Sick

Lin grew up to be a clever young beauty, she was full of vitality and eagerness to pioneer a path for herself. Not only was she the first to get started on cultivation by refining mana, but she was also the first to pass the Cycle Formation Trial and enter the Apprentice Realm.

Her brother, Cin, wasn't too behind and just a few weeks after her, he entered the Apprentice Realm as well.

After those two, all of the other students began to quickly grow and test their limits. In a few months after Cin, all other students already had entered the Apprentice Realm.

Ace was surprised by the overall success of the class, he expected at least a couple of them to fail, but it seemed he underestimated their talents and will.

Since they had already taken the most important steps without much help and developed their critical thinking enough, Ace began to teach them the next steps personally.

But it was much more difficult to advance in the Apprentice Realm and many began to struggle. This Realm required both patience and strong will, and many of them had a difficult time while grinding slowly.

To open all meridians was a big project that required great perseverance more than talent. It once took about fifteen years for Ace to advance from the Apprentice Realm to the Essence Refining Realm, and that was only because he had the help of the system.

As he expected, many students began to feel troubled by the amount of time needed to advance, they were eager for quick success.

As the years passed, many lost their passion for cultivation and didn't practice with all their will, thus lagging behind others.

Ace didn't try to stop it from happening, since it was a natural and necessary process. He wanted the best among his students to prove themselves.

The pair of siblings didn't disappoint him, Lin and Cin were the first to advance to the Essence Refining Realm, but it took them about twenty years!

After waiting for their body to completely transform after the breakthrough, he called them to his residence.

Lin grew up to be a beautiful woman with a hint of mature charm, she gave others the feeling of being above the mortal world.

Cin wasn't the same young kid from before and turned into a burly man full of confidence.

But Ace also changed in the long years since he began to teach them, he had more depth in his eyes and a bearing that spoke of his developed state of mind.

He experienced two other enlightenments since the last time and his state of mind was much more refined. Because of those opportunities, his total amount of aura, soul power, and vital energy also increased incredibly.

Ace never had the thought that he stagnated, but was steadily improving toward the next realm.

Lin and Cin looked at their teacher with overflowing admiration. Even after reaching the Essence Refining Realm and developing their soul sense, they couldn't feel the depths of Ace's power.

They knew that Ace had the power to crush them into meat paste with a wave of his hand.

"I called you two because I want to delegate an important mission to you," Ace spoke slowly after taking a sip of tea, "But I guess you know what it is."

"Yes," Lin and Cin nodded at the same time, "We will do our best!"

Ace sighed and said, "Time flies fast, I hope you never stop progressing, otherwise... I will have no choice but to watch you grow old and decrepit."

Lin seemed deeply affected by his words and shook her head, "I will never stop! I will never allow myself to grow old before the teacher!"

"I don't want to turn into a weak old man!" Cin snorted.

Ace smiled and said, "What I meant is that your mission is important, but even more important is your cultivation!"

"Teacher..." Lin felt emotional and nodded, "I will remember your instructions... forever!"

"I too!" Cin promised with a solemn tone.

"After you two reach the Martial Enlightenment Realm, I will pass my mantle to one of you," Ace suddenly changed the topic, "I will focus on cultivation wholeheartedly, and I will only occasionally leave my seclusion to pass to others what I comprehend.

"The more I advance, the more I understand that cultivation requires time and perseverance unimaginable to common people."

"Seclusion, you mean... you will stop seeing us?" Lin asked with a trembling voice.

Cin was silent but was visibly affected by his words as well.

"Don't distort my words, brat!" Ace clicked his tongue in amusement, "I will occasionally leave my seclusion, but only when there's something new to be passed on to others."

Lin and Cin were still sad even after he explained.

Ace sighed and massaged his temples, "You two have been too spoiled by me, aren't you two adults already? Why are you acting like this?"

"It can't be helped," Lin pocked her nose in embarrassment, "We love our teacher as much as we love our parents. We are unwilling to be separated from you."

"Where did you learn such sweet words?" Ace chuckled, "Don't try to confuse me, I already decided."

