Chapter 199: Survival or Oblivion
At another corner of the mountain estate.
Lordi crouched low in a courtyard, his palms pressed flat against the cold surface of the final stone. The granite slab was uneven, its edges jagged from years of exposure, but its weight was perfect—heavy enough to crush bone, to pin a man where he stood. He shifted it into place with a grunt, settling it atop the wooden framework he had constructed.
The beams groaned under the strain, but they held. Just barely.
That was the point.
His fingers lingered on the stone’s rough surface, checking its alignment one last time. A fraction too far left, and the trap would fail. A hair too far right, and it might collapse prematurely. But it was perfect. Exactly where it needed to be.
The rope coiled at his feet was thick, its fibers rough against his skin as he gathered it into his hands. He had chosen it carefully—strong enough to hold his weight, yet brittle enough to snap when the tension became too great. He threaded it through the hidden trigger mechanism, his movements slow, methodical. The lever beneath the loose tile was simple, unremarkable. It wouldn’t be noticed. Not until it was too late. His fingers tightened around the knot, testing its grip. One sharp pull, and the counterweight would release. One sudden movement, and the stones would drop. He secured the other end around his waist, the coarse fibers biting into his skin as he tied the final knot—a hitch that would only tighten, never slip.
Lordi’s smile was bitter. The brain retard AwfulOS had betrayed him before. It had yanked him from safety, forced his limbs to move against his will, hurled him into danger with no warning. But not this time. This time, he had a failsafe.
If the System seized him again—if it tried to drag him away, to plunge him into another reckless "FREE service"—the rope would go taut. The trigger would disengage. And the stones above, poised on their fragile wooden perch, would come crashing down. It was brutal. Unsubtle. But it would work. Either the System released him, or the stones would. Either way, he wouldn’t be taken unwillingly again.
A slow breath escaped his lips as he rose to his feet, dusting the grit from his hands. The courtyard was ready. The trap was set. His fingers flexed at his sides, restless. He had no intention of waiting for the System to act first.
He stood at the center of the courtyard, his voice low but firm as he commanded inwardly, "System, I want to cultivate. Select the Sword Path Dao Insights. Smart Duration! One-Click-Cultivation!"
~ Ding! *System Notification Chime*
The sharp, crystalline chime of the system notification pierced the silence, its tone both artificial and unnervingly cheerful. Lordi’s muscles tensed instinctively as the AllFullOS System sprang to life, its response immediate and clinical, flooding his consciousness with lines of glowing text that materialized behind his eyelids.
[AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0]
> All-Smart Full-Host Cultivation System™ is at your service!
> One-click-cultivation, worry-free-ascension!
+ [Features]
- Intelligent upgrades tailored to your cultivation needs!
- Fully automated cultivation: Sit back, relax, and let the system do the work!
...
> Cultivation hosting: Initializing...
- Friendly reminder: During cultivation, the host will lose control of his/her body.
- Do not panic. This is a normal system function.
> Initializing body control override...
...
There was a pause—a brief, eerie silence—before another chime rang out.
~ Ding! System Notification Chime ~
[AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0]
> Scanning cultivation requirements...
...
> Detected lack of Cultivation Material: [Sword Aura] (Error: 3091)
- Host inventory: EMPTY
- Error: Insufficient materials for cultivation.
> Executing optimal solution... Pending...
...
Another chime. Another notification.
~ Ding! System Notification Chime ~
[AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0]
> Detected: Substitute Cultivation Material
> Detected Destruction Class Item in Host’s dantian: [Sword Aura Shard of Slaughterheart] x1
...
Hearing this, Lordi was tensed. In the next moment, the thread of lethal energy given by the Sword of Red Run in his body was taken away by the AllFullOS System and refined with terrifying efficiency.
~ Ding! *System Notification Chime*
[AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0]
> Sword Aura Shard of Slaughterheart x1 consumed.
> Refining in progress... 20%...
> Resuming [Sword Path Dao Insights] Cultivation process...
The courtyard lay in perfect stillness, the only sound the whisper of wind through the ancient trees bordering the stone walls. Lordi remained motionless in his meditative stance, legs folded beneath him, palms resting on his knees. Every muscle in his body was taut with anticipation, prepared for the familiar agony that accompanied cultivation breakthroughs—the searing heat that would erupt from his dantian, the electric crackle of energy surging through his meridians, the bone-deep ache that signaled his body being reforged. But as the moments stretched on, nonoe of such sensations came.
There was only silence.
