Reincarnation With A System...?

Hundreds and hundreds of thatched cottages stood at the foot of the Storm Rock Mountainrange where the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect was located. They looked shabby yet withstood the ever-present winds howling through the mountain without fail.

Among the cottages on the westernmost side of the mountain stood one that looked as shabby as can be, like it would break down at any moment. Yet today, light poured out of this small hut, soothing and mellow like the setting sun.

It didn't take long for other people to notice this oddity and more and more people gathered around the hut. All of these people were young men and women dressed in pale cyan martial artists attire with swords on either their backs or waists. Curiosity visible in everyone's eyes.

"What's happening? Is that leech Zhang Baichi finally managing to break through?"

"As if! But maybe he found a treasure? Though there is no Spiritual Qi leaking from his cottage."

"Someone go in and check. Maybe he died."

"Go if you want to die. Ji Jian has already said that anyone who becomes friendly with Zhang Baichi will be his enemy."

"Weren't there a few people inside the cottage just a while ago? They came out looking really proud of themselves."

"Those were Ji Jian's goons. They've been beating anyone up who displeased Ji Jian."

More and more people gathered and talked among themselves, yet no one drew near the cottage, nor could anyone see what was going on inside…

A young man with long black hair and tanned skin wearing the same pale cyan outfit as the people outside, lay in a pool of strikingly crimson blood that had still not dried up, while a fist-sized ball of white light floated above his chest.

Streams of white light flowed into the body on the ground as the fist-sized ball of light shrunk to a walnut size, then a raisin size, then a mere firefly-like speck before finally vanishing completely. On the ground, the wounded body slowly healing while radiating the soothing, sunset-like light that could be seen outside.

Minutes later, the light vanished, leaving only silence behind for a long while. The people outside left one after the other, dispersing as the spectacle had seemingly ended. Still, no one dared to take a look for themselves.

A pity, though, as if their courage was higher, they would have seen the dead body on the ground open its eyes and slowly shift into an upright, sitting position. Shock plastered the face of the 13 or 14 years old young man, who kept patting his own chest, abdomen, arms and legs.

There were no more injuries from blades or fists, nor were there any crushed bones or organs from being run over by a semi-truck. Both of these Zhang Baichis had died, yet part of each of them had survived; For the Zhang Baichi from Earth, his soul had been preserved.

For the Zhang Baichi from the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect, his dead body had been healed and taken over by the Zhang Baichi from Earth, though his soul had entered the cycle of reincarnation already. The young mans mouth opened and he spoke in a shaking voice, "What the f*ck happened?"

Zhang Baichi still sat on the ground with his arms and legs crossed and his head at an downward angle, just thinking. A long time passed and he was able to calm his nerves, but he couldn't understand what was going on at all.

"Okay… I got smashed. Then robbed and beaten up. They run over by a f*cking truck, died, met an old man who hated my novel, threw me into another world with a system.", Zhang Baichi logically argued. He remained silent for a few more minutes, then nodded his head. "Alright. I've either gone completely insane or I'm having the trippiest dream of my live."

He raised his hand and – Slap! – slapped himself in the face… He rubbed his reddened cheek and continued to stare in front of himself, talking to no one but himself. "Okay, that was dumb. Still, I'm not dreaming, which means this is worse. Much worse. Am I actually insane?"

He continued to mutter for a short while, his thoughts and words not leading to any meaningful conclusion, before he suddenly raised his head with a blank expression. "Right, a System-"

[Ding!]

Before he could continue his sentence, a semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him.

[Host recognition successful. Welcome, Host.]

"Oh, don't you f*cking 'Ding!' me…", Zhang Baichi said with a sluggish expression as he rested his hands on his thighs. He stared at the screen, reading the sentence on it over and over again, completely ignoring the 'Continue' button below it. "Fine, so I've really gone insane. Might as well have fun with it."

