[Initiating cellular regeneration...]
[Cellular regeneration complete.]
Li Yao jolted upright, his eyes flaring wide as if he'd just seen a ghost. A sharp gasp escaped his lips, and his spine arched instinctive. "W-what happened.." He mumbled, trying to get himself together to access the situation.
He stared into his palms and found them spotless, no cuts, no blood, no trace of the injuries he was certain had been there moments ago before he lost consciousness.
It was as if they had been healed by a magical force. And yet, the air around him was still. No energy stirred, no mana lingered. Whatever had happened, it had left no sign behind.
Thus, such assumptions became highly unlikely.
"How am I healed?"
[I healed you.]
"What?" He immediately turned to his left, his instincts flared with the fear of letting his guard down at the worst possible moment. But alas, there was nothing. No enemy, no presence lurking in the shadows, just an empty space and the eerie silence that followed.
"Who's there? Show yourself immediately." He rose to his feet in one fluid motion, planting his right fist firmly at his waist while lifting his left hand just above his brow. His body settled into a poised fighting stance, steady and focused, ready for whatever might come next.
As he took the stance, he felt uncomfortable, strained even, almost as if it was his first time attempting such a stance. But he shrugged it off as he was still adjusting to his new body.
'Tch, of all the times to lose my magical power.'
[You can rest easy master.]
'Where is this voice coming from? It feels more like whisper than a conversation.'
After scanning his surroundings one last time and finding no sign of danger, he finally let his guard down. The tension in his shoulders eased, and his stance relaxed, but his eyes still remained wary, not daring to trust the silence.
He took a deep breath, and decided to take the most logical approach. "Who are you?"
[I am the 9th Gen Nano Cultivation System.]
"9th Gen Nano cultivation System? What's that? Moreover where are you? What kind of spell are you using to communicate with me?"
[I am not using any reprogrammed ability, I am able to communicate with you by connecting directly to your brain.]
"Connecting directly to my brain? I don't understand."
[To make you understand, I can transfer every information about myself and as well my guide. Do you wish to proceed?]
"Go ahead."
A sudden blue spark flared across his forehead, searing through his thoughts like lightning. In that instant, it felt like the world tilted, his vision became blurred, and his head spun violently.
He staggered backward and crashed into a table that clattered to the floor. Then finally, he fell to his back, staring up at a ceiling that wouldn't stop spinning.
"Shit!" He gasped for air, each breath ragged and desperate, as if he'd just sprinted through the final stretch of a marathon.
[Your body is not yet accustomed to information transmission yet, there will be no side effects the next time.]
"9th Gen Nano Cultivation System huh? So you're not just a spell?"
[That's right Master.]
"So you're the Dragon's sect sacred relic? You're like a system, one of those interfaces I read so much about during my time in my own world?"
[You're right in one aspect, but I am not just a system, I am a fully integrated microscopic organism fused with your nervous system.]
"Fused with my nervous system? That means you can't leave my body through ordinary means?"
[That's right, I am programmed to only leave your body at the moment of your death.]
"I see, I take it you're the one that healed me? And it wasn't magic?"
[That's right master, I'm also programmed to resolve all and any irregularities in the host's body.]
Li Yao chuckled, a low, disbelieving sound that slipped past his lips. What the Nano Cultivation System had just revealed to him defied every law of magic he once knew.
Back then, even with the Heavenly Divine Pearl in his possession, complete regeneration required the fulfillment of three strict conditions. It had been a slow, taxing process that pushed past the limits of the body and soul.
But the system had bypassed all of that effortlessly.
"So-"
"He's inside, please be quick, his injuries are severe."
A voice cut through the silence, and without thinking, Li Yao jumped back into bed. He was in a foreign place and didn't know who he could trust.
The door swung open, and three people walked in—a middle-aged man with a ponytail, a woman dressed like a maid, and an old man with white hair and a long, white beard.
"Young master! You're awake!" The maid hurried to his side, her footsteps light but quick with urgency.
"Young master! Please forgive me, I didn't anticipate those bastards would stoop so low and attack you when I was away."
The middle-aged man dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead to the floor as he pleaded earnestly.
"This is Physician Cheng young master, he'll tend to your injuries."
The maid spoke softly as the old man stepped forward, his hands clasped behind his back, and his eyes calmly scanning every inch of Li Yao's body with a quiet intensity.
"Li Yao, the young master of the Dragon Sect of the demonic cult, the last son of Li Wei—the patriarch of the demonic cult. Am I correct?"
Li Yao's eyes shot open for a brief moment before settling back to normal. That name—it stirred something in his memory. He was sure he had heard it somewhere before.
'That's right! Now I remember, Li Wei was the patriarch of the demonic cult in that novel. Now I get it, I didn't just transmigrate, I transmigrated into that novel I loved so much back then, A Demon's Path to greatness.'
"Yes that's right."
But there was one problem.
'The patriarch's last son was Li Yang, and he was the young master of the Dragon's sect, I don't recall the character Li Yao ever mentioned in the story... No, it didn't, that's why I still have my name, I transmigrated as a no-named character.'
"How odd." The physician finally spoke, his voice calm and measured as he finished his examination.
"What's the problem physician!?" The middle-aged man rose to his feet in a flash, his eyes filled with anticipation, eager to hear the results of the old man's examination.
"I thought you said his injuries were severe? It's the opposite, his body is in perfect condition."
"What!?"
Both the maid and the middle-aged man leaned in for a closer look at Li Yao. They found him at the base of the mountain, his body covered in countless cuts and scars after a long and desperate search. But now, every wound had vanished like they had never existed at all.
"Impossible... He was severely injured, I'm sure of it."
The physician gently took Li Yao's hand, placing two fingers against his wrist as he quietly checked his pulse.
Instantly, his eyes shot open, as if a surge of electricity had jolted through his entire body.
"What's wrong physician?"
"Lady Cho, I thought you said he couldn't use any Qi condensation techniques?"
"He can't."
"Quite the contrary, he can, his Qi is flowing at an extraordinary rate through his 36 meridians. It's almost as if his body has been reborn."
The room fell into stunned silence, eyes wide with disbelief. No one could believe what they were hearing—no one, that is, except Li Yao, who laid there quietly, having little to no idea what they were all so shocked about.
"Physician Cheng... What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm saying is, if indeed he had no Qi in him the moment of his birth, it's impossible, but I think he must have gone through a second awakening."
'A second awakening!? Wait, does that mean I transmigrated into the body of a talentless brat? Now it all makes sense, it took me a year to master that stance with intense training, a talentless body which has no experience in combat will struggle greatly to attempt it in one go. System, did you do this?'
[Yes master, as I said before, I resolved all irregularities in the host's body, included all blocked meridians which prevented the circulation of Qi, and I also adjusted your muscles, metabolism and blood flow to match that of an athletic state.]
A smile tugged at Li Yao's lips as a quiet chuckle escaped him, amused by the system's reply.
'Holy shit, and I thought I was overpowered back then.'