Some mornings, Li Xiuying woke up choking on dreams of flying but today, she would discover that nightmares could become reality.
She gasped awake in her narrow cot, sweat cooling on her skin as the phantom sensation of soaring through clouds faded into the harsh reality of the servants' quarters. Around her, twenty other outer disciples slept fitfully on identical straw mattresses, their breathing creating a symphony of exhaustion that had become the soundtrack of her three years of failure.
Three years since arriving at the Azure Phoenix Sect with nothing but determination and a letter of recommendation from Village Elder Chen. Three years of scrubbing floors, tending herb gardens, and pretending she belonged among cultivators who could shape reality with their will.
Three years of being the weakest disciple in the sect's thousand-year history.
Li Xiuying rolled out of bed before the morning bell, her bare feet silent on cold stone. Experience had taught her that starting chores early meant avoiding the worst of her fellow disciples' cruelty. Not kindness just survival wrapped in the dignity of routine.
The pre-dawn air bit at her exposed arms as she drew water from the outer courtyard's well. The bucket was heavy, her fingers numb, but physical discomfort was preferable to the spiritual emptiness that defined her existence. While others absorbed qi like starving plants drinking rain, she could barely sense the spiritual energy that supposedly permeated everything.
"Still playing servant, I see."
Li Xiuying's shoulders tensed. Chen Weilong's voice carried the casual cruelty of someone who'd never known failure. His Foundation Establishment cultivation pressed against her like an invisible weight—a constant reminder of the vast chasm between them.
"This humble disciple greets Senior Brother Chen," she murmured, maintaining perfect form as she hauled up the bucket.
"Humble." Chen Weilong circled her like a predator. "How long has it been since you attempted a breakthrough, Xiuying?"
The question hit like a physical blow. "This disciple is still consolidating her foundation."
It wasn't entirely a lie. You couldn't break through from Qi Refinement 1st stage if you'd never successfully completed it. For three years, she'd been stuck at the very beginning of cultivation, unable to even sense spiritual energy reliably.
"Consolidating. For three years." His laughter drew other disciples like vultures. "Tell me, does Elder Wu know about your... extended foundation period?"
Liu Meihua appeared, her recent advancement to Qi Refinement 4th stage making her eager to establish superiority over those still beneath her. "Perhaps Sister Xiuying should consider that not everyone is meant for the immortal path."
"The sect has been generous," added Zhang Fei, an inner disciple whose cruelty was legendary. "Three years of resources, training, guidance... all wasted."
Li Xiuying forced her breathing to remain steady. She'd learned that reacting only fed their cruelty. Better to endure silently and wait for them to lose interest.
"I heard Elder Wu expressing concerns about resource allocation," Chen Weilong continued conversationally. "The sect can't support charitable cases indefinitely."
The implication hung in the air like poison. Li Xiuying's village had sold their best farmland to pay for her transportation and entry fees. If she was expelled, there would be no home to return to only shame and a family that had sacrificed everything for her failure.
"This disciple will work harder," she whispered, hating how it sounded like begging.
"Work harder?" Zhang Fei's laugh was sharp enough to cut stone. "The problem isn't effort it's capability. Some people simply aren't blessed by the heavens."
The morning bell rang, its bronze voice echoing across mountain peaks. Disciples in pristine white robes emerged from inner courtyards, preparing for cultivation sessions Li Xiuying hadn't been allowed to join in over a year.
"Speaking of cultivation," Chen Weilong's smile turned predatory, "Elder Wu requested all outer disciples attend today's session. Something about... comprehensive evaluation."
Li Xiuying's blood turned to ice. Comprehensive evaluation meant public testing, which meant public humiliation when she inevitably failed to demonstrate even basic qi manipulation.
An hour later, she knelt in the outer courtyard with thirty other disciples, trying to make herself invisible as Elder Wu's penetrating gaze swept over them. His Core Formation aura made the air itself feel heavy, pressing down on her shoulders like the weight of her own inadequacy.
"Today, we assess your progress," Elder Wu announced. "Each disciple will demonstrate basic qi circulation and meridian control. Those who have advanced will be recognised. Those who have not..." His pause carried ominous implications. "Will receive guidance appropriate to their circumstances."
Li Xiuying's hands trembled as disciples began their demonstrations. One by one, they guided spiritual energy through their meridians with varying degrees of skill. Even the weakest among them could manipulate qi with basic competency. The sight filled her with familiar despair.
"Li Xiuying."
Her name cut through the air like a blade. Every head turned toward her, and she saw the mixture of pity and curiosity in their eyes. The girl who couldn't cultivate. The sect's greatest failure.
Li Xiuying rose on unsteady legs and walked to the center of the courtyard. Elder Wu watched her approach with an expression she couldn't read.
"Demonstrate basic qi circulation," he commanded.
