Chapter 1: Twelve Meridians
"Finally, the day I've been waiting for..." Yu Ning slowly approached the small altar that stood, glowing, in the middle of the room. He walked past the numerous children his age sitting silently in their seats.
Their curious gazes stuck to his body like bees to beehives. Regardless, he paid those gazes no mind and kept walking until he reached the altar. It was in the shape of a fountain made out of a black-colored stone.
Inside of the fountain was a thin pillar that held up a ghostly blue orb three times it's mass. The orb floated ominously before Yu Ning as if trying to lure him.
'The day that I soar the skies, is today!' Yu Ning placed his hands together and closed his eyes while turning around to face the children in the seats. A moment later, the orb floating above the altar released a low humming sound.
That humming sound slowly turned into ghostly blue light leaking from the orb and wrapping itself around Yu Ning's body, before suddenly entering it.
A low grunt escaped Yu Ning's lips as the light entered his head. His consciousness was suddenly transported into his Sea of Consciousness, where the light danced around freely.
'I wonder what Martial Soul I will awaken...it decides my fate in this cruel world.' Yu Ning observed the dancing light until finally, another energy that originated from his Sea of Consciousness assaulted it, subduing it and absorbing it afterward.
Both lights fused into an object obscured by a weird mist. Yu Ning tried to repel the mist, but he couldn't touch it. Instead, he waited patiently until it moved on its own.
After a while, the mist dissipated and the object revealed itself as a large eye that was three times Yu Ning's size. The iris was dark purple and had mysterious runes circulating around and within it.
The eye stared at Yu Ning, shaking him to the core. He felt as if the eye was peering into his soul, observing his most guarded secrets. Finally, the eye widened until it transformed into a dark purple light that flew towards Yu Ning.
Yu Ning could do nothing to stop such an attack, so he let the light assault him. It covered and melded with his face, causing a weird tingling sensation on his face that made him want to scratch it.
He restrained himself until the sensation slowly faded. Yu Ning felt his perspective change and he suddenly grabbed his face. He felt an object tightly attached to his face, so he tried his best to pull it off.
'What is this? A mask?' Yu Ning's questions were answered when he took the object off of his face. It was indeed a white mask, and the only feature on it was a large eye with a purple iris. The mask looked and felt mysterious.
After grabbing the mask, it faded into light and Yu Ning was brought out of his Sea of Consciousness. He looked around the room blankly, still confused about his Martial Soul.
A raspy voice entered his ears from behind.
"Normal-Tier Low-grade Martial Soul." Those words hit Yu Ning like terrifying thunderstrikes that targeted his soul. His eyes constricted and he couldn't believe those words.
"S-Sister Neli, surely you've made an error in your judgement?" Yu Ning turned around to face the middle-aged woman wearing nun-like clothes. Sister Neli's expression turned dark upon hearing Yu Ning's words.
"You dare to question my expertise? Have you no idea of your place?" Sister Neli raised her hand as if readying it to slap Yu Ning. Yu Ning cowered in fear and fell to the ground.
"Hmph. Return to your seat at once. From now on, you will receive one less meal. This orphanage of mines isn't free, so good seeds will be treated better than the bad ones." Sister Neli's words run like bells of disaster in Yu Ning's head.
He returned to his seat with a downcast expression plastered upon his face. He didn't dare to raise his head or even look at the person next to him.
'What happened? Why did I awaken a Normal-tier Low-grade Martial Soul? The altar was supposed to help improve the quality of a person's Martial Soul!' Yu Ning was overcome with grief and didn't know what to do.
He was already just barely managing to get by in life as an orphan in the Immortal King Dynasty. Despite having such a grandeur name, the royals, nobles, none of them cared for the poor and unfortunate.
Like Yu Ning.
He lost his parents at an early age and was taken into an orphanage that raised children for officials. Even though he knew what it meant to be in such an orphanage, Yu Ning kept his head up throughout his 12 years of life and awaited the day where he'd awaken his Martial Soul and soar through the skies.
Unfortunately, that day was put on hold. Indefinitely.
As he sat there with a crestfallen expression and broken heart, the rest of the children awakened their Martial Souls. Many of them awakened Normal-tier Low-grades, just as he did, while some rose above the rest.
"Normal-tier Middle-grade!"
"Normal-tier Middle-grade!"
"N-Normal-tier Excellent-grade!"
Each of these sentences evoked a flame of distraught and disbelief in the hearts of the unfortunate children. They wouldn't dare raise their heads to look at the ones that awakened such Martial Souls.
"Just as I said three years ago, you'd amount to nothing! You've always been nothing, just like your parents!" An arrogant voice resounded specifically in Yu Ning's ears, causing his eyes to become bloodshot.
He pulled his head up to see the ridiculous face of a child his age with blonde hair and green eyes. The child snapped his fingers and a lantern containing a dark green fire appeared.
It floated around him until the silhouette of a woman made of fire appeared. In her left hand was a long spear and a valiant shield lay in the other.
Yu Ning gritted his teeth and bawled his fist at the sight.
"Xie Shen, you dare to truly say such a thing?!" Yu Ning shouted.
"Oh? Yes, of course, since I'm the one with the Normal-tier Excellent-grade Martial Soul. What about you?" Xie Shen arrogantly remarked.
"I-I-" Yu Ning had no ground to stand on.
