"Processing request. Learning skill, Heaven Devouring." the system said. I saw that there was a progress bar. It was at ninety percent. I looked at the pictures themselves more closely. The men in the picture were holding a sword, and every single one of them had a different posture.

"They must all be different postures of the skill. Like a sword art!" I realized. It might be my first time in a cultivation world, but I wasn't an idiot and I knew a little about how all of this worked.

Ping!

The progress bar hit 100%. I looked at the status window carefully. My stats remained the same, but there was just one difference.

Username - Gray Holton

Cultivation name - Liu Feng

Title - Young Master of the Liu Family

Level - 1

Strength - 5

Stamina - 6

Agility - 4

Cultivation - 0

Luck - 20

Skills - Heaven Devouring (Basic)

Skill points - 0

"What do I have to do? How do I learn Heaven Devouring?" I asked.

"User has to follow the instructions on the wall." the system said with a little condescending tone.

"Then what the hell are you here for? I thought that you would help me with something." I was frustrated. After all, calling me lucky for getting a useless system was a bit hypocritical.

"User is still in level 1. Many of the system's functions are locked. Leveling up to level 5 will allow the user to unlock daily missions and the store." the system said.

"And how the hell do I get to level 5?" I asked.

"By killing monsters, earning experience points, and by leveling up your cultivation. Isn't that obvious? But host is too weak and will die immediately. Host has to learn how to use the heaven devouring art first." the system said coldly.

Have mercy! So harsh! But it was quite right. I was a nerd for all intents and purposes. I know that I am not strong. I know that the moment that I get into a fight with some sort of monster, then I will die the next instant.

I looked around the room. My stomach rumbled when I looked at the food pills. Clearly, they were craving some food. I ran to where the pill vases were and popped one into my mouth.

"Yuck!"

They tasted bland and chewing them felt like I soiled my mouth. But the moment that they entered my stomach, I felt full. They might not have tasted good, but they certainly did their one job very well.

Then, I took a look at the wall filled with diagrams. I looked at the first pose. It felt obvious now. I just had to copy that man, and do what he did. I raised my hands to look like him. My right arm was above my head, while the left was below. I did my best to replicate the same with my legs. I looked at this with satisfaction. Then, I looked at the next move in the sequence. I had to pounce forward, like an animal.

I moved my arms towards the same posture. That was when the difficult part hit. Pain filled my body, and my muscles felt like they were being torn apart. I looked at the wall with eyes filled with tears. I wanted to relax my hands and fall onto the ground, but I couldn't. My body would no longer listen to me. My hands moved of their own volition, and they soon finished the second posture.

"Aaaaargh!"

I screamed with pain. Who wouldn't? It was difficult to keep it in thus far already. My arms were red, and I just didn't understand why they pained like so.

"What is with this stupid art? It feels more like the art of self-destruction. Heaven devouring my ass. This is just a stupid idea. I should just stop everything." I shouted out. I was giving up. This seemed like too much for me.

"Host does not need to worry. This is just the beginning. After a while, the body will grow stronger. The art will take in energy from around you and will heal the body. You should feel it at any moment." the system tried to console me.

"What is your intention? Do you want me to just go die or something? You did not feel the pain that I- oh wait. It is healing me!" I was filled with shock.

My arms felt relaxed. Some power was filling my body, and my arms felt more powerful than ever before. I could feel myself growing stronger and more energetic.

"Just one move could make me feel this much stronger? I should complete the entire thing. I will be so much stronger than I ever was!"

"That was the intention." the system said.

"Way to kill the mood."

Ping!

Congratulations! You have gained one strength point. Stat has been raised.

I saw a blue box pop up in front of me.

"I am finally making progress!" I shouted with glee.

My arms were still in the second stage. Now, I moved them, trying to take them into the third. It was a position that I have never seen before, and it looked truly peculiar to me. But for now, I knew that it was going to pain a lot, and I prepared myself for it.

And boy did it sting. A thousand ants biting would be a better place to be in than what I was experiencing right now. My body was screaming now. I didn't need to open my mouth. Sounds came from all over my body. Muscles were being torn apart, and bones seemed like they were cracking.

"How is all of this happening right now? Why is it paining this much?" I wondered out loud, but no sound came from my mouth.

Finally, the third movement was over. Energy filled my body again, and the muscles that seemed to crack also seemed to heal. It was a process of breaking and building back in. But it was not a process that I enjoyed even one bit. This was just torture.

My body did not stop. It kept going. There were twelve more movements left, and it seemed like I had to complete each and every one of them before this spell of control over my own limbs was lifted.

I screamed. It was painful, and yet after each and every single movement, my body was more and more eager to keep going. After the twelfth movement, my body might have been stronger than where it had started from, but my mind was about to collapse.

Ping!

Host has completed the first cycle of heaven devouring art. Host has started the restructuring of the body. Host shall undergo a hibernation of one day.

A hibernation? What is this? I did not understand. But I did not pay much attention to it. My eyes were drowsy, and the next thing that I knew, I fell face first falt onto the ground.