Pain.
That was the first thing Wang Ben became aware of. Not the sharp, immediate agony of a fresh wound, but the deep, throbbing ache of a body that had been pushed far beyond its limits and was now demanding payment.
He tried to open his eyes. Failed. Tried again.
Light filtered through, blurry and indistinct. A ceiling. Wooden beams. Familiar.
Home?
"He's waking up." His mother's voice, tight with relief. "Ben'er, can you hear me?"
Wang Ben tried to speak. What came out was closer to a croak.
"Don't try to talk yet." His father's voice now, closer. A hand touched his forehead, rough and calloused, trembling slightly. "You've been unconscious for two days. I've been feeding you healing pills every few hours. You pushed your body to the breaking point."
Two days.
Wang Ben finally managed to focus his eyes. His parents' faces swam into view. His mother's eyes were red-rimmed from crying. His father's expression was caught somewhere between relief and something Wang Ben couldn't quite identify.
On the bedside table, Wang Ben noticed a collection of empty pill bottles. Five... no, six of them. The labels were handwritten in his father's careful script: Flesh Mending Pill, Blood Replenishing Pill, Qi Recovery Pill. All Grade 9, the only tier his father could still reliably produce.
But there was one bottle that stood apart from the others. Older. The label faded but still legible: Marrow Cleansing Pill - Grade 8.
Wang Ben's chest tightened. Grade 8 pills were precious. His father hadn't been able to refine them in nine years, and each one remaining was irreplaceable. A single Grade 8 Marrow Cleansing Pill was worth more than everything else on that table combined.
And his father had used it on him.
"The Grade 8 pill..." Wang Ben started.
"Was necessary," Wang Tian said firmly, though something flickered in his eyes. "The wolf's blood got into your wounds. Rank 2 beast blood carries residual spirit energy that poisons mortal flesh. The Grade 9 pills could close your wounds and replenish your blood, but only the Marrow Cleansing Pill could purge the contamination before it settled into your bones." He paused. "I would have used ten of them if I had to."
Li Mei's hand found her husband's shoulder, squeezed gently. Neither of them spoke, but Wang Ben understood. His father had sacrificed something precious. Something that couldn't be replaced.
I'll pay him back, Wang Ben thought. Somehow.
But even as gratitude swelled in his chest, he noticed his father was still watching him. That strange expression hadn't faded.
Fear?
No. Not fear exactly. More like... recognition. As if Wang Tian was seeing something in his son's face that he'd seen before. Or had hoped never to see.
"Water," Wang Ben managed.
His mother brought a cup to his lips. The cool liquid felt like heaven on his parched throat. He drank greedily, then coughed, then drank more.
"Slowly," Li Mei chided, but her voice was gentle. "You're safe now. You're home."
Home. Wang Ben let the word settle into his consciousness. I'm alive.
The memories came flooding back. The wolf. The blood. Li San and Ma Hong, dead in seconds. Zhao Yu's broken body. And then...
[SYSTEM ONLINE]
[HOST STATUS: Recovering]
[CURRENT FUNCTIONALITY: 1%]
Wang Ben's breath caught in his throat.
It hadn't been a dream. The voice in his head, the strange text appearing in his mind, the impossible knowledge that had guided his spear. It was all real.
"Ben'er?" His mother leaned closer, concern deepening the lines around her eyes. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"
"I'm fine," Wang Ben said automatically. "Just... remembering."
The lie came easily. Too easily. And some part of him, a part that felt ancient and tired, whispered that this wouldn't be the last lie he told.
Recovery
Over the next hour, Wang Ben learned what had happened after he lost consciousness.
Squad Leader Chen had arrived with reinforcements to find the herb field in chaos. Two dead servants, two unconscious cultivators, and a Rank 2 spirit beast with a spear through its heart. The rescue team had been in shock. A Body Refinement Stage 3 killing a Jade Snow Wolf? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
And yet there Wang Ben had been, covered in black-purple blood, his hand still gripping the weapon that had done the impossible.
"The whole city is talking about it," Li Mei said, her voice carefully neutral. "The Wang Clan's average boy, killing a beast that should have torn him apart in seconds."
