I woke up in a semi-lit room. My head throbbed with an incessant pain. It was more annoying than painful.

I tried to figure out my situation.

I blanked. Nothing. I was not able to recall anything. Not even my name! Everything was a blank slate. Panic rushed to my head.

Fortunately, that didn’t last long. To my relief, I was gradually able to remember everything. I was Su Ren. While I was resting after a fierce battle with a beast horde, a foreign consciousness had invaded my body. I had lost my consciousness after that.

Where am I? I examined the room. Nothing special. It was about four meter square in size. Apart from a door and a window, there was nothing. No carpet, no furniture, no anything.

Six figures stood in front of me in a semi-circle. A huge belly that had an equally big mouth spread horizontally across it. A pair of eyes that seemed to swirl with different colors. A leaf that gently floated in the air. A mass of energy that seemed endless. An indistinct figure that seemed to have no definite shape. A vague outline of a bow. My traits. Ling was absent.

I closely examined them. They seemed to possess the power level of a Qi Gathering Stage cultivator, the same stage as me. But that was not the important part here. Each and every one of the six figures seemed to possess their own egos.

What is happening? I was unable to figure out the whole situation.

I looked at the window. I was able to see a scene play out through it. A strange creature, which was a mixture of many other creatures, a chimera, was wrecking havoc everywhere. It slaughtered everything its path. I had never seen the creature before but for some inexplicable reason, I knew that creature was me.

I watched the creature tore down many beasts effortlessly. But I didn’t fail to notice the gradual decrease in its movement. It wouldn’t be long before it collapsed and fell prey to the countless beasts it had provoked. I felt a sense of urgency.

I stood up and made to move towards the door.

The six figures blocked my path. I tried to evade and make my through another direction. The six figures blocked my path. Again.

“Move out of my way!” I told them.

They remained silent but refused to budge.

It wasn’t that difficult to figure out their motive. At the moment, my body was under their control. They could give vent to their natural instincts without any restriction. Needless to say, they were reluctant to relinquish that control. But the problem was, they were simply egos. They had neither the reasoning capabilities nor capacity for logical thoughts. They moved according to their baser instincts. It was taking a huge toll on my body.

I sighed. I knew it would come to this as soon as I learnt that traits possessed egos. I was already assessing my chances.

I summoned . Thank goodness! I could at least use the skills. The only logical explanation I could think was: Qi Skills were linked to Qi, which in turn was linked to Soul. Soul was the core of my being. That’s why I could still use skills. Traits were a different story altogether. Rather than assist, they were obstructing me.

I released the arrows. It served as the signal for our battle. The six figures moved.

Ding!

You have subdued the ego of [Photosynthesis].

I paused. Just like that? I had envisioned a bloody battle before I was able to subdue one of the traits. This… But when I looked back, it did back sense. The leaf had no offensive or defensive strength. All it could do was absorb Pure Yang Qi. That wasn’t much of help in a battle. Also, the stats possessed by the traits must not be that high. If they possessed the same stats as me, one of the mass-produced could barely scratch them. According to my conjecture, all their stats should be capped at ninety-nine, the limit of a Qi Gathering Stage cultivator.

The leaf turned into a stream of light and entered me.

I checked my Qi. Now that I had no [Eternal Stratum] to assist with the Qi recovery, I had to be careful about my Qi expenditure.

To my surprise, I was running on full tank. It took me a while to understand the situation. This wasn’t outside. It was inside a mindscape, my mindscape. It was a virtual battle. There was no real expenditure of Qi.

I grinned. I could work this to my advantage.

I activated . Nothing escaped from my senses within ten meters.

Just then, I felt myself freeze. An arrow entered my notice shortly. Fortunately, the duration I remained in the frozen state was not last long. I quickly evaded the arrow. It was a close call. I finally tasted my own medicine. If it weren’t for the huge difference in values of our Soul attribute, I would be in a whole world of pain.

The big mouth and the indistinct figure were the next to attack. But taking advantage of my higher movement stat, I moved out of their range and stabbed the stationary bow with a rotating .

Ding!

You have subdued the ego of [Bow].

Same like the leaf, the bow transformed into light and entered me.

Without pausing, I charged a . It felt like a long time since I last did that, although it shouldn’t have been more than a few days at most. A lot of things had happened in this short span of time. I moved around to keep myself from getting hit by an attack. The giant pair of eyes floating in the air would occasionally freeze me. The duration was too short to serve any purpose, apart from annoying the hell out of me.

When I was sure I had packed enough power in it, I released the arrow.

Ding!

You have subdued the ego of [Kaleidoscope Eye].

The annoying eyes were finally gone!

I turned my attention to the mass of energy that was serving as a power station for the traits. I repeated the same process as I did before. I charged a while evading the attacks from the big mouth and the indistinct figure. With no annoying pair of eyes obstructing me, I was smoothly able to finish the job.

Ding!

You have subdued the ego of [Eternal Stratum].

Finally, there were only two left. But both of them were troublesome. Others had been stationary but these two moved around a lot. I had to change my strategy.

