"Kneel."
Wei Zhen's voice was cold, commanding, laced with the quiet arrogance of someone who had never been defied. The training courtyard stilled, disciples turning their heads toward the confrontation with keen interest.
Xiao Lian stood her ground, her golden eyes calm as she stared at the towering figure before her.
"I don't kneel," she said evenly. Her eyes in defiance, as if wanting to transfer all the anger that has piled up in her heart for the longest time she could ever think of.
Wei Zhen's expression twisted into a smirk. "Then I'll make you."
The tension in the air sharpened like the edge of a blade.
[Threat detected. Assessing opponent…]
The Supreme Intelligence System's voice echoed in her mind, smooth and emotionless.
[Analysis: Wei Zhen – Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. Combat style: brute force, predictable attack patterns. Weakness: overconfidence, delayed reaction time after heavy strikes.]
Xiao Lian's pulse steadied. Brute force, predictable… I can work with that.
Wei Zhen cracked his knuckles, stepping forward. "A weakling like you should understand your place."
He struck. A fist, fast and heavy, aimed directly at her stomach. Xiao Lian shifted at the last second, twisting her body just enough for the punch to graze past her ribs instead of slamming into her. A gasp rippled through the crowd.
Wei Zhen staggered, momentarily caught off guard. Xiao Lian didn't waste the opening. She darted backward, keeping her movements fluid. No direct confrontation. Make him chase. Make him frustrated.
[Confirmed. Dodge left in three… two… now.]
Wei Zhen roared and swung again. Xiao Lian sidestepped, her footwork precise. His fist hit empty air. The smirk on his face faltered.
"What's the matter?" Xiao Lian tilted her head. "Too slow?"
Laughter rippled through the spectators. But some of them tried to hide it by covering their mouth not to get in bad terms with him after the training.
Wei Zhen's face darkened. "You little—!"
He lunged with a reckless, full-powered strike.
[Opening detected. Execute counter-maneuver: Redirect momentum, destabilize opponent.]
Xiao Lian shifted her massiveness at the last second, allowing Wei Zhen's own force to pull him forward. She swept her foot behind his, knocking him off balance.
Wei Zhen crashed to the ground. Silence. The courtyard, once filled with jeers, now held only stunned expressions.
Xiao Lian exhaled, rolling her stiff shoulders. He looked so angry. So this is what it feels like to control a battle.
Wei Zhen pushed himself up, his breath heavy with rage. His pride had taken a blow far worse than any physical strike. And at this moment if he has the ability to kill me right here in front of everyone, he will surely do that and so sorry, I won't be able to allow any harm come to this beautiful body I'm in now.
"Enough," a new voice cut through the silence.
The sect elders had arrived. A man in deep crimson robes stood at the edge of the courtyard, arms crossed. Elder Huang, one of the sect's combat instructors. His sharp eyes swept over Xiao Lian. His long beard was been blown by the wind.
"Interesting," he murmured.
Xiao Lian remained still, but inside, her mind raced. The elders are watching. This could be dangerous… or an opportunity. She was supposed to keep a low profile so no one will put their eyes on her but now it's seems like that's was not working for her not when they want to set her up.
Elder Huang turned to Wei Zhen. "Defeated by an outer new disciple with no cultivation?" His tone was mild, but the humiliation in Wei Zhen's stiff posture was unmistakable.
"She got lucky," Wei Zhen spat.
Elder Huang's gaze flicked back to Xiao Lian. "Luck?"
His eyes narrowed. "No. That was strategy."
Murmurs spread through the gathered disciples. Elder Huang studied her for a moment longer, then smirked. "Interesting indeed." He turned and walked away, but not before tossing a single parting remark over his shoulder.
"Let's see how long you last."
.
.
.
That night, Xiao Lian sat alone in her small, worn-out quarters, her fingers tracing the patterns in the wooden floor.
"SIS," she murmured, breaking the silence.
[Awaiting command.]
"That fight… It felt like I could see his movements before he made them."
[Affirmative. SIS provided predictive combat analysis using real-time calculations based on opponent's previous attack patterns and physical behavior.]
Xiao Lian exhaled. So that's why it felt like instinct. The system wasn't just giving advice—it was enhancing my perception.
But something still gnawed at her. "Even so, I still have no cultivation. Against a true opponent, this isn't enough."
[Correction. Xiao Lian has yet to awaken a conventional cultivation path. Alternative options available.]
Her breath hitched. "Explain."
[Xiao Lian's body is weak, meridians underdeveloped. Traditional cultivation would be slow and inefficient. However…]
A pause. Then continued.
[Potential discovered. Unique cognitive-based cultivation pathway available.]
Xiao Lian's fingers tightened against her lap. Cognitive-based?
[Theory: Cultivation is the refinement of body, mind, and spirit. While physical energy (Qi) strengthens the body, mental energy (Shen) strengthens the mind. SIS has detected Xiao Lian's mind is significantly stronger than her physique. Conclusion: Cognitive cultivation method optimal.]
Her heart pounded. A cultivation path based on the mind…?
It was unheard of. Unorthodox. And yet, it made sense.
Her strength had never been in brute force, it had been in strategy, in reading her opponents, in thinking ahead.
[New Quest: Unlock first stage of Cognitive Cultivation.]
Xiao Lian smiled.
"Then let's begin."
~
The following days passed in tense anticipation. The whispers of her fight with Wei Zhen spread through the sect, and the hierarchy among the outer disciples began to shift.
Some began to observe her from a distance. Others...like Wei Zhen, glared daggers into her back whenever she passed.
The real danger, however, came in the form of a message slipped under her door one evening.
A single parchment. One sentence.
"You should have stayed weak."
Xiao Lian's grip tightened around the paper. Her golden eyes burned. So the real game begins.