Lucian silently sat near the window on a sturdy wooden chair. Catching glances outside, he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh of relief.

'Can't believe I've finally gotten free of that old man's sight. Though, I'm still hesitant to talk freely. Who knows where he might be hiding?' He thought as he gazed over the slowly rising sun across the horizon.

It had been nearly a day since the commotion caused by the old man. The people who had been affected already moved on, for this wasn't a rare occurrence in this world.

Commotions that were unintentionally caused by loss of control over one's energy were common.

Lucian, on the other hand, couldn't let go of that moment. Recalling the very image his eyes had caught, he couldn't help but wonder, "'Only when you inhabit such hatred for the world can you truly become a part of our lineage,' was it?"

"World, huh? If so, then does the reason behind his hatred towards me stem from the same reason?" He asked himself in a low voice.

Ever since yesterday, Lucian had been closely recalling the old man's exact words. Dissecting them one after another, he was trying to understand the reason behind his hatred.

"No, even if I were a part of his 'world,' I simply cannot ignore the system's warning." He muttered, looking towards a softly glowing system screen.

---

[• Relationship: Master-Disciple]

└ [Hidden Motives Detected]

---

"Although it can be a bit bitchy at times, surely, the system isn't stupid enough to fail at something like this." Pondering deeply, he brushed his fingers across something rough.

Sitting in his lap was an adequately big book. Its cover was black and rough to the touch, made with finely aged leather.

On one side of its cover, bold letters were carved out into the leather. "Abyssal Qinglong Soul Scripture," it read.

This was the technique that Lucian had chosen, something that was given to him by his master—Tianlong Bai.

Yesterday, right before the old man left according to his task and will, he summoned the book out of thin air right into his hands.

Passing the book down to him, he muttered, "Learn this only when you feel as if you cannot progress anymore. Unless that feeling comes strangling you, do not ever open that book. That is, for your own safety."

The words were meant to leave a deep impression on Lucian. But in that moment, he was yet to recover from the previous shock.

Even though he heard the old man loud and clear, he half-ignored his words subconsciously and absorbed only a few.

"That said, I should really get going. Staying at this inn for long, I'm afraid I might catch some unwanted attention. 'A 5-year-old living alone in a completely strange state,' perfect conditions for attracting trouble." He slightly shook his head and got up from the chair.

Raising his right arm in the air, he brought the book towards the floating system screen. As the book touched the screen, he called out for the system in his mind, 'Store.'

*Swoosh!*

Almost instantly, the book lit up in a bright glow and disintegrated into particles of light. These particles then quickly flowed into the system window.

At the same time, as if registering the action, a text appeared over the system screen.

---

[The item—Abyssal Qinglong Soul Scripture—has been successfully transferred into your inventory!]

---

A faint smile slithered onto his lips. "Maybe the system isn't as bad..."

Inventory—it was the daily sign-in reward that he had received yesterday.

Quite frankly, Lucian was half skeptical about this reward. To begin with, at a time such as this, when he held nothing of actual worth, why would he need this new feature?

Of course, in a longer run, it would've proven to be better. But he wished for something that would boost his cultivation.

Reaching the main door, Lucian hesitated for a moment. 'He must be watching, right? Should I pretend to be more nervous about going outside?'

'Meh,' he shook his head with a smile and opened the door wide. 'Time to enjoy the freedom!'

With that said, he simply walked out, leaving behind a flickering screen of dying light.

On the screen, a couple of alerts could be seen.

---

———————————————————

[#~System Notification~#]

———————————————————

[Daily sign-in complete!]

[Current streak - 3 days!]

[Reward - A new function—Inventory—has been unlocked!]

***

[Fetching details...]

***

[New Function Unlocked: Inventory!]

[#~Inventory Tab~#]

[• Grade: A (Soul-Bound)]

[• Capacity: 10 slots (Current: 1/10)]

[• Weight Limit: 20 kg (Current: 0.6 kg)]

[• Core Features:]

└ [Dimensional Storage] – Store/retrieve items mentally. No spoilage, perfect preservation.

└ [Weightless Carry] – All items are weightless in storage; no physical burden.

└ [Instant Access] – Retrieve items in 0.1s (Cooldown: 0.5s for rapid access).

└ [Item Sorting] – Auto-categorize by type/grade/rarity/priority.

└ [Preservation Field] – Time-stop for living matter (plants/herbs only; no humans/beasts).

[• Restrictions:]

└ [No living beings (humans/beasts)]

└ [No restricted divine artifacts (Heavenly Law detection)]

└ [No cursed/demonic items (Backlash risk: 30%)]

└ [Size Limit: 10m³ per item]

[• Current Contents] – [Manual: Abyssal Qinglong Soul Art]

└ [Quick Actions: Store | Retrieve | Sort]

---

At the bottom, another message could be seen. It was similar to the previous but essentially different.

---

———————————————————

[#~System Notification~#]

———————————————————

[Daily sign-in complete!]

[Current streak - 4 days!]

[Reward - Nothing again! You suck x2!]

---

***

At the same time, near the borders of Xiangzhan, countless wild crows engulfed the sky in black.

Obstructing all light from reaching the ground, they symbolically gathered into a calamity.

Running rampant amongst each other, the cruel shrieks and fearful wails could be heard.

Over the ground, countless bodies lay motionless. The soil, the grass, the human-made walls—everything had been painted dark crimson.

As the metallic tang filled the air, the crows continued to pierce and devour the dead remains.

In the middle of this calamitous scene, an old man sat unfazed. His body was entirely intact, as no crow closed the distance with him.

It was as if they were being wary of him. The old man was shrouded in the crow's darkness, only revealing a pair of his bright emerald eyes.

"The time is nearing..."

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