⌈Summoning a Rank One Qi Condensing Cultivator...⌋

I felt strange energy radiating around the formation. It started from the offering bowl but traveled through the lines of ash and to the stone. The closer it got, the stronger I could feel it. The air buzzed with the weird energy, suffused with the smell of rich soil, a hint of oak wood, and the spray of a rushing river.

"Hey," I called out to the fairy. She turned to look at me, one eyebrow raised in question. "What's this weird stuff I'm feeling around the formation?"

She knit her brow and opened her mouth, probably getting ready to insult me before her eyes lit up with realization. <Did your world really not have any qi? I thought you were just an inexperienced mortal but I've never met one as ridiculously inadequate and inept as you.>

Ouch. She really loves to drive her point home. "So...this stuff is qi?"

<Yes, but it's...strange. It's not...natural, somehow.>

I debated asking her what that meant. On the one hand, getting more knowledge was always useful. On the other hand, all this cultivation mumbo jumbo made no sense to me. It probably never would.

That made me wonder how I would actually 'lead' my disciples. If I couldn't cultivate, how would they? Did they even need me for these things? Maybe the system would come in hand again. It always had.

But the fairy's words came back to me. Would I really be killed if I kept the system as a crutch? Well, I was already going to die because of some stupid xianxia MC, right? Did it really matter what actions I took if all roads led to the same place?

Oh, but what if it was the fairy the admins told to kill me? She'd probably burn me alive! I remembered the horrid screams and moans from the Stationary Ent. I did not want to meet the same fate.

Okay, then, I really would have to start pulling my weight. I probably wouldn't be able to cultivate any time soon, but at least feeling the qi is a start, right? Maybe I should-

⌈Summoning completed.⌋

I gasped and turned my attention back to the altar. Standing there, hovering about a foot above the stone, was a tall, skinny, bald man in dire need of clothing. His closed eyes twitched as he inhaled sharply.

And then whatever suspended him failed and he fell, toppling to the ground in an unconscious heap. I started to run to him but a foreign power seized control of my limbs. The world faded from view and, suddenly, I was lying motionless in a void, surrounded by ten gigantic and blurry beings.

Text boxes appeared in a flurry in front of my eyes, moving slow enough for me to read but too fast to process.

⌈Total estimation of system energy expended so far on the user 'Austin Wu': 56% above allowed capacity.

Estimation of the system used by the user 'Austin Wu': 38% above allowed capacity.

Estimation of return growth by the user 'Austin Wu': 70% below expectations.

Reason: 3% cultivation talent.⌋

⌈Fate Debate in session...Votes concluded.⌋

⌈10/10 Admins have voted that the user 'Austin Wu' is a failed system experiment.

9/10 Admins have voted to remove system extensions given by revert pearls.

6/10 Admins have voted not to terminate the user 'Austin Wu'.

8/10 Admins have voted not to allow Buttercup the demon sprite to remain in assistance to the user 'Austin Wu'.

6/10 Admins have voted to allow the user 'Austin Wu' to keep the skill [Identify Cultivator].

7/10 Admins have voted to allow the system summoned cultivator to remain in the custody of the user 'Austin Wu'.

6/10 Admins have voted to keep the user 'Austin Wu' as a Sect Leader.

8/10 Admins have voted not to allow the user 'Austin Wu' access to the Sect Leader System.

6/10 Admins have voted to allow the user 'Austin Wu' access to a brief guide on how to make a sect.

5/10 Admins have voted to give the user 'Austin Wu' one last system bonus.

10/10 Admins have voted not to send the user 'Austin Wu' back to his world.

8/10 Admins have voted not to send the user 'Austin Wu', the system summoned cultivator and the contracted monkey 'Nun' to a random location.⌋

⌈Returning the user 'Austin Wu' to the mortal plane...⌋

Before I could even curse at my rotten luck, the system spat me out of the voice and onto the river bank.

⌈Good luck.⌋