Chapter 2: Revival
Editor: Atlas Studios
Liu Fan was lying in the coffin.
He had been there for one thousand years, until…
One day, he heard a crash of thunder, followed by a mysterious voice inside his head.
"Scanning for the host…"
"The host is the dead body of a 1000-year-old Ancestor. According to the System of Ancestors, you are eligible for our service. Connecting you to our system…"
"Connection successful. Your descendants are digging your grave continually. Unfilial points +1, unfilial points +1, unfilial points +1…"
A while later…
"Your descendants tossed your body into the battlefield and killed 1013 enemies. Your peace has been disrupted because you were forced to fight after death. Instead of being repentant, your descendants are celebrating. Unfilial points x 10,000!"
"The Elders have decided not to bury you and leave you in the ancestral temple. No one spoke up for you. Unfilial points x 10,000, unfilial points x 10,000… Unfilial points have reached one quintillion!"
"Your descendants find you disgraceful. They intend to refine you into a battle puppet… Unfilial points have exceeded the upper limit. System activated!"
"Initiating revival… Successful revival of consciousness…"
"Unfilial points zeroed… Complete revival has failed because the host's body is too powerful!"
Still lying in the coffin, Liu Fan opened his eyes.
He was confused. Had the System just revived him?!
He tried to get up but realized that he couldn't budge at all.
"System reminder: You have been dead for 1000 years. Only your consciousness and senses have been brought back. Your physical body is still dead!"
Liu Fan's mind went adrift.
"It's been one thousand years…"
Never had he imagined that he would be brought back to life 1000 years after his death. Thrill and loss filled his mind.
But in the next instant, those emotions were replaced with dismay.
"If I have only my consciousness and senses but am unable to move, am I not just a thinking corpse?!"
A thousand years ago, he had focused on training his physical body. After the trials and tribulations across years of cultivating, he had finally achieved the unbeatable Golden Body. He summarized the laws of physical cultivation and earned his name as the First Physical Cultivator. He revolutionized the world of his time and was thus known as the Bulldozer!
In the end, he died from his exhausted soul.
One thousand years later, the interference of the System had revived his consciousness.
Liu Fan inspected his body.
It was completely silent. All of his organs had degraded, and his bones and flesh had blackened and rotted. Perhaps he would be reduced to a pile of bones in a few years' time.
Although he had obtained the State of the Golden Body, it didn't mean that his body could be preserved permanently. That was just a saying to describe his marvelous physical abilities, not to be taken literally.
Despite his Protective Aura still circulating around his corpse, it had lost its consistency and intensity. The aura had been dispersing with the rotting of his body.
"Your body is on the brink of breaking down. A second death will be inevitable if your soul is not trained well by then…"
Liu Fan fell into deep thought.
Unfortunately, he didn't know how to train his soul.
This world was a place for fighters.
He had heard of neither fairies nor deities. In spite of his unsurpassable physical power, he was clueless about cultivating his soul. As a result, he died due to the shortcomings of his soul.
"Perhaps after one thousand years, the world has found its way to soul cultivation…" Liu Fan thought expectantly.
At this moment, the System spoke again…
"Advertisement time. The System of Ancestors is extremely useful, specially designed for the deceased who have made extraordinary contributions to mankind in their lifetime. It aims to empower these ancestors to continue their noble cause in the world, to fight for peace, and to act as models for future generations…"
It's a well-written advertisement. Liu Fan finally understood.
In his previous life, he had transmigrated from Earth with an obsession with building muscles.
Then, he had chanced upon physical cultivation and bestowed numerous physical cultivators with his knowledge and experience. Eventually, he was celebrated as the First Physical Cultivator.
"In that case, I indeed have made huge contributions to mankind!"
Liu Fan now understood that his revival by the System made perfect sense!
The System existed in the form of a "control panel."
Liu Fan willed the panel to pop up.
"Host: Liu Fan, physical cultivator."
"Identity: First Ancestor of the Liu family of the City of Scorpio."
"Achievements: Calculated the Heavenly Cycle of Qi in human bodies to an incredible accuracy of 3.141592653 days, introduced the important concept of the Golden Ratio of Human Bodies, pioneered physical cultivation; experienced in combat, possesses rich knowledge in many cultivation techniques and skills that have been lost (300 close-combat skills and cultivation techniques that involve the use of weapons, 100 secret recipes, and 99 fighting techniques), familiar with many secrets known to few in the world."
