Chapter Three: Celestial Soul

“Tian, are you alright?”
Zhou Yi stepped forward, his voice filled with concern.

“I’m fine,” Zhou Tian replied, shaking his head. His head still ached, but the pain was steadily ebbing away.

“Prince Qin, I shall take my leave now.”
The elderly man who had been sitting at his bedside rose and cupped his hands toward Zhou Yi.

“Very well. You may go,” Zhou Yi nodded. Uncle Zhou, standing behind him, escorted the elder out.

“I’ve told you time and again to exercise more, but you never listen. I gave you all those precious resources, and you never took them. Look at you now—your body is so weak you nearly fainted just from walking!”

After the elder left, Zhou Yi turned to Zhou Tian with a tone of exasperated disappointment.

Zhou Tian could only force a bitter smile. His father had never been an ordinary man without cultivation, not even for a day since his birth. He had no idea what the constitution of a mortal was like. Even a mortal wouldn’t collapse from mere walking.

He vaguely recalled, just before losing consciousness, hearing a strange voice—something like, “The Immortal System has been activated.” He wasn’t sure if it had been real or just a hallucination.

While pondering this, a purple box suddenly popped up in front of his eyes. At the top was his portrait, next to it a bar resembling a progress bar from a video game, and beneath it, a small, slender font reading “2.”
Below was a small window marked “Skills,” with a flickering yellow “1” above it.
At the very bottom, a little box displayed lines of red text:

“The host has suffered a soul attack!”
“The host has died!”
“Immortal System activated!”
“The host has revived!”
“Death count increased by one!”
“The host has leveled up, skill point increased by one!”

“What is this?”
Zhou Tian stared at the purple box floating before him, his pupils contracting. He quickly looked up, but the people around him showed no reaction. It seemed this box was visible only to him.

“This must be my cheat, the Immortal System? A system that won’t let me die? Interesting!”

“…Tian… Tian… Zhou Tian!”
A voice called him back from his thoughts. He returned to himself to find his father watching him, brow furrowed.

“Are you still feeling unwell?”

“No, I just remembered something,” Zhou Tian replied, casually making an excuse. Perhaps because his attention had shifted, the purple box vanished as well. He hadn’t had a chance to study it yet, but now was clearly not the time. He could only set aside his curiosity for the moment.

“As long as you’re alright. Let me introduce you—this is Elder Li from the Celestial Sky Sect. He is a renowned veteran in our Futian Province.”

Zhou Yi gestured to the white-haired middle-aged man.

Celestial Sky Sect?

This world was vast, divided into nine provinces, each ruled by a mighty power. The province Zhou Tian lived in was known as Futian Province, ruled by the Heavenly Qin Empire. Beneath the empire existed many independent factions; among them, the Celestial Sky Sect was one of the strongest.

Turning these thoughts over in his mind, Zhou Tian stood and said,
“Greetings, Elder Li.”

Elder Li laughed heartily.
“No, no, I am only somewhat well-known within this province. Prince Qin’s reputation, however, is illustrious throughout all nine provinces!”

After a round of polite compliments, both host and guest seemed content.

Zhou Yi, beaming, then gestured toward the young lady beside him.
“This is Ling Tian, the personal disciple of the Celestial Sky Sect’s master. Though young, she is already a practitioner who has activated the Heavenly Repository within the Tri-Treasure Realm. She also ranks near the top of our Futian Province’s Hundred Flowers List.”

Ling Tian stood and addressed Zhou Yi,
“Uncle Qin, you flatter me. I possess only a modest talent, nothing worth mentioning.”

Then she turned to Zhou Tian.
“Greetings, Brother Zhou Tian.”

Her voice was gentle and clear, her smile radiant, eyes curved like crescents, her bearing ethereal, almost otherworldly.

Thanks to the various photo-editing tools of his previous life, Zhou Tian had seen many beauties, but never one with such presence. Fortunately, he considered himself an expert keyboard critic—a connoisseur with a discerning eye. For a keyboard critic, not only could he find faults in the finest details, he could even look for polar bears in Antarctica if he wished. For example, this young lady was indeed beautiful and graceful, but her chest was a glaring shortcoming.

Thus, Zhou Tian was not bewitched by Ling Tian’s looks. He simply cupped his hands and replied,
“Greetings, Miss Ling Tian.”

This world possessed a comprehensive cultivation system: from powerless mortals to those who could shatter the heavens and earth, each stage was strictly classified. The stages were: Shedding the Mortal, Soaring the Skies, Awakening, Tri-Treasure, Manifestation, Sage, and Great Sage. In the scattered memories of his original body, knowledge only extended up to Great Sage—for someone unable to cultivate, there was little reason to care about the higher stages.

Shedding the Mortal was the first step beyond human frailty; Soaring the Skies granted flight; Awakening bestowed miraculous abilities. The Tri-Treasure Realm was divided into Heaven, Earth, and Human Treasuries—opening each unlocked mysterious powers. Upon opening all three, one could condense a Manifestation, gaining the ability to alter the very world. What lay beyond the Sage Realm was a mystery even Zhou Tian’s predecessor’s memories could not grasp, much less any stage above that.

Zhou Tian was seventeen; for Ling Tian to address him as “Senior Brother,” she could not be older than he. To reach the Tri-Treasure Realm at this age indeed marked her as an unrivaled talent.

All these facts flashed through Zhou Tian’s mind, but none showed on his face.

Zhou Yi, observing, nodded in satisfaction before saying,
“I’ll leave you young people to talk. Elder Li and I have matters to discuss outside.”

Elder Li nodded as well, confirming this.

Zhou Tian felt a curious sense of unease, but still cupped his hands,
“Father, Elder Li, please take care.”

Ling Tian also spoke softly,
“Elder Li, Uncle Qin, take care.”

After the two middle-aged men departed, the room fell into a peculiar silence.

“As the Prince of Small Talk, how could I let the mood remain so awkward?”
Zhou Tian thought to himself, then spoke,
“Miss Ling Tian, would you… like something to drink?”

Ling Tian looked slightly startled, then smiled faintly,
“I am indeed a little thirsty.”

See? I have my own special way of striking up conversation. Zhou Tian congratulated himself on his quick thinking.

He walked to the table, picked up the purple-gold teapot, and poured a steaming cup of tea. Threads of golden vapor coiled above the surface, and faint golden dragons swam within—a clear sign this was no ordinary brew.

Ling Tian’s snowy white hand accepted the cup. She glanced at it and sighed,
“Heavenly Dragon Tea. It nourishes the soul and has some effect even on Manifestation-level cultivators. In the outside world, it is worth more than gold.”

Zhou Tian was startled.
“I had no idea this tea was so special. I drink it every day and never noticed anything.”

“In our Celestial Sky Sect, only the sect master can occasionally taste such a brew,” Ling Tian replied softly. She brought the cup to her lips, took a sip, and closed her eyes. Her smooth forehead seemed to glow faintly, a mysterious rune flickering upon it.