I began charging the . This time, however, I didn’t release it like I did before. I used it like a dagger and stabbed the indistinct figure. With the higher mobility I possessed, it wasn’t that difficult of a task.

Ding!

You have subdued the ego of [############].

Charging another , I rushed towards the big mouth.

Ding!

You have subdued the ego of [Innards of a God].

Over. It was all over. I was the only one in the room.

I wiped the nonexistent sweat off my brow. If there had been a slight change in variables, I would be in for a huge disaster. If I had leveled up to a Foundational Stage, I would have had to fight against stronger traits. If I didn’t have the skills that I did, I would not be able to come out of this fight unscathed.

I had underestimated the traits. I didn’t understand anything about them.

I had seen other humans and beasts possessing traits doing just fine. But I had forgotten that I was not like them. I had crossed over from another world to this world. I had more trait than any of them and my stats were so ridiculous that I escaped the concept of cultivation level. I was different. It was about time I acknowledged it.

Ding!

True assimilation of the traits to your soul has started!

Progress: 0.0001%

Please wait…

I nodded. This should enable the traits to be truly assimilated to my soul. With this, I should not have a rerun of this episode.

Waving the notification away, I pushed open the door. I escaped the prison in my mind the traits had constructed to trap my consciousness. They must have taken the opportunity when my consciousness was weakened by the invasion of the foreign one.

I returned to my body.

The first thing I felt was the strong surge of strength and energy. I felt like I could do anything in this form. Yet at the same, it was too draining. Without even having to open the status window, I knew my Qi and Lifeforce were depleting at a rapid pace. If there wasn’t [Eternal Stratum] to recover them, it was impossible to sustain this form. Hell! I might even have lost my life!

Ding!

You are in [Chimera Transformation].

Would you like to turn it off?

I looked around. There were no living beasts around me.

Yes, I said in my mind. The surge of strength and energy dissipated. The depletion of Lifeforce and Qi stopped. My body was normal again.

“Father~” Byakko came flying through the air and jumped into my chest. “I was so so worried. Father became really strange. You didn’t respond to me at all. I called you again and again.”

I rubbed the little fellow’s fur. “I am sorry. It must have frightened you.”

“Nuu~ Nuu~” he whimpered.

I sensed the presence of Ling some three kilometers away. I called her to my location.

Ding!

You have [Chimera Transformation] available to you.

Would you like to assimilate it to your body?

I paused. If it were me from before who didn’t go through this whole ordeal, I would have jumped at this chance. Ability to transform into an overpowered chimera? Hell yeah! But now, I felt cautious towards it. I didn’t understand much about it. If I went through this without thinking, it might come back to bite me. I decided to shelve it for now. It would never be late to assimilate after a thorough study.

Ling's tiny figure soon fluttered into view.

“Let’s head home.” I felt really tired. Both my body and mind felt extremely fatigued. I would take a long break, I decided.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have turned eleven years old!

You are awarded +1 to all attributes.

Oh? It has already been a year since I first woke up here? I thought and went back to sleep.

I was only able to check the change in my status after the sun had risen and I had fully woken up.

GENERAL

Name

Su Ren

Age

11 years old

Cultivation Method

Heart’s Yearning

Realm

Qi Gathering 9

(999/1000 Essence)

Lifeforce

4870/4870 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

Qi

4910/4910 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

460

Physique

487

Movement

485

Control

486

Soul

491

Comprehension

489

Charm

64

Fate

39

INNATE TRAITS

Innards of a God

Kaleidoscope Eye

Photosynthesis

Eternal Stratum (Incomplete)

############

Heavenly Butterfly Flame

Bow

Bond:

Byakko (White Tiger)

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Qi Arrow

Unranked

7/10

2.

Earth Steps

Epic

7/10

3.

Heart Force

Unranked

4/10

4.

Spiritual Sense

Unranked

2/10

I nodded and closed it. Apart from grinding the skill levels, I didn’t do anything much these days. I left hunting to Byakko and roasting the meat to Little Ling. I spent most of the time basking in the sun, where [Photosynthesis] would activate by itself and absorb the Pure Yang Qi.

My mind felt calm and peaceful. It was like it had been elevated to a higher level.

I was planning to head out to a human city soon. It was a good place to study about the world.

Before that, I had some unfinished business left.

The moment I had been waiting came a few days later.

Ding!

True assimilation of traits completed.

Running the final calibration.

Process completed!

I tested out the traits. Smooth. That was the only word that came to my mind. Using traits became natural. It was like using my limbs. There was no obstruction. I was able to control everything simply with thoughts. It was much better than I expected.

The next day, taking Byakko and Ling together, I headed out.

Even with the improved [Kaleidoscope Eye], I was still unable to check the details of the mighty presence located at the core region of forest. That didn’t mean that I couldn’t see it. The obscure energy that prevented me from seeing the figure was now gone. I was able to see a half man and half beast being was lying in a cave. To be more accurate, the upper body was that of a wolf and the lower region was that of man. It was injured and unable to move. That was important.

I found a suitable place one and half kilometers away from it. That was the furthest range I could stay to use my archery with hundred percent effect. The wide entrance of the cave, that was left open for reasons unknown to me provided me with a clear shot for my arrows.

