A knife slid into Kai's heart with perfect accuracy.
He felt the cold metal push through his back, and he watched his own blood spread across the concrete floor of the empty warehouse. His killer, his own business partner Marcus, stepped back with a look of pure satisfaction in his eyes.
"Nothing personal, Kai. You were just too honest for this world."
Kai's vision began to fade. He was twenty eight years old, a tech entrepreneur worth millions, and this was how it all ended. Betrayed for a company he had built from nothing. The irony was clear. He had spent years fighting in corporate battles, outsmarting rivals, doing whatever it took to build his empire. Yet in the end, simple greed and a knife in the back had succeeded where business competition had failed.
If only I had real power, he thought as the darkness closed in. Not money. Not influence. Real power that no one could ever take from me.
Words flashed across his fading mind in blue text.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION DETECTED]
Kai's dying brain struggled to understand what he was seeing. Was it a hallucination? Was his brain shutting down? Or some last desperate dream as his mind fired its final signals?
[HOST COMPATIBILITY: 100%]
[DEATH AFFINITY CONFIRMED]
[SHADOW SOVEREIGN SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[WELCOME, NEW SOVEREIGN]
The concrete floor, the sound of Marcus walking away, the smell of his own blood... everything dissolved into complete darkness. But this was not the darkness of death. This was something deeper. Something that felt alive.
Kai's eyes opened suddenly to a world that made no sense.
He stood in what looked like a huge underground cave, but the walls pulsed with veins of dark energy that seemed almost living. Above him, where a ceiling should be, there was an endless empty space filled with swirling galaxies of purple and black light. The air felt thick with power, pressing against his skin like invisible hands.
"Where am I?"
[SHADOW REALM - SOVEREIGN'S DOMAIN]
[YOU HAVE DIED IN YOUR PREVIOUS WORLD]
[THE SHADOW SOVEREIGN SYSTEM HAS CLAIMED YOUR SOUL]
[YOU ARE NOW BOUND TO THE PATH OF DEATH CULTIVATION]
The floating text appeared in front of him, but this felt nothing like any technology he had ever known. This was real. This was undeniable.
Kai touched his chest where the knife had entered. No wound. No pain. His body felt different. Stronger, more alive than ever before. But there was also something new, a coldness in his core that had not been there before.
"Death cultivation? What does that mean?"
[DEATH CULTIVATION: THE ART OF GROWING STRONGER THROUGH DEATH]
[EVERY ENEMY YOU KILL FEEDS YOUR POWER]
[EVERY SOUL YOU CLAIM EXPANDS YOUR DOMINION]
[EVERY SHADOW YOU COMMAND INCREASES YOUR AUTHORITY]
Kai thought about this information carefully. So strength came from killing. That was... straightforward. In his previous life, he had ruined competitors, cost people their jobs, done what was needed to survive and succeed. This was just more honest about it.
"So I have to kill people to get stronger?"
[CORRECTION: YOU MUST KILL TO SURVIVE]
[THIS WORLD HAS BEEN CHOSEN AS YOUR PROVING GROUND]
[FAILURE MEANS PERMANENT DEATH]
[SUCCESS MEANS TRANSCENDENCE BEYOND MORTAL UNDERSTANDING]
A small smile touched Kai's lips. He had always been good at games with clear rules. In business, you either grew or you died. Apparently, this world worked on similar ideas, just more directly.
"And if the people I need to kill do not deserve it?"
[MORALITY IS DEFINED BY THE STRONG]
[POWER RECOGNIZES ONLY STRENGTH AND SURVIVAL]
[HOWEVER: STRATEGIC ELIMINATION YIELDS GREATER REWARDS THAN RANDOM SLAUGHTER]
[THE SYSTEM ENCOURAGES EFFICIENCY]
That made sense. Kai had never killed anyone in his past life, but he had certainly destroyed lives when necessary. The system was not telling him to become a monster. It was telling him that in a world of cultivation, survival required different methods. He could work with that.
"Alright. What happens next?"
Before the system could answer, the realm around him began to shimmer. The pulsing walls grew see through, the swirling void above started to compress and turn into something else.
[INITIALIZING WORLD TRANSFER]
[DESTINATION: VALDRIS - WORLD OF CULTIVATION]
[COVER IDENTITY: ESTABLISHED]
[INITIAL ABILITIES: UNLOCKED]
[GOOD LUCK, SHADOW SOVEREIGN]
Kai's mind slammed back into reality.
He was lying on a narrow wooden bed in what looked like a simple dormitory room. Sunlight came through paper windows, and he could hear the sounds of training outside. Metal clashing against metal, grunts of effort, shouted instructions in a language he somehow understood even though he had never heard it before.