He pressed the continue button as he spoke, still with the same blank, yet sluggish expression as before. The screen in front of him vanished only to be replaced with another screen…

[Name: Zhang Baichi

Age: 13 Years

Occupation: Outer Sect Disciple of the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect

Reputation: None

Cultivation: 4th Layer of the Body Forging Realm

Techniques: Howling Winds Qi Circulation Method, Breezing Wind Sword Technique

Points: 0

Inventory(!) Shop]

Zhang Baichi nearly blacked out when his 'System' actually worked and he couldn't stop himself from grabbing his hair and suddenly started shouting. "Oh f*ck- why does it look like the one from my novel! Am I actually tripping or is this some sick joke?!"

Seconds later, he lowered his head, holding it up with his hands and continued to mutter. "Fine, I've died, good job. That damned old man is a f*cking troll, alright. Fine. Fine! So this is real, huh?! Good!"

His gaze shot up and he looked directly at the screen in front of him, his face expressionless, while his eyes carried a trace of rage. He read the text on the screen and frowned the more he actually read. "So my name is still the same, how original. I'm a teen again- whoo, puberty. Great. What the f*ck is a 'Fleeting Storm Sword Sect'? And of course I don't have any reputation."

An annoyed sigh escaped his mouth when he read this far, then he clicked his tongue when he saw his cultivation level. "4th Layer of the Body Forging Realm? Let me guess, that's the lowest realm. And with my cultivation at my age, I'm probably trash?"

[Ding! Reaching the 4th Layer of the Body Forging Realm at the age of 13 is considered a below average cultivation talent. It is, however, by no means trash.]

"Oh great, the mighty System talks.", Zhang Baichi rolled his eyes, then looked back at the new screen that just popped up and asked another question. "So, what's the cultivation levels like? What's the order and how far does it go?"

[Ding! The Body Forging Realm is the beginning of the path of cultivation. No further information is available.]

The system only gave him a short reply, causing Zhang Baichi to frown again. He had somewhat calmed down and was at least able to think clearly about what was happening, but he was still stumped by the reply. "What does that mean, 'no further information available'? Do I have to find everything out on my own?"

[Ding! The System records all information that the Host gathers and conducts investigations about the surroundings autonomously. No information about cultivation realms above the Body Forging Realms could be gathered thus far.]

"Which means that the strongest person around here is still a Body Forging cultivator? What level Is that person at? What's the highest level of Body Forging?", surprised by the systems reply, Zhang Baichi realized, that his situation wasn't all that bad.

Without any high-level cultivators around, his 4th Layer Body Forging Realm cultivation couldn't be that bad.

[Ding! The strongest person in the surroundings has reached the 10th Layer of the Body Forging Realm. The system assumes this to be the highest level.]

Zhang Baichi heaved a sigh of relief. If it's only a difference of 6 layers, he shouldn't be that far behind others. 'And with a super cheat like a System, I should be able to catch up in a short amount of time…', he thought to himself.

[Ding! To speed up the cultivation process, it is recommended to make use of the Shop and Inventory functions.]

With a jolt, Zhang Baichi flinched back, as the system had just read his thoughts. 'Creepy. But useful. At least I won't always look like an idiot talking to himself. I can just talk to it in my head…'

Remembering the words of the system, there were also a button for a Shop and an Inventory at the end of his status page. 'Right. System, check the Inventory first.'

With a mental command, Zhang Baichi opened his Inventory; A simple, new screen with a long list of empty lines and a single entry at the top of the list.

"Of course it's a beginner package…", Zhang Baichi muttered with an annoyed expression, then mentally gave the System the command to open the package.

[Ding! Opening the Beginner Cultivator's Gift Pack.]

[Ding! Obtained 'Sturdy Iron Sword' x 1]

[Ding! Obtained 'Blood Qi Pill' x 10]

[Ding! Obtained 'Spiritual Jade containing the Black Heaven Scripture' x 1]