The wooden walls of the outer sect dormitory creaked as the wind passed through the nearby bamboo forest. A pale moon hung over the night sky, casting cold light into the room.
Lin Xian sat still, cross-legged on the thin straw mat. His breathing was even. His body—weak. His mind—sharper than ever.
He was sixteen again. A low-ranked outer disciple of the Sky Ash Sect. Assigned to Dorm 73, the same as in his first life. Same sagging roof. Same dusty floor.
Same fate—unless he rewrote it.
> null.simulate("next 24 hours", detail_level=high, constraints=["host inactive"])
He waited.
> [Simulation Complete. Likely Events:]
[06:12] Wang Jie will attempt theft from Dorm 73 (success: 92%)
[06:23] Outer Elder Xu passes by, detects stolen spirit stones
[06:30] Wang Jie punished (lashes: 30)
[07:10] Elder Duan personally visits Dorm 73 for questioning
[07:15] Lin Xian falsely accused
[07:30] Lin Xian demoted to servant disciple (probability: 76%)
"Exactly as I remember."
In his first life, this petty chain of events spiraled into years of humiliation and stagnation. He had been too naïve. Trusted sect procedures, believed in justice.
Not this time.
> null.create("poison: subtle, delayed, undetectable", amount=single dose) null.modify("Wang Jie's luck", -20, duration=12h) null.insert("poison into Wang Jie's food supply", silent=true)
He stood, moved silently to the small shelf near the window, and took down a dusty jug. Pouring a cup of cold water, he washed his hands.
It wasn't about revenge. Not yet.
It was about noise. Every interaction, every ripple in the karmic sea created noise—attention. Attention led to surveillance. And surveillance led to death.
He would not allow it.
---
Six hours later...
The dawn bell rang faintly across the mountains. Disciples were already moving about, carrying buckets of water or practicing sword forms on the training field.
Lin Xian watched from his window, dressed in a plain gray robe. His posture straight, eyes calm. No spiritual fluctuations.
Below, Wang Jie staggered from his dorm, a bag hidden under his sleeve.
Right on time.
> [Event Triggered: Theft – Wang Jie] [Fate Threads Adjusted: Elder Xu alerted] [Karma Shift: Minor]
Minutes later, shouting echoed through the outer sect courtyard. Elder Xu's spirit pressure crashed over the disciples like a wave.
Wang Jie knelt, trembling, spirit stones spilling from his bag. Suddenly he coughed violently. Blood. Then bile. Then silence.
> [Event Updated: Wang Jie – deceased (internal organ failure)] [Fate Ripple: Negligible]
Elder Xu frowned but said nothing more. A dead thief was easier to process than a trial.
Lin Xian closed the window, satisfied.
One loose end erased.
---
Later that day...
Lin Xian sat in the outer sect library. Few outer disciples bothered coming here. The scrolls were basic, dusty, and rarely updated. Still, this was where he had first discovered the flawed foundation technique that had stunted his cultivation for three years.
He wasn't about to make the same mistake.
> null.scan("entire library", filter="cultivation techniques") null.create("custom technique: foundation level, optimized for stealth, no spiritual residue")
A faint scroll appeared on the shelf before him — elegant, unmarked, impossible for anyone else to notice.
He picked it up without reaction, hid it beneath his robe, and returned to his quarters.
He had no plans to break through immediately.
Cultivation was not the goal.
Not yet.
What mattered now was building infrastructure—hidden resources, escape paths, identity layers, blackmail material. The power to disappear.
---
At midnight...
He sat cross-legged once more. This time, with a single spirit stone in his palm and the scroll open before him.
> null.begin("cultivation session", override="all background interference") [Spiritual Energy Absorption: +500%] [Noise Signature: Zero] [Progress: 17% toward Qi Condensation – Stage 1]
Sweat beaded on his brow. This wasn't raw power—it was refinement. Each breath was like threading a needle blindfolded, but the system's guidance was flawless.
He finished the session an hour later, body buzzing with faint energy, but his presence was still undetectable.
To the world, he was still an ordinary mortal.
But in the background, the Null Protocol had already infiltrated half the sect's formation grid, silently mapping everything: teleportation nodes, guard patrol patterns, restricted zones, artifact seals.
He whispered, "Next step: information control."
> null.create("anonymous communication network", range=sect-wide, interfaces=1) null.spawn("spirit worm agent", loyalty=absolute, appearance=ordinary disciple, IQ=120)
A new puppet disciple walked out of the dorms the next morning with no one questioning it.
Through it, Lin Xian would gather intelligence, trade spirit stones anonymously, and distribute false rumors to mislead others.
Let the rest of the sect chase after face, women, and rankings.
He was building a kingdom.
And no one even knew he existed.