"Respect points: 20."
"Task objective: Your descendants are morally degraded to have dug up your grave. Please discipline them. Firstly, teach them to respect the old and care for the young. Educate them to honor their ancestors and love one another."
That keyword caught Liu Fan's attention — "respect points"!
"What are respect points?"
Liu Fan clicked on the link for "respect points" and a line of words appeared.
"How to generate respect points: Respect points can be generated directly from memorial rituals held for you. The number of points produced depends on how dutiful your descendants are during the rituals."
"Uses: Extend your awake time; redeem the Ancestors' Incantations."
"Exchange rate: 1 respect point = 1 minute of awake time."
Liu Fan was impressed by the clarity of those explanations. It seemed that this system was rather professional.
Now, he was finally convinced that he had truly been revived. However, he would fall into slumber again once he ran out of respect points.
Respect points, in other words, acted as the source of energy that kept him awake.
"As for the incantations…"
Liu Fan pondered. He hadn't heard of that before.
He clicked on "Ancestors' Incantations," and the relevant information was displayed immediately.
"The Ancestors' Incantations has two parts, The Love of the Ancestor and The Rage of the Ancestor. The exchange rate varies according to the level of the spell."
At this moment, the screen beeped.
"Your descendants are performing a worship ritual for you, respect points +1, +1, +1…"
The total amount of respect points reached 50 in no time!
Liu Fan was surprised. He wanted to take a look at his descendants, but he was unable to sit up.
"System reminder: Only your consciousness has been revived. Insufficient respect points for you to step out of the coffin and walk in the world."
That was good news.
It meant that there was a way for him to revive fully and get out of that coffin.
Hence, he asked hastily, "How many respect points will it cost?"
A series of calculations were kick-started immediately. After a while, a line of question marks appeared on the screen.
"What sort of answer is this?"
Liu Fan was disappointed.
It seemed that it was impossible to rely on the system to revive his body. Hence, he had to count on himself.
Apart from opening his eyes, he couldn't do anything at the moment.
He was surrounded by total darkness because he was still in the coffin.
However, as the First Physical Cultivator, a mere coffin lid wouldn't block his vision.
When he gazed out, everything outside the coffin became clear at once.
He was in the ancestral temple of the Liu family. His coffin was placed in the center of the temple.
The ancestral temple, also known as the ancestral shrine, was a place dedicated to the deified ancestors of the family. People of the Liu family came here to worship their progenitors, and some were also brought here to receive punishment if they had breached the family rules.
"As far as I can remember, I was the one who set the rules…" Liu Fan thought as he reminisced about the past.
"When I was alive, I set 108 family rules, including one about disrespect toward ancestors. Those who dishonor the ancestors shall be sentenced to death by canes, their bodies shall be hanged on the top of the building for birds and bugs alike to maim, and they shall be buried not less than three months after death.
"Judging from the situation today, these unfilial brats have totally forgotten about this rule!"
Liu Fan sighed.
The ancestral temple of the Liu family was one that had withstood the vicissitudes of time.
The black bricks on the floor had been flattened by numerous visitors over the years. Outside the temple, two red pillars stood by the door, each carrying a banner that read, "The tortoise of the northern sky protects us" and "The tiger of the western sky guards us."
The size of the temple was just right at around 100 square meters. There was only one main hall which had four niches.
A spirit tablet was displayed in the central niche.
The tablet was three inches in width and seven inches in height, which symbolized that it was the resting place of the three spirits and seven souls of a
Liu Fan saw his name on the tablet.
"Liu Fan, an esteemed and well-loved ancestor, First Physical Cultivator"
Simple yet full of respect.
It had been a thousand years since his demise. Hence, his spirit tablet was more sacred than that of others.
Right below his tablet was his coffin. The altar table had been shifted forward to make space for the coffin.
"O, our ancestor!"
Someone spoke beside him. The man's voice was loud and clear.
Liu Fan looked over and saw that Liu Tao, together with five Elders, was leading the Liu family in worshipping his spirit tablet.
"Incense!"
"Kowtow!"
Liu Tao looked pious and serious. He raised the three incense sticks in his hands high above his head. Then, after three kowtows, he inserted the sticks into the incense burner.
-- Gift
received