Book 1 Chapter 7 Blood in his hands
…
The Green Willow Sect library was disappointing. It wasn't a vast hall of scrolls but a moderately sized room filled with dusty, poorly cataloged books, smelling of mold and forgotten ambitions. He spent the next three days there, diligently poring over texts while enduring the constant, mocking eyes of the disciples, who whispered about the 'brain-damaged failure' who somehow survived the cleansing.
He confirmed his suspicion that he was in a land resembling Ancient China, but this one has real Immortal Cultivation. He learned about the Cultivation Realms (Martial Body, Qi Refining, Qi Condensation, etc.). He confirmed his current land was the Rising Phoenix Kingdom.
He realized that the humid, lichen-filled forest he had randomly popped out of before this mountain was, in fact, an incredibly rare, hidden Qi Cultivation Ground, mentioned only in a single, cryptic passage in an obscure geography text. He had stumbled into a goldmine of spiritual energy and then walked away from it. Good job, Rowan.
He found absolutely zero information on the Strange Bag, the floating grid, or anything resembling a "system shop" or "coins." The system was clearly an external, non-native anomaly.
He used his time wisely. Every night, after ensuring no one was watching (which was easy, as nobody cared enough to watch the "brain-damaged failure"), he accessed his Strange Bag's unlimited storage space.
He meticulously stole... sorry, acquired essentials from the sect's low-grade supply stores.
Food: Dried vegetables, heavily salted meat jerky, and enough rice to feed a small village (all stashed below the grid).Water: Several large, empty gourds that he filled with fresh mountain spring water.Travel Necessities: A slightly better-made rope and a small, folding shovel.
Plus, from the very corner of the bag, he found his now useless phone. He just kept it there, just in case he could find a way to fix it.
The reason he checked his stuff is that he felt that something was about to happen. So no matter what it was, he knew that he was ready. He had expected the inevitable. A sect that murdered its own members for being fiscally inconvenient was not going to keep a non-cultivating amnesiac around indefinitely.
…
On the morning of the third day, he was summoned again. Elder Feng was there, along with an auxiliary elder who looked like a disgruntled lizard. Elder Ma was also there, who looked like a very strict person.
"Gong Fa," Elder Feng announced, tapping her ledger. "Your medical condition is weird and suspicious. The Green Willow Sect requires its auxiliary disciples to be useful. As you are currently both weak and unable to recall the simplest function of a tea kettle, you are now officially deemed 'redundant.' The sect is kicking you out."
The lizard-like elder snorted. "Don't bother with the robes. Just leave them in the changing room. We'll need to wash them for the next batch of hopefuls."
Rowan looked for carefully calibrated, tragic acceptance. "I... I understand. It is only logical. Thank you for your... temporary hospitality, Elders."
He walked out of the sect compound, leaving the cheap green robe behind and wearing the used clothes that Gong Fa originally owned. As he descended the mountain path, the feeling of freedom was palpable, but quickly replaced by the familiar prickle of being watched.
Something's wrong, he thought, adjusting the useless dagger in its sheath. Gong Fa was the ultimate non-entity. He had no Qi, no wealth, no political leverage, and, according to Cui An, no personality beyond being dull.
So why was someone tailing him?
He deliberately slowed his pace, walking into a dense patch of forest near a large, outcropping boulder. He paused, pretending to check his cloth shoes. The shadow following him paused too, a faint rustle of dry leaves just sixty meters back. The Strange Bag's sight-overlay flickered, showing him a subtle, pulsing red outline of the stalker and a small HP bar.
Target: Ro Fung (Martial Body Lvl 5)HP: 100/100Status: Eager, Overconfident
A Martial Body Level 5 cultivator, Rowan mused. They sent a cleaner. And a very confident one at that.
Rowan decided to save him the effort of sneaking. He stepped around the boulder and stopped dead on the path.
"Excuse me," Rowan called out, injecting a tone of high-school principal politeness into his voice. "Could you please stop hiding behind that rhododendron bush? It's not particularly effective, and the lighting is poor. If you're going to attempt a dramatic confrontation, I suggest moving into the clearing."
There was a moment of silence, then a disgruntled roar.
Ro Fung, a muscular young man in a slightly better-quality auxiliary robe, stomped out. His face was a mask of indignant fury. He was holding a short, wickedly sharp broadsword that caught the dappled sunlight.
"Gong Fa! You worm! You know who I am? I am Ro Fung, and you are about to die! How dare you mock me!" Ro Fung roared, his hands trembling with a mixture of rage and the sheer excitement of finally eliminating the sect's most pathetic member.
