For the next few days, Xuan spent some quality time together with Huo Fei. Nothing worthy of note occurred during that time, and for once since returning to this world, Xuan could truly say he caught a break.
In this time, he broke through to the Flowing Qi Stage, gaining +1,000 to all stats, and acquiring the new ability of being able to use Qi freely without needing to condense it into a specific technique. It wouldn't be as powerful, of course, but this was faster to use and could save one's life in a predicament—it was the first step towards truly mastering the use of Qi.
Of course, breaking through to the Flowing Qi Stage also came with other rewards—namely, the Breakthrough Quest. As a result, Xuan received 10,000 Credits, a low-grade armor set, and a low-grade weapon—both of which he was most likely going to sell or simply throw away. For some reason, however, there was no announcement saying he was the first person to reach that stage, despite him checking the leaderboards (which listed him as first still).
Naturally, Xuan also cultivated where he had the chance, and managed to reach 4th Layer Flowing Qi Stage. However, for the most part, he spent his time with Huo Fei, telling her things about the 'other' world (Earth) and catching up on what he'd missed over on this side in the past year. He heard some pretty interesting things, including how Xue Xinyue was in the middle of her breakthrough to Godhood right now. Xuan could only hope she succeeded.
Today, however, was different. Tomorrow, the Flaming Sands Field would open, and so, Xuan needed to head back to Cloud Catcher City to prepare.
"Mmph…"
With a yawn, Huo Fei's eyes slowly opened, and was met by the bright glare of the morning sunlight. Grunting in displeasure, she turned her face and rubbed it against her husband's chest, laying underneath her, but this in turn woke Xuan up as well. Gently, he opened his eyes and rubbed Huo Fei's head while she continued to laze on top of him, refusing to get up.
"Good morning, Huo Fei."
"Mm… good morning…" Huo Fei murmured, still just half-awake. But her next question caught Xuan off-guard. "Hm? Wait a minute… why's your chest… blue…?"
"Hm? What…?"
"Your chest… it's blue."
At first, Xuan had thought she was just seeing things as she was not fully awake yet, and spouting delusional nonsense. But when he looked down at where Huo Fei's face was planted against his naked chest, his eyes widened.
There, a blue hologram hovered, half inside Xuan's body and half outside due to the angle Huo Fei was in.
"What the… Huo Fei, can you sit up straight for a second?"
"Eh? I don't want to…"
Confused, Xuan narrowed his eyes, but Huo Fei only responded by clinging onto him tighter. Sighing, he pushed her away, as this was something he needed to see. Then, gently, he lifted her into a position where she could sit up straight and lean against the headboard of the bed, so he could read what the hologram said.
<Welcome, Cultivator.>
<Congratulations. Your world has met the requirements for the Awakening. As a result, from today on, everyone will receive something known as a 'System'. This tool will help you become stronger lifeforms far faster than before, and contain many useful features such as the System Shop—a place where you can purchase all sorts of artifacts, pills, and items through a virtual currency known as Credits. May it aid you in your cultivation journey.>
<To summon your system, swipe your hand across the air, and think 'System' inside your head.>
"So… it's finally happening?"
Xuan knew that this day would come, eventually—the reveal of the System to NPCs—he just didn't know it would be in the form of this. Originally, he'd thought word would simply spread from one NPC to another, and eventually, all cultivators would discover this System thing. But if it was like this, then… well, let's just say that the process would be sped up a whole lot.
"What's happening?" Huo Fei asked, rubbing her eyes. "Is there something wrong…?"
"… Huo Fei. Remember what I said about the 'system' last night?"
"Er… yeah. You said sooner or later, everyone in this world will know of its existence, right?"
Xuan nodded. "That's right. And as it would seem… that time will be coming sooner than expected."
'No wonder I didn't receive an announcement about me being the first to reach Flowing Qi realm, and most likely won't receive another one in the future… it's because the Systems given to the natives of this world had just 'awakened', and they were now being migrated into the global database. Let's see here… yes, as expected. The 'player' filter is gone on the Leaderboard, and same goes for every other player/NPC discerning feature.'
At Xuan's words, Huo Fei's mind cleared up a bit, and she scratched her head before reading the text on the hologram in front of her, her eyes widening.
"This is…"
And just at that moment, the outside sky split open with a domineering announcement.
<Congratulations! Player Zero has become the first player to acquire a Divine-Grade treasure!>
<Current Bounty: 1,000,000 Credits>
Silence for a brief moment. Then, as Xuan looked down at his own System notifications, he narrowed his eyes.