No fire bloomed in his core. No violent energy prickled along his channels. The process was utterly unlike anything he’d experienced before. Where martial techniques had always demanded payment in sweat and strain, where every advancement came only after grueling effort and teeth-gritting endurance, this was... effortless. The slender thread of Sword Aura Shard that had resided within him simply unraveled, its dissolution as natural as ice melting into water. Warmth spread through him, not the scorching heat of cultivation flames, but something gentler—like sunlight soaking into cold earth. It moved through his meridians without resistance, merging with his being as though it had always been part of him.
Then came the clarity.
It struck with the suddenness of a winter gale cutting through summer’s humidity, shocking in its intensity. His mind, usually crowded with half-formed techniques and fragmented martial knowledge, suddenly expanded. Where before there had been confusion, now there was crystalline understanding. Krogh’s lectures on sword principles—once dense and impenetrable - now unfolded before him with perfect simplicity. The sword was no longer merely steel in his grasp; it became intention given form, will made manifest. Cutting was not just edge meeting flesh, but the universe acknowledging a fundamental truth. Defense was not blocking, but the refusal to be touched. Every concept he’d struggled to comprehend now revealed its essence, laid bare before his newly awakened perception.
This was different. This wasn’t the brutal, physical transformation of martial cultivation. There was no pain, no struggle against one’s own limits. Only knowledge, pure and absolute, flowing into him like water into an empty vessel.
This was the Dao.
Time became meaningless. The boundary between moments dissolved. Whether an instant or an eternity passed, Lordi couldn’t tell. The physical world faded into irrelevance, his awareness turning inward to the vast landscape of understanding that now stretched before him. The courtyard, the trap stones, even his own body—all ceased to exist in his consciousness. There was only the sword, and the truth of it, and himself as part of that truth.
Until—
~ Ding! *System Notification Chime*
The System’s chime shattered the tranquility, wrenching him back to awareness.
[AllFullOS: Version 1.0.0]
> Cultivation session status: COMPLETE
> Host control: RESTORED
> Thank you for using the All-Smart Full-Host Cultivation System™ (AllFullOS v1.0.0)
> Feedback request:
- We value your opinion! (No, really, we do.)
- If you are satisfied with our service, please give us a five-star rating.
> Tap to Rate: [☆☆☆☆☆]
Lordi’s eyelids parted slowly, revealing only the barest sliver of his gaze - and the world seemed to shudder to a halt before him. An arctic, all-consuming will erupted from those half-lifted eyes, a force so razor-edged it felt as though it could strip flesh from bone with mere presence. The very atmosphere grew oppressive, saturated with the metallic tang of blood and the unspoken threat of impending violence. His entire being thrummed with Sword Intent now, not as something wielded but as something innate—so potent it smothered the mountain winds, turning the air stagnant with its density.
This was no longer cultivated killing intent - this was something far more primal. It rolled off him in palpable waves, crashing against the courtyard walls like a caged beast testing its confines. The aura carried with it the visceral memory of countless battlefields, the copper-stench of opened veins, the whispered madness of men who had killed beyond counting. Each measured breath he took seemed to sharpen the air further; every slight shift in his posture, had he allowed it, would have been the first movement in an inevitable massacre. The Sword Intent wasn’t merely a technique anymore—it had become inseparable from his very existence.
And the world would learn this truth through its own spilled blood.
Holy shit—I actually did it!
A fierce, exhilarated grin split Lordi’s face, his chest swelling with the heady rush of hard-won victory. The Sword Intent pulsed within him now, a bleeding slaughterhouse of lethal potential grounding just beneath his skin. But celebration was a luxury he couldn’t afford—not now.
With practiced efficiency, he slid Life Hater back into its sheath, the bone blade’s malevolent aura disappearing as he stowed it in his storage sack. His hands moved automatically to straighten his sect robes, smoothing the fabric with deliberate, controlled motions even as adrenaline still sang through his veins. His fingers lingered momentarily at his chest, pressing lightly as if to physically contain the pounding of his heart.
Then came the whisper—quiet but ironclad, words spoken not just to himself but carved into his very psyche:
"Yeah... maybe I could actually pull this off."
A heartbeat’s pause. A single, steadying breath. The flicker of uncertainty that rose was immediately crushed beneath the cold weight of necessity, ground to dust beneath the bootheel of survival instinct.
"No. You don’t have a choice. You will do this."
His jaw clenched, teeth grinding together. These weren’t empty reassurances - they were commands issued to his own soul, a blade pressed against the throat of his doubts.
"You’re walking out of this alive. No other outcome exists."
And with that final, unshakable declaration, he was moving.
His strides ate up the ground with lethal purpose, carrying him inexorably toward the swirling, dream-choked mists of Driftdream Loch—where only two possibilities awaited: survival, or oblivion.