She settled into lotus position and began the breathing technique she'd practiced ten thousand times. In through the nose, hold for seven counts, out through the mouth. Feel for spiritual energy in the air. Draw it into the dantian. Circulate it through the meridians.
For an agonising minute, Li Xiuying followed the familiar pattern. Sweat beaded on her forehead from mental strain. Her muscles ached from maintaining perfect posture. And yet, as always, the spiritual energy remained just out of reach like trying to grasp smoke with bare hands.
Whispers rose from the watching disciples.
"She still can't do it."
"Three years and she's exactly where she started."
"Why does the sect keep her?"
"Poor thing. She tries so hard."
The pity in that last comment was worse than outright mockery. Li Xiuying's concentration shattered completely. She opened her eyes to find Elder Wu staring at her with something that might have been disappointment or resignation.
"Li Xiuying," his voice carried across the courtyard with terrible finality. "Report to my chambers after evening meal. We need to discuss your future at this sect."
The dismissal hit her like a physical blow. Around her, disciples resumed their demonstrations, but she could feel their sideways glances, their relief that they weren't the one facing expulsion.
Li Xiuying stumbled back to her position, barely holding back tears of rage and despair. Three years of sacrifice, struggle, and humiliation, only to face the inevitable conclusion that everyone had seen coming.
I'm not good enough. I'll never be good enough. They were right about me.
As evening approached and her final meeting with Elder Wu drew closer, Li Xiuying found herself walking toward the sect's outer territories. She needed space to think, to prepare for whatever conversation would determine her fate.
The mountain path led to a secluded waterfall where she'd often come to practice in private, away from mocking eyes and disappointed sighs. The sound of cascading water usually brought her peace, but tonight it felt like a funeral dirge.
Li Xiuying settled beside the pool and stared at her reflection in the moonlit water. Seventeen years old, with calloused hands and eyes that held too much exhaustion for someone her age. A failure who would soon be cast out of the only place that had ever offered her a chance at something greater.
"Please," she whispered to the uncaring stars. "I'll do anything. Pay any price. Just give me a chance to prove I'm worth something."
The wind picked up, rustling leaves with a sound like distant laughter. Li Xiuying closed her eyes and made a wish that felt more like a prayer, more like a desperate bargain with forces beyond her understanding.
Anything. I'll sacrifice anything for the power to change my fate.
The air around her suddenly charged with electricity. Li Xiuying's eyes snapped open as golden characters blazed to life in her vision, hovering like divine script carved from starlight itself.
[DESPERATION THRESHOLD REACHED]
[SOUL COMPATIBILITY: 99.7%]
[CYCLE OF SAMSARA SYSTEM - ACTIVATION INITIATED]
[SCANNING FOR PRIMORDIAL DAO RESONANCE...]
[SCAN COMPLETE]
[CONGRATULATIONS, LI XIUYING]
[YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AS THE 12,848TH CANDIDATE FOR THE FORBIDDEN PATH OF INFINITE REINCARNATION]
[PREVIOUS CANDIDATES: 12,847]
[PREVIOUS SURVIVORS: 0]
[DO YOU ACCEPT THE CONTRACT OF ETERNAL DEATH AND REBIRTH?]
[WARNING: ACCEPTANCE IS IRREVERSIBLE]
[WARNING: FAILURE RESULTS IN SOUL ANNIHILATION]
[WARNING: SUCCESS MAY RESULT IN SOMETHING FAR WORSE THAN DEATH]
Li Xiuying stared at the impossible golden text, her heart hammering against her ribs. A system. An actual cultivation system was offering her a chance—not just at advancement, but at a forbidden path that sounded both terrifying and magnificent.
Twelve thousand candidates before her. Zero survivors.
She should refuse. She should run. She should accept Elder Wu's dismissal and find some quiet way to live out her days in mediocrity.
Instead, Li Xiuying thought of Chen Weilong's mocking laughter, of Liu Meihua's false pity, of three years spent watching everyone else soar while she crawled through mud.
"I accept," she said firmly.
[CONTRACT ESTABLISHED]
[SOUL BINDING COMPLETE]
[WELCOME TO THE CYCLE OF SAMSARA SYSTEM]
[INITIATING FIRST TRIAL IN 3... 2... 1...]
Pain beyond description tore through Li Xiuying's consciousness as reality began to dissolve around her. The last thing she saw was a final line of golden text burning across her vision:
[PREPARE TO DIE YOUR FIRST DEATH, GENERAL MEI LIN]
Her scream of shock and terror echoed across the waterfall as her consciousness was ripped from her body and hurled across eight centuries of time, into the final battle of a war she'd never heard of, wearing armor she'd never seen, holding a sword that would soon drink her blood.
The weakest disciple in the Azure Phoenix Sect had just become something far more dangerous than anyone could imagine.
She had become the Bearer of Infinite Death.