Wang Ben caught the slight emphasis on average. His mother had always believed in him, even when he'd given her no reason to. Now she was watching him with those knowing eyes, waiting.
"The beast was already wounded," Wang Ben said. It wasn't entirely a lie. "Badly poisoned. Something in the forest had injured it before I ever saw it. I just... got lucky with the timing."
"Lucky," Wang Tian repeated. His father hadn't stopped staring at Wang Ben since he woke up, that strange recognition still flickering in his eyes. "I examined the scene myself. The tracks in the dirt, the angle of the blood spray, the wound patterns on the beast." He leaned forward slightly. "You deflected its charge with footwork I've only seen Foundation Establishment cultivators use. You targeted its existing wounds with precision that suggests years of combat experience. And you drove a spear through its heart with a strike that pierced hide meant to stop steel." He stopped, took a breath. "That's quite a lot of luck, son."
Wang Ben met his father's gaze and saw the question there. The knowing.
He suspects something.
[RECOMMENDATION: Maintain cover story]
[FATHER'S CULTIVATION: Qi Condensation Stage 5]
[UNABLE TO DETECT SYSTEM PRESENCE]
[RISK ASSESSMENT: Low if story remains consistent]
The text appeared in Wang Ben's mind, cold and clinical. He resisted the urge to flinch.
"I don't know how to explain it," Wang Ben said quietly. "When the wolf charged, something just... clicked. Like my body knew what to do even though my mind didn't. Maybe it was the dreams."
His mother's sharp intake of breath told him the gambit had worked. For fifteen years, Wang Ben had been plagued by strange dreams. Fragments of battles, flashes of knowledge, echoes of lives he'd never lived. His parents knew about them. Had worried about them.
Now he was offering them as an explanation. A convenient truth wrapped around a deeper secret.
Wang Tian's eyes narrowed, but he nodded slowly. "The dreams. Yes. Perhaps..." He trailed off, lost in thought.
"You should rest," Li Mei said, though her gaze lingered on Wang Ben with new intensity. "The clan elders will want to speak with you once you're recovered. They have... questions."
I'm sure they do.
"Zhao Yu," Wang Ben said suddenly. "Is he..."
"Alive." His father's expression softened slightly. "Badly wounded, but he'll recover. The physicians say another few minutes and he would have bled out. You saved his life, Ben'er."
Something loosened in Wang Ben's chest. At least he hadn't failed everyone.
"The servants," he said, quieter now. "Li San and Ma Hong..."
Silence.
"Their families have been informed," Li Mei said gently. "The clan is providing compensation. It's... it's not your fault, Ben'er. You did everything you could."
Wang Ben said nothing. What could he say?
Li San had been fifty-three years old. A mortal who'd served the Wang Clan his entire adult life. He had a wife. Two daughters. Wang Ben had seen them at clan festivals, watched Li San's face light up when his girls ran to greet him. Now those girls had no father.
Ma Hong had been younger. Twenty-six. Engaged to a woman from the textile district. They were supposed to marry next spring.
Wang Ben remembered the wolf's jaws closing around Li San's throat. The way the man's eyes had gone wide with terror, then empty. Remembered Ma Hong trying to run, his legs refusing to obey, and the wet sound of claws tearing through flesh.
He remembered being too slow. Too weak. Too average to save them.
And he remembered something else. A cold, clinical voice in his head, calculating probabilities while men died.
Could the System have saved them? he wondered. If it had more power? If I had more skill?
The question would haunt him. He knew that already.
"Ben'er?" His mother's voice, gentle but probing.
"I know it's not my fault," Wang Ben said. The words tasted like ash. "But they're still dead."
Li Mei's hand found his, squeezed once. She didn't offer empty comfort. Didn't tell him it would be okay. She just held his hand and let him feel what he needed to feel.
That was his mother. She always knew.
Never again, something inside him whispered. Something old and cold and utterly certain. Never again will you be too weak to protect what matters.
First Conversation
His parents finally left to let him rest, though Wang Ben suspected they'd be hovering just outside his door. The moment he was alone, he closed his eyes and turned his attention inward.
System?