Rowan sighed, shaking his head. "Look, if this is about an overdue book fine from the library, I assure you, I didn't take the book. My name is currently 'Amnesiac Gong Fa,' and I have no recollection of any literary theft."
"Silence! This is about Sister Yuqin!"
Rowan blinked. "Sister... who now?"
"Don't play coy!" Ro Fung screamed, taking a threatening step forward. "Weeks ago, before your tragic, necessary mission, you were seen speaking to her! Sister Yuqin, a top Main Disciple! She smiled at you! You, a zero-Qi, non-cultivating, memory-less pile of refuse! Young Master Jin saw it! Young Master Jin, who is about to transcend to Main Disciple status, and who has been courting Sister Yuqin for months! He views you as a pest, a smudge, an insult to the very concept of romantic cultivation! Your survival from the bandit attack was deemed an affront to his destiny!"
Rowan stared. He had been kicked out of an immortal cultivation sect only to be ambushed by a Martial Body Level 5 assassin because his dead doppelganger had once been smiled at by a woman. The absurdity was almost physically painful.
This is it, Rowan thought, his phlegmatic temperament kicking in, washing away all humor into a single, cold stream of disdain for the bully. I'm going to be murdered over a perceived flirtation that wasn't even mine. If I survive this, I'm writing a strongly worded letter to the author of this world's user manual.
"So, you're here to kill me to preserve Young Master Jin's delicate ego?" Rowan asked flatly. "That seems... small, for a cultivator."
"It's a matter of Sect face! Prepare to be purified!"
Ro Fung roared, his sword glowing faintly—a sign of the basic Qi he could exert at Martial Body Level 5. He charged, a blur of motion compared to Rowan's mortal speed.
The Battle Begins: Han Rowan vs. Ro Fung (Martial Body Lvl 5)
Rowan didn't move. He watched as the Strange Bag's automatic battle system activated.
Ro Fung's broadsword swept down in a powerful, Qi-infused strike aimed at Rowan's neck.
CLANG.
The sound was not the expected wet thwack of meat and bone, but a ringing, metallic rebound. Ro Fung stumbled back, shaking his hand, his eyes wide.
Rowan felt a dull impact across his arm, but the damage was negligible. The Defensive Bracers (5 Def) had absorbed the worst of it. His HP display remained at 100/100 (the system resetting to full health at the start of any battle).
"What—what kind of defense is that? You're a mortal! That was a basic Qi-strike!" Ro Fung sputtered, recovering quickly.
Rowan's Internal Monologue:I can't believe those bracers held up to a Martial Body Level 5 attack. The system is definitely cheating on my behalf. Thank you, obscure item developer.
Ro Fung attacked again, a flurry of four rapid strikes. Rowan, unable to parry or dodge, simply used his hand, which seemed to move on their own.
Attack 1:Clang! Bracers hold. Attack 2:Whang! Bracers hold. Attack 3 (Aimed at leg): A sharp, painful sting. The bracers couldn't cover everything. Rowan mentally grimaced. HP: 97/100.
Ro Fung, meanwhile, was starting to look visibly distressed. He was putting all his Martial Body strength into these blows, and they were having the effect of someone trying to carve granite with a plastic spoon.
"This is impossible! You're not even breathing hard! Are you wearing spiritual armor?" Ro Fung shrieked, backing off slightly to gather more Qi for a stronger strike.
"I'm merely a man who prefers a good defensive posture," Rowan said calmly, though internally, he was desperately wishing his shop-reserved items were available. If only I had the Thorns accessory right now, you'd be taking +1 damage with every embarrassing miss.
But what made Rowan feel a bit distressed is that the two rocks are not yet attacking.
"What is happening? Are you guys taking a break or something?" he thought.
Suddenly, he noticed that the two rocks were showing a stunned state.
"Oh, Damn…" Rowan could only mutter.
Ro Fung, seeing Rowan pause, misinterpreted it as fear. He unleashed his strongest move, a concentrated, glowing attack. "The Tiger's Claw! Perish!"
The concentrated Qi blast hit Rowan directly in the chest.
BWOOOM.
Rowan was propelled backward, scraping his back against the rough tree bark. Pain, sharp and real, shot through him. The Defensive Bracers cracked, their 5 Defense finally reaching a breaking point.
HP: 75/100.Bracers: Destroyed
Ro Fung grinned maniacally. "There! I knew you weren't indestructible! Now, face the fury of Young Master Jin's lackey!"
Ro Fung's internal clock: Time to finish this.
Rowan pushed himself off the tree, flexing his fingers. When his braces broke, he noticed that the stunned state of the rocks was now gone.
Ro Fung rushed forward for the killing blow.
Rowan reached for the dagger behind him and held it firmly. The cool down of the two Malignant Marbles has already started.