Lin's eyes turned gloomy and she looked to her brother as if asking for help.

After being silent for a while, Cin said, "Teacher, can we talk alone for a while?"

"Brother!" Lin changed her expression.

Ace was surprised but nodded, "Of course. Please go outside for a while, Lin."

Lin seemed to struggle but obeyed his order, she clenched her teeth and left with heavy steps.

"Actually, I know what you want to say," Ace spoke first, he gave Cin a meaningful glance.

"...As expected from our teacher," Cin sighed and massaged his temples as if copying Ace, "But what do you think?"

"I didn't think much about it, actually," Ace said while taking a sip of tea, "I have always seen her as a little girl, and it might take a long time to be changed if it is even possible.

"But time is merciless and can change many things. I never had the opportunity to discover many things because I was always focusing on cultivation and in teaching you all.

"In the future, when the past feelings turn dusty, I might have a change of heart as a refreshful feeling might be born in my heart.

"But... it is a possibility for the future, not for the present, do you understand?"

Cin nodded and got up from his seat, "Thanks for sharing your thoughts, can I transmit them to her?"

"Of course," Ace smiled and waved his hand, "Go, your sister is about to go crazy from waiting."

After Cin left, Ace sighed and dropped the calm pretense.

"Those little brats sure are troublesome..." he muttered while massaging his temples.

[But the host clearly feels attracted by Lin's beauty.]

'Don't misunderstand, you bastard!' Ace cursed in his mind, 'Feeling someone is beautiful is completely unrelated to having true romantic feelings.'

[Is that so? Anyway, I'm just a system, how can I understand your human feelings?]

'Acting bitter? Now, of all times?' Ace clenched his teeth.

[Host himself said he lacks the knowledge of many things.]

"Go fuck yourself!" Ace couldn't hold back and shouted.

[...]

To Ace's surprise, Lin didn't choose to avoid him after Cin told her everything but instead went to confront him.

She didn't ask for permission and directly pushed the old mobile wooden wall, the only privacy instrument of his residence, aside. She looked directly into Ace's eyes and shouted.

"Villain!"

Ace was as confused as he could be and was speechless at her sudden accusation.

"Why don't you just say that you don't like me? Why do you have to make me wait for a glimmer of possibility?" Lin continued to shout at him.

"Do you think you can play with me like this?"

Ace twitched the corners of his mouth and understood what was happening.

He sighed and said, "I'm sorry, I should have been more straightforward, it was my fault that you misunderstood."

"So? What do you have to say?" Lin asked while aggressively staring at him.

"...Forget about it," Ace said and closed his eyes, "I don't see you as a romantic interest.

"You are still young, I'm sure you will meet someone you like in the future."

Lin clenched her teeth and held back from crying, she didn't say anything and left quietly.

"Alas, it's the first time she acted so aggressively in front of me," Ace muttered bitterly, "But I guess it was for the better."

[I agree with her, you are a villain.]

"Of course, the all-mighty system knows everything," Ace didn't care and sneered.

In the following months, Lin avoided Ace as much as she could. Ace would only see her when there was no other choice. Only the passing of the years could slowly heal the wounds in Lin's heart.

Perhaps it was because of what happened between him and Lin, but Ace began to feel that his state of mind was reaching a critical point, but he was ultimately lacking an opportunity.

When he concentrated on the mental method, he could see multiple white stars in his mind, they formed a star stream that extended to the void.

It was the end of the technique, and Ace decided to ask the system for a more advanced mental method to practice.

[Because of the host's special circumstances, I don't think it's a good idea to practice overly complicated mental methods.]

"Why?" Ace asked with a frown.

[Because the path that the host is following does not focus on the power of the soul only, but one that also focuses on the body and energy.

[Some mental methods require long periods of practice, but the host needs to always make progress to make sure his life span doesn't run out.]

"What do you propose, then?"

[The host should do as always, pioneering a path no one has ever thought of before.]

