Lu Zhiheng stood silently, his chest rising and falling with controlled breaths.

  Ni Bai lay on the ground, breathing heavily, struggling to stand; his left leg was injured. His last attack had failed embarrassingly, yet he somehow mustered enough strength to look Lu Zhiheng in the eye.

  The difference between the two was a striking contrast. Lu Zhiheng, covered in blood, stood like looming death, while his opponent lay on the ground, completely clean. Oh, how the tables had turned.

  "Haah... haah..."

  "What did you do? How did you get so strong?" Ni Bai choked out, gasping for breath, struggling to his feet. His face was a canvas of disbelief and terror.

  "We thought we killed you. You were strong, but not like this... How?

  How did you do it?”

  “…”

  Lu Zhiheng did not reply.

  In truth, he didn't have one. His mind was a whirlpool of fractured memories. How could he explain dozens of fighting styles he knew, when his own memories had more holes than Swiss cheese? Yet, he moved with an instinctual mastery of combat forms he couldn't consciously recall learning.

  Maybe he was a pro fighter in his previous life, he didn’t know.

  Ni Bai took one halting step closer. “Will you answer, at least? Or are you as mute as you are arrogant?

  What happens if you defeat me? What will you do with us?”

  “…”

  “Will you kill us too? Just like we did to you?”

  Lu Zhiheng looked at him with indifference, he did not speak. He was lost in his own thoughts. He had given them too much credit, they weren’t professional fighters. All the techniques they had, were picked up from watching actual martial artists fight.

  Sigh

  'That's why it doesn't make sense...'

  'Hm? What was I thinking again? Ah, I completely missed what Ni Bai was saying.'

  "Talk to me, you fucker!" Ni Bai's voice cracked into a shout. "You were always like that—you think you're at the top of the world! You know what? I always hated that disgusting face of yours. And not just me—everyone hated you too!" His fists clenched. "You should have just died!"

  Lu Zhiheng raised an eyebrow, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He found the whole situation very amusing.

  "What, did you think I'd crawl and beg you to spare my life?" Ni Bai snarled, seeing Lu Zhiheng's amused expression. "Or did you expect me to acknowledge you as strong?"

  ‘Didn’t he just ask how I got so strong a moment ago? This inconsistency is staggering.’

  "No!" Ni Bai's voice pitched higher, manic energy bleeding through his exhaustion. "It's good the others are unconscious. Because now I can have you all to myself. I'll kill you. And after I kill you, I'm sure I'll awaken as one of the geniuses!"

  “Come on! I will not lose this time! I will win… I will definitely win!” Ni Bai adopted a fighting stance, his body trembling, one leg buckling slightly under his weight. His robes were torn and caked in dirt.

  Even though he was heavily injured, he somehow managed to stand on both his feet. The feat was both a miracle and worthy of praise.

  "You... you can do it, Ni Bai!" A weak voice drifted from several meters away. It was Fei Yang, the fast girl.

  The blue-robed girl, Xiu Hui, and Fei Yang had both regained a flicker of consciousness, enough to at least talk.

  “Believe in yourself!" Xiu Hui rasped. "You can do it! Kill him. Only then will we live. It's all in your hands now!" Her words were muffled due to split lips and departed teeth, but he could still understand them clearly.

  "Kill him!"

  "Beat him!"

  "Kill that monster!"

  "We're with you!"

  Their voices overlapped, desperate and pleading.

  Ni Bai's jaw tightened. "You guys..." His voice trembled. "Don't worry. I'll definitely save all of you."

  It was very cheesy. If Lu Zhiheng had to comment, he didn’t even realize when he had become the villain. Not to mention he didn’t say that he was going to kill them now, did he? But he didn’t disagree when Ni Bai asked him, so maybe that was on him.

  With a final surge of adrenaline, Ni Bai charged with a primal shout. At first, he staggered, then ran on both feet. It was a miracle, really, to the point that even Lu Zhiheng was shocked. He truly did not expect that leg to work, yet here it was, right in front of him.

  Alas, it just wasn’t enough.

  Ni Bai closed the distance fast, opening with a kick—probably betting that Lu Zhiheng wouldn't expect it given his damaged leg.

  He was right.

