no way to fight back.
Her only hope had been to rely on pills, liquid medicine and vaccines to survive. To Wan Ling, one was not supposed to live such a life, constantly suffering from pain and slowly dying in the most miserable way. Being gnawed and devoured by diseases of all sorts, he wanted to give her a better life and so he had worked hard and went through countless hardships to help her.
Eventually she got better and healthy enough to walk and go to school albeit while being under close supervision. Since she had a frail body and was weak, she was often mocked and bullied by her class and school mates alike.
Even though this happened constantly, she refused to voice out her predicament to her brother. This was because she didn't want to bother him and make him worried. She had always felt like a burden weighing him down, not allowing him to progress forward and reach the peak of his potential.
Wang Ling knew nothing about what she was going through as he focused on earning as much money as possible and buying her the best resources why also sending her to the best school he could afford.
He didn't know....until it was too late.
"Wan Ling what's got you so confused? Practice the moves well and stop daydreaming!"
Just then Wan Ling was snapped out of his trance by a sharp sting and an even harsher reprimand that came from the martial arts instructor.
Finding Wan Ling's situation of being reprimanded amusing and comical, the other students practicing the Martial arts technique they had been taught erupted in sinckers and mocking laughter.
"Enough! Everyone get back to practice and Wan Ling, put in more effort. Your form is slightly lacking."
Wan Ling heeded the instructor's words calmly and adjusted his horse stance while practicing the breathing technique and executing the moves.
In this dying world where survival resources are scarce and obtaining ultimate power for the purpose of survival is everyones goal, competition is fierce and everyone has to work hard.
Although this world is more advanced than Wan Ling's previous life, it is slowly dying and falling apart due to something dubbed as world energy deficiency otherwise known as qi deficiency but on a world scale.
This deficiency slowly strips the world of it's qi which is needed to keep it alive. Without this energy, the world would either fall apart and become nothing but chunks of rocks floating in the endless field of space or fall victim to defilement otherwise known as corruption.
To this end a world survival code was made which mandates citizens of eight years to practice basic Martial arts and citizens of eighteen years to venture into rifts and undergo a trial within other realms or worlds that have already fallen victim to defilement.
Most would perish, becoming a stepping stone for others to aim higher and to survive the trial.
Those who survive would earn the ability to grow stronger and to invade more realms with the aim of securing resources for their world.
The original owner of Wan Ling's current body also named Wan Ling understood this and worked hard unfortunately, he possessed minimal talent for Martial arts and due to an uncommon but well known incident of depletion in blood qi and essence, he died paving the way for the current Wan Ling to posses his body.
After executing the required moves for a while Wan Ling stopped and sat down to take a much required break, taking a sip of refreshing water from the bottle he always kept at hand when practicing.
'System menu.'
Wan Ling made a mental command, calling out a dark panel only he could see. Upon uttering the command, a dark panel flickered into existence and a waterfall of golden texts immediately appeared.
Name: Wan Ling
Role: Arbiter of Death
Realm: Mortal Realm (Third Layer) | Progress (43%)
Spirit Root: None
Technique: Heavenly Body Tempering Technique (Small Success) | Progress (12%)
Skills: Basic Cleaver Technique Ten forms (Entry) | Progress (88%)
'After a month of intense practice only managing to increase proficiency by 22%. Still stuck at Entry level. Such bad talent.'
Wan Ling thought internally as he sipped fresh water. This was Wan Ling's golden finger, awakened when he had crossed over into this body.
Although most of the students within the cultivation hall he was in presently also owned systems, those could not be compared to his. The systems owned by his fellow students were manufactured by a company that integrated modern day artificial intelligence contained within a chip which was being fueled with extraordinary energy.
This system could only run the basics by helping them track their strength through updates from the company while also updating other things like cultivation realms, cultivation techniques being practiced including skills acquired, universal role and acquisition of universal merit.
Wan Ling's own system ran on a much more higher level, doing all the basics while still having sarcastic humor and a shop containing all sorts of items and manuals allowing him to advance faster than others. Truly a golden finger.
The tabs on the menu could be easily explained without much complexity.
The 'Role' tab was easy to understand for Wan Ling once it was explained to him by the system, every living being and life form within the universe had a purpose and a role to play, this role would greatly influence their actions and decisions. Abiding by their purpose and fulfilling their roles would let them grow faster than others who didn't fulfil their roles as expected.
Wan Ling's role as the 'Arbiter Of Death' expected him to attract death in certain situations. His purpose was to cause death either directly or indirectly. For Wan Ling whose hands was stained with the blood of countless people, killing more people in another world was nothing. As long as he could survive and get stronger faster, this much was nothing.
The 'Realm' tab was also easy to explain. Once someone awakened a spiritual root, they began their lives as cultivators, beginning to build up power from the general realm of Qi Condensation.
There were eight known realms one could breakthrough when cultivating and they were: Qi Condensation realm, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Soul Formation otherwise known as the Divine Transformation realm, Body Integration realm, Tribulation Transcendence and Enlightenment realm.
These were the known realms one could achieve when cultivating with Qi Condensation realm having nine layers.
The Spirit Root tab is the embodiment of an individuals talent, since only those who took the trial could awaken Spirit Roots hence becoming cultivators. Without this one could not walk the path of cultivation. It also helped one understand the sort Qi they can control and how fast they can cultivate compared to those with lower graded Roots.
Techniques were the method used to cultivate and refine Qi, they could also be called manuals as they contained skills innately tied to the technique. Techniques also had their own grades ranging from Mortal graded techniques, Low graded techniques, Mid graded techniques, High graded techniques, Top graded techniques and Heavenly graded techniques.
Skills were the abilities that mostly came with manuals and they had various types such as movement skills, attack, defense, healing, mind skills and so many others. It could also be graded using the same grading system as the technique grading system which was also applicable to Spirit Roots.
'System, run an estimate on how long it would take to achieve small success while practicing the Basic Cleaver Technique Ten Forms'
Wan Ling ordered. Since everyone at the age of eighteen was to participate in the awakening trial and since the survival rate was low, it was found out that the average individual who had a small chance of surviving were those who had achieved small success in both practiced technique and skills.
Since technique level and skill level could influence overall combat power, this much was expected.
Wan Ling had been practicing both skill and technique quite intensely so as to meet the average individual survival quota but due to poor talent for Martial arts, he had only been able to achieve small success in technique but not in skill.
"RIIINNNNNGGGG"
Just then the alert that school lessons were done for the day resounded within all classrooms indicating that students could now go home to rest after a long day of learning and training.
Although most students who had reached the age of eighteen could stay over to practice more using the schools cultivation hall and practice equipment, most including Wan Ling obviously picked the decision to go home without reconsideration.
After all, the awakening trial would commence the day after. The day they were sent to a fallen world to awaken their Spirit Roots and become cultivators who paved the way for their generation.