---
[Demon System has been successfully bound to the host, Mo Taixuan!]
[Displaying the Current Status of the Host...]
---
I sat on the same rock as before; however, this time, a bit more comfortably. I looked at the System Window with eyes widened in astonishment.
A few moments ago, I was trembling in pain so vast that even I wondered how I was still holding onto my breath.
But now? The pain that once felt like a treacherous climb of a cloud-shrouded mountain peak now felt like nothing more than an ant's bite.
I stared down at my hands, clenching them tightly and unclasping continuously, feeling a warm strength flowing through my body.
I was confused.
My Dantian—the very source of one's power—had shattered long ago. Even in the sense of mortal, I was merely counting my last breaths since my body had been destroyed as well.
And yet, here I sat on a rock while feeling a strange warmth filling my very existence with a new meaning. While gazing at the translucent slab of light floating before me—something the system referred to as a 'screen.'
Even I had no clue about what the system was at first, however, after having finished the pact, basic information about the system flowed straight into my mind.
The screen that once existed in physical form could only be seen by me.
Just as I was organizing my thoughts, a new screen materialized right in front of my eyes, overlapping the previous one.
---
———————————————————
[#~Status~#]
———————————————————
[Name] - Mo Taixuan
[Race] - Human
[Cultivation] - Mortal
[Physique] - Destroyed
[Condition] - Unstable/Deteriorating
[Talent] - ???
***
[Stats]
└ [HP] - 0.1/100
└ [Stamina] - 0/100
***
[Attributes]
└ [Strength] - 0.1
└ [Agility] - 0.1
└ [Vitality] - 0.1
└ [Intelligence] - 0.1
└ [Endurance] - 0.1
***
[Note: The current system access is limited. Full status information will only be available once the user begins proper growth.]
---
Before I could think of anything at all, another screen emerged out of thin air, hanging onto the right side of the previous one.
---
[Since the host has been analyzed with a perilous body condition, the system has forcefully initiated the emergency protocol.]
[All injuries inflicted on the host's body have been temporarily sealed.]
[The host's body deterioration has been forcefully slowed down temporarily.]
[An emergency task is being initiated...]
---
It didn't just end there; the screen then expanded further to the side, letting new content follow up on it while keeping the continuity in mind.
---
[Congratulations! Your first task has been found!]
***
[Task #1]
[•Objective - Find a suitable energy core to replace your shattered one.]
[• Time limit - 3 days]
[• Reward - New Physique; Demonic Qi Tempering Manual.]
[• Failure to obtain a suitable core within the time limit would result in the host's death.]
---
I silently looked at the screen with a stern expression.
Without saying even a single word, I stood up and began walking towards the dense forest.
'I cannot think of the Screen's content as lies because the very proof of its powers is the current me—who's able to stand like this.'
'Although I hate to admit it, I have no choice but to depend on the system to regain my powers.' I clenched my jaw tightly. I felt disappointed in myself, for I remembered the vow I took before dying as Davey Lionheart.
To not depend on anyone ever again—that was my vow; however, what I was doing right now was no different than breaking the vow myself.
It was infuriating; however, it was also the only way to reach my goal.
Crossing over to the boundaries of the trees and stepping into the territories of countless monsters and animals, I had already put myself in danger.
And to think I had to look for a suitable core in such circumstances.
"This is going to be problematic..."
'To obtain a core means to take someone else's core for myself, either by killing them or robbing the core off of their grave.'
'However, human cores dissipate with death, and thus, only by killing can one obtain the core. But that comes with long-term risks of its own. The core of the dead contains the energy of the dead, which corrupts one's mind over time. This eventually leads them to fall into the state of qi deviations.'
'But the same cannot be said for monster cores.'
Monster cores. A name given to the Dantians of monsters that develop over time, becoming a prized possession to the monster and a bounty on its head at the same time.
Collected by cultivators, they are used in a lot of different ways, commonly for crafting pills and elixirs.
'As unprecedented as it seemed, there existed ancient scriptures prescribing the use of the monster cores to implant artificial cores into a human's body. Although the side effects were just as severe.'
Just as how energies reflected one's true intentions and personality, energy cores were no less of a place that inhabited one's true essence, its soul.
Over the period of a monster's lifetime, the souls would leave parts of their imprints over the energy cores.
Naturally the imprint's strength depended on countless factors such as the monster's lifespan and strength.
Although, if it were to be killed and its core were to be used as such, the remnants of its intentions would turn hostile and slowly encroach on the human's body, turning it into the monster's behaviors.
Slowly it would transform the human's soul into that of the monster itself.
While if taken directly from the grave, the soul implants would be much more hostile, however, essentially weaker.
It will directly attack one's soul, but if one were to win against them, the core would gain a new owner.
'But I'm nowhere near strong enough to even stare at the weakest monsters without dying, let alone face them head-on.'