System Returns, I, Tang San, Am Capable Again

Tang San's hand froze on the crystal ball.

No spiritual roots. Those three words were like three knives, carving into his heart one cut at a time.

Today, at the Spirit Hall branch, when Su Yuntao said that he possessed twin top-tier martial spirits and innate full soul power at rank twenty, he had thought he had finally made it through the hard times.

But now, his soul power had returned to zero, and he did not even have spiritual roots.

"Adoptive Father..." Tang San withdrew his hand, his voice hoarse. "I... can't cultivate the immortal path, can I?"

Tang Ling looked at him and remained silent for a moment.

"You can choose the martial path. Once martial arts techniques are cultivated to a profound level, they will not be inferior to immortal cultivation techniques. And if you choose the martial path, spiritual roots and talent will not hold you back. As long as you have perseverance, you can climb step by step."

After saying that, Tang Ling handed the martial arts manual to Tang San.

"Thank you, Adoptive Father." Tang San lowered his head.

Seeing him like that, Tang Ling shook his head inwardly.

"Xiao Wu, A Rou, you are both Soft Bone Rabbits who have taken human form. I'll pass on the <Moon Palace Jade Rabbit Medicine-Pounding Heart Sutra> to you. It is the most compatible with your true forms."

A Rou accepted the jade slip with both hands and bowed deeply.

"Tang Hao." Tang Ling looked toward the last person. "Your Clear Sky Hammer is the greatest tool martial spirit in the world—unyielding and domineering. I'll pass on the Nine Revolutions Pure Yang Art to you. It follows the path of pure yang and complements your Clear Sky Hammer perfectly. Once cultivated to great mastery, every punch and kick will carry the force of the Clear Sky Hammer itself, with boundless might."

Tang Hao accepted the jade slip, his eyes filled with gratitude.

"Ah Yin." Lastly, Tang Ling looked at the woman beside him. "You are a Blue Silver Emperor who has taken human form, born with an affinity for wood-element spiritual energy. I'll pass on the Azure Emperor Longevity Art to you. It primarily cultivates wood-element spiritual power while also cultivating the laws of life. Combined with your Blue Silver Emperor bloodline, once you reach great mastery, a single thought can make withered trees bloom again—or cause all plants to wither."

Ah Yin accepted the jade slip and gave a soft "Mm." Then she pressed it to her chest and smiled at Tang Ling. Her smile was gentle and pure, carrying a natural closeness that made Tang Hao, sitting opposite them, feel another pang of bitterness in his heart.

Tang Ling took in everyone's reactions without saying anything more.

He rose to his feet, standing with his hands behind his back as his gaze swept across the people in the courtyard.

"The path of cultivation has its own fortunes for everyone. The techniques I have given you are merely paving stones to guide your way. How far you can go depends on your own destiny."

After saying this, he turned and headed into the house. But when he reached the door, he suddenly stopped and looked back at Tang San.

"Xiao San."

Tang San raised his head.

"Cultivate well." A meaningful smile appeared at the corner of Tang Ling's lips. "Your adoptive father is waiting to see the day you... soar into the heavens."

With that, he pushed open the door and entered the house.

The courtyard fell quiet for a moment. Then Tang Hao was the first to rise. He walked over to Tang San, crouched down, and placed his rough, broad hand on his son's shoulder.

"Xiao San, no matter what technique you cultivate, your father believes you can do it."

Seeing the unreserved trust and pride in his father's eyes, Tang San suddenly felt his nose sting.

He lowered his head and buried his face in the crook of his father's shoulder, refusing to let anyone see what was welling in his eyes.

"I will, Dad."

His voice was soft, but exceptionally firm.

On the other side of the courtyard, Xiao Wu watched Tang San bury his face against Tang Hao's shoulder, her small face wearing a complicated expression.

"What's wrong?" A Rou noticed her daughter's expression and asked softly.

Xiao Wu shook her head, throwing those jumbled thoughts out of her mind before putting on a smile again. "Nothing, Mom! Let's go cultivate! I'm going to become super, super strong, and then I'll help Big Brother fight!"

A Rou smiled helplessly and took her daughter's hand as they headed toward the house where they lived.

As night deepened, the lamps in the courtyard went out one after another.

Tang San sat cross-legged on his bed, turning through the martial arts manual page by page.

Moonlight squeezed through the gaps in the window lattice, casting scattered flecks of light across the yellowed pages and illuminating his young yet tightly drawn face.

He had already read through the contents of the manual three times. With every reading, his heart sank a little deeper.

It was not because the technique was poor. On the contrary, this martial arts technique was exquisitely profound. From body tempering, meridian opening, aperture opening, and qi condensation before foundation building, all the way to the innate realm, every step was explained in detail along with its cultivation methods.

In the martial world, a technique like this would be enough to found a sect and draw countless martial artists into a mad scramble for it.

But the problem was—this was a martial arts technique.

Martial arts techniques cultivated the self.

The body was the foundation, qi and blood the strength, and willpower the driving force.

The threshold was low, the ceiling was high; it was easy to begin but difficult to master. Its consumption of resources, in particular, was several times that of immortal cultivation techniques.

Tang San flipped to the final page of the manual, his gaze landing on the section labeled "Requirements for Entry."

A hundred-year-old lingzhi. Tiger bones. Bear gallbladder. Body-tempering spiritual liquid.

The long list of medicinal ingredients made the corner of his eye twitch.

These things might not be worth mentioning to Tang Ling, but to Tang San, they were prohibitively expensive treasures beyond his reach. Tang Hao's blacksmith shop could not earn more than a few silver coins in an entire year, while a single hundred-year-old lingzhi would empty the family coffers.

Without these resources, he could still enter the path so long as he was willing to train hard—but the price would be time, multiplied severalfold.

"Whew—"

Tang San let out a long breath, closed the cultivation manual, and carefully tucked it beneath his pillow.

It was not that he feared hardship, nor was he afraid of lacking resources. Given enough time, these resources would not pose any difficulty for him. What he feared was spending vast amounts of resources and time, only to still fail to catch up to those immortal cultivators.

He was someone destined to be a genius. How could he remain dejectedly beneath others for long?

Just then—

[ Ding— ]

A crisp notification sound suddenly rang out in his mind without warning.

Tang San's entire body shook. His pupils contracted sharply, and he froze in place as if someone had cast a binding spell on him.

That sound.

It had finally returned!

Deep within his sea of consciousness, the pale golden light that had lain dormant for so long lit up once more. Like a relit candle flame, it slowly rotated through his mental space. The light was much dimmer than before, and several fine cracks lined its edges, as though it had endured some violent impact.

But it was still there. It had not disappeared.

[Detected that the host's soul power has fallen to zero and spiritual roots are missing... Analyzing current condition.]

[Analysis complete. Host's current status: Twin Martial Souls have awakened, innate soul power has dissipated, no spiritual roots, martial arts cultivation technique acquired. Original cultivation plan has failed. Reformulating.]

Lines of pale golden text appeared one after another in his sea of consciousness. Tang San's eyes gradually reddened. He blinked hard, forcing back the tears that should not have been there.

[Reformulation complete. New plan generated.]

[Main quest issued: Make contact with Xiao Wu, the Daughter of Destiny, and form an intimate relationship. Quest reward: innate full soul power, level ten. Upon completion, the host may cultivate the soul power system, martial arts system, and immortal cultivation system simultaneously. With multiple systems running in parallel, cultivation speed will far exceed that of a single system.]

[Quest time limit: thirty days.]