“Byakko! Ling! Guard me!” Summoning the [Bow], I charged the arrow with Qi to its limit. It took thirty minutes.

BOOM! Leaving behind a crater, the arrow took off with a loud blast. The recoil was so powerful, I was left staggering for a while.

“HOW DARE YOU!” The half beast in the core region yelled in my head using or an upgraded version of it. I knew I had hit my mark.

I shot another arrow as a reply.

“I WILL KILL YOU!” More yelling ensued.

I couldn’t be bothered with its threats. If he could kill me, would I still be alive? With the difference in our cultivation level, to kill me would be the same as squashing a bug for him. But he didn’t do it. No. He couldn’t. In fact, he couldn’t even move. He must have paid some sort of price when he tried to take over my body.

My confidence was boosted.

I charged another arrow and shot it. Similar effects to the previous one were generated. On my end, I had to bear through the recoil. The other end, the half beast yelled incessantly.

This continued for ten hours. My hand was sore. I didn’t expect it would be this difficult. I thought it would take at most three to four hours. But what was this? Was this half beast the reincarnation of an immortal roach? I was tempted to stop halfway but I couldn’t. Enmity was already sown. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that everything would be fine after I left him alone. Once he recovered, he would definitely come and hunt me down.

The problem was, I wouldn’t be able to continue for long. Shooting all those arrows with high damage was really exhausting. My body would reach the breaking point soon.

While I was in a dilemma, an idea struck me.

I summoned a but this time, instead of infusing it with Qi, I infused it with Essence Flame.

Ding!

You have found a new way of using .

Congratulations!

Your Skill has leveled up.

is now Level 8.

Due to the level up, I was able to infuse more energy.

BOOM! I released the arrow. From what I could make out with [Kaleidoscope Eye], I was able to deal more damage than before. It was at least doubled. This bolstered my sagging confidence. I saw hope.

“What do you want?” the half beast asked in a courteous tone. He was no more yelling and cursing. I noticed traces of panic in his voice.

Oh? It was a surprise. I never thought this overbearing half beast would ever lower his head.

“Why don’t we both take a step back? I will give you a heaven-ranked treasure. I will also swear upon the Laws to not seek revenge on you. Just let me recover here in peace. How about it?” he said, his voice soft and his tone patient. After seeing all of his base nature in the earlier ten hours, I would be stupid to believe him.

I summoned a and infused Essence Flame into it. Even if I wanted to negotiate, there was no way to pass my voice to him like he did. Besides, there was no need for it. The fact that he was trying to negotiate proved that he was already at his tether’s end. Just a little push and he would topple down.

“BOY! STOP IT NOW!” He must have seen me prepare the arrow.

BOOM! I released the arrow.

Ding!

You have slain a Spirit Transformation Stage Demon.

Congratulations!

You have gained 302345 Essence.

I let the essence dissipate without absorbing. I had no plans to advance to Foundational Stage at the moment. I needed to gather more information. Only when I had understood my situation perfectly would I advance.

I rested for an hour before I went to the half beast’s dwelling. It was an ordinary cave. There was nothing of worth in it. I was disappointed until I noticed a glint on one of his fingers.

It was a ring.

Trembling with excitement, I used [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Black] to ensure it was what I think it was.

Spatial Ring

Owner: None

You can store inanimate objects within the ring and freely take it out. The weight of the objects will be negated.

Capacity: 100 Cubic Meters

(Note: Dip a drop of your blood to claim ownership.)

“Yes!” I yelled. It was one of the must-have for any decent cultivator. It was one of the objects I desired from those cultivation novels. I mean, this thing was convenient as hell.

Using the tip of the , I made a small cut on one of my fingers and dipped the blood onto the ring.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have claimed ownership of the spatial ring.

I put the ring on my thumb since it was too big for any of the other fingers. That was stupid. The ring adjusted its size to fit my finger just right. I thought of switching fingers but left it in the end. The new details of the ring went like this now.

Spatial Ring

Owner: Su Ren

You can store inanimate objects within the ring and freely take it out. The weight of the objects will be negated.

Capacity: 100 Cubic Meters

(Note: Dip a drop of your blood to claim ownership.)

I nodded in satisfaction.

I could sense the objects in it but I decided to leave the full examination to when we reached our cave. I collected the corpse of the half beast that I now knew was a ‘demon’ and stepped outside.

“Did you find anything nice inside, father?” Byakko ran towards me. I had left him and Ling as guards, in case someone or something came.

I nodded. “Let’s go to our cave and check them.”

Ling flew out from wherever she had been and landed on my shoulder. She liked to rest there, so I let her be.

I gave the cave we had been living for more than a year one last reluctant look. We were setting out for the city. I wasn’t sure if I would ever return to this place.

“Father~ Let’s go~ Let’s go~” The little guy was a bunch of excitement. The prospect of going to a new place had him up on cloud nine.

Ling was no exception. She was fluttering in the air in excitement.

I sighed. They were like kids before a school trip. Well, they were kids. Even I could be considered one, in a way.

I followed the two overexcited fellows.