Xiao Hong stared at those three words blankly.

After a long time, she smiled wryly, “This came a lot sooner than I expected.”

She paused.

“In fact, why did I expect that I would find the System much later? Just because it happened like that in the novels of my previous life?” She stared at the red sphere with an inscrutable look in her eyes. 

“I should really stop letting my previous life’s ideas influence me…” She sighed lightly.

Xiao Hong retracted her hand from the red sphere, or rather, the System Core’s Projection.  

“Phew…” She heaved a somewhat relieved sigh, feeling like there was a weight lifted off her heart. While she depended greatly on the System and understood that it was very likely her own ability, she could not be entirely sure. 

But. What if? What if the System was the gimmick of some terribly powerful Entity playing with her?

The ‘Evil System’ trope was just way too sinister for her to rest easy!

However, from the information the System Core’s projection transmitted to her, she understood that this was indeed completely her own ability. There was no doubt about it.

Therefore, she could finally rest assured.

“Compilation. Deduction. Synchronisation. And the Transcendent Mark.” Xiao Hong uttered quietly, her voice resonating with the entire Sea of Consciousness, causing the Sea of Red to surge. The three rings that were concentric around the red sphere glowed in sequence.

Xiao Hong’s hand stroked one of the rings gently, brushing across the hula-hoop-sized silvery-red ring. She whispered to herself as more information appeared in her mind, “Compilation gathers all the information, summarises, filters and compiles all information into the most suitable format for me, making it easier to digest.”

Pulling back her hand, she continued to ponder, “With this, information becomes easier for me to wield.

“Hmm. Now that I think about it, it makes sense. Even if the System had learnt all the Spell Arts and Battle Techniques to Perfection, I should not be able to use them with such little practice. 

“This is where Compilation comes in. By compiling the information into a format most suitable to me, it makes it easier for me to use the skill.

“In game terms, this is an ability that allows me to quickly master Skills.”

Poking another ring of similar size but golden-red coloured with her finger, she muttered, “Deduction. Deduces a higher State of 'Being' or 'Self' with perfect accuracy based on the information compiled by the ‘Compilation’.”

She retracted her hand and pondered. ‘Since even Spell Arts, Formations, Alchemy Battle Techniques, etc. contribute to the growth of the Self, it can still be considered a higher State of ‘Self’, I suppose.’

Then, she reached out to the ethereal ring, translucent and red in colour. A pulsating warmth seeped into her fingers, spreading throughout her entire being. “Synchronisation. Synchronises the deduced Higher State of Being with my current one, pulling up my current State of 'Being'.”

Stroking her jaw thoughtfully, she spoke to herself, “It is quite similar to the Weapon Cultivators in their ability to quickly raise their Cultivations when their attainment in their chosen weapon increases. But vastly superior in that I won’t be restricted if my understanding of the chosen weapon stops after reaching a bottleneck.

“It will only take effect when I’m actually cultivating. It will only ‘pull’ me in the direction I should be taking, and the walking has to be done by myself.”

She pulled back. She stared at the rings rotating leisurely, deep in thought. “These three abilities have been with me. Always. They’ve existed even in my previous life and lives before - if there were any. 

“But were never truly able to show themselves because they were unable to work together properly or even worked against each other.” 

For example, Information compiled halfway would be abruptly used to deduce something that made no sense at all. Like an incorrectly installed application on the computer that not only refused to work properly but also slowed the other apps down by hogging resources.

Moreover, without a direction, ‘Deduction’ would deduce a Skill in every possible direction. A skill can only have a few correct paths of progression, but ‘Deduction’ calculates in a thousand different directions, making it more detrimental than helpful. 

But now, as a Cultivator, she had a direction thanks to treading the ‘Immortal Path’.

“So this was why, no matter how hard I tried, I simply could not learn anything beyond a certain level, no matter how hard I tried?” Xiao Hong’s eyes twitched in irritation, feeling more than a little stifled. It was hard not to, since these ‘abilities’ had basically screwed her previous life’s self over so many times, it was not even funny!

But, there was also a hint of relief in her heart, like a weight taken off. She exhaled quietly before smiling lightly, “It's not that I was shit at everything I did, rather it was my own talent working against me!

“Though, it does not mean that I am super-talented, either.” She shook her head, “It just means that my hard work won’t go down the drain!”

