Astral Dragon Monarch

''Goodnight then.."

Xin blushed slightly as she lingered at the door of the guest room.

"Uh, Goodnight, I guess ..."

If this were a hollywood movie, now would be the perfect time for him to lean forward and lock lips with her.

They both stood in uncomfortable silence for a minute or two, before Shen suddenly shut the door, leaving a confused Xin in the dark passageway.

'Sleep well...'

She thought as he made her way to her room.

Within the guest room, Shen sat on the bed staring out of the window.

He could not possibly sleep right now, how could he, when he had a hundred sāi shards to absorb?

'Thank you, Xin!'

If not for her just happening to pass by, he would have never managed to get this many shards with virtually no effort.

He arranged all the sāi shards into a rather sizeable pile, and began to absorb them all one by one.

***

In an hour or two, he crashed down on the bed in exhaustion.

'I did it...'

By now, his system interface read:

[Name: Shen]

[Level 0]

[Race: Mundane human]

[Tier: lower mortal]

[Stage: -----]

[Rank:-----]

[Strength: 2]

[Agility: 1]

[Sāi: 1000]

To his surprise, as the last sāi shard dissolved into thin air, a holographic screen appeared in front of his face.

_ring_ring_

[User has amassed enough sāi to level up]

[Do you wish to level up?]

"Yeah!"

However, this time nothing happened.

Shen raised a brow and scratched the back of his head.

'Did I do it wrong?'

Only then did he realize that it was a yes or no question as he sighed and nodded.

"Yes."

_ring_ring_

[User has chosen to level up]

[500 sāi points have been deducted and added to reserve]

"What?!"

Shen eyes widened in shock as he read the second notification.

How could the system take a whole five hundred points off his hard earned sāi stat. Unfortunately, he had already chosen to level up and could not cancel the process.

A soothing warm feeling washed over his entire being as he could feel something unlock within his.body. A gush of power followed next, along with another holographic screen.

_ring_ring_

[User has successfully levelled up]

[+10 Stat points in Strength, +10 stat points in Agility]

[Name: Kai Zhao]

[Level 1]

[Race: mundane human]

[Tier: Lower mortal tier]

[Stage: 1]

[Rank:1]

[Strength: 12]

[Agility: 11]

[Qi: 500]

[Enough sāi is left for another evolution.]

[Would you like to evolve?]

The bonus stats he got from only one level up alone was enough for him to instantly make a decision.

"Hell yeah!".

Strangely, nothing happened once again, making Shen sigh in frustration.

It seemed like his system did not understand anything other than 'Yes', 'No', and 'Assign stat points'.

"Yes!"

_ring_ring_

[User has chosen to evolve]

[200 sāi stat points deducted]

Once again, it stung a bit to see his precious sāi stat that he had spent hours absorbing shards for, being eaten up so quickly, but it was all for the best... right?

In a few seconds, another holographic screen appeared.

_ring_ring_

[Evolution successful]

[+100 sāi]

Shen stared at the figure in astonishment.

No, it was more akin to disappointment.

"That's all?"

He had expected more bonus stats in his strength and agility, but all it did was to give him back half of the sāi points he spent.

"System Interface."

[Name: Kai Zhao]

[Level 1]

[Race: mundane human]

[Tier: Lower mortal tier]

[Stage: 1]

[Rank:2]

[Strength: 12]

[Agility: 11]

[Qi: 500]

The only change was that the stage bar had added one extra stage.

"So an evolution makes my stage increase, while a level up makes my realm increase?"

As usual the silent system remained silent, making Shen sigh once again.

"I guess I'd have to find out by myself."

By afternoon, it would be a full day since he got the system. That would mean he would get to test out his improved stats once the daily quest arrived.

He tiredly lay down on the bed to sleep, then decided to take a bathroom break. Once he was done doing his thing, he silently slid opened the door to the guest room, only to see a pale man wielding a short dagger and slowly advancing towards the bed.

'A serial killer!'

For some reason, he had been on high alert ever since he ran into Xin in the cave.

Come to think of it, how was she 'just passing by' that deep into the cave?

Well, he would ponder on that mystery later as he had this person to take care of first.

'Poisonous Peril...'

He swiftly summoned the pair of black daggers created from the Qi shard of an ascended level beast and clutched their hilts tightly.

He would not make the same mistake of screaming out and rushing towards the enemy thrice, and so he quietly made an aim and threw the black dagger with as much force as he could muster.

The dagger flew silently through the air, and accurately landed on the mystery person's foot.

"Aargh!"

The person screamed out in a mixture of shock, surprise, and agony.

It had hit him precisely on his Achilles tendon and sliced his foot open with stunning accuracy.

Shen was not impressed with his dagger throwing skills though, as he sighed in disappointment.

'I was aiming for the heart...'

Anyways, he did not let his far less than stellar aim lower his spirits, as he pounced on the mystery person.

A furious struggle began, but with a full twelve stat points in strength, Kai was far more stronger than he was before. Each punch he threw at the mystery person drew blood, and soon he had completely overwhelmed the 'serial killer'.

Just as he was about to land a finishing blow on the poisoned, beaten and battered mysterious person, the person poked him hard in the gut.

"Lethal sāi invasion technique!"

A bright golden light covered the room, temporarily blinding Shen, as foreign sāi invaded his body. But with five hundred sāi points, his sāi fought back and even absorbed the invading sāi.

But the time Shen opened his eyes, the mystery person was long gone, and the sun had risen over the province.

Shen raised a brow in confusion and looked around the room.

"Was it all a dream?'