His body felt different. Younger. Weaker than his previous athletic frame, with the lean muscles of someone who had worked hard but never eaten well. Memories that were not his own began filling his mind. A poor farming family, years of hard work in the fields, desperate training to qualify for the sect entrance exam, collapsing from exhaustion right after passing.
The door slid open and a young man walked in. He had the lean build of someone who trained every day, with rough hands and sharp eyes. He wore simple gray robes with a small emblem. A mountain peak surrounded by clouds.
"Finally awake, are you?" The young man sat on the bed across from him. "I am Lin Wei, an outer disciple of the Celestial Peak Sect, same as you. Though I have to say, collapsing during the entrance exam was quite the entrance."
Kai's mind raced, sorting through the implanted memories. He was Kai Chen in this world too, but a different version. A farm boy who had barely passed the entrance exam through pure determination and had immediately collapsed from lack of food and exhaustion.
[IDENTITY INTEGRATION COMPLETE]
[COVER STORY ACCEPTED BY WORLD]
[CHECKING CURRENT STATUS]
A see through blue screen appeared in Kai's vision, invisible to Lin Wei:
[SHADOW SOVEREIGN SYSTEM - STATUS]
Name:Kai Chen
Realm:Mortal (No Cultivation)
Shadow Energy:100/100
Death Points:0
Abilities Unlocked:[Shadow Sight] [Death Sense] [Soul Harvest - Locked]
Current Mission:Survive your first month as a disciple
Reward:1000 Death Points, Basic Shadow Techniques
Failure:Permanent Death
Kai kept his face calm. One month to survive in a world where power decided everything, and he currently had none. He had started from nothing before and built an empire. This was just another climb, with higher stakes.
"How long was I out?" Kai asked.
"Three days. The sect masters were debating whether to send you home, but Elder Zhang convinced them to give you a chance. Said you had unusual spiritual potential, whatever that means." Lin Wei threw him a set of gray robes. "Get dressed. Morning training starts in an hour, and trust me... you do not want to be late."
As Kai changed clothes, Lin Wei kept talking. "Fair warning, Brother Kai. As outer disciples, we are at the bottom here. The inner disciples treat us like servants, and the core disciples barely notice we exist. The only way to move up is to prove yourself in the monthly evaluation tournaments."
[TUTORIAL OBJECTIVE UPDATED]
[SURVIVE FIRST TRAINING SESSION]
[LEARN SECT HIERARCHY]
[IDENTIFY POTENTIAL ADVANCEMENT PATHS]
Kai nodded slowly. A hierarchy based on strength. Monthly evaluations. Tournaments for advancement. This was not so different from corporate structures. Just more honest about how power worked.
"Brother Lin, what happens to disciples who fail the evaluations?"
Lin Wei's face grew serious. "It depends how badly they fail. Poor performance means you stay an outer disciple forever. But if you are really terrible..." He lowered his voice. "The sect does not waste resources on the hopeless. Some get sent to the mines. Others become servants. A few just... disappear."
[DEATH SENSE ACTIVATED]
[SCANNING AREA]
[DETECTING 847 LIFE SIGNATURES WITHIN 1 KM RADIUS]
[NOTE: 23 SIGNATURES SHOW SIGNS OF IMPENDING DEATH WITHIN 30 DAYS]
Red outlines appeared around certain people he could see through the walls. A sickly outer disciple in the next room, an old servant two floors down, a young man whose energy pulsed in a chaotic way. The system was not just giving him power. It was showing him opportunities.
Kai stored that information away. Twenty three people who were already dying or likely to die soon. He did not know yet what that meant for his advancement, but information was always valuable.
"Thanks for the warning, Brother Lin," Kai said. "I do not plan to fail."
Lin Wei smiled. "That is the spirit. Come on, I will show you to the training grounds."
As they walked through halls filled with disciples of different ages and power levels, Kai began studying his new environment. The Celestial Peak Sect was huge. Thousands of disciples, dozens of elders, and a strict hierarchy that decided everything from where you lived to whether you lived at all.
[SHADOW SIGHT ACTIVATED]
[ANALYZING CULTIVATION LEVELS]
Above each person he looked at, Kai could see their power level:
Lin Wei: [Qi Gathering Realm - 3rd Stage]
Random Outer Disciple:[Qi Gathering Realm - 1st Stage]
Inner Disciple walking past:[Foundation Building Realm - 2nd Stage]
Elder in the distance:[Core Formation Realm - ???]
And above his own head, visible in reflective surfaces: [Mortal - No Cultivation]
He was at the very bottom. But Kai had climbed from nothing before. He knew how to find opportunities, how to position himself for advancement. This world just had different rules. Rules he was already starting to understand.
