---
[Demon System has been successfully bound to the host, Mo Tianxun!]
[Displaying the Current Status of the host...]
---
Taixuan sat on the same rock as before, however, this time, a bit more comfortably as he looked at the System Window with widened eyes in astonishment.
A few moments ago, he was trembling in pain so vast that even he wondered how he was still holding onto his breath.
But now? The pain that once felt like a treacherous climb of a cloud-shrouded mountain peak now felt nothing more than an ant's bite.
He stared down at his hands, clenching them tightly and unclasping continuously, feeling a warm strength flowing through his body.
Taixuan was confused.
His Dantian—the very source of one's power—had shattered long ago. Even in the sense of Mortal, he was merely counting his last breaths since his body had been destroyed as well.
And yet, here he sat on a rock while feeling a strange warmth filling his very existence with a new meaning, while gazing at the translucent slab of light floating before him—something the system referred to as a 'screen.'
Even Taixuan had no clue about what the system was at first, however, after having finished the pact, basic information about the system flowed straight into his mind, while the screen that once existed in physical form could only be seen by Taixuan now.
Just as he was organizing his thoughts, a new screen materialized right in front of his eyes, overlapping the previous one.
---
———————————————————
[#~Status Window~#]
———————————————————
Name: Mo Taixuan
Race: Human
Age: 320
Cultivation: Mortal
Condition: Deteriorating Rapidly
***
[Note: The current system access is limited. Full status information will only be available once the user begins proper growth.]
---
Before he could think of anything at all, another Screen emerged out of thin air, hanging onto the right side of the previous one.
---
[Since the host has been analyzed with a perilous body condition, the System has forcefully initiated the emergency protocol.]
[All injuries inflicted on the host's body have been temporarily sealed.]
[Host's body deterioration has been forcefully slowed down temporarily.]
[An emergency task is being initiated...]
---
It didn't just end there, the screen then expanded further to the side, letting new content follow up on it while keeping the continuity in mind.
---
[Congratulations! Your first Task has been found!]
***
[Task #1]
[•Objective - Find a suitable core to fix your body.]
[• Time limit - 3 days]
[• Reward - New Body; Demonic Qi Tempering Manual.]
[• Failure to Obtain a suitable core within the Time Limit would result in the host's Death.]
---
Taixuan silently looked at the screen with a stern expression.
Without saying even a single word, he stood up and began walking towards the dense forest.
'I can not think of the Screen's content as lies because the very own proof of its powers is the current me—who's able to stand like this.'
'Although I hate to admit it, I have no choice but to depend on the system to regain my powers.' he clenched his jaw tightly, he felt disappointed in himself, for he remembered the vow he took before dying as Davey Lionheart.
To not depend on anyone ever again—that was his vow; however, what he was doing right now was no different than breaking the vow himself.
It was infuriating, however, the only way to his goal as well.
Crossing over to the boundaries of the trees and stepping into the territories of countless monsters and animals, Taixuan had already put himself in danger.
And to think he had to look for a suitable core in such circumstances.
"This is going to be problematic..."
Just as he had said, finding a new core was not an easy task.
On the contrary, it might've been the hardest for him in his current conditions.
'To obtain a core means to take someone else's core for myself either by killing them or robbing the core off of their grave.'
'However, Human cores dissipate with death, and thus, only by killing can one obtain the core. But that comes with long-term risks of its own. The core of a dead contains the energy of the dead, which corrupts one's mind over time, leading them to fall into the state of qi deviations.'
'But the same cannot be said for monster cores.'
Monster cores. A name given to the Dantians of monsters that develop over time, becoming a prized possession to the monster and a bounty on its head at the same time.
Collected by cultivators, monster cores are used in a lot of different ways, commonly used to craft pills and elixirs.
'As unprecedented as it seemed, there existed ancient scriptures prescribing the use of the monster cores to implant artificial cores into a human's body. Although the side effects were just as severe.'
If the monster were to be killed and its core were to be used as such, the soul intentions implanted into the core over the course of its life would become hostile and slowly encroach on the human's body into the monster's behaviors, slowly transforming the soul into that of the monster itself.
While if taken from the grave, the soul implants would be more hostile and directly attack one's soul, however, if one were to win against them, the core would gain a new owner.
'But I'm nowhere strong enough to even look at the lowest of such monsters, let alone face them head on.'