1: Chapter 1 Cultivation Panel?

Note: [Fictional world-building; all settings are for the purpose of the novel's plot.]

Summer vacation.

Chen Zhen had been sitting bolt upright in front of his computer all night.

When the bizarre and grotesque slaughter on the screen ceased, the light outside the window had already begun to turn pale white.

He leaned back and slumped into the chair, his cervical spine emitting an overwhelmed "crack" sound.

Immediately after, a headache surged up like a tide.

His temples throbbed, and the scenery before his eyes began to sway and blur.

He had been keeping this unhealthy schedule for several days now.

His body was beginning to protest.

He closed his eyes and pressed against his temples, waiting for that familiar wave of dizziness to pass.

But this time, it was different from before.

When he opened his eyes again, a shimmering screen lit up before him.

Chen Zhen widened his eyes abruptly.

A translucent blue system panel hung before his eyes, its edges glowing with a faint halo.

[Cultivation System]

[Host: Chen Zhen]

[Status: Sub-healthy / Mental Energy exhausted]

[Realm: Mortal (0.1%)]

He was stunned for two seconds, then raised his hand and waved it in front of his eyes.

But the system panel remained motionless.

It even adjusted its angle slightly as his gaze moved, always maintaining its position at the clearest point in the center of his field of vision.

"I'm afraid I've become obsessed with gaming..."

Chen Zhen muttered, closing his eyes and rubbing his eyelids vigorously.

He opened them again.

The system panel was still there.

He stared at the bottom right corner of the system panel.

There was a tiny, constantly flickering number there.

[Mental Energy (3 / 100) Severely insufficient]

Beside the number was a red downward-pointing arrow.

Every time it flickered, the number decreased by 0.1.

2.9.

2.8.

2.7.

An indescribable sense of weakness followed, as if something deep within his body was being slowly drained away.

Chen Zhen braced himself against the desk and stood up.

His legs felt weak, and his vision went black for a moment.

It was not a hallucination.

He took a deep breath.

He forced himself to look at the other content on the system panel.

Apart from personal information, the system panel was mainly divided into three parts.

One was called [Core Conversion Area].

Underneath were several items such as "Learning Dimension, Health Dimension".

Most of them were gray and inactive windows.

One was the [Cultivation system panel].

Displaying the total Cultivation: (1.7 / 100).

The largest part was the [Task System].

Listing a few pending tasks.

At the very top was a prominent main quest:

[Hundred-Day Foundation Building / (1.7 / 100)]

"What on earth is all this..."

Chen Zhen muttered to himself.

Just then, the text on the system panel suddenly scrolled and refreshed:

[Detected that host's Mental Energy is below the safety threshold]

[Suggestion: Perform basic recovery actions immediately]

[Recommended task: Deep sleep for six hours]

[Estimated reward: Mental Energy restored to 60, Cultivation + 0.5]

Following that was a red countdown:

[Forced protection mechanism will activate in 30 seconds]

Is this some kind of phone shutdown countdown?

Chen Zhen complained.

He then looked at the time: 5:30 AM.

His mother usually got up at 6:30 to make breakfast.

In a little over an hour, his mother would come to wake him up for breakfast.

Chen Zhen hesitated for two seconds.

In the end, he walked to the bed and lay down.

Just as he closed his eyes, the system panel popped up another message:

[Starting execution: Deep sleep]

A gentle wave of drowsiness instantly enveloped him.

It was heavier and more irresistible than any lethargy he had felt after staying up late.

Within three breaths, Chen Zhen sank into dreamless darkness.

When he woke up again, sunlight was already cutting through the gaps in the curtains into the room.

Chen Zhen opened his eyes, and his first feeling was—refreshment.

It wasn't the kind of refreshment after a good night's sleep.

It was a clarity as if his entire being had been cleansed from the inside out.

The headache from staying up late had disappeared.

His eye sockets no longer felt sore.

His entire body felt light and agile.

How strange!

His state was as if he hadn't pulled an all-nighter at all.

It was even better than when he maintained a normal schedule!

