3 The Treasure At the Bottom of The Lake

"So, have you heard about the tale of the many deaths in these parts?" An old man steered a boat towards the middle of the pond. Lie Wei Ying shook his head. He was playing with his body, and testing his breath.

"No, I haven't. However, do you know the tree I'm talking about?"

The old man laughed, "Of course I do! Your talking to one of the first men who fished these parts! Just give me a small token of gratitude when we get there."

The young Lie Wei Ying nodded his head. It took almost five hours to talk an older man into taking him out here.

"Stop," Lie Wei Ying screamed, "I think I see something!"

He looked down as he breathed in and out. It seemed his Qi was slowly coming back to him.

It was like the universe was returning it to him, and his little body already made its way up to the fifth stage.

There were many ranks, The Qi Condensation stage, Foundation Stage, Golden Core Stage, Nascent stage… His last life, it had taken him almost every hour of every day to make it up to the ninth stage of the condensation stage. Which, by the way was the max for all four of the stages he listed. They all went from level one to nine. However, judging by the energy in his belly. At this moment, he was roughly in the fifth stage of Qi Condensation.

He leaped off the boat and seemed to jump roughly twenty yards.

For a three year old to jump so far, it seemed like a miracle to the man on the boat.

He splashed into the water, and swam down towards the depths.

All around him in this beautiful lake there was different colored fish. This lake was called the seven colored waters, and it was named that for a good reason. All the fish in the lake were one of seven colors, and they glimmered as the sun bounced off them.

Then he saw it. The shimmering chest at the bottom of the sea.

The fisherman would have never guessed this would happen. In a way Lie Wei Ying was savng him from a tragedy. He swam down towards the waters and neared the chest. It looked like he had found exactly what he wanted.

A beautiful velvet chest was there, and it shined with a light of treasure one could only see beneath the surface.

From above, you'd think it was a series of fish nestling together. It was the reason why the treasure was safe for all these years!

Lie Wei Ying peddled his feet as he torpedoed over towards the box and opened the lid. The next moment he floated to the surface with a smile on his face. The boat was right next to him, and the old man was smiling.

"Ah, I see you found what you were looking for?" He laughed with a menacing tone in his voice.

Lie Wei Ying nodded and used one hand to flip up onto the boat.

"Yes, I did. Now take me back to shore, here." Lie Wei Ying flipped the promised silver coin of payment at the man who quickly caught it and put it in his pocket.

The man smiled. "Please take a seat boy. I'll get you back as quick as I can."

The old geezer sat back and smiled at the boy. "This should only take a moment!" He picked up both oars and looked at the coast which seemed to be almost a mile away.

However, the next moment, he struck out his arms and the boat took off like a missile.

Lie Wei Ying gulped. The old geezer wasn't who he said he was.

He jumped off the boat and used all his Qi to jump a hundred yards away. He gulped as he held the treasure in his hand. It was not a good day for him. He figured he'd just find some old man who knew the surroundings and have him take him here rather than look around for it for two whole days.

This was a very large lake!

However, he should have done it for his dad! Hadn't he learned from all his past lives what his luck was like? He had died in so many ridiculous ways, and today a murderous fisherman was right behind him. However, this time he had something he didn't have before. Especially in the lives before his last life. Suddenly, he seemed to reach the sixth stage of Qi Condensation, and then the seventh. The energy seemed to be channeled to him through another world, and he had no idea why.

Indeed, lucky for him, the lady of death paid one more hair to expedite the process. She watched the first few days of this boy's new life just to make sure he was okay. However, wouldn't you know it. He almost died again on a boat ride, in the middle of nowhere, with a harmless looking old man snaking around his back.

"Please don't die young man!"

She already invested two hairs in a boy. That was quite a lot.

….

Lie Wei Ying's aura seemed to transform as the man approached.

The man, with a rather similar power level to his, pulled out a dagger and smiled greedily.

"Ha, just give me the treasure kid, and I'll let the fishes eat you alive!"

Lie Wei Ying just smiled. He wasn't going down without a fight!

Water shot up into the air as Lie Wei Ying blasted to the bottom of the lake.

The ripples seemed to separate him and the knife coming towards him. He held up the chest to block it. The knife collided with the velvet lining. And, the next moment, he grasped it in his little hand and shot up towards the man soaring towards him.

"Hmph, you're nothing but a fraud old man," Lie Wei Ying scoffed. He hated people who pretended to be someone they weren't.

Sparks flew off the edge of his blade as his knife and the old man's knife skit against each other.

Every few moments they would sink down to the bottom of the lake and hold their breath. Then, the next moment they'd hop back up and exchange moves. Unfortunately, they couldn't walk on water yet. It required control of external Qi.

External Qi allowed you to do things like to draw in power from around you, and use it to stabilize yourself. It was only available after the first step to godhood, which was when you became a foundation stage cultivator. However, at this moment, Lie Wei Ying was happy enough hopping and clashing his blade. Finally, as his opponent sunk towards the waters lining, he let the dagger loose.

"AAAHH!"

The old man spun before he splashed along the water. He spun along the top of the lake as blood sprinkled out of his shoulder.

Lie Wei Ying missed the man's head. It would have been more appropriate if he killed him except his arms were smaller then he was used to. He really intended to go for the final blow with that one.

….

Two men sat down by a fire near the edge of the river.

One of them was tied up and still bleeding, while Lie Wei Ying opened the chest to check what was inside of it.

He was hoping for gold, and something extremely special. However, when he opened it all he saw was a box inside of it.

"Congratulations on finding the Overpowered System!"

Lie Wei Ying scratched his head. "What's a system, and why isn't there gold inside this box?"

The system didn't really know what to say. "Uhm, why would you be expecting gold? You wouldn't happen to be a reincarnator, would you?"

Lie Wei Ying scratched his head. "Why would I talk to something inside a box? He found this ridiculous."

"You've found something very special called the overpowered system! A system is something that can grant you unimaginable power if the proper payment is granted. If you really do have lives you can offer, expect your power to grow to a level beyond even the tips of your imagination!"

Lie Wei Ying wasn't too sure about this. He immediately closed the box and walked over towards the man tied up. "Do you know what a system is?"

He took down the mans bandana. "What are you talking about? All I see in that box is treasure?"

Lie Wei Ying scratched his head and looked back at the box. "Nope there was definitely no treasure there."

"Listen, if you're wondering about why he sees treasure, it's because it's my only way of getting around! I can only get activated by someone who was extra lives"

Lie Wei Ying shook his head. "Unless you can protect my dad, I'm sorry. I know where a lot of other treasures are."

The system laughed in the blank room it was in. It was pretty much always in a blank room even when it had a master.

"If you give me a test drive, there will be nothing you can't kill."

Lie Wei Ying nodded his head, and threw a dagger at the man in shock. The last thought he has was the boy who tied him up was crazy.

The dagger landed properly this times between the villain's eyebrows. He was getting better at his aim.

"Congratulations you've been chosen by the mighty overpowered system. Would you be willing to trade one life for a test run. Y/N?"

"Yes!"

Lie Wei Ying made a brave decision that day. He vanished from the spot he was at.

Even the system didn't know exactly where they were going.