The room was silent, save for the rhythmic, heavy breathing of the youth sitting on the floor. Xiao Yan sat in a lotus position, his eyes closed and his palms facing the ceiling. He was currently immersed in the process of Body Refining. It was a tedious stage of cultivation where one had to guide the thin, scattered Qi from the atmosphere into the pores of the skin.
He could feel the energy. It felt like tiny, warm needles pricking at his arms and chest. The goal was to let this energy soak into the muscle fibers, hardening them and pushing out the impurities that made a human body fragile.
It was a slow process that required absolute focus. For a member of the Xiao Clan, reaching the second layer of Body Refining at sixteen was considered mediocre.
Suddenly, a sharp, white-hot pain lanced through his brain. It was a violent explosion that felt like his skull was being split open from the inside. Xiao Yan let out a strangled gasp and collapsed forward. His forehead hit the wooden floor with a dull thud.
Images that didn't belong to this world began to flood his mind. He saw a man in his early thirties living in a city of glass and steel. He remembered the taste of coffee, the sound of keyboard keys clicking, and the sterile, cold smell of a hospital.
The man had been thirty-two. He remembered being wheeled into a bright room, the heavy mask of anesthesia pressing against his face, and then... nothingness.
The memories of the modern man merged with the memories of the boy named Xiao Yan. The transition was nauseating. He saw years of the boy being mocked.
He saw the boy crying to his parents about a "ghostly blur" that floated in front of his eyes, making it hard to see the world clearly. No one had believed him. They thought he was making excuses for his lack of talent.
Xiao Yan stayed on the floor for a long time, his chest heaving as the two lives settled into one. He slowly pushed himself up, his limbs feeling heavy and strange. He looked at his hands. They were smaller, thinner, yet carried a hidden strength that his old body never had.
"Where am I?" he whispered. His voice sounded younger, higher in pitch. "Who do these memories belong to?"
He looked up, and his heart skipped a beat. Floating directly in his line of sight was a translucent blue screen.
[Status Interface]
[Name: Xiao Yan]
[Class: Beast Cultivator (Locked)]
[Cultivation: Body Refining Layer 2]
[Beasts: 0/1 Skills: None]
[Attributes]
[Strength: 1.3]
[Agility: 1.1]
[Constitution: 1.5]
[Intelligence: 3.8]
[Soul Force: 4.0]
Xiao Yan stared at the floating text for a full minute. A hysterical laugh bubbled up in his throat. The "curse" that had ruined the previous owner's reputation was nothing more than a language barrier. The previous Xiao Yan couldn't read English.
"System close," he said experimentally.
The screen flickered and vanished. His vision became perfectly clear. The room was well-furnished, decorated with ancient scrolls and expensive vases, marking his status as a member of a wealthy clan. He stood up and walked toward a polished bronze mirror in the corner.
The person staring back at him was striking. He had long, snow-white hair that reached his shoulders, a trait rare even in this world of cultivators. His face was pale but had a refined, handsome quality to it. He wasn't overly muscular. Instead, he had a lean, wiry build that suggested speed over raw power.
"I'm actually quite the pretty boy," he muttered, touching his jawline.
As he admired his new appearance, a sharp memory surfaced. It was a memory of his older sister, Xiao Meiling. She was a genius in the clan, but she was also incredibly arrogant. He remembered her standing at the gates of their estate, looking down her nose at a dusty, bruised boy named Lin Feng.
Lin Feng had come to propose a marriage alliance that had been agreed upon years ago. His sister had laughed in his face. She called him a crippled dog and tore the engagement contract into pieces, throwing them into the wind.
Xiao Yan's blood ran cold.
'Lin Feng? Crippled? An engagement being broken?' He paced the room, his footsteps echoing on the wood. 'I know this story. My family is a top-tier villain clan. We are the stepping stones. We are the people the protagonist kills to show how much he has grown!'
He realized with a sinking feeling that his family's fate was already sealed. In a few years, that "crippled" boy would return with a powerful master or a hidden treasure and burn the Xiao Clan to the ground.
"Fuck, it's over!" he shouted, gripping his white hair. His eyes were wide with panic. "I'm in a death trap. If I don't do something, I'm going to be dragged down with the rest of them."
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. He couldn't run away yet. He had no strength and no money. He needed to use what he had.
"System open," he commanded.
the screen reappeared. He ignored the stats for a moment and focused on the word "Locked" next to his class. He had never heard of a Beast Cultivator in this world. Most people here focused on sword paths or elemental manipulation.
"System, what is a Beast Cultivator?" he asked.
A new text box appeared below the status.
[Beast Cultivator: A specialized path focusing on the taming and evolution of Spirit Beasts. Unlike traditional cultivators who hoard energy for themselves, you act as a conduit. You can tame beasts and evolve them by sacrificing your own attribute points to boost their stats.]
Xiao Yan paused. "Sacrificing my own stats? That sounds dangerous."
[Correction: Sacrificed stats can be regained through your own cultivation or through the growth of your beasts.]
He looked at the features listed at the bottom of the screen.
[Scan: Reveals the hidden bloodlines, traits, and weaknesses of any beast.]
[Taming Guide: Provides a step-by-step method to bond with specific species.]
[Evolution Path: Displays the requirements for rarity tiers and hidden evolutions.]
A slow, calculated smile appeared on his face. This system was a cheat code for a world where people spent decades trying to understand the nature of spirit creatures. He didn't need to be the strongest man in the world if he could lead a pack of divine monsters.
He looked at the empty "Beasts" slot. The xiao clan kept many low-level spirit beasts for guards and transportation.
An idea began to form in his head. If he could find a beast that everyone else thought was trash, but possessed a hidden, legendary bloodline, he could jumpstart his journey.
He checked his attributes one last time. His soul force was high, likely due to the fusion of two souls. That would be his greatest asset. He grabbed a light coat from a chair and headed for the door.