After a considerable amount of time had passed, the youth's eyes gradually opened and his vision soon returned to him.
However, his head was very sore, as if his brain had undergone a massive tremor. As soon as his consciousness returned to him, the first thing that escaped his lips was a pained groan.
Currently, he really felt like he had taken a punch to the gut as his whole body ached all over. Particularly, his head and abdominal area.
He quickly sat up from the ground and inspected his body to make sure he didn't suffer any injuries.
"Damn! Why does my head hurt so much? Any harder and I might die from a headache!"
The youth exclaimed as he touched his head quickly to make sure his skull was still intact, and only stopped after he was sure there was no sign of bleeding.
However, subsequently, he suddenly realized. That's right, there was no bleeding and apart from some pain all over his body, he was alive.
"The countdown is over? And I'm still alive? I, I didn't die right after!"
It took him a few moments to register what had just happened. But after he did, a wave of happiness flooded his entire nervous system as tears of happiness flowed from his eyes.
Due to his deteriorating physique, he had always been on edge and constantly worried that the day the timer hit zero was the day his life would end.
However, it seemed like that wasn't the case as in the end, he was still alive. His happiness continued for a few more seconds before he witnessed a terrible sight.
The small house looked messy as the bed, table, and other house materials didn't look arranged.
The whole place looked disoriented and there wasn't even one thing that was in the right place. This reminded him of the earthquake that took place before he fainted.
At that moment, memory fragments started to assemble as he remembered how the earth shook fiercely, and he was almost flattened like a pancake.
However, the window was closed, so he didn't see it.
"Wait? If the countdown is over, the what's the whole idea?" His thoughts soon drifted back to the countdown, and he activated the system screen with a single thought.
However, what awaited him was definitely not the countdown timer anymore?
<< The Assimilation Period is complete, You May now view your status window anytime you wish >>
Name – Ru Chan
Special Affinity – N/A
<< Affinity Talent Core: Nonexistent >>
Cultivation Level – N/A
<< Cultivation Talent core: None >>
Body Cultivation – N/A
<< Spiritual Cultivation – N/A >>
Physique – All Affinity Physique
Bloodline – ?????
<< 50% weakness debuff, reduces physical stats by half >>
<< Mana - >>
<< Skills: Qi Transfer, Random Amplification >>
The windows had been thrown wide open due to the earthquake earlier, and the cold seeped into the room undisturbed and assaulted him.
However, at this point the youth couldn't be bothered about the sudden earthquake or feel the biting cold as something much more bizarre was in front of him. The male was dumbstruck as he evaluated the character screen.
".... What in the seven hells is this?" Looking at the row of words that had appeared in his line of sight, he couldn't help but be stunned, as this was the first time he saw anything apart from numbers holographically appear in front of him.
"Ru Chan! Is..... That my name?"
"He-he!" At that moment, he could hear some kind of eery laughter from his surroundings. He was immediately spooked as he hurriedly turned around with a wary face and said. "Who…!"
He was caught surprised to find that no one was behind him, however, he could still here the laughter, only it got louder and louder.
"Ahhhh!" His face suddenly distorted as his mind went blank once again. His eyes turned white and listless as his expression of pain vanished, and he dropped his hands back to his sides and stood still like a statue.
Inside a black space, the male youth suddenly appeared out of thin air. His headache receded as his gaze lingered on the surroundings and for some reason, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
<< Host has entered Void space stored within his mind >>
"My mind! Wait… I'm inside my head?" He asked out loud, but nobody responded to his question. Instead, another string of eery laughter resounded again, but unlike the last time where it was coming from all directions. He could clearly pinpoint the exact place where it came from. He turned around to see a creepy looking old man with white hair and a majestic looking long robe on his body.
The old man's face was full of smiles as he stood there with both hands behind his back. His eyes had a burning gaze which instantly made the male youth feel uncomfortable.
"He-he! Lucky kid, I don't know how you managed to survive all that happened to you, but for your soul to survive, it means that you are more precious than I thought you were". The old man licked his lips as his eyes flashed with a hint of greed.
"Don't worry, I will take care of your body from now on, so for now, just die for me!" Before the youth could even respond or ask of the old man's identity, he suddenly yelled and raised his arm.
A torrent of purple flames suddenly appeared from his palms and quickly formed into a gigantic flame scythe. The temperature instantly increased by a couple of notches as the scythe grew four meters in length and hovered over the man's head.