  But even then, Lu Zhiheng dodged it easily anyway, countering with a low kick to Ni Bai's left leg—the one already injured.

  The kick was neither strong nor fast; just a normal leg kick, more like a slap on the leg. But when it was stacked on top of a previous injury, the effect was devastating.

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  Agony exploded through Ni Bai’s limb. He staggered, his balance failing, but sheer will alone kept him upright. In his mind, to falter was to die.

  Ni Bai snarled through the spasm, diving low with a haymaker.

  Zhiheng’s left forearm caromed into the attack and folded the punch harmlessly aside. And then—

  Bam. Bam. Bam.

  Right. Left. Right.

  Axilla. Chin. Chin.

  “Gaah…”

  A trio of punches connected in a seamless combination. The first sank into Ni Bai’s axilla, numbing his arm. The second and third cracked against his jaw in rapid succession, each one delivered with full force.

  Ni Bai, already exhausted from their previous encounter, was utterly outmatched in stamina and endurance.

  A stinging sensation followed by numbness spread through his body; his head throbbing with a dizzying concussion. The vision blurred, but his fighting spirit, however misguided, still flickered.

  Then, it happened.

  Vision tunneled to a single kick coming round—slow, almost courteous, he saw Lu Zhiheng’s leg rise for a kick. Time thick as treacle; it appeared slower and telegraphed. A thrill seized him: perhaps this was awakening, heaven opening its gate…

  A spark of hope ignited. ‘Is this it? My moment? Am I awakening? My latent talent?’

  He reached out to counterattack, but the world was already darkening. His strength left his body in an instant. He hadn’t heard properly, but he was sure he heard something like a slap.

  Also, wasn’t he looking in the other direction? When did his perspective shift?

  'Huh? What... happened?'

  His consciousness faded. He dropped to the ground.

  What happened was that the instep of Lu Zhiheng’s foot had connected squarely with his face. That wasn't a slow kick at all; it was just a classic brazillian kick, a deceptive strike. And Ni Bai had been just another victim who thought he could see it coming.

  Lu Zhiheng stood still for a moment, breathing steadily. Then he moved quickly toward the two girls. A few sharp elbows and punches to their heads ensured they wouldn't wake up anytime soon. He couldn't afford to be careless. If they regained consciousness and either attacked or fled, it may cause some problems.

  He dragged all four bodies into a pile.

  “Hah. They fought with conviction, I’ll give them that,” he muttered to himself, wiping blood from his brow. “But I’m more surprised they didn’t flee. Did they hate me that much? Or were they in, too deep, afraid that if I lived to report the murder attempt, it would end their futures?”

  After all, in a world that prized Awakened’s achievements, an attempted murder charge against a clansmen could destroy an Unawakened’s prospects.

  He paused, thinking.

  ‘Meh, probably both. But hey—I finally got Lu Zhiheng's memories. But why don't I still know anything about myself?’ He knew that he was not the real Lu Zhiheng; he knew he was born on Earth. Yet everything related to his identity was just empty.

  He shook his head, putting the complication aside because he had something more interesting to do.

  With excitement flickering across his blood-streaked, bruised face—and a goofy smile that had no business being there—he spoke aloud:

  "Fragment."

  Words materialized before him, glowing softly in the fading light.

  [Name: Lu Zhiheng]

  [Age: 15]

  [Species: Human]

  [STATUS: UNAWAKENED]

  It was... underwhelming.

  But he was happy nonetheless.

  'On that note, why didn't I say "System" or "Status" when I first got here? Oh man, that would've been so much fun.' He grinned despite himself.

  The memories ruined all the fun. It was like watching a movie after one friend spoiled the entire plot. Still enjoyable, but would've been better blind.

  The original Lu Zhiheng had possessed this interface too. In fact, every human in this world had one. It wasn't called a system here—it was called a Fragment—something related to it being a piece, or you can say, ‘fragment’ of Heaven and Earth.

  It responded to any name. You didn't even need to speak aloud, just think about it, and it would appear in your mind.

  It was mostly empty but that would change once he awakened.

  He glanced at the unconscious pile of bodies. It was a dilemma; he didn’t know what to do with them

  'Should I kill them?'

