Reincarnated With The Degenerate System

"Are you deaf? Or just stupid?" he asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm neither." My stance widened on instinct, boots grinding against the cracked stone. I leveled my spear toward my centerline—right at my gut—ready to draw it up in a heartbeat if this thing decided to lunge.

If it came down to it… I would use my ultimate trump card.

"That stance…" He tapped his chin. "Why do I get the feeling that's an inferior copy of my style? No—calling it inferior is being generous. This… this is just pathetic."

I clenched my jaw, heat rising in my chest as my Qi stirred.

"I don't know who you are," I gripped my spear tighter, "but don't get too comfortable with me. My spear technique is second to none."

"Oh?" His smile stretched wider. "Interesting… because I can also say the same thing."

He stood up and casually fished something out of his ear—like he was removing lint. Then the thing twitched, shimmered, and with a sharp metallic clang, it stretched outward in an instant, growing and growing until it became a golden staff.

My eyes narrowed. I swear I had seen this move before. I couldn't deny—it was impressive.

Summoning my spear out of thin air was impactful, sure, but it didn't have the punch of a golden staff springing from a speck of lint. The difference was all in the execution. I could learn a thing or two about aura farming from this guy.

"Human, I'll teach you something important."

He leapt down from the Ape's head, chest puffed out, shoulders thrown back like the world itself should bow to him. The golden staff rested across one shoulder as he strutted forward, each step dripping with the kind of ego that could crush mountains.

"A spear," he paused, "is just a staff with a pointy blade."

I couldn't argue with the truth.

He slowed to a halt about twenty meters out, one hand drifting up to his furry chin as he studied me like I was some curious little bug.

"Qi in your body," he murmured. "Not like the cheap, borrowed powers your companions are using… yours actually comes from your lower dantian."

His eyes gleamed. "Interesting. Very interesting."

"However—"

The word barely left his mouth before he vanished like a mist. I spun around, and there he was—already behind me, hands loose at his sides, not even bothering take any fighting stance.

That somehow made it worse.

Even with my senses sharpened to the limit, I hadn't caught a single thread of his movement. Nothing. Just a before and an after.

"Yours is incomplete," he said, eyes sliding over me like he was reading a cracked manual. "You're only relying on your lower dantian. Your middle and upper dantian are barely being tempered. Is it because you're practicing a cultivation made by a mortal?"

I was completely speechless at his analysis. He wasn't wrong—General Sun Wang's technique was godly for mortals, but compared to true perfection, it was still lacking.

"Regardless," he went on. "You've got the basics down. Give yourself a proper cultivation method, and your strength will soar."

Before I could breathe, his form blurred—mist curling, dispersing—then reformed at my side like he had always been there.

Not good.

I swung my spear upward, aiming to crack his chin, but he blocked me with a lazy flick of his staff. The impact felt like a mountain slammed into the base of my weapon.

"Moon Cycle—Sweeping Strike!" I roared, ripping the spear free again and aiming for his leg.

He just planted the butt of his staff on the ground—tap—and my attack stopped cold. No recoil, no pushback, nothing.

"Is that all you've got?" he asked, almost disappointed. "Those old moon geezers would climb down from the their grave just to smack you for dragging their name into something this weak."

"W… who are you?" I forced out, the words trembling more than I wanted.

"Me?" He tapped a finger to his cheek, giving me that easygoing smile. "Remember my name, Human… for I am the legendary Sun—"

crack!

The black-and-white landscape around us trembled. Fractures spider-webbed under our feet, glowing faintly as they spread.

He looked around, annoyed.

"My time's up." He shook his head. "I know those bastards won't tolerate me—even if I'm just using a clone."

The cracks widened. Chunks of space groaned and peeled away. Wind—if you could call it that—rushed past us.

"I still have something to say!" he roared, and the staff surged in size, expanding through the cracks like a golden pillar holding the world together. Light burst from it, forcing the collapsing space to slow down.

Then he turned his attention to me.

This time, there was no smirk. No playful arrogance.

"Listen well, human," he said—calm, steady, like the collapsing world was just background noise.

"The ones pulling the strings here…" His voice dropped, low and absolute. "They're far worse than anything you've faced. Worse than me. If you want even the slightest chance at surviving …"

Golden eyes flared, bright enough to cut through the breaking world. "Then you'll need to reach godhood."

"Godhood?" I repeated.

"That's right. Climb this tower. Reach the very top… and you'll inherit my full legacy. Power beyond anything you can imagine."

I raised an eyebrow. "Can't you just give it to me? It's yours, after all."

His smile slipped back into place. "I can't do that even if I wanted to. If you want to climb higher, you need a real foundation—a proper way to unlock all your dantian. Not that half-finished mess you're using now."

Raising a single finger, he pressed it against my forehead.

"Do you want to acquire that knowledge?"

I didn't flinch—mostly because I knew if he wanted me gone, resisting would be pointless.

But frankly? Having a smug monkey upload something into my head wasn't exactly on my list of favorite experiences. But what choice did I have?

[DING!]

[Host, system is now fully operational. Please accept the offer. It will be compiled and reviewed first by the system to protect the host from any adverse effects.]

Sweet. My system's finally here to save the day.

I dropped to one knee. "Thank you for the opportunity, Master."

His eyes went round at my sudden change in attitude—then he burst into loud, rolling laughter.

"HA! HA! HA! What an amusing little creature. A lower lifeform, sure… but at least you're not completely hopeless."

Before I could react, his fingertip lit up and pressed forward. A stream of information slammed toward my mind—enough to fry a normal brain on the spot.

Good thing my system caught it.

He didn't notice anything off, because I made sure to grimace and clutch my head like my brain was getting scrambled. A little acting went a long way, especially when the one judging me had an ego big enough to fill a lake.

When he was done, the world had completely shattered into pieces. Only the patch of ground we were standing on remained.

"Chase power that shakes the heavens, boy. Become so damn strong that everything has to kneel or break trying." He paused, that wild arrogance slipping for the first time.

"Because if you don't…" His jaw tightened. "You'll rot on the same path I did."

crack!

The black-and-white world shattered.

And his golden eyes were the last thing I saw before time snapped back into motion.