Mission Complete, Chaos Green Lotus

"Huff... huff... I... I finally made it!"

A youth with a slender, well-proportioned build and a face that carried a fortitude far beyond his years collapsed heavily beneath a thick oak tree.

His coarse linen clothes were as soaked as if he had been fished out of a river. Sweat poured down his cheeks in torrents, splashing onto the withered leaves below, while his chest heaved violently like a broken bellows.

The youth was named Bai Shu, and he had been transmigrated into this world for six years.

When he first learned this was the Douluo Continent, Bai Shu had been quite devastated. Although he was an orphan, his parents in this life had been native villagers of Holy Soul Village; they had both perished after a run-in with bandits while out farming, leaving him, a mere child, to struggle for survival alone.

As everyone knew, in the world of the Douluo Continent, the martial soul one awakened depended almost entirely on the bloodline inheritance of one's parents.

His father had possessed a common Blue Silver Grass martial soul, and his mother had possessed a harmless farming sickle.

Under normal circumstances, he would most likely awaken one of these two. Forget becoming a Spirit Master; whether he could even possess a shred of innate spirit power was a complete unknown.

Bai Shu had originally assumed he would live out an ordinary life just like any other commoner.

But when he was three years old, the turning point arrived.

Deep within his mind, he had awakened a heaven-defying system called the [Task Editor]!

The system's function was simple: for every major rank he improved in strength, he could edit a task himself, and the system would generate corresponding rewards based on the difficulty he set.

Of course, it could also work in reverse: he could select a reward, and the system would randomly generate a task.

In this world where the cultivation system was somewhat distorted, if one were to ask what was most important, it was undoubtedly the martial soul everyone possessed.

So, after obtaining the system, Bai Shu had immediately tried to use various tasks to grind for a world-shattering, powerful martial soul.

It had to be said that the system's functions were incredibly powerful; as long as he could complete the tasks, he could obtain almost anything he desired.

However, the tasks themselves...

If it were for an ordinary martial soul, the tasks were simple enough; even for a high-grade martial soul, there was hope of completion with enough effort.

But as a transmigrator with a cheat code who was well-versed in the turbulent future of the Douluo Continent, how could Bai Shu be content with a mere high-grade martial soul?

And when he tried to set the task reward as a God-level martial soul, the system's tasks began to border on the absurd.

Tasks like absorbing the life essence of a God King, obtaining three divine artifacts, or inheriting the legacy of some deity nearly drove Bai Shu to madness.

If he could actually crush a God King, what would he need a martial soul for? Wouldn't it be better to just unify the God Realm!

Fortunately, as long as he didn't accept the task, he could edit it again.

Thus, after several days of trial and error, he finally found a loophole in the system: broadening the scope of the reward and removing specific requirements in favor of randomness.

Just like the task he had just completed.

After a brief rest, Bai Shu couldn't wait to open the system panel.

A pale blue light screen, visible only to him, floated before his eyes:

[Task: Engage in high-intensity training for one thousand consecutive days. The daily training volume depends on physical strength and is updated by the system daily. (Completed)]

[Reward: Random God-level martial soul.]

Looking back on these past three years, Bai Shu felt a lingering fear.

He had originally thought "high-intensity training" would at most mean sweating a bit and feeling tired, but he never expected that the "limit" judged by the system was practically designed to kill him!

For the first three months, Bai Shu had trained until he collapsed into bed every single day, and even then, he rarely completed the daily quota set by the system.

It wasn't until after those three months that Bai Shu gradually adapted to this devilish training that pushed him to his limits every day.

Finally, heaven rewards the diligent; on the day before his martial soul awakening, Bai Shu completed this system task.

"A God-level martial soul... even if it's random, it certainly won't be bad."

"System, I want to claim the task reward."

Without a moment's hesitation, after three full years of effort, having traded a thousand days and nights of blood and sweat for this fruit, there was nothing more important than consuming it right now.

[Ding, congratulations on completing this task. You have received the reward: God-level martial soul: Chaos Green Lotus.]

As the system's cold yet heavenly prompt sounded, Bai Shu felt his entire spirit jolt. A strange, indescribable warmth, like a surging river, instantly flowed through his limbs and bones.