Her talent in Immortal Path was still just as bad as it was before. This was just confirmation that her circumstances in her previous life weren’t her fault. At least, not entirely.

Finally, she turned to the football-sized red sphere. It simply floated there, unassuming. 

When she looked at it casually, all that was visible to her was a red sphere the size of a football. There were no runes, no patterns, no marks, no traces of anything at all. Yet, when she looked at it closely, intently, she could see thin tendrils extending from it. 

The ethereal tendrils were like the roots of a tree, weaving and winding, like spider webs in their delicate complexity. Yet it was something altogether alien.

The delicate tubes seeped into the Sea of Red below seemingly dissolving into it, becoming one with it. They stretched upward into the Black Sky, piercing the dark void and disappearing to somewhere beyond the realms of her vision.

She reached out to it.

“The Transcendent Mark,” Xiao Hong’s eyes fixated on the red sphere, “allows the Synchronisation to take effect and alter my current State of Being directly. It allows me to constantly upgrade my State of Being as long as there is a Path and energy. Said ‘Path’ is something like the Immortal Path, Martial Path, Ghost Path, or the Buddha Path.

“Most importantly, it does not need my intervention to achieve this.” Her eyes glowed. “This thing can be called the core of the Automatic Cultivation function of my System!”

Unlike Compilation, Deduction and Synchronisation, Transcendent Mark did not innately exist within her. It was something she gained. Specifically, she gained it during her Transmigration. 

“As someone who transcended an entire World, Dimension or even a fucking Universe, Cultivating to transcend the Self seems trivial in comparison.

“It doesn’t matter how it happened. Whether it was through one’s own power; through the help of some transcendent Being; or through sheer, dogshit luck. It only matters that it happened.” 

“Hmm… This is not very different from those achievements in video games, is it?” Xiao Hong mused. “The ones that gave bonuses or some special abilities to the player’s character?

She retracted her hand.

“Hmm… No wonder I cannot cultivate a Spell Art or Battle Technique beyond Perfection, the System doesn't really have a clear path to follow. This means that, as long as I can give it a path forward, my System will be able to cultivate my Spell Arts and Battle Techniques to reach higher levels of Myriad Transformations, Instinctive Control and Absolute Control.

“I can use the notes left behind by predecessors and Seniors in the Sect and use them to quickly cultivate my Techniques to the highest level. I can also learn as many Techniques of the same kind and deduce a path forward on my own!” Xiao Hong’s eyes brightened in anticipation. She could not wait to get back to the Sect!

It was then that another thought struck her. A thought that made her infinitely wary. “Wait a minute, does this mean that other Reincarnators and Transmigrators like me also have a similar advantage?”

If transmigration could give her such a special ability, it would mean it could give others a similar ability.

“The Great Mystic World is so massive that the entirety of Earth’s surface area is only as big as a small part of the area owned by the Purple Spirit Sect. Yet, I’ve somehow already come into contact with someone who’s likely a Reincarnator.” 

The odds of such a thing happening should have been incredibly low, but she had somehow met a Reincarnator like Gu Ran. This was either a coincidence or there were many, many more Reincarnators in this Realm. 

She frowned heavily, “It might really be a problem if there are a large number of Reincarnators running around with something like this…” She suddenly felt a massive headache oncoming, like a giant mammoth particularly insistent making a home out of her head.

While she instinctively felt that it was only a coincidence that she met Gu Ran, she could not rest easy. 

In case there were indeed multiple Reincarnators running around with Transcendent Marks or something equivalent, it might be troublesome if they found out her identity. After all, whether they were benevolent was doubtful. And Xiao Hong decided to err on the side of caution.

She decided to halt any and all plans that could potentially reveal her status as a Reincarnator. She would only develop these in secret. At the same time, she became even more determined to find herself a powerful backing.

Sighing, she suppressed and put away her thoughts.

“Now how do I get out of here…” Xiao Hong looked around in confusion.

***

Xiao Hong woke up to a conversation between two Junior Sisters.

“... wasn’t that Senior Brother Gu who just left?” A pleasant-sounding voice sounded, “The Senior Brother Gu who is said to have battle power on par with 8th Disaster disciples?” Her voice was filled with obvious admiration.

