I was tall and broad-shouldered, but deep in my bones lay an inferiority complex. The scars left by my childhood couldn't be seen, yet whenever trouble came, my first instinct was always to back down.
I thought I'd spend my whole life being a coward.
Then, on the day military training ended in my first year of college, I drank a cup of wine in a dream, left behind by my late maternal grandfather. When I woke up, a transparent screen of light was floating in the middle of the dormitory. The System had bound itself to me, my bloodline had awakened, and I had gained eyes that could see souls, along with a black sword that could grow or shrink.
My roommate got dumped, and I discovered that he'd lost one of his souls. When I helped someone guide a soul back into place, I found that my courage had increased by 12%. It turned out the world had never been peaceful: some people lost their souls, some had souls possessing them, and some refined souls into beads and hid them in ancient tombs.
During summer break in the ancient Tang capital, a girl from the archaeology department took me into a Tang tomb that had been stripped by looters. Inside, there was no coffin, only Japanese-style furnishings, puppet-like guards, and a note written in Japanese.
A Japanese spy, code-named "Uesugi," was using the countless ancient tombs buried beneath this land to raise souls in batches and steal the vital essence of the living, laying the groundwork for an even greater scheme. Master Xuanqing from the local Xuanji Taoist temple came to find me and invited me to become a lay disciple.
Once you can see what others lack, you can't help but fill in the gaps. Each one you fill makes you a little stronger.
I stood 185 centimeters tall, yet I had once lived like a dwarf. Now, standing in the Tang capital, where lonely souls were scattered everywhere, I held a black sword in my hand and finally realized...
The timid Chen Xiao was long dead.
