Sensation crashed into me.

This time, however, I was prepared. I did not scream out. I did not fall over. I did not move.

Having died three times now, my mind was… blank.

Kneeling on the dirt of the courtyard I had arrived in was uncomfortable, but I could endure.

Just as my body was about to collapse, the middle-aged man barked in words I could finally understand, “Rise!”

I, along with everyone else, stood up, and this time, I was able to blend into the crowd much more easily.

“Follow!”

We again began to walk the same path back to our houses. Now that I could understand everyone, I was hoping to listen in on the conversations around me to get a better feel for what was going on, but to my chagrin, no one was talking. In previous lives, I had been so disoriented that I hadn’t been able to notice the unnatural silence that had gripped the children around me.

Luckily, the walk wasn’t too long, and we quickly came to the residential area where Ol’ Shouty gave his little speech and explained things for me.

“Your qi has awakened, and you have all received your blessings from the Heavenly Dao. Find a house and meditate on the nature of your blessing. In two hours, we will begin taking you to be tested. Do not cause any trouble during this time.”

That last sentence seemed to be directed at a small group of young men. Standing in the center of that group was the red-robed youth who had recently killed me.

Ignoring that psychopath, I went inside my little house and sat down to think.

I had two hours. In two hours, someone would come and take me away to be ‘tested.’ I wasn’t sure what that involved, but I could guess they would probably like to know about this System I had been given access to. Oh, and they would also probably like to know about the fact that, every time I died, I would be sent straight back to the start of all this.

I didn’t know all the dangers that this place held, but the fact that I had died two times in quick succession told me it wasn’t safe here. I needed to keep my cards close to my chest. There was no reason to tell people things they didn’t need to know.

Moving on to other topics, the words Shouty had said played through my mind.

‘Blessing’ was the same word that the voice in the void had used. So, my blessing had to be the System and the ability to reincarnate. I would not be sharing that information, so I needed to have another answer ready to go.

I didn’t know what a normal blessing would be or how to fake one, but fortunately, I had an easy way to find out.

“System, I want to know about blessings from the Heavenly Dao.”

Information about the Heavenly Dao and its blessings. Cost is not possible to calculate at this time.

Not possible to calculate? What did that mean? Was it too expensive, or did the System just not want me to know the cost? In either case, I could only take a different tack.

“System, I want to know common knowledge and beliefs about blessings from the Heavenly Dao. Things everyone knows, or thinks they know, about the topic.”

Information on common beliefs regarding blessings from the Heavenly Dao. Cost 5 credits.

The difference between ‘information’ and ‘common knowledge’ suggested that there was hidden information that was extremely important. That was something to keep in mind, but not something that I could act on at the moment.

“Purchase!”

Purchase confirmed. 12 credits remaining.

It is commonly believed that a blessing of the Heavenly Dao can be nearly anything. Blessings enhance the blessed in some fashion. A weak nature blessing may allow the blessed to know how much to water a plant. A strong nature blessing may allow the blessed to control all of the plants around them at will.

The most prized blessings typically enhance a person’s martial prowess. An example would be gaining the ability to create a tiger out of fire, which is capable of fighting alongside the blessed. However, such blessings are rare and are only obtained by the truly virtuous.

Credits expended. Transaction complete.

I had 12 credits. That definitely wouldn’t be enough to buy any sort of heaven-defying blessing. I might be able to buy something simple and try to pawn it off as my blessing, but then, the murderous psychopaths around me would almost certainly see me as worthless.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I decided it was better to play up the mysterious angle. ‘My blessing could be anything. It’s probably something really cool, just wait and find out!’

I would tell them I didn’t know what my blessing was yet. I would either be seen as incompetent or mysterious. Either was better than worthless.

That settled, I did have some credits burning a hole in my pocket. If I wasn’t going to spend them on a ‘blessing,’ what did I need?

Knowledge, knowledge about this godsforsaken place where I could be killed on a whim.

Why was I being killed so nonchalantly?

“System, I want to know about this body. Who am I, where did I come from? Just give me the basic information.”

Information regarding the identity and history of the host’s body. Cost 1 credit.

At least it was cheap.

“Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 11 credits remaining.

The former occupant of the body was named Su Fang. He was born into the Su Clan of the Western Wastes on the Nine Rivers Continent. The Su Clan is the sole ruler of the entirety of the Western Wastes, and they are currently unchallenged in their dominion.

