In the courtyard, only silence — and soft snoring — could be heard.
The disciple was still asleep.
Face-down. On a pillow. In the middle of the sacred ancestral rite.
An elder's eye twitched.
"This… disgrace."
He was bald, with a grey-streaked beard.
His expression looked like someone had robbed his fortune… and run off with his wife.
He raised his palm again, spiritual pressure curling around it like a storm.
The other disciples and elders watched without objection.
Some even looked smug, as if justice was about to be served.
This time, he wouldn't hold back.
Just enough force to leave a scar — and a lesson.
The spiritual palm shot out at speed.
The disciples waited, eyes gleaming.
Finally, the disgrace would learn humility.
But—
The boy's head shifted.
Just slightly.
The elder's palm missed.
By an inch.
It slammed into the stone beside the disciple, cracking it.
"…?"
Gasps echoed around the courtyard.
The elder stood frozen. A vein on his forehead throbbed.
Whispers spread like wildfire.
"What the hell!?"
"The elder missed?"
"Did he just dodge… while unconscious?"
"Nonsense!" the elder barked. "Coincidence!"
Naturally, with his sharp senses, he'd heard every word.
Everything went quiet again.
Somewhere Else
Clouds drifted overhead. A distant crane called lazily into the wind.
A confused soul floated in a dreamscape, blinking.
"Where the hell is this…"
A holographic screen appeared.
[System Message: Slumber Quest Active]
[Objective: Remain asleep for 60 seconds]
[Rewards:]
[+3 Free Attributes]
[+3 Sleep Qi]
[+1 Passive: Evasive Slumber]
He frowned.
"…I'm not dreaming, huh?"
He looked down at his hands — pale, soft, full of vitality.
"Didn't I die from… oversleeping?"
"I knew I shouldn't have dropped out."
He sighed. "So I reincarnated. Into this guy?"
He glanced at the screen again.
"…This system's serious, huh."
Back in the Courtyard
The boy snored again.
Soft. Barely audible. But in the stillness, it echoed like thunder.
Another elder took a step forward, robes rustling.
"He's not just asleep. He's mocking the sect!"
The disciples broke into hushed murmurs.
Some gasped at his audacity.
Some laughed.
Some stayed silent.
Others sneered, already imagining the punishment.
"Silence," the Sect Master finally said, voice low but firm. "What's his name?"
An elder unrolled a scroll and squinted.
"…Outer sect disciple. Feng Zhi."
Pause.
"…That's the spoiled young master from the western provinces," someone whispered.
"Didn't his clan pull strings to get him in?"
"Figures," another muttered.
A few disciples chuckled.
"Explains everything."
No one paid him further attention.
Just another useless outer sect brat who'd be gone in a year.