The fatigue from training and the soreness in his muscles were completely swept away in a single breath under the washing of this warm current!

Not only that, but Bai Shu gritted his teeth as he felt his bones emitting "crackling" sounds, while a wave of unbearable itching sensation emanated from deep within his flesh and blood.

He could clearly feel his bone density, muscle fibers, and even the resilience of his internal organs strengthening at a terrifying speed! In just an instant, he was more than twice as strong as before.

He pulled up his pant leg to see that the scar from a fall caused by a moment of distraction had been pushed open by a layer of new flesh, revealing fresh, fair skin beneath.

The sweat from his recent training had also visibly turned black, and before long, a nauseating, fishy stench began to permeate the air with Bai Shu at the center.

"Hiss—ugh—Chaos Green Lotus, ugh—is it this strong?"

The changes in his body made Bai Shu gasp in a breath of foul air, but he had no mind for that now; he was stunned by his own transformation.

He tried, but Bai Shu discovered he couldn't summon the martial soul.

In other words, this heaven-defying change that could be called a marrow-cleansing transformation was merely an incomplete passive ability inherent to the martial soul.

"Which version of the Chaos Green Lotus is this? Ugh—forget it, I'll go back and wash up first."

There was more than one version of the Chaos Green Lotus; whether in mythology, web novels, or fan fiction, this supreme treasure had appeared in many stories.

The most famous one is certainly the plant that birthed Pangu in the Primordial legends, but Bai Shu was certain that his was not that heaven-defying object.

The reason was simple: at the very beginning, he had tried to set a quest with the Pangu Axe as a martial soul reward.

The system's prompt at the time was that the world's energy level was too low to support such a reward.

He checked the system, but unfortunately, it provided no specific annotations, and Bai Shu did not dwell on it.

He tapped his toes lightly against the ground.

With a muffled "bang," the dead leaves on the ground exploded, and Bai Shu shot forward four or five meters like an arrow released from a bow; the agility of his body startled even him.

He quickly collected his thoughts and sprinted along the mountain path toward his home in the village.

"Grandpa, I'm back."

As soon as he reached the courtyard gate, Bai Shu shouted out.

"Oh, Little Shu, you're finally back. It's almost dark; if you hadn't returned, I would have taken my cane and gone to the back mountain to find you!"

Old Jack was standing at the gate, and upon seeing Bai Shu, he hurried over, leaning on his cane.

"What's wrong, Grandpa? Did something happen at home?"

Bai Shu was a bit puzzled by this. He looked at Old Jack, who was dressed as usual, and then at the table set with food in the courtyard; it didn't look like anything had gone wrong at all.

"You still have the nerve to ask? How did you promise me this morning? Tomorrow is the day of the martial soul awakening, and you still came back so late."

"Uh..."

Seeing Old Jack blowing his beard and staring with wide eyes, Bai Shu couldn't help but scratch his head in embarrassment.

However, he couldn't tell Old Jack about the quest, so he could only shrink his neck and put on an innocent, obedient face, acting as if he knew nothing.

"Hmph, alright, I've prepared hot water in the kitchen. Go wash up quickly. Look at the state you're in; anyone who didn't know better would think you fell into a manure pit."

Old Jack didn't actually mind the smell on Bai Shu.

Bai Shu often got dirty from falling down or similar mishaps. At first, he had been worried, but after Bai Shu's persuasion, he eventually let the boy do as he pleased.

"Hehe, thanks, Grandpa. I'm going now."

Bai Shu took the opportunity to slip away. Ever since his parents passed away in an accident, Bai Shu had been taken in and raised by the village chief, Old Jack. It could be said that the two were like real grandfather and grandson, so Bai Shu always catered to the old man's temper, wishing only for this kind-hearted elder to have a few more happy years in his twilight.

The village dinner was very simple, but because of the martial soul awakening the next day, Old Jack had uncharacteristically prepared some meat, allowing Bai Shu to have a hearty meal.

The night was deep and quiet.

Bai Shu lay silently on his slightly cold and hard wooden bed.

The anticipation for the martial soul awakening caused Bai Shu, who had never suffered from insomnia, to find himself unable to sleep for a long time, his heart fluttering with excitement.