Su Fang was an orphan born into a remote branch family of the clan. He was barely even considered to be a member of the clan, though, so his identity provided him with zero benefits. If he were to become powerful, or even have the possibility of a bright future ahead of him, that would all change. The clan welcomes anyone of their blood who shows potential, no matter how distantly related they are. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

The second problem for Su Fang was that his body was in terrible shape. His genetics did him no favors, giving him a naturally small and frail body, but this was compounded by malnutrition and illness. No one had any hopes for his future.

When he turned 16, he was brought to the Su Clan’s training compound, along with every other child of the clan his age. This is where the Su Clan awakens their children’s qi and teaches them how to use it. This training allows a select few to gain great power and become the future pillars of the clan. Every member of the Su Clan, no matter how distantly related, is required to attend this training session. The clan does not want to miss out on any possible future prodigies.

During the Awakening Ceremony, one of the clan’s Grandmasters, Su YuanFei, sent sparks of qi into the bodies of all the participants of this ceremony in order to assist in empowering their blessings. Su Fang’s body, being frail and ill, could not handle this process and collapsed. At the moment of his death, he was blessed. His final wish was ‘to die so that another may live.’

Credits expended. Transaction complete.

And that was that. That was how I had ended up in his place. It was a depressing story, and I had to figure out how to pick up the pieces of Su Fang’s broken life.

Hearing about Su Fang’s frail body almost made me laugh. I had been dying from a single punch from those pricks. I knew that couldn’t be normal, and what I just learned was the likely cause of it.

From the information I had received, I felt that the clearest path forward was to make the Su Clan value me. They were the unquestioned rulers of this entire area, and it sounded like they could raise their children to become prominent members of society. However, the Su Clan would only value me if I seemed like a prodigy in their eyes. With this body, that was never going to happen.

“System, I want something that will heal my body so that I am at least average among my peers.”

Rank 1 Healing Pill. Cost 10 credits.

At that price, I would only be able to buy one item. A minor healing pill. Was that what I needed? I asked for something to heal my body, but was that good enough? Could I make it stronger?

“System, I would like to buy something that can both heal my body and make it stronger, giving me strength equal to or greater than others my age.”

Rank 1 Strengthening Pill. Cost 25 credits.

That was a bust. To purchase just a single strengthening pill, I would need to die three times in a row. It would have to wait for the future.

“Buy the Rank 1 Healing Pill.”

Purchase confirmed. 1 credit remaining.

I sat there, but no pill appeared.

“Where’s my pill?”

No response.

“System, give me my damn pill!”

No response.

“System, how much will it cost for information about the location of my pill?”

Basic information regarding the System storage space. Cost 1 credit.

“No, I am not purchasing that. I can figure this out on my own.”

A System storage space. It was a place that stored items purchased from the System. It wouldn’t be a physical location. That didn’t make any sense. It had to be something like an inventory in a video game. So, how was I supposed to open it, and how could I take things out?

“Inventory.”

Nothing happened.

“System Inventory.”

Nothing.

“System Storage.”

No.

Maybe wasn’t done through voice commands. Maybe I could just ‘will’ it to happen.

I focused my mind on wanting to take the pill out of storage. I tried to visualize a pill moving from ‘somewhere’ and appearing in my hand.

Suddenly, a small round pill appeared in my hand.

I was pleasantly surprised when it worked. Instead of immediately swallowing the thing, I tried to put it back into storage, but nothing I did had any effect. The storage only worked in one direction.

“Here’s to you, Su Fang.”

I tossed the pill into my mouth.

Energy surged through my body. Bones that were slightly out of place were moved back into alignment, and an electric shock pulsed through me as small tears in my muscles were instantly repaired.

I felt like I had been reborn… again. A constant, low-level pain that I had barely noticed had vanished. I might still die from a single punch, I had no idea, but I felt like I had more of a future now.

As I waited in my small house, I began doing a few basic exercises. There was barely any room to move, but I wanted to get adapted to my new body as best as I could.

Basic sit-ups and push-ups gave me a sense of my current strength. It wasn’t high, but with the new strength granted to me by my healed body, I was able to complete a dozen push-ups before my arms gave out on me. After that, I performed a little shadow boxing to help with my muscle coordination.

We had been told that someone would come to take us for ‘testing’ after two hours. The testing may have started then, but I was clearly not high on the priority list, so it took nearly four hours for someone to finally come and open my door.

It was a middle-aged servant in a dark brown robe whose face was a mask of neutrality.

“Follow me.”

It was time to see what the Nine Rivers Continent had in store for me.