"You speak too highly of me, I know my limitations clearly," Ace snorted and shook his head, "Up until now, I still don't know how I managed to come this far without dying."

[The fact that you managed to do it proves that the host has a strong fate.]

"Does fate exist?"

[I don't know.]

"So you have been spouting bullshit all this while, motherfucker!"

[Please be polite.]

Ace took a deep breath and pondered hard. He knew that the system was right about him not having enough time to practice complex mental methods, he wasn't on the path of the soul, but on the path of cultivation, the path he himself pioneered.

The years continued to pass without waiting for Ace, and he was slowly growing upset from his lack of progress. He never had another enlightenment and he felt that he was only a step away from reaching a critical point.

No matter how hard he tried, he never saw the answers he sought in himself, he was as lost as a blind man in an unfamiliar environment.

Seeing many students following after Lin and Cin, breaking through to the Essence Refining Realm, made him grow even more restless.

He began to think about a future where he was surprised by everyone and never managed to advance to the next realm, a future where he was despised by his very students.

Ace didn't notice his irregular and dangerous mental situation, because he was too much invested in those negative thoughts to notice.

However, the system noticed since early but didn't warn Ace at all. It saw everything as a silent shadow.

Twenty years after Lin and Cin last broke through, Ace reached a critical point and suddenly threw up blood while meditating.

His soul power was in complete disorder and his consciousness palace voluntarily opened.

"Damn it!" Ace cursed with red eyes, "Why can't I progress further? Am I doomed to fail?

"System! Help me!"

[...]

"Are you deaf!?"

[...]

"Damn it!" Ace got up from his seat and began to run far away from the village.

When he arrived at a distant place, he began to destroy everything in his sight, discounting his rage and despair about the surroundings.

After a few hours of constant output, he was empty of aura and was physically and mentally exhausted.

He created a scene of utter destruction, there wasn't a single living being within almost a kilometer radius of him. All trees have been blasted to oblivion and no animal was seen moving.

Ace sat on the ground, completely exhausted, and began to take deep breaths of air.

After a while, two shadows approached him, it was Cin and Lin.

"Are you okay, teacher?" Cin asked with concern and tried to help Ace.

Lin suddenly approached Ace and slapped him on the face, not giving anyone a chance to react.

"What are you doing!" Cin shook Lin by her shoulders and asked with a rageful voice.

Ace was dumbly looking at the sky, seeing the clouds pass.

"Can't you see that he has lost it?" Lin said to her brother with a dark expression, "Tracher is about to go crazy."

"What are you talking about?" Cin frowned.

"You can be stupid sometimes, brother," Lin sighed and explained, "You surely noticed that teacher had been acting strangely during the last decade."

"Yes, his mood seemed to have gotten worse, but what about it?" Cin asked back, "Anyone can change, it's natural."

"It wasn't a natural change," Lin shook her head, "Our teacher has been obsessed over his lack of progress, and he began to panic so much that ot affected his mental health."

"That's impossible!" Cin denied, "How can our teacher be mentally ill? He already began to transcend mortality, his body can't catch an illness even if he wanted."

"An ordinary mortal illness, that is," Lin sighed, "But what if cultivators have their own set of diseases to deal with?

"Moreover, you know that teacher is a pioneer, he might have encountered a problem with his cultivation without even noticing."

Cin didn't know what to say to rebuke her, and he began to believe that his sister might be right.

"What can we do?" Cin asked with a face full of worry.

"Look at his dumb look," Lin pointed at Ace with an angry tone, "Let's first take him back to the village, I hope no supernatural creature was attracted by the commotion he caused."

Then, the two carried Ace back to the village and began to take care of him daily.

Ace seemed to have lost the ability to control his own body and was always looking dumbly at the sky or earth.

Cin would give him baths from time to time and wear his new clothes, and also take care of his most private needs.

Lin would prepare food and feed Ace carefully, as if afraid he would worsen.

Time continued to pass, and after a few months, the siblings began to despair as well, they began to think Ace would never come back.

But then, one day after long days, unknowingly to them, the system's voice sounded in Ace's mind.