The training ground was a large courtyard surrounded by weapon racks, meditation circles, and practice dummies that looked very old. About two hundred outer disciples were already gathered, all looking more capable than Kai felt at that moment.
"Listen up!"
The voice belonged to Senior Disciple Chen Yun, an inner disciple with the body of a fighter and the attitude of someone who liked being in charge. His cultivation showed as [Foundation Building Realm - 5th Stage]. Far above anyone else there.
"Today we are practicing the Iron Body technique. Partner up and start training. Anyone who cannot take a hit by the end of training gets to spend the night in the punishment cells."
The punishment cells. Kai's death sense had detected three weak life signatures down there. People who were failing, who would soon disappear like Lin Wei had suggested.
[OPPORTUNITY DETECTED]
[MULTIPLE POTENTIAL PATHS IDENTIFIED]
[RECOMMEND CAUTIOUS APPROACH FOR OPTIMAL SURVIVAL]
As the disciples began to pair off, Kai noticed something. Several of the outer disciples were looking at him with expressions that ranged from pity to something more predatory. Word had spread about the farm boy who collapsed during the entrance exam. To them, he was the weakest one.
That could be useful. In his previous life, Kai had learned that being underestimated was often better than being feared. People showed their true colors when they thought you were helpless. They made mistakes, revealed weaknesses.
"Well, well. If it is not our sleeping beauty."
Kai turned to find himself facing three disciples who were clearly together. The leader, a young man with scarred knuckles and cold eyes, smiled without any warmth.
"I am Zhao Ming. These are my training partners, Liu Jian and Wang Shu. We heard you need some extra attention to catch up with the rest of us."
[WARNING: HOSTILE INTENT DETECTED]
[RECOMMENDATION: AVOID CONFRONTATION OR PREPARE FOR COMBAT]
[NOTE: ALL THREE TARGETS SHOW HIGH PROBABILITY OF COMMITTING ACTS WARRANTING ELIMINATION WITHIN 7 DAYS]
Kai's mind processed that last line carefully. The system was marking these three as future targets. People who would apparently cross lines that justified their deaths. He did not fully understand the morality of this world yet, but he recognized predators when he saw them.
"I appreciate the offer, Brother Zhao," Kai said carefully, keeping his voice neutral and not threatening, "but I would not want to slow down your training. Maybe I should work with someone closer to my own level first?"
Zhao Ming's smile grew wider. "Oh, I insist. After all, the sect values cooperation among disciples. Especially helping out the weaker ones."
[SHADOW ENERGY FLUCTUATION DETECTED]
[YOUR EMOTIONAL STATE AFFECTS YOUR POWER]
[FEAR/ANGER RESPONSE INCREASING SHADOW AFFINITY]
[WARNING: DO NOT REVEAL ABILITIES PREMATURELY]
Kai forced himself to stay calm, using the same composure that had helped him in tough negotiations. These three were clearly bullies, probably worse. But showing his abilities now would be stupid.
He needed information. He needed to understand how this world really worked before making any moves. Patience had always been one of his strengths.
"Actually," Kai said, forcing a nervous smile, "I think that is a good idea. I have a lot to learn."
Lin Wei gave him a worried look from across the courtyard, but Kai shook his head slightly. Wait, his expression said. Let me handle this.
As Zhao Ming led him toward a more isolated part of the training ground, Kai activated his Shadow Sight more deeply, examining the three disciples' spiritual signatures. What he saw was interesting.
All three had dark spots on their spiritual energy patterns. Stains that indicated something. Violence, maybe. Or worse.
[DEATH SENSE REVELATION]
[ACCESSING DEEPER INFORMATION]
[ZHAO MING: RESPONSIBLE FOR 3 TRAINING ACCIDENTS IN PAST YEAR]
[LIU JIAN: COVERED UP 2 DISAPPEARANCES OF WEAK DISCIPLES]
[WANG SHU: DIRECT ACCOMPLICE IN SYSTEMATIC ELIMINATION OF UNFIT DISCIPLES]
Kai's face remained carefully neutral, but inside, something cold settled into place. These three were not just bullies. They were killers who preyed on the weak under the cover of training.
In his previous life, Kai had crushed competitors, but they had been adults playing the same game. These three were different. They killed disciples who could not defend themselves.
The system wanted him to eliminate threats. These three definitely qualified.
"Let us see what you are made of, farm boy," Zhao Ming said, cracking his knuckles as they reached the isolated area.
Kai looked at the three predators surrounding him and felt no fear. Just cold calculation and the start of a plan.
He had built an empire by finding opportunities and exploiting weaknesses. These three had just shown him both.
It was time to learn how this world really worked.
[TUTORIAL PROGRESSION: 23%]
[CONTINUE TO OBSERVE AND LEARN]
[FIRST OPPORTUNITY APPROACHING]