Suddenly, one of the Malignant Marbles flew out of the bag directly at Ro Fung's face.
The motion was simple, mortal, and ridiculously effective. It was like a bullet flying out of a gun's barrel.
Ro Fung, expecting a mystical counter-attack, reflexively raised his sword to block.
PING!
The Malignant Marble, having the mass and trajectory of a sniper rifle being shot, struck the edge of Ro Fung's broadsword. Since the rock was indestructible and the sword was merely a good-quality piece of mortal-world steel, the impact acted as an unstoppable force meeting a very movable object.
The Marble merely deflected off the sword's edge, but the sheer, inherent Malignancy of the projectile caused a kinetic shockwave strong enough to shatter the delicate Qi-flow in Ro Fung's forearm.
Ro Fung screamed, dropping his broadsword with a clatter. His HP bar did not drop, but a new status effect appeared over his head: [Hand Stunned: 8 seconds].
"You! What was that! Was that a legendary artifact!?" Ro Fung howled, clutching his throbbing forearm.
"It's just a pebble," Rowan explained, deadpan, as another Malignant Marble from the grid flickered out. "I call them the 'Malignant Marbles.' They are, as you might guess, quite malignant."
Ro Fung, his primary weapon gone and his attack arm incapacitated, panicked. He scrambled backward, trying to kick dust into Rowan's face.
But how could Ro Fung escape the Malignant Marble flying towards him?
Swoosh! Pak!
Ro Fung was hit directly on his back. But it seems that the robe he was wearing was very tough as it was not penetrated by the rock. His body flew forward as he rolled on the ground in a sorry manner.
Damage 4! Critical hit!
Rowan took a slow, deliberate step forward. Ro Fung, a Martial Body Level 5 cultivator, was now completely demoralized, having failed to kill a mortal with a high-level Qi-strike, only to be defeated by the mysterious properties of a common garden rock.
"I hate bullies, Ro Fung," Rowan said, his voice flat.
His enemy is currently out of the Malignant Marble's range, so he has to walk closer.
Ro Fung flinched, terrified that this pitiful, uncultivated mortal had a hidden, final trump card weapon.
Rowan didn't strike. Instead, he simply tossed the Useless Dagger into the ground at Ro Fung's feet.
"You can take this," Rowan said. "It's completely useless in a fight, but maybe it'll help you feel better about yourself."
Ro Fung stared at the dagger, then at Rowan's empty hands, then at the empty, pathetic space where his sect-mandated confidence used to be. He broke.
With a whimper, the Martial Body Level 5 cultivator turned and fled, tripping over roots and disappearing into the undergrowth, defeated not by strength, but by overwhelming existential confusion and a truly magnificent defensive stat.
Rowan sighed, "Well, that was anticlimactic. And I lost the bracers."
But then, before he could say anything, he suddenly frowned. It seems that the system is detecting that he is still in battle.
Then, from the side bush, he saw a shadow darting out. It was Ro Fung.
"You!" Rowan was too naive to think that his enemy would just give up and run.
With a slash of the useless dagger he gave to Ro Fung, Rowan could only move his body back. But the dagger was able to reach his shoulder and give him a deep gash.
The pain made Rowan feel that his enemy really wanted him dead. But before he could do anything else, he saw the two Malignant Marbles flickering from within his inventory grid.
Swoosh! Puchi!
Two distinct sounds, which almost made Rowan shiver in his spine, sounded in the air and echoed in his ears.
When he shifted his gaze, he saw a headless corpse falling to the ground.
Critical hit! Critical hit!
He saw the HP of Ro Fung falling to zero. He did not know the reason, but he suspected that there was a strange condition why he was able to one-shot his enemy at this time. But that reason is something that eludes him, as he did not have time to think about it.
The Strange Bag system then registered a formal 'Victory.'
[SYSTEM ALERT: ENEMY DEFEATED][REWARD: 5 COINS]
Rowan looked at the '5 COINS' notification, then back at Ro Fung's headless corpse.
"Five coins," he muttered. "A life-or-death confrontation against a jealous bully, resulting in a murder and a destroyed set of bracers, and all I get is five coins. Well, anyway, that's enough to finally buy the Thorns accessory and refresh the shop one time, or maybe just buy the Stone Dagger."
He shook his head, trying to prevent himself from puking as he could not help but take another glance at the headless corpse. Although he had seen death, this was the first time he killed a human being with his own hands. This is something that will cause him many sleepless nights.
As if his butt is on fire, Rowan quickly ran away through the forest. He is now a slightly richer, and significantly more confused and traumatic, non-cultivating immortal-world survivor.