[Paradox Sign-In System Initiated]
[Host: Qing Lan]
[Binding Complete]
Qing Lan stared at the floating translucent screen in front of him with a frown, the sound of every word appearing on the screen also ringing directly inside his mind, making him even more confused about what was happening. ’What is this?’ He thought while staring at the strange screen, but before he could figure out anything, more information suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Paradox Sign-In System]
[The Host may Sign-In once every 24 hours.]
[Sign-In Rewards are completely Random.]
[Available Sign-In: One]
The information stopped appearing after that, leaving Qing Lan staring at the screen while his frown deepened. ’Sign-In? System?...Am I hallucinating right now?’ That thought immediately crossed his mind, and to confirm whether he was actually awake or not, he pinched the skin on his arm and immediately felt the pain. He looked at the spot for a moment before shaking his head. ’No, this isn’t a hallucination or a dream...’
He dismissed the possibility because he could clearly feel the cold rain falling against his body, the ground beneath his feet and even the pain that remained throughout his body, which meant that everything happening around him was real.
’First I suddenly woke up in this strange place, and now this thing has appeared in front of me, what in the world is even going on?’ His thoughts shifted toward the two people lying unconscious nearby, and he immediately decided that asking them would be the easiest way to understand the situation. ’I need to ask them where this place is—!’
Before he could think any further, a sudden jolt of pain erupted inside his mind, spreading through his head so violently that it felt as if every nerve inside his brain was being torn apart at the same time. "GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" He screamed as he immediately clutched his head with both hands, his knees bending as his entire body dropped toward the ground. The pain continued without giving him any chance to understand what had caused it, but after only a few moments, he realized that something else was entering his mind along with the pain.
Memories.
They weren’t his memories, and he could immediately tell the difference because the scenes appearing inside his mind belonged to another person.
Memories of childhood, family, training, cultivation, failures and battles continued appearing one after another, and He couldn’t stop any of them as an entire life of twenty years was being forced into his consciousness at once. The amount of information was so enormous that his mind almost became overwhelmed by it, but he held onto his consciousness and endured the pain because he instinctively understood that these memories were connected to the body he was currently in.
As the memories continued flowing into his mind, he slowly began understanding who the original owner of this body was. His name was Qing Lan, and he had lived his entire life in a world where Cultivation was something completely normal. He had grown up in this world, learned how to absorb Spiritual Energy, trained with other Cultivators and spent years trying to improve his strength despite his mediocre talent.
The memories weren’t simply showing him important events either, because even the smaller details of Qing Lan’s life were appearing inside his mind, making it easier for him to understand the person whose body he had somehow taken over.
Then the memories shifted toward something else.
Demons.
Qing Lan saw scenes of Cultivators fighting against Demons, villages being attacked and people desperately trying to survive while powerful Cultivators fought against those creatures. He saw the original Qing Lan fighting alongside other Cultivators against them, and eventually, he saw the final moments of that person’s life. Only then did he finally understand why those two people had reacted with such terror after seeing him stand up from the corpse pit.
’Demons exist in this world as well?’
The realization immediately reminded him of what he had heard from those two people earlier, but now he understood that their words hadn’t been caused by some misunderstanding. Demons genuinely existed in this world, and the original Qing Lan had actually died while fighting them.
The memories continued for several more moments before finally reaching their end, and once the process was complete, the overwhelming pain inside Qing Lan’s mind gradually disappeared. He remained on the ground while breathing heavily, trying to organize the enormous amount of information that had just entered his consciousness, before slowly forcing himself back onto his feet.
"Huff...So, this body wasn’t mine." Qing Lan spoke while looking down at his hands, and although he had already suspected something like this after waking up inside the corpse pit, he now had complete confirmation. "I...reincarnated in a Cultivation World? Or should it be Transmigration? I didn’t exactly get reborn, so...whatever." He dismissed the matter because the distinction wasn’t important enough for him to waste time on, especially when there were far more important things he needed to understand about his current situation.
His attention soon returned to the translucent screen floating in front of him, and after seeing it again, he couldn’t help but think about the situation he was in. ’So, I got a System as well? It’s like those cliché novels I used to read, now it all makes sense, hah...’
He had finally accepted that the System wasn’t some kind of hallucination and considering that he had already died once before somehow waking up inside another person’s body, the existence of a System wasn’t even the strangest thing that had happened to him today. From what he remembered about the novels he had read in his previous life, this was exactly the kind of Cheat that usually appeared after someone was Reincarnated or Transmigrated, so he decided to first understand what this particular System could actually do.
The memories he had just received had already answered some of his questions about this world. The name of this Cultivation World was the Azure Heaven Realm, and the place where he currently was located in the eastmost region known as the Countryside, an area far away from the major Sects and powerful Clans. The Spiritual Energy here was considerably weaker compared to the central regions, and most of the people living in this area were ordinary Cultivators or members of lower-ranked Sects.
But there was another matter that caught his attention.
Demons.
The original Qing Lan had fought against them alongside many other Cultivators, which confirmed that the Demons he had heard about from the two people weren’t simply some misunderstanding. ’Demons are here as well?’ Qing Lan narrowed his eyes slightly as his thoughts returned to his previous life, especially the final words spoken by the strange Demon who had pierced through his chest.
’Higher-Ups...’
He briefly remembered the Demon holding his heart before putting the matter at the back of his mind. He didn’t know who those Higher-Ups were, nor did he know why they wanted Earth, but there was no point in trying to find an answer to something he currently had no way of investigating. For now, the System and his current situation were more important.
Qing Lan shifted his attention toward the translucent screen again, and the System immediately displayed another window.
[Paradox Sign-In System]
[Status]