He sat up, and the system panel immediately unfolded before his eyes:

[Deep sleep completed (6 hours 12 minutes)]

[Mental Energy: 62 / 100 (Good)]

[Cultivation + 0.5]

[Current Cultivation total: 2.2 / 100]

[Health Dimension experience + 3]

It really wasn't a hallucination from staying up all night...

He actually unlocked a System?

This is too magical.

And...

Why unlock a Cultivation System for him in a modern world???

No, could it be—

This means he can practice Cultivation in the modern world!

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

The [Daily Routine] tasks on the system panel had already refreshed:

1. Morning run 3 km (Reward: Cultivation + 0.15)

2. Complete 2 pages of summer homework (Reward: Cultivation + 0.1)

3. Help mother buy groceries (Reward: Cultivation + 0.05)

4. Read 30 pages of extracurricular books (Reward: Cultivation + 0.08)

Chen Zhen stared at those reward numbers for a few seconds, then rolled out of bed.

When he pushed open the door, his mother was frying eggs in the kitchen.

The range hood was buzzing, and she didn't even turn her head:

"You're up? How late did you stay up last night? I went to call you and you didn't make a sound."

"The porridge is in the pot, go serve yourself."

"I didn't stay up that long."

Chen Zhen replied vaguely, walking to the balcony to do a few stretches.

His physical state was indeed different.

Usually, the day after pulling an all-nighter, his muscles would be exceptionally stiff and sore.

But today, they were exceptionally flexible.

He tried doing a few high knees, and he couldn't feel at all that this was the state after an all-nighter.

[Light exercise]

[Health Dimension experience + 0.1]

The system panel popped up a notification.

Chen Zhen paused, then changed into sportswear and running shoes.

"Mom, I'm going out for a run."

"Why are you going for a run when it's time to eat..." his mother poked her head out from the kitchen. "Go after you eat lunch!"

"I'll eat when I get back!"

Anyway, he didn't have much of an appetite just after waking up.

Saying that, he closed the door.

The walking path outside the residential complex was usually crowded with residents exercising and taking walks.

At this time, there were already quite a few people active.

Chen Zhen did a few warm-up exercises, and the system panel popped up a prompt at the right time:

[Suggested pace: 6 minutes/km]

[High sustainability completion rate]

He adjusted his breathing and began to jog.

The first few hundred meters were no different from usual.

Then his lungs began to burn, and his legs began to feel heavy.

A voice in his head urged him to stop.

But when he reached about one kilometer, a change occurred.

His breathing rhythm stabilized inexplicably.

It wasn't something he had deliberately controlled.

It was his body finding a more efficient way of breathing on its own.

Every inhalation was deeper, and every exhalation was more thorough.

Oxygen seemed to be truly delivered to the extremities of his limbs.

The soreness in his legs did not disappear.

But it turned into a tolerable, even rhythmic background sensation.

The system panel continued to refresh in the corner of his vision:

[Running distance: 1.2 km]

[Health Dimension experience + 0.3]

[Heart rate: 148, in the aerobic fat-burning zone]

[Suggestion: Maintain current speed, pay attention to breathing rhythm]

Looking at those jumping numbers, Chen Zhen suddenly had a strange feeling.

This wasn't just running; this was completing a task.

With every step he took, a small amount of invisible energy was generated from within his body.

Flowing into the pool on the system panel called "Cultivation".

Although it only increased by 0.01 or 0.02 each time.

When he reached two kilometers.

He passed The Old Man, who had white hair.

The Old Man was wearing a white practice uniform and was doing Tai Chi.

His movements were as slow as stop-motion animation.

When the two passed each other, The Old Man suddenly turned his head and squinted at him.

Chen Zhen didn't pay attention and continued forward.

When the three-kilometer goal was reached, the system panel popped up a completion prompt:

[Task completed: Morning run 3 km]

[Running distance: 3.02 km]

[Time taken: 18 minutes 47 seconds]

[Health Dimension + 1.5]

[Cultivation + 0.15]

[Current Cultivation total: 2.35 / 100]