Belittle Me Now And Cry Later

Chapter 8

His fingers tingled as phantom sensations of needle placement filled his hands. He knew—*knew*—exactly where to place needles to heal, to harm, to manipulate the body's systems with surgical precision.

[DOWNLOADING: Investment Knowledge - Grandmaster Level]

[Progress 100%]

And then came the most surprising d******d of all. Financial systems, market patterns, investment strategies spanning centuries. The accumulated wisdom of generations of his ancestors who had not only been warriors and healers but also masters of wealth accumulation.

As the final d******d completed, new text appeared:

[SPECIAL INHERITANCE DETECTED]

[Ancestral Treasury Unlocked][WARNING: Previous system users accumulated vast wealth over 300 years]

[Total accumulated funds have been generating compound interest]

[Current generation rate: $1,000,000 USD per second]

[Daily accumulation: $86,400,000,000 USD]

[Funds can be transferred to host's registered accounts at any time]

Marcus's mind reeled. One million dollars. Every second. Every single second, wealth beyond imagination was being generated by investments his ancestors had made centuries ago, investments that had been compounding and growing, waiting for this moment.

The interface continued:

[CULTIVATION SYSTEM UNLOCKED]

[Current Cultivation Level: Mortal Realm - Initial Stage]

[Note: Cultivation allows upgrade and enhancement of all inherited abilities]

[Practice cultivation techniques to advance through realms and unlock greater power]

And then, finally:

[CONFIGURATION COMPLETE]

[Welcome, Host Marcus Wade]

[Your journey starts now]

[FREE WILL SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

[You may use system functions as you see fit]

[No mandatory quests]

[No compulsory missions]

[Your path is your own to choose]

Marcus lay there on the wet pavement, staring at the interface hovering before him, his mind struggling to process everything that had just happened. He had gone from the brink of death to... this. Whatever this was.

He flexed his fingers experimentally. They moved perfectly, without pain, without stiffness. He pressed a hand to his ribs the ones that had been shattered just minutes ago. Solid. Whole. Unbroken.

Slowly, carefully, Marcus rolled onto his side, then pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. Rain continued to fall around him, but he barely felt it now. His body was warm, suffused with energy that seemed to pulse through every cell.

He rose to his feet.

It should have been impossible. After the beating he'd received, he should have been in a hospital for months if he survived at all. Instead, Marcus stood on the wet street outside the Li family estate, whole and healed, power thrumming through his veins like electricity.

In the distance, beyond the gate, he could see lights in the mansion windows. Warm, inviting lights where Lily and Zachary were probably celebrating their victory, toasting to their future together, completely oblivious to what had just transpired.

They had no idea what they'd awakened.

Marcus looked down at his hands hands that now carried the accumulated knowledge and skill of three centuries of masters. Hands that could heal or harm with equal precision. Hands that belonged to someone who was no longer the broken, desperate man who had come here begging.

The interface pulsed once more:

[HOST STATUS UPDATE]

[Name: Marcus Wade]

[Cultivation Level: Mortal Realm - Initial Stage]

[Health: 100%]

[Available Funds: $1,000,000,000 (and increasing)]

[Inherited Skills: 47 Martial Techniques, 23 Healing Methods, 12 Acupuncture Styles, Investment Mastery]

[Special Abilities: Unlocked]

[System Note: Your mother has 22 hours remaining. St. Mary's Hospital requires $100,000 for immediate treatment.]

Immediately Marcus's jaw clenched. His mother. In all the shock of what had just happened, for just a moment, he'd almost forgotten.

Twenty-two hours.

But now now he had the means to save her. He had money. He had knowledge. He had power, Everything had changed.

Marcus turned away from the Bushman family estate without a backward glance. They didn't matter anymore. Zachary and his thugs, Lily and her betrayal, Mrs. Sterling and her contempt—all of it had become irrelevant in the span of minutes.

He had a mother to save.

And after that... after that, there would be time to decide what to do with this new life he'd been given.

Marcus took on step, his stride steady and strong, rain still falling but no longer touching him the same way. With each step, he felt the cultivation energy circulating through his body, strengthening him, refining him, beginning the transformation from what he had been into what he would become.

Behind him, standing by the gate, two security guards who had been watching from their booth stood frozen, their faces pale with shock.

“Did... did you see that?” one whispered.

“He was dead,” the other replied, his voice trembling. “We threw out a dead man. I've seen enough bodies to know. He wasn't breathing. His face was destroyed. And now...”

“He's standing.”

Marcus looked at the two guards for a moment, his gaze steady and calm. Then he looked down at his right hand, turning it over slowly, examining it as though seeing it for the first time. He made a fist slow and deliberate feeling the way the muscle and bone and everything underneath it gathered and compressed with a solidity that had not been there before. He could feel the energy sitting in it, coiled and patient, thrumming with power that seemed barely contained by his skin.

He needed to know if it was real.

Marcus turned slightly to one side, away from the steps, and drove his fist downward toward the stone of the driveway. Not touching it. He stopped the punch three inches above the surface, pulling the strike at the last possible moment, and let the force release through the air beneath his knuckles.

The sound was a crack, low and dense, like something splitting deep underground.

The stone of the driveway directly below his fist cratered. A clean hole, perfectly rounded, edges sharp as if carved by a machine, depth of about four inches into solid stone. The impact had not come from his skin touching it. The shockwave from the air alone had done that.