Jack drifted in and out of consciousness, before a sharp, searing pain originating from his abdomen jolted him awake. Before he could even guess what happened, he found a deluge of system notifications awaiting him:

You have discovered a hidden piece …… [Divination Error].

You have discovered a hidden piece ‘Unknown Ancient Ruins.’

You have killed a….[Divination Error].

You have killed a Unknown Level 17 Creature. An Essence Art has already been used on the creature. Note: Due to limited efficiency of Essence Art, experience has been lost in progress. The system does not recommend Essence Arts for cultivators below Level 50.

You have reached level 6.

You have reached Level 7.

You have reached Level 8.

You have reached Level 9, Cycle Completion: 72.5%

You have discovered a new essence art. Divination for sponsor interference has begun….. Divination in Progress….. No Interference found.

You have received a message from the System. Would you like to read it?

“Uhhh…. Yes, I guess?” Jack replied, a little shocked that a deity level existence would deign to directly contact him.

To Cultivator, Jack Smith.

You have encountered a Class A+ Aberrant Event. A Class A+ Aberrant Events are extremely rare occurrences, however they are not unheard of. Extensive Divination has concluded that you have not been possessed, controlled, corrupted, are not under the influence of a superior cultivator or any other such mishap that would require your immediate termination.

Class A+ Aberrant Events resist all attempts of divination and restrict or eliminate access to the system, unless direct intervention is undertaken by the system. The remaining traces of the Ancient Ruins has been evaluated, but no further information has been discovered.

Due compensation will be provided at the end of phase one of the tutorial.

The system makes you the following offer:

For Unnamed Essence Art: No longer required to participate in the trial. D- Grade Protection for you and anyone blood related to you (including descendants) for the next 10,000 years. Training in combat or non-combat classes and entry into a D- Grade or above Sect. This offer will always remain open. For Ancient Legacy Technique, Deny: Any and all demands can be negotiated. This offer will always remain open.

“Class A+ Aberrant Event? All things considered, that does make sense,” Jack groaned, the splitting headache hammering away at his skill. Meanwhile, the pain in his abdomen slightly subsided, giving him time to think clearly.

You have discovered an Unnamed Essence Art. An Essence Art is a way to transfer cultivation base or Qi from a slain combatant to the victor. Currently unable to evaluate Essence Art Quality. Please note that at your current level, prolonged use of any essence art will have lasting and severe consequences to your health.

You have discovered Ancient Legacy Technique: Deny. Legacy Techniques are techniques created by a Paragon Level Cultivator or higher cultivator for their descendants. A Legacy Technique sacrifices a portion of the creator’s understanding of the Great Dao to allow its descendant’s to tap into his power without an understanding of the Dao.

Ancient Legacy Technique: Deny is an [Empyrean Level] Legacy Technique. A World Announcement will be made soon.

“Empyrean Level? What the fuck?” Jack muttered in astonishment, confident that it was the tier of supposed leaders of the Invasion that had lived for over fifty thousand years.

Just when Jack was about to enter a name, the pain in his gut suddenly intensified, a burning sensation so powerful that it caused him to kneel over from the pain. It was then that he remembered the entities that had charged at him from either side, and now the horror started creeping in. He had won the trial, but at what cost? What had the entities done to him?

With Jack at the epicenter, a shockwave rippled on his either side- on one side, a golden light washed over the fauna, giving them a lustrous sheen that made the originally plain forest an otherworldly beauty, while on the other side a wave of disturbing reddish-black light made trees standard earth douglas fir trees contort, the leaves on it turning from a light green to a disturbing blood red and the bark from a natural brown to a pitch black that seemed to absorb all nearby light.

Jack felt something manifest inside his chest, absorbing all the Qi from his surroundings at a speed that left Jack stupefied. Soon, he couldn’t feel any latent Qi remaining in the area, and the phenomenon ceased not long after. Jack could sense a small cube that rested below his heart, feeling intangible yet solid at the same time.

Congratulations, you have manifested your Innate Talent!

Divining….

Tier 1 Innate Talent: Dice has been detected! Please utilize your talent to understand its effects.

“Tier one?” Jack asked incredulously, as if he was in disbelief, before laughing bizarrely as if he couldn’t believe how screwed he was. Jack had never been as sure of anything before as he was now, but that thing sitting inside his body was not a Tier 1 Talent. Anything given to him by that entity couldn’t be a Tier 1 talent, no, it was something far more ancient and powerful than that.

Jack was about to experiment with it, but his bond with Luna suddenly reconnected. He was overjoyed for an instant, before his expression suddenly morphed into that of shock, and then one of absolute rage.

Luna was under attack, and she needed his help. The ones attacking her weren’t monsters though… They were humans.

Jack’s state of mind was hard to describe at that moment. First he was thrown into the middle of an alien invasion. Then he barely managed to escape from an Orc Titan with his life, only to be transported into some kind of bizarre, dystopian science fiction setting, forced to fight against a walking damn corpse with mind powers. After surviving all that, the first bunch of humans he’d actually have to go and greet were trying to kill his cat.

At that moment, Jack hoped that the attackers would be gone by the moment he arrived.

For their sakes.

STATUS

Name: Jack Smith

Affiliation: -

Age: 22 Years

Cultivation Cycle[?]/ Level: 9 (72.5%)

Race [?]: Human (F-)

Cultivation Stage [?]: Qi Channeler- Initiate (Current race limitation:???)

Innate Talent [?]: Dice (Tier 1)

Legacy Technique (New): Deny

Essence Art (New): [Name]

Cultivation Manual[?]: -

Class: Basic Swordsman [Defensive]

Skills: Qi Shield (Basic), Inspect.

Primary weapon: F- Growth Type Sword Artifact (Damaged)

Secondary weapon: -

Artefacts (New!): Wolf Legacy’s Chest Artifact (Damaged, F-)

Feats: -

.

.

.

[Not Unlocked]

Statistics:

Physical: 5+4= 9

Sensory: 5+4= 9

Thought Processing: 5.5+4= 9.5

Qi (Pool) [?]: 18/18

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