"Then keep your mouth shut, but if you want to end up like your parents, then I urge you to provoke me." Xie Shen's words were basically pouring salt on every wound that Yu Ning had.
Yu Ning was only seconds away from jumping out of his seat when Sister Neli suddenly intervened. "The both of you, close your mouths! The ceremony is over and we will go back to the orphanage, peacefully!"
Sister Neli's words were directed towards Yu Ning, despite him not being the aggressor. Yu Ning could only silently dismiss his anger as he stood up and entered the line.
He could feel Xie Shen looking down on him with contempt, but he had neither the backing nor power to do anything about it. All he could do was endure it...
.
.
.
Yu Ning lay in his bed made of old and dirty cotton with a downcast expression. All his dreams were crushed at the awakening ceremony. He summoned his Martial Soul, which took the form of a mask.
He stared into it was an angry expression, trying to keep himself from breaking it, granted that he could even do that.
'Why did I get the short end of the stick?! Why me?! I hate this thing!' Yu Ning grew angrier the longer he looked at the mask. He de-summoned it and turned over, looking at the ceiling.
'My life...its over. There's nothing I can do to change my fate now.' Yu Ning didn't wish to come to terms with his fate, but he had no choice now.
Ding!
As if running to the call emerging from Yu Ning's soul, a mysterious noise entered his ears, waking him from his daze. Yu Ning looked around, cautious and alert.
Contrary to what he expected, there was nothing there. And since he hadn't cultivated and obtained Spiritual Qi yet, or walked the path of immortal cultivation yet, he couldn't view his surroundings from a larger and more complex perspective.
"Who's go there? Reveal yourself!" Yu Ning withdrew an old stick that he often kept under his pillow. He waved it around, hoping that whoever was lurking around would leave.
After a while of silence, Yu Ning finally dismissed the strange happening and went back to laying in his bed. Unfortunately for him, another sound rang in his ears and he jumped up.
His heart was beating fast at this point and he looked around quickly. Just before he decided to check outside of his room, a translucent screen appeared in his retinas.
[Spiritual Energy detected, the Lootbox System has successfully activated.]
[Host detected and registered. Initiating introduction.]
Before Yu Ning could even feel shocked, a monotonous voice, as well as another system screen, appeared in his eyes, bringing a look of utter disbelief to his face.
[The Lootbox System allows the host to open loot boxes that may or may not grant the host various items of various grades and qualities. The Lootbox System utilizes Souls obtained from various beings to open loot boxes. For further information, just say 'Learn More'.]
Yu Ning didn't know if what was happening was the result of a powerful person's illusions or if it was just something great that befell him. He was hesitant to believe in the system or trust its words.
'My Martial Soul is bad and I have no spiritual roots, my fate is as good as ordinary. I'll live out the rest of my life as a mortal, so I have nothing to lose.' Yu Ning's expression turned firm when he thought of such things in his mind.
He was born with no Physique, trash meridians, no Spiritual Roots, no special organs, and most of all, not even a decent Martial Soul. He was as ordinary as every other mortal.
I want to soar higher!
I don't want to be imprisoned by the shackles of mortality and fate!
With determination, Yu Ning said the two words and another screen appeared.
[The tier of items within the Lootbox System are as follows: Normal-tier, Rare-tier, Mystic-tier, Heavenly-tier, Supreme-tier, Origin-tier.]
[There are different variations of souls that can be obtained by slaying various beings: Normal Souls, Good Souls, Bad Souls, Yin Souls, Yang Souls, Celestial Souls, Supreme Souls, and Origin Souls. With each acquisition of a new soul type, the grade of items in the Lootbox System will update.]
[Since the host has just awakened the Lootbox System, a gift box will be given. Please check your inventory with 'Inventory.']
Yu Ning was at a loss for words. He felt that what the system explained had to be fake, or else it would simply go against the laws of heaven!
'Souls?' Yu Ning didn't ponder on the information regarding souls and instead heaved a deep sigh. After that, he opened his inventory. He was still extremely doubtful of the system, as every time he read something it would become even more unbelievable.
[Inventory:
x1 Gift Box (Open)]
Yu Ning looked at his inventory with a puzzled expression before tapping the (Open) button in front of the [Gift Box]. An iconic tune played as Yu Ning opened the gift box and a screen appeared.
[Gift Box Rewards Received: Spiritual Roots Lootbox (x1), Meridian Lootbox (x1)]
Once Yu Ning opened the loot box, the screen closed shortly after and two new items appeared in his inventory.
[Inventory:
x1 Meridian Lootbox
x1 Spiritual Roots Lootbox]
Yu Ning took a big gulp before tapping on the Meridian Lootbox, watching as new information appeared. What caught his attention was the (Open) button underneath the name.
He didn't hesitate and pressed it. A horizontal roulette suddenly appeared with a thin line in the middle, as well as numerous different colored squares with question mark icons on them on the roulette. It moved extremely fast and the colors became a blur.
This continued for a second or so before the roulette came to a firm halt with little to no leeway for movement. The black line stopped on a blue-colored box.
Yu Ning was confused throughout the entire process, struggling to get a grasp on how the loot box worked. A screen soon appeared after a congratulatory sound rang in Yu Ning's ears.
[Congratulations! You opened: Rare-tier(Middle-grade) Spiritual Meridians of 12 Oceans!]