Chapter 14: First Invitation
Forced into silent mode by Nexus, the System was furious, but it had no way to override Nexus’s command.
Hundreds of screens appeared in the air, surrounding both Nexus and Bell. Each one displayed a different angry pixel face.
"Hmph. You can’t even choose when to speak, yet you call yourself the strongest in the universe. You’re nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well."
Even though the floating screens blocking his view were incredibly annoying, Bell grinned in satisfaction at the System’s helplessness.
But thinking about how uncooperative the System was, Bell frowned at Nexus.
"If the System is always like this, isn’t it useless to you?"
"No. I can control it manually."
Even though the arrogant System refused to cooperate, Michael would never give Nexus something he couldn’t use.
Nexus tapped a few times, and his status screen appeared.
─────── STATUS ──────
Name: Nexus (An Arrogant and Foolish Being)
Rank: G (Worse Than a Loser)
Title: The Idiotic Master of the Greatest System
────── Attributes ──────
Strength: 0.1(An average person is 1)
Speed: 0.1 (An average person is 1)
Endurance: 0.1 (An average person is 1)
Spiritual Power: 0.1 (Slightly extraordinary, but utterly useless)
Luck: -999 (The only reason you’re still alive is thanks to the System)
Meridians: 0.1 (Even a completely paralyzed person has better meridians)
───────────────────
Nexus’s already expressionless face became even more expressionless. Those ridiculous descriptions in parentheses were definitely the "masterpiece" that arrogant System had just come up with.
Since the arrogant System had no intention of hiding itself at all, Bell could read everything too. The more he read, the darker his face became, and the more he wanted to throw hands with the System.
Bell admitted that he was nowhere near as strong as Nexus, but if the System rated Nexus like this, wasn’t it basically saying he was even more worthless than trash?
The moment he thought of the word ’worthless’, Mark immediately came to mind. Could a genius like Bell really be worse than that loser? No way!
"I know you’re strong. How can you put up with that damn System?"
The more Bell thought about it, the harder it was for him to understand how Nexus could stay calm in every situation. Personally, he felt that this kind of calmness wasn’t something good.
"Put up with it? Why would I? If it means nothing to me, then naturally I won’t feel the same irritation you’re feeling right now."
Nexus replied without even looking at Bell, his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him.
In the ’Disciples’ section, he saw two empty slots. That was probably the current limit on how many people on Earth could cultivate.
Nexus didn’t understand why there had to be a limit like this that gradually increased, but it didn’t matter. Right now, he just wanted to spread cultivation, considering it a greeting from his plane to this plane.
"Hey, want to become a cultivator?"
"Huh, a cultivator? You mean those humans from some Eastern legends who become immortal through cultivation? Stuff like that doesn’t exist. There’s nothing in the air for humans to absorb in the first place."
Bell looked at Nexus in surprise when he saw how serious Nexus was about this.
Ever since humanity gained the ability to awaken, they had already tried various methods from legends across different continents to become stronger. Of course, the truth was that none of them actually worked.
But that was only true when it came to relying on your own efforts. Some cultures had legends about miraculous fruits that could make whoever ate them stronger, and there were similar things inside dungeons. People called them spiritual herbs.
They came in many different forms and weren’t the kind of plants that could be cultivated like regular plants, but they all shared one thing in common. They glowed and contained elemental power.
If a high-ranked Hunter could use elemental abilities, then eating a spiritual herb of the same element would produce the greatest effect. Otherwise, it could only enhance their basic physical abilities.
For example, if Bell ate a spiritual herb of the wind element, his ability to create and control wind would become stronger.
"So you do understand. That makes this easier to explain. You can think of it simply as me being able to change the world’s rules so you can cultivate. Right now, this System can only let me have two disciples."
It was clearly an incredible opportunity for anyone on Earth, yet Nexus casually brought it up to Bell even though the two of them weren’t close at all.
Hearing about an opportunity no one had ever had before, Bell was naturally interested. But instead of agreeing immediately, he decided to ask for more details.
"What are the benefits of cultivation?"
Nexus glanced over Bell’s body before answering.
"For you, living for a few million years wouldn’t be a problem if you tried. And the longer you live, the higher your realm and the stronger you become. The kind of strength where a single attack can shatter a planet."
Bell’s heartbeat instantly skyrocketed. His pupils trembled because the benefits were simply too great.
For humanity, whose average lifespan wasn’t even a hundred years, the thought of living millions of years was an irresistible temptation. On top of that, that kind of absolute power was even more terrifying than an SSS-rank, making him even more tempted.
But there was one thing Nexus didn’t mention. Cultivators cultivated up to the highest limit to become immortals, but cultivators were actually the ones with the greatest combat power, while immortals, despite being eternal, had zero combat ability.
Immortals in Nexus’s plane didn’t need to absorb the energy of the universe and were guaranteed eternal existence by the universe itself. Since they had no energy, their combat power was also zero. The number of eras in that universe was measured by the number of people who had become immortals.
The only exception was that strongest cultivator. He had created a realm of his own with unrivaled cosmic power while also possessing endless life.
"What’s the price?"
But Bell was still able to keep his greed under control. He didn’t believe there was anything good in this world that could be obtained so easily.
"Well... it takes a lot of time. If you’re determined to cultivate to your highest possible level, then more than ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent of your life will be spent doing just one thing, sitting still and absorbing the power of nature."
At that point, Nexus paused to observe Bell’s expression. Seeing that he was still thinking instead of reacting, Nexus continued.
"Otherwise, you can reduce that amount of time so you’ll have more time to do other things. Keep in mind that if you spend less than eighty percent of your time, excluding sleep, cultivating, then you’ll never be able to increase your lifespan because you won’t even be able to get past the first level. Besides that, there are also some pretty useful skills I can teach you if you want."