The old and creepy man looked at the male youth with flaming eyes and a fanatical gaze, which quickly turned to greed and displeasure. In his mind, this youth's soul was a problem that had to go.
"Taste my affinity of flames!" The old man yelled in a husky voice filled with cruelty as he slapped his hand forwards. The giant scythe that was hovering in midair suddenly flew towards the youth as it had received a command from its master.
"You should be able to die without regrets knowing that i, an all powerful Affinity master, find your body physique extremely suitable for my use. Hahaha!"
The sound of the man's voice and laughter didn't give the youth any relief in any way. Instead, Ru Chan had an expression of horror as he witnessed the man conjure such a gigantic mass of flames.
"How is this possible?" He blurted out as he saw the flame shape itself to form some sort of weapon. He tried to move backwards but clumsily tripped on himself and fell butt first on the floor of the dark space.
"Haha. If you can't recognize it, it's because i, Affinity Martial Lord Ren Lao, am an affinity master of the highest order. Tremble before the intensity of my flaming power". The old man said again while laughing raucously.
He seemed to be in an excellent mood, as he was finally going to get the body he wanted after so long. However, he misunderstood Ru Chan's question.
"Affinity master?" Ru Chan questioned inwardly, wondering what an affinity master was. However, he didn't have anytime to think, as the flaming scythe was already upon him.
Seeing the scythe about to decapitate him. Ru Chan closed his eyes and turned his gaze away as there was nothing he could do.
Seeing this, the old man smiled. "The goddess of luck is truly on my side". He thought inwardly, however, when the flaming scythe was about to touch Ru Chan's skin, the smile on the old man's face froze and was quickly replaced with an incredulous expression.
<< Hostile threat has been detected. Protection period is still active. Deploying shield >>
A translucent barrier of light suddenly appeared on moments whim. The terrifying flame attack that was about to kill him suddenly met an immovable obstruction as it halted a few inches away.
It was almost as if it had been frozen in time. After which, the light barrier burst out with translucent energy and the flaming scythe was swept away. The Old man's eyes widened imperceptibly, and his mouth hung wide open.
Ru Chan, who had his eyes, closed opened his eyes and looked at the old man after realizing that the expected attack had not come in. However, he saw the system notification appearing.
<< Threat to host's soul has been detected. Soul Void space Commencing Elimination >>
Suddenly, the black space that both of them resided in moved and pitch-black tentacles shot out towards the old man. Ren Lao had his face turn grim as he saw this.
He immediately mobilized his Mana and a blazing heat suddenly appeared in the soul void space. Massive amounts of flames were formed and grew rapidly, condensing itself into a giant dome which he used as a defensive shield.
However, the black tentacles seemed to be like shadows and directly passed through the fire walls.
"Noooo!" Affinity Martial Lord Ren Lao yelled in a husky voice, with the pain and rage he was currently feeling evident in his voice. As soon as the black tentacles passed through, the fire dissipated.
The sight of a completely bound Ren Lao appeared before Ru Chan's sight. The black tentacles rapidly wrapped around him, and it started to glow slightly as both glowed a bright, flaming purple color.
"My Affinity! What are you doing? Stop draining my affinity! How can such a brat with no cultivation entrap me like this? Noooo!"
Hearing the old man's wails, Ru Chan suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. He didn't even know how to stop it even if he wanted to, and as for the question of if he wanted to, the answer was definitely not.
"I just needed a little more…. No..... I'm not resigned". The old man started shrinking and becoming older and older. His already white hair began to fall off and disintegrate into nothingness, as did the old man.
After roaring several more times, the old man suddenly vanished into thin air, as did his voice as if it were never there in the first place.
The black tentacles stopped glowing after a few seconds and rapidly receded into the darkness, completely disappearing.
<< Congratulations host, a threat has been eliminated. You have received a Mutated High-grade Fire Affinity >>
<< Congratulations Host, You have received an inexplicable amount of Spiritual power >>
<< Do you wish to exit Soul Void space >>
Ru Chan was a little dumbstruck. According to this, the old man had already been defeated and not only that, he had also received unexpected rewards. However, he didn't know what it meant and quite frankly, he just wanted to leave this place immediately as the black tentacles that had literally drained the old man of whatever life he had left had scared him silly.
"I want to leave." He said hurriedly as he stood up on his two feet. He suddenly felt his head go dizzy again as the scenery changed, and he was sucked into a massive wormhole.