The rain had been falling for three days.
It came in heavy sheets, drumming against the hollow ruins of a forgotten temple at the edge of the Shrouded Woods. Elias Thorne huddled beneath a shattered archway, his threadbare cloak clinging to his skin. His breaths came in ragged gasps. Blood—his own—had crusted at the corners of his lips.
Another failed courier run. Another lesson from Whitebrand City's debt-collecting thugs. Another inch closer to death.
He had no family, no name that mattered, no cultivation. In a city where power dictated value, Elias was worth less than the dirt underfoot. At twenty-three, he should have been awakened already. He should have had a core, a path, a sect—something. Anything. But all he had were broken bones, cold nights, and silence.
Until the silence broke.
A ringing started in his ears—high-pitched and unnatural. Not like the tinnitus he'd suffered after beatings. This was cleaner. Sharper. Inside his head, but not of it.
[Initializing...]
The text appeared in the darkness behind his eyes. No glow. No screen. Just thought, etched into the walls of his mind.
[User compatible. Implanting Protocol: Body & Will Refinement System.]
He tried to scream, but it caught in his throat. Fire licked down his spine. Nerve endings lit up like exploding stars. Every scar, every hidden wound reopened. The pain was holistic—body, mind, soul. It was as if existence itself rebelled against this intrusion.
He blacked out.
When he woke, he wasn't alone.
[Calibration Complete. Baseline State: Degenerate.]
[You are now bound to the Body & Will Refinement System.]
[You will improve. Or die. There are no other options.]
Elias blinked into the rain. His body felt different—heavier, as though gravity had tightened around him. His heartbeat no longer felt like a pulse; it was a hammer against an anvil.
[Trial 1: Pain Endurance Initiation. Duration: 600 seconds. Objective: Survive. Penalty for failure: Total Neural Reset. Begin.]
He didn't even have time to ask what a "neural reset" was.
Pain, unlike anything natural, consumed him. It wasn't injury—it was simulation. His body wasn't being harmed, but it was experiencing the full spectrum of suffering. Nerves sparked like firecrackers. His vision blurred. His limbs spasmed. He opened his mouth to scream—but no sound came.
He bit down so hard on his tongue that blood pooled in his mouth. Still, he survived.
[Time Remaining: 540 seconds.]
The agony twisted. Fire snakes curled in his gut. Skull-splitting pressure crushed his thoughts. His body wanted to die. His mind refused.
[Time Remaining: 120 seconds.]
Memories surfaced unbidden: his father, marching off to war. His mother, coughing blood. Ana—his sister—crying in a famine-split crowd before vanishing forever.
His sobs merged with his screams.
[Trial Complete.]
[Willpower Rating: F → D]
[Unlocking Passive: Micro-Pain Resistance (1%)]
[You are no longer affected by minor injuries. Emotional dampening initiated.]
[Next Trial: 6 hours. Rest.]
The fire receded. Elias collapsed.
He lay in the ruins, unable to weep—his emotions partially frozen. The rain fell. His skin felt numb. But his mind... remained.
The System was real.
And it did not care.
Whitebrand City never slowed.
It was a sprawl of industrial cultivation, where steam-forges met qi-crystal reactors and carriages ran on arcane coal. Noble sects lived in towers of gold and glass. Below, the slums choked on smoke and desperation.
Cultivators were born, not made—or so it was believed.
Every child was tested. Elias had failed. He was written off. And yet, he'd survived.
Now, something alien had chosen him.
Not spirit beasts. Not elemental cores. No elegant techniques. No golden pills.
Just raw suffering. Direct. Brutal. Primitive.
The second trial came six hours later.
[Trial 2 Initiating: Skeletal Stress Recalibration. Duration: Until failure or adaptation. Pain Level: 2. Objective: Survive full-body bone pressure simulation.]
It started like a vice. His femurs groaned. His spine compressed. Ribs cracked inward.
He blacked out.
He woke again on cold stone.
[Adaptation successful. Bone Density +10%. Physical Defense +5%.]
[Unlock: Partial Skeletal Reinforcement - Tier 1.]
[New Trait Acquired: "One Who Endures."]
The pain never fully faded. But beneath it now was pride—a seed of power.
This was his cultivation.
Pain would become his mantra.
Will would become his weapon.
And eventually, the world would remember his name.