'So, cultivation announcements are removed since there are people already at Heavenly Transcendent stage now, but events like acquiring treasure still count starting from the point of migration, huh?'
That was what he thought in his mind. All this was planned—this was the reason why the night before, no announcement was made after he obtained the Sealed World Pearl. Pan Gu and the supercomputer had colluded together to make this happen—to make this migration occur now, after introducing the System to everyone in this world. Clearly, the 'example' they made about the System Shop and Credits was no coincidence either.
It was another test. A test to see if Xuan could truly live up to his past self.
And as if to prove that point further, the announcement about Zero was immediately followed by another:
<A player has reached a bounty value of 1,00,000 Credits. The Bounty Leaderboard has now been unlocked.>
"Tch… relentless."
Xuan knew this was going to happen sooner or later—with a bounty system in place, it didn't make sense to not have a leaderboard for it. Still, the timing was far too good for it to be simply coincidental, and so, to check just how bad this was for himself, he headed to the Leaderboards tab in his System and switched the category to 'Bounty'.
There, sure enough, was his name—right up at the number one spot, with a big shiny crown to its left as if it didn't stand out enough already as is.
< Zero | 1,000,000 C >
What was worse, however, was the button next to the Credits value—it read 'Track', just like the ones seen in Quests.
"… This can't be real."
Gulping in slight nervousness, Xuan tapped on the 'Track' button, just to see what would happen. Immediately, his screen changed to the Map tab of the System, and a marker with a skull symbol was placed down on the global map of Lower Asphodel. Upon clicking that, a short list of information popped up:
<Target: Zero>
<Bounty: 1,000,000 C>
<Last Seen Location: Lower Asphodel — Tower of Flames, Inferno Cuisine City>
<Next Update: 29d, 23h, 59m>
<Current Distance From Target: 0m>
Below those lines was a small explanation of how the tracking system worked:
<The general location status will be updated every month. Current Distance tracker will appear after entering the specified location, and if the target is still there. Killing the bounty target will grant the specified reward, but if the target kills the hunter, they will be awarded with bonus Credits and an increase to their bounty. In addition, their location will become hidden for a week, and even if one is within range of them, the Current Distance tracker will not appear.>
Xuan let out a sigh.
'Okay… so at least this isn't that bad, but rather updates my location every month—and I have chances of getting rewards out of it as well.'
He needed some more techniques soon, and those were going to cost Credits—something he didn't have a lot of right now (33,598). In other words, the situation could be worse—but this was still far from good. With this, it meant he'd have to change locations every month, and could never afford to stay in one place for too long until his strength reached a level where no one amongst the heavens could stand against him.
That was going to be a pain.
And since the location already wrote Tower of Flames now…
"… Huo Fei."
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry, but… I'll have to leave for now."
Contrary to his expectations, however, Huo Fei did not act spoiled and try to hold him back. Instead, she simply smiled somewhat sadly.
"It's alright. I understand—you have your own things to do, and now that your location's been exposed, you can't afford to stay here any longer with such a big bounty on your head, since that would be inviting trouble here—not to mention the whole deal with Withering Flame and all."
Xuan chuckled and rubbed her head gently. "You're really maturing up, huh…?"
It was good to see, but at the same time, he felt somewhat… regretful? Almost like he didn't want her to change. But that was impossible, and this was for the better in the long run. But just at that moment—
"However," Huo Fei cut in, a mysterious grin on her face. "You must come visit frequently, whenever you get a chance. Not just me, either—when you meet the others, too."
By 'others', she obviously was referring to Xuan's 'other' wives, whom she was mostly on good terms with. Saying this, she also pulled a paper talisman out of nowhere and tossed it to Xuan, who caught it in his hand.
"Here. Take this. You can use it to instantly come back to the Tower of Flames, to my private chambers."
'It can also be used as an escape tool if needed,' Xuan thought, before storing it into his inventory.
"Thanks, Huo Fei," he said with a gentle smile. "I'll reach the top again soon—and when that time comes, I won't have to do this any more."
"Mm. I believe you," Huo Fei replied, beaming happily. "I'll be keeping an eye on you through the System, so don't even think about fooling around with other girls outside, yeah?"
At this, Xuan laughed awkwardly, and accepted her friend request through the System.
*****
On that day, the world began to change. Cultivators originally from this world were introduced to a completely new and powerful tool, while past 'players' were left in shock at the suddenness of it all.
The game only truly began now—and the stakes were higher than ever before.
But even in the depths of pressure and threat, only one thing mattered to Xuan:
Climbing back to the apex of cultivation, and reaching Godhood once and for all.
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