text
string
**[SYSTEM PROCESSING REQUEST...]**
**[DOWNLOADING PACKAGES...]**
The blue box before Liu Shen begins to spin. The air in the White Void thickens with a pressure so intense it would have crushed his mortal body in an instant. Ghostly streams of light shoot out from the box, piercing into his translucent form.
Liu Shen gasps—not in pain, but in shock. Information floods his mind. It’s not just books; it’s experience. Muscle memory of masters long dead, the feeling of qi circulating through meridians he no longer possesses, and the profound understanding of the Dao.
*"The Sunflower Manual... but without the need to... castrate?"* Liu Shen thinks, his mind racing a mile a minute thanks to the **[Multithreaded Thought]** passive. *"The Nine Yang and Nine Yin are harmonizing perfectly? The Heaven Devouring Demon Scripture is actually cooperating with the Buddhist skills?"*
His consciousness expands. He feels the **[Sea of Consciousness]** widening into an ocean. He feels the **[Mind Shield]** slamming down around his psyche, locking his sanity in place even as the power of a thousand gods threatens to shatter his ego. He is perfectly, terrifyingly lucid.
Then comes the physical sensation. A tugging. A reshaping.
**[INTEGRATING NEW BODY TEMPLATE...]**
**[RACE: FELIS CATUS (VARIANT: SPIRIT BEAST)]**
"Wait," Liu Shen says, his voice sounding tinny in the void. "A template? Can't I just possess my old body and fix it?"
**[ERROR. OLD BODY DESTROYED. INITIATING REBIRTH PROTOCOL.]**
A blinding light envelops the soul of the former genius. The vast, towering presence of the **[Hell-Crushing Divine Mammoth Art]** and the **[Heaven Devouring Demon Scripture]** is compressed, compressed, and compressed again.
The light fades.
Liu Shen falls. He expects to hit a floor, but he simply lands on his feet—four of them. He is incredibly light. The White Void floor feels cold against his... pads?
He looks down.
White fur. Fluffy.
He lifts a paw. It is tiny, the size of a baby's fist. He tries to make a fist, but claws slide out instead. He looks to his side. A long, white tail swishes involuntarily.
He opens his mouth to scream "What is the meaning of this?!"
**"Mew."**
A small, high-pitched sound escapes his throat.
Liu Shen freezes. The **[Mental Shield]** kicks into high gear, forcing him to analyze the situation dispassionately despite the absurdity. *I have the power to crush mountains. I have the mental capacity to process one hundred thoughts simultaneously. I have the knowledge of the 12 Heavenly Scriptures. And I weigh 49 ...
He looks up at the hovering blue box, his violet eyes wide and shimmering with an unnatural, intelligent gleam. He tries to use **[Telepathy]**.
*System,* he projects, his voice echoing directly into the interface with the dignity of an emperor. *Explain.*
**[ASSIGNMENT CONFIRMED]**
**[CURRENT FORM: WHITE-FURRED VIOLET-EYED KITTEN]**
**[LONG-TERM QUEST: SELECT A HUMAN DISCIPLE. GUIDE THEM. MAKE THEM THE SUPREME RULER OF THE JIANGHU.]**
A portal opens in the floor beneath him. Through it, he can see a rainy, muddy street in a bustling martial arts city. He smells rain, stale bread, and blood.
**[WORLD SYNC: 99%]**
**[DROP IMMINENT]**
Liu Shen looks at the portal, then back at the void. He suppresses the urge to panic. He is the greatest collection of martial arts knowledge in history. He is a weapon. He is... a kitten.
*I accept,* Liu Shen projects, his telepathic voice dripping with resolve. *But I choose the human. And they will be a weapon the likes of which this world has never seen.*
**[AGREED. GOOD LUCK, HOST.]**
The floor disappears. Liu Shen the Kitten falls into the world of the living.
***
**[Location: Azure Cloud City - The Slums]**
Rain pours down in filthy sheets.
In a dark, moldy alleyway, a young girl is huddled under a pile of rotten straw. She looks to be about twelve, dressed in rags, shivering violently. She is bruised, her face smeared with dirt and tears. She holds a broken wooden stick in her hand, trying to ward off a pack of stray, starving dogs that are circling her.
She looks terrified. She looks weak.
*SPLAT.*
A wet, white bundle drops out of the sky, landing perfectly in a puddle between the girl and the dogs.
The water splashes, but miraculously, none of it touches the white kitten. A faint, invisible barrier of **[Innate Astral Qi]** flutters for a microsecond around the animal.
The dogs pause, confused.
Liu Shen stands up on four shaky legs. He shakes the water off his pristine white fur. He weighs nothing. He feels ridiculous. But within his small chest beats a heart fueled by the **[Nine Yang Divine Skill]**. His blood flows with the **[Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill]**.
He looks at the dogs. His violet eyes glow with a faint **[Divine Sense]**. To the dogs, this isn't a kitten. This is a terrifying, ancient predator that triggers their primal flight instinct.
With a tiny **"Mew"** backed by the killing intent of the **[Seven-Kill Manual]**, the dogs yelp and scramble over each other, fleeing the alley instantly.
Liu Shen turns around. He looks at the starving girl.
She stares at him, amazed. "A... a kitten? You chased them away?"
Liu Shen sits down and licks a paw. He activates **[Karmic Vision]** to look at her soul potential.
**[TARGET ANALYSIS]**
**[Name: None (Street Rat)]**
**[Potential: Trash. Zero talent for cultivation. Crippled meridians.]**
**[Karma: Infinite. A survivor of the "Sect of Ten Thousand Blossoms" massacre. Holds a blood debt that will shake the heavens.]**
Liu Shen pauses. **[Multithreaded Thought]** kicks in.
*Thread 1:* She has zero talent. Normally, I would ignore her.
*Thread 2:* However, the Quest requires me to raise a human to the top.
*Thread 3:* I have the **[Wedding Dress Skill]** and the **[Tendon-Transmuting Sutra]**. I don't need her to have talent. I just need her to survive my training.
*Thread 4:* Zero talent means she won't be arrogant. She will be a perfect vessel for my arts.