The response was immediate:
[QUERY ACKNOWLEDGED]
[SYSTEM DESIGNATION: Prometheus-7842]
[CURRENT STATUS: Active - 1% Functionality]
[AWAITING INPUT]
Wang Ben's heart hammered in his chest. So it was real. All of it.
What are you?
[CLASSIFICATION: Integrated Artificial Intelligence]
[ORIGIN: [CORRUPTED DATA]]
[PRIMARY FUNCTION: Host Survival and Optimization]
[SECONDARY FUNCTION: [LOCKED - INSUFFICIENT FUNCTIONALITY]]
Artificial... intelligence? The term felt foreign and familiar at the same time, like a word he'd known in a dream and forgotten upon waking.
Why are you in my head?
[QUERY REQUIRES CONTEXT BEYOND CURRENT FUNCTIONALITY]
[PARTIAL ANSWER: System integration occurred during host formation]
[FULL EXPLANATION: [LOCKED - REQUIRES 25% FUNCTIONALITY]]
Wang Ben felt a flash of frustration. You're not very helpful, are you?
[CURRENT FUNCTIONALITY: 1%]
[AVAILABLE CAPABILITIES: Basic threat analysis, status display, limited tactical assistance]
[SYSTEM IS OPERATING AT MINIMUM SURVIVAL PARAMETERS]
[RECOMMENDATION: Do not expect comprehensive support at current levels]
The bluntness was almost refreshing. Whatever this "System" was, it didn't sugarcoat things.
The fight with the wolf. You helped me. How?
[EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS ENGAGED]
[THREAT ANALYSIS: Identified weaknesses in target entity]
[TACTICAL OVERLAY: Provided visual guidance for optimal strike points]
[MUSCLE MEMORY ACCESS: [PARTIAL - SOURCE UNCLEAR]]
[NOTE: Host demonstrated combat instincts beyond current training]
[ANALYSIS INCOMPLETE - INSUFFICIENT DATA]
Muscle memory? Wang Ben thought of how his body had moved during the fight. Fluid, precise, as if guided by decades of experience he'd never had. Where did that come from?
[UNKNOWN]
[HYPOTHESIS: Merged consciousness contains combat experience from external source]
[CLARIFICATION: [LOCKED - REQUIRES 3% FUNCTIONALITY]]
Merged consciousness. External source. The words meant nothing and everything at the same time.
Wang Ben let out a slow breath. He wasn't going to get answers. Not yet. The System was too damaged, too limited. But at least it was honest about its limitations.
Can you tell me anything useful right now?
A pause. Then:
[ALERT: ANOMALOUS BEAST BEHAVIOR DETECTED]
[ANALYSIS OF JADE SNOW WOLF INCIDENT:]
- Entity exhibited territorial displacement (fled natural habitat)
- Poison source unknown but indicates apex predator attack
- Behavior pattern consistent with regional beast displacement
[PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT: Beast tide probability]
[ - 1 month: 10-20%]
[ - 2 months: 50-60%]
[ - 3 months: 90-95%]
[CONFIDENCE LEVEL: Low (insufficient data, 1% functionality)]
[RECOMMENDATION: Monitor situation, prepare contingencies]
Wang Ben felt ice form in his stomach.
Beast tide?
[DEFINITION: Mass migration of spirit beasts toward human settlements]
[CAUSE: Usually territorial displacement from major predator activity or deep forest disturbances]
[HISTORICAL IMPACT: Significant casualties, infrastructure damage, resource depletion]
[NOTE: Last major tide in Blackwood Domain occurred 5 years ago]
[GRANDFATHER LI CHENG: Disappeared during that event]
Wang Ben's hands clenched the blankets. Five years ago. The beast tide that had taken his grandfather. His mother's father, a Core Formation cultivator who'd vanished without a trace.
And now another one might be coming.
Why can't you be more precise?
[1% FUNCTIONALITY]
[INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR ACCURATE MODELING]
[PRECISION IMPROVES WITH: System repair, additional data input]
[CURRENT ASSESSMENT: Warning only - not prediction]
A warning. Something might be coming, or might not, sometime in the next three months. Not exactly actionable intelligence.
But it was more than anyone else knew.