  He considered it, but dropped the thought as soon as it occurred. It was too troublesome. Those idiots thought they could murder someone and nobody would notice.

  If only they'd been taught properly instead of being left to figure everything out themselves, they wouldn't have tried this in the first place. It was tragic; they were just teenagers.

  The Shanyue clan treated the Unawakened less like teenagers and more like fragile newborns, all because they could easily be influenced.

  Influence was a strange phenomenon, just like its name, it was literally the influence of the surrounding. It was due to the influence that many families in the clan had members with similar skillset or techniques.

  From an outside point of view, it may seem great but in reality it was not, because if an Unawakened is influenced more than a certain threshold, their aptitude and their chances of obtaining a soul gift may fall permanently.

  And since no one could accurately determine that threshold, the Unawakened were usually left to grow on their own, picking things up naturally—like a child learning their mother tongue.

  It was actually a crime for an Awakened to directly or heavily influence an Unawakened and if convicted, the violators faced heavy punishments.

  Although there were still ways to influence their teaching; they were all subtle, like showing the adults’ loyalty to the clan or demonstrating consequences for breaking laws. Thus, without directly influencing, they could still instill emotions like loyalty or compassion.

  Still pondering, Lu Zhiheng searched their bodies for anything valuable. He concluded that even if he left them alive, they wouldn’t come for him anymore. It was ambiguous whether they would try anything after awakening but he truly had no intentions to tangle anymore in this mess. For him, it was a ‘one and done, justified’ and he was satisfied with the result.

  ‘Mhmm. Alright, I’ll leave them. If they come for me later, I’ll deal with it then. As a wise man once said: Take the implications as they come. Besides, this year’s Grand Awakening ceremony is in four days; it’s not worth piling more trouble now.’

  They had nothing of value. No money. No treasures. Just Cyaneria's Mind Eye—the crystal sphere they'd stolen from Lu Zhiheng—a handful of red currency stones and Lu Zhiheng’s wallet.

  No blues. No greens. Just bottom-tier red stones. Each tier was one hundred times more valuable than the last. Above the blues were the Essence Stones, which most Awakened cultivators used.

  ‘Broke-ass idiots.'

  He pocketed everything anyway. What were they going to do—report him to the authorities?

  Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a small bag out of the corner of his eye. It was carried by Fei Yang and was probably thrown away before the fight. Inside the bag, he luckily found a waterskin along with some other random stuff. He quickly washed his face and changed into Ni Bai’s clothes, and then started descending the mountain. He took a break as there was a small stream nearby to wash his hair. He continued after cleaning himself properly.

  Soon, he reached the mountain’s foot and after walking for several more minutes, the landscape changed. Small, sturdy houses made of strange, ochre-colored bricks began to dot the path.

  Further down the main road, he saw carts pulled by sleek, obsidian-black Immogi horses. The creatures were nearly hairless, with equine bodies and reptilian, sharp-featured heads. But their top speed rivaled supercars from Earth.

  The area was bustling, the sun had begun to set, painting the sky in hues of rose and amber. People streamed back to their homes.

  “Rush hours, huh?” Lu Zhiheng quipped wryly.

  He flagged down a small private cart and climbed in. "Sungtae Pavilion, Fifth Zone."

  Public carts were cheaper, but he didn't feel like crowding in with strangers right now.

  He tossed a few green stones to the driver, who nodded silently and set the cart in motion. The gang on the mountain didn’t have any greens but Lu Zhiheng’s wallet had enough.

  Lu Zhiheng leaned back and watched the scenery roll by.

  Shanyue Village was massive. Situated in the eastern part of the Continent, it was surrounded by towering mountain ranges that acted as natural barriers. The village hosted nearly half a million people and spanned over a thousand square kilometers. At its center sat the Shanyue Clan, who held absolute power.

  As the cart rolled deeper into the village, the architecture shifted. Brick gave way to wood—though again, not Earth wood. This timber was darker, with strange grain patterns.

  After several minutes, they arrived at his destination.

  The sun finally dipped below the horizon. He stood before a small, modest wooden house, feeling like a traveler who had journeyed for years. Yet, despite the chaos of the day, a sense of comfort washed over him.

  He was home.