Waking in the Wilderness with Eighteen Points of Blood Shield

"Are you still alive?"

"Still alive. Don't touch me yet."

"Where did you come from?"

"I should be asking you that. Where is this place?"

"You don't even recognize this place?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking you."

Li Zhexian opened his eyes, and the earthy smell of dirt immediately filled his mouth.

He had conducted that entire exchange in his own head.

He braced a hand against the rubble and sat up. Then he looked down and almost thought the dream wasn't over.

Before him was a pair of child's hands, with very thin wrists and arms much shorter than his own had been.

Tattered clothes hung from his shoulders, covered in dirt. No matter how he looked at them, they weren't the clothes he had been wearing before.

His last memory stopped at 3:17 a.m.

The computer screen still displayed a proposal that needed redoing, and half a chicken cutlet remained in his takeout box. His boss had sent a message asking when he would turn in the proposal.

He had replied with two words.

"Got it."

Then a pain had struck his chest.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already lying in this godforsaken place.

"I worked overtime until I dropped dead, and after transmigrating, I don't even get a decent identity?"

A streak of golden light emerged from his chest and reentered his body. A voice rang out in his sea of consciousness.

"Host's transfer detected as complete."

"Myriad Worlds Compensation Program initiating."

"Transcendent Divine Body granted. Fusion beginning."

Li Zhexian braced himself against a rock and raised his head.

"Who's speaking?"

"The host can communicate through his consciousness."

"How old am I now?"

"Six."

"Where is my home?"

"Insufficient data."

"Where are my parents?"

"Insufficient data."

Li Zhexian pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling that this so-called compensation program wasn't very reliable.

"The service is certainly comprehensive. For after-sales support, I can only rely on guessing."

Golden light traveled upward along his bones. With every inch it passed, the pain in his body grew worse.

The body of a six-year-old child clearly couldn't bear it.

Li Zhexian had only managed to curse once before his strength gave out, and he collapsed into the rubble again.

"Checking physical body's capacity."

"Checking Soul Power channels."

"Warning: a conflict has developed within the divine body."

"Fusion progress is going out of control."

"Don't just give me warnings. Give me a solution!"

Golden light rushed from his chest toward his limbs, and a towering figure appeared in the depths of his sea of consciousness. He couldn't see its top. Golden runes bound the figure's arms and legs, and an enormous shield rested against its chest.

"Fusion has failed."

"Transcendent Divine Body has entered a sealed state."

"Trillion Blood Shield Mechanism initiating."

Li Zhexian stared at the panel without speaking for a long time.

Total shield: 1,000,000,000,000.

Current shield: 1,000,000,000,000.

"Can I pay in installments?"

"I'll pay ten thousand first and make up the rest later."

The system gave him no response.

"Then how am I supposed to pay it back?"

"The host cannot reduce the shield himself."

"Can I use external force?"

"Endure attacks from external forces."

"So I have to take a beating to break the seal?"

"Yes."

"The more severe the attack, the greater the reward?"

"Yes."

Li Zhexian braced himself against the rock and got to his feet.

"This deal doesn't sound very legitimate."

A low growl came from the mountain forest.

A Black-Backed Fang Beast charged out from behind a rock. Its head was wider than Li Zhexian's entire body.

It opened its enormous mouth and lunged to bite him.

"We can talk first. There's no need to rush."

Li Zhexian turned and ran.

A six-year-old child's legs were too short. He had only taken seven steps before the Fanged Beast's claws reached him from behind.

"Not the face!"

The claws struck him in the chest.

Li Zhexian went flying, his back slamming into a rock. The pain made his vision go black.

Golden light shone from his chest, and the number on the panel dropped by eighteen.

Current shield: 999,999,999,982.

Damage taken in one hit: 18 points.

Reward assessment: white prize pool.

A ball of white light fell from the air and struck him in the stomach.

Li Zhexian clutched his chest and sat up.

"Only eighteen points?"

"You look fierce, but you don't have much strength."

The Fanged Beast growled and pounced at him again.

He reached out and grabbed the ball of light. A new prompt immediately appeared.

"Obtained one recovery pill."

"Taking it can heal minor injuries."

"Take it."

The white light entered his mouth, and the pain in his chest and back quickly vanished. His damaged skin returned to its original condition as well.

Li Zhexian touched his chest. An idea had already formed in his mind.

All he had to do was take a beating to get rewards. The system might not be very legitimate, but at least it didn't just give him empty words.

"Keep attacking."

"This time, hit me in the chest."

The Fanged Beast had just leaped into the air when a streak of sword light flew in from beyond the mountain. It pierced the beast's neck and pinned it to the ground.

A slender sword feather landed beside the corpse.

A white-haired old man approached, treading over fallen leaves. He first examined the Fanged Beast's wound, then turned his gaze to Li Zhexian.

"Child, who are you?"

Li Zhexian didn't answer.

The old man held out two fingers and placed them on his wrist.

The moment Soul Power entered his meridians, golden light appeared on Li Zhexian's chest. Fine runes moved along his bones, and the shield in his sea of consciousness pressed down on the figure, blocking all signs of its presence behind it.

The old man withdrew his fingers, his brows already furrowed.

"What is hidden inside your body?"

Li Zhexian looked at the old man's white hair and felt somewhat afraid.

The old man had killed the Fanged Beast with a single sword strike. He was certainly much stronger than the beast from before.

But Li Zhexian couldn't even explain his own identity right now, much less casually let someone else know about the system.

"You should explain first."

"When you hit someone, how much pain do you cause?"

The old man looked at him for a while.

"Child, just who are you?"