Chapter 42: Officially Confirming Identity
Mark’s shameless flattery made that incredibly "picky" system instantly forget all the annoyance it had just been feeling.
[Hahaha, you’ve finally gotten a little smarter. Only this great system has the power to change the world and save you. That useless master of yours, aside from being able to teach you how to cultivate, is nothing but trash.]
The system’s arrogant laughter was truly irritating, but Mark was in a hurry now, so he had no choice but to give in.
Just thinking about photos of himself completely naked being taken and ending up all over the news made Mark want to crawl into a hole and hide from the embarrassment.
Of course, he wasn’t about to throw his life away because he had calmed down a bit. It had been incredibly hard to get another chance at life. No matter how embarrassing it was, he still had to live.
His chance for revenge was right in front of him. If he killed himself now, it would be even more humiliating than running around naked in the street.
"My respected system, please hurry. If I keep floating around naked like this, won’t it indirectly damage your reputation? After all, I’m also a member of the Cultivation Academy that you and my master lead together."
The sooner the better. Even if he didn’t have a physical body yet, he should at least have some clothes to cover his not-so-impressive body.
If Mark had a body like Ron’s, along with his fairly handsome face, maybe he wouldn’t be this embarrassed.
[How could the reputation of the great system ever be tarnished? I will immediately...]
"Stop."
Before the system could finish speaking, Nexus suddenly cut in. Even though the system had a lot of bugs now, it had originally been designed to obey, so it instinctively stopped and looked at what its master was about to do.
"Master! Why are you stopping the system?"
Having just been accepted as a disciple, Mark called Nexus "master" without the slightest awkwardness. He called him that because he had read a few cultivation novels before.
It didn’t feel awkward at all. It was just a respectful form of address, not some strange term.
"I’m your master, so of course I’ll teach you how to cultivate. System, have you finished confirming Mark’s identity as the first disciple?"
[Done. You can now view Mark’s information.]
"Mm."
Nexus nodded and opened another screen to check Mark’s information. Even though he already knew it, he wasn’t sure if this system had recorded everything properly or if it had twisted things again.
─────── STATUS ──────
Name: Mark (The First Disciple)
Rank: F
Realm: -
Spiritual Root: -
────── Attributes ──────
Strength: 0.7
Speed: 0.8
Endurance: 0.7
Spiritual Power: 0
Luck: 0.8
Meridians: 0.9
───────────────────
After taking a glance at the information, Nexus was a little surprised that the system hadn’t pulled any nonsense this time. Besides that, his own status screen had a few entries that were different from Mark’s.
"Hey, why is my status missing a few things compared to my disciple’s?"
[You’re actually asking? Do you even have a spiritual root? You already know how completely worthless your meridians are. You’re trash beyond trash, the worst human alive. Other than the cultivation knowledge in your head, what else do you have?]
Nexus frowned slightly. It seemed Lucifer had over-adjusted the system, causing it to become completely "blind" whenever it observed Nexus.
Even Mark, who had no idea how strong Nexus actually was, couldn’t help twitching his eyelids after hearing such ridiculous words.
From Mark’s experience, Nexus’s physical strength was at least D-rank. If Nexus was trash beyond trash, then didn’t that make him even worse than trash?
Seeing that no one seemed to be in a hurry to help him create a set of clothes, Mark could only ask more about the meaning of the information related to him.
"System, are my stats really that bad?"
[They’re not just bad. They’re pathetic. The human average is 1, yet you don’t even have a single stat that reaches 1.]
"Are you kidding me? Then what about my cultivation? Don’t tell me I’ll never amount to anything? System papa! Greatest system! Almighty system! You have a way, right? Please, I’m begging you, help me!"
Mark acted like he was truly desperate and started flattering the system. He wasn’t surprised that his physical stats were so low since he had suffered from malnutrition.
He noticed the two blank entries, ’Realm’ and ’Spiritual Root’, on his status. Those two were definitely the most important things for cultivation.
Mark understood what ’Realm’ meant. It was pretty similar to a level in an RPG since it could be raised over time through hard work. As for ’Spiritual Root’, it was definitely an innate talent directly tied to cultivation efficiency. The system would surely be the one granting him that talent, not his master.
If he flattered the system a little now, wouldn’t his talent shoot through the roof? There was no way Mark would hesitate over something that profitable.
Besides, he wasn’t stupid enough to offend the system and end up becoming the only ’F-rank’ cultivator on Earth. Failing once had already been more than enough. He didn’t need a second time.
[Hahaha, you’ve finally learned how to talk. Of course, this greatest system has a way to help you. As long as you show me proper respect, you’ll become the strongest human of this era.]
Seeing the system start bragging again, Nexus didn’t stay silent this time. Since this was related to his disciple’s cultivation, he had to step in.
"Don’t take everything the system says too seriously. Becoming the strongest isn’t that easy, but if you’re willing to work hard, becoming a hundred or even a thousand times stronger than you are now is absolutely possible."
Of course, Mark wasn’t dumb enough to believe every word the system said. But since his master had put it that way, he felt that reaching the level of a peak A-rank hunter, or even touching S-rank, was possible for him.
"I’ll definitely work hard and won’t disappoint you, Master. And I’ll also do my best not to embarrass the system. If the day comes when I become powerful, the system’s name will surely be worshipped by billions of people."