Part 1: Earth's Decay
The sky over London's ruins wasn't blue; it was a bruised purple, stained by fifty years of demonic miasma that had choked the sun. Arthur sat atop a throne of rusted rebar and scorched concrete, looking coldly at the digital watch strapped to his scarred wrist.
11:59:50 PM.
"Fifty years of hiding in holes like rats," Arthur whispered, his voice as sharp as the combat knife he was cleaning. "The world waits for 'Salvation' from the Heavenly Dao. I just wait for a bigger playground and new rules to break."
At exactly midnight, the crimson clouds parted. A pillar of golden light, terrifying in its purity and power, slammed into the ruins directly onto Arthur. Glowing words appeared in his consciousness:
[Identification: Arthur (Human)]
[Purity: 92%]
[Aptitude: Unknown - Variable]
[Destination: Azure Cloud Sect - Lower Realm]
As his body began to dissolve into particles of light, a group of starving scavengers rushed toward him, begging for the scraps of dried meat he was leaving behind. Arthur didn't smile, and he felt no pity. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed a flash grenade into his supply crate and detonated it.
If I can't take it with me, the world can burn with it, he thought as he vanished into the void.
Part 2: The Proving Ground
Arthur opened his eyes to find himself in a completely different world. The air was heavy, thick with a primitive energy that made his lungs burn before giving way to a strange euphoria—this was Qi.
He stood in a massive marble plaza, surrounded by hundreds of teenagers from Earth. Some were weeping, others trembling in terror. In front of them stood three figures floating on flying swords. The man in the center wore azure robes, his eyes glowing with a ruthless light; his aura alone was enough to make mountains bow. He was a Nascent Soul expert—the peak of power on Earth, but here, he seemed to be a mere welcoming officer.
"Silence, trash!" the expert roared, his voice shaking the plaza. "You are the 'Seeds' selected by the Dao. To us, you are nothing but raw ore to be smelted. Only those who reach the Qi Condensation stage within a month will survive. The failures? You will spend the rest of your short lives as slaves in the spirit mines."
While others collapsed in fear, Arthur's eyes scanned the environment with precision. He wasn't looking for safety; he was analyzing the weaknesses of this new system. He smiled internally; in a world ruled by absolute power, there was no room for the morality of the weak, and this was exactly the world he was built for.