As soon as Ethan entered the carriage, he sighed. Back on Earth, he always traveled by car, train, plane, or bus. Now, he was about to travel in a carriage pulled by violet-colored horses. But since this was a cultivation world, their speed should be far greater than Earth's horses. He didn't underestimate these horses.
After sitting in the carriage, Jake took out some meat and offered it to Ethan. Ethan was startled. He had been a vegetarian on Earth and hated non-vegetarian food. Now, Jake was offering him meat—how could he not be surprised?
Still, Ethan accepted and started to eat with great difficulty. Firstly, he was very hungry. Secondly, he didn't want to offend Jake and the others by refusing their goodwill.
Jake said, "Well, the journey is long. Please take rest, brother. We'll wake you once we reach the academy."
"Yes," Ethan replied and took a nap. Jake and his companions left the carriage and walked a short distance away.
"Are we really taking this trash?" one follower asked.
"Do we have any other choice?" Jake shook his head. "There are many disciples in our academy. If we fail to fill all the quotas, the future of all these disciples will be disastrous. We won't be able to face our ancestors if the academy shuts down. Do you really want to see that happen?"
The others remained silent. They knew Jake spoke the truth.
Jake sighed in frustration. "We'll pretend we never met this guy once we enter the academy. I received news that others successfully recruited enough students to save the academy this year. So let's just return. What to do with this Ethan guy… the elders will decide."
They all nodded dejectedly, returning to their carriages. The exhausting task of constant recruitment had drained them, and they welcomed the brief rest as they headed back to the academy.
At the same time, Ethan didn't sleep. Even though he was conversing with Jake and the others, the system annoyed him with a screen only he could see. Now alone, he took time to examine the system and see what it wanted.
[User is yet to Fill the Profile]
[Please Enter the Name]
He didn't hesitate and immediately typed, "Ethan Hunt."
[Name confirmed. Please enter your Daoist Name]
"Daoist Name?" Ethan was surprised. The system's profile requirements were similar to the MMORPG game he played back on Earth. The game Ascension had exactly the same profile formats.
"Fool!" he entered as his Daoist Name. On Earth, Shirley called him "Fool" playfully. The nickname had become famous throughout their university. He even used "Fool" as his character name in the game Ascension, symbolizing his love for Shirley. So he used the same here as well.
Daoist Name confirmed]
[Profile is now confirmed]
[Does user want to officially activate the system?]
"How could I say no?" Ethan thought. He had always looked at his in-game stats, but didn't know his real body's stats. Now that he had the chance, he accepted readily. Besides, he knew that to reach great heights in cultivation, he must depend on the system.
As soon as he said "Yes," the system displayed his statistics on the screen:
Name : Ethan Hunt
Daoist Name : Fool
TALENT POOL
Spiritual Roots - Mortal Grade
Physique - Mortal Grade
Spirit - Mortal Grade
Cultivation Level : None
Cultivation Techniques : None
Level : 0
EXP Points : 0\10
POINTS PANEL
Skill Points : 0 (Credit : 100,000)
Attribute Points : 0
Golden Points : 0
System Currency : 0
ATTRIBUTES
HP : 50/50
QP : (Locked)
Strength : 20/20
Stamina : 20/20
Endurance : 15/15
Speed : 10/10
Agility : 7/7
Spirit : 0.3
Luck : 1
After reviewing his attributes, Ethan felt like crying. His real body's stats were far worse than his in-game character's at the start of the game. Back then, all his stats were at least 100 points or higher. Now, they barely reached 20 points. Only his health was somewhat decent, with 50 points. The rest were mediocre.
He explored the system further and was stunned to see inventory features and an in-game shop.
Back on Earth, whenever he completed quests or defeated players, he received in-game coins. These coins could be spent on system accessories like spirit stones, small movable residences, blank scrolls for passive attacks, and so on. These items were usually considered trash.
The truly valuable gear came from dungeons or high-level quest rewards.
In the in-game player profile, the number of coins collected was displayed in the System Currency column.
By now, Ethan was convinced he wasn't the only one who transmigrated. The MMORPG Ascension game inventory had somehow merged with him in this world.
He took a deep breath and calmed himself. Too many strange events had occurred in one day.
Even though he had dreamed of becoming a cultivator while on Earth, it all seemed so illogical.
The sudden transmigration had caught him off guard. He wasn't mentally prepared at all. When it really happened, he felt like his mind had gone numb.
If possible, he would have done breathing exercises related to cultivation. But he had no such techniques now—he was brand new here.
So, for now, he decided to rest and start fresh the next day. He closed his eyes and sank into a deep sleep.