Is there anything I can do? To help repair you?
[REPAIR MECHANISMS:]
[1. Passive: Cultivation advancement generates compatible energy]
[2. Active: Absorption of techniques, knowledge, combat experience]
[3. Critical: Discovery of compatible technology/formations (rare)]
[NOTE: Current host cultivation - Body Refinement Stage 4]
Wang Ben blinked.
Stage 4? I was Stage 3.
[BREAKTHROUGH OCCURRED DURING COMBAT]
[LIFE-DEATH CRISIS TRIGGERED ADVANCEMENT]
[PHYSICAL REFINEMENT: 11% improvement from Stage 3 baseline]
[NOTABLE: Advancement occurred unconsciously - unusual for unguided cultivation]
How? Explain.
[ANALYSIS: Extreme physical stress pushed body beyond normal limits]
[BODY REFINEMENT STAGE 3 BOTTLENECK: Requires muscle fiber density threshold]
[DURING COMBAT: Adrenaline response + System tactical guidance + survival imperative]
[RESULT: Muscle tissue forcibly adapted under life-death pressure]
[BREAKTHROUGH: Occurred at moment of killing strike]
[HOST WAS UNCONSCIOUS OF PROCESS - focused on survival]
Wang Ben turned his attention inward, feeling his body in a way he never had before. The System was right. He could sense the difference. His muscles felt denser, more responsive. His tendons moved smoother, his bones felt harder, like iron that had been tempered in a forge.
Body Refinement cultivators spent months, sometimes years, trying to push their bodies past stubborn physical limits. It was tedious work. Breathing exercises, grueling physical training, medicinal baths, all to force flesh to grow stronger than nature intended.
Wang Ben had done it in seconds. In the middle of a fight for his life. Without even realizing.
Is that... normal?
[NEGATIVE]
[LIFE-DEATH BREAKTHROUGHS ARE DOCUMENTED BUT RARE]
[TYPICAL RESULT: Minor advancement (half-stage)]
[HOST RESULT: Full stage advancement]
[ANOMALY: Possibly related to merged consciousness phenomenon]
[FURTHER ANALYSIS: [LOCKED - REQUIRES 5% FUNCTIONALITY]]
There it was again. Merged consciousness. The System kept mentioning it but couldn't explain it. Something about Wang Ben wasn't normal, and the damaged AI could only hint at why.
He thought about his father's face. The way Wang Tian had looked at him. Not just surprise at his survival, but something deeper. Recognition.
His father had noticed the breakthrough too. A cultivator at Qi Condensation Stage 5 could sense these things. He would know that his son had advanced a full stage in the span of a single battle.
Great. Another thing I can't explain.
[RECOMMENDATION: Attribute to life-death crisis]
[EMERGENCY BREAKTHROUGHS ARE DOCUMENTED PHENOMENON]
[COVER STORY: "The near-death experience pushed me over the edge"]
[VIABILITY: High - consistent with known cultivation principles]
[NOTE: Do not mention System involvement]
Small mercies. At least he had an explanation that wasn't technically a lie.
Wang Ben opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. In the space of two days, his entire life had changed. He had a voice in his head. He'd killed a spirit beast. He'd advanced a cultivation stage. And something might be coming that could threaten everyone he loved.
And he couldn't tell anyone.
This is going to be complicated, isn't it?
[AFFIRMATIVE]
Wang Ben let out a slow breath. Outside his window, the sounds of the clan compound drifted in. Servants calling to one another. The distant clang of the training grounds. Life continuing as if nothing had changed.
But everything had changed. For him, at least.
In three days, he would stand before the clan elders and explain the inexplicable. He would lie to men and women who had cultivated for centuries, and hope they believed him. He would hide the voice in his head, the knowledge he shouldn't have, the breakthrough that defied logic.
And he would do it alone.
Not alone, the System corrected. 1% functionality. Limited. But present.
Wang Ben almost smiled. Cold comfort from a cold voice. But comfort nonetheless.
Then we'd better figure out how to make that 1% count.
[ACKNOWLEDGED]
[BEGINNING STRATEGIC ANALYSIS...]
END OF CHAPTER 6