Xiao Hong, who was about to open her mouth, shut up instantly. She sensed gossip! She did not want to miss out on it!

Her Divine Sense fluctuated slightly, focusing on the Junior Sister who had spoken just now. It was a pretty-looking lady at the 4th Disaster Stage.

‘Hmm, not bad, not bad~. She’s quite the looker.’ Xiao Hong nodded inwardly, shamelessly checking her out. Without the pressure of a Nirvana Stage True Demon, her true nature was instantly revealed!

“Hehe~ yes! That was Senior Brother Gu Ran, indeed! He comes to visit Junior Sister very often, you know?” The other occupant of the room, who was evidently at the 3rd Disaster Stage, giggled, her voice echoing through the room.

A sense of familiarity surged in Xiao Hong’s heart upon hearing the voice, ‘Isn’t this the Junior Sister that I saved?’ 

She remembered the Junior Sister who ran towards her with tears and snot all over her face to escape Xue Hun’s attacks. Xiao Hong attributed at least 40% of the weight in her decision to stay back and resist the Sect the first time to this Junior Sister. ‘After all that, I still don’t know her name…’

The Junior Sister at the 3rd Disaster Stage continued, eyes sparkling with the divine light of the Dao of Gossip, “Jingjing, do you think there’s something going on between Senior Sister Xiao and Senior Brother Gu? With such dedication to knowing her state - coming every other day, I really think something is going on!”

For some reason, Xiao Hong suddenly felt a chill run down her spine! ‘Gu Ran has been visiting often?! No way! That doesn’t suit the old fogie at all! There’s something wrong! He must be planning something!’

“I-I don’t think so?” JingJing spoke reluctantly, “Maybe they’re like Siblings? Besides, we shouldn’t gossip about others right in front of them, Sister Yu.”

“Oh come on~” Sister Yu rolled her eyes, “Senior Sister Xiao is so kind, there’s no way she would take offence at something like this! Besides, how can they be siblings if they’re not related by blood?”

She did not know but, Xiao Hong would definitely take offence if she were not so preoccupied with figuring out why Gu Ran visited her so often! But no matter how she thought about it, she could not figure it out at all! 

Xiao Hong was so preoccupied that she didn't notice Junior Sister Jingjing’s apparent crush on Gu Ran. She did not even feel jealous of Gu Ran’s situation of being admired by a Jade Beauty! 

 

“But I heard Senior Brother Gu Ran is a Grade 3 Immortal Doctor! So he must be visiting so often to keep an eye on her condition and see if she’s recovering properly.” Junior Sister Jingjing insisted on a more logical explanation than Junior Sister Yu’s more whimsical fantasy love story.

‘Ah, that must be it.’ Xiao Hong suddenly felt relieved. ‘He doesn’t know that I cultivate the Ancient God Scripture so he must be worried that my body might not heal properly if not taken care of.’ She comforted herself, trying to suppress her intuition that kept nagging at her.

“Ehhh~ But…” Junior Sister Yu started to argue and soon pouted as the ship she had been building started to collapse under Junior Sister Jingjing’s relentless logical attacks!

An hour later, Junior Sister Yu left with a pouty face, her ship now blasted into smithereens. While Junior Sister Jingjing, feeling relieved that she had saved her own fantasies, also left.

Xiao Hong’s mouth twitched, ‘I wanted to listen to gossip, but not about myself!’

After resolving to teach these two Junior Sisters a lesson later on, she quietly assessed her condition, by circulating her Qi and her Divine Sense. 

Normal Cultivators below the Nirvana Stage would not be able to assess their condition through their Divine Sense because it was too weak to gain any extra info that they could not gain from simply circulating their Qi. Xiao Hong was only able to do this due to her Spirit God’s Soul Cultivation Method.

‘There’s basically no remaining damage to my Meridians - they even seem a tad thicker now. Even my Dantian seems to be in the same condition. My bones seem to have healed perfectly - they’re much tougher now! In fact, they seem to have started some sort of transformation!

‘Perfect Quality Healing Pills are indeed something else! It’s truly a wonder that just that 1% can make such a massive difference…’ Xiao Hong mused idly before continuing to assess her condition.

‘Hmm?’ She quickly noticed something interesting.

Under the view of her Divine Sense, her bones seemed to be shifting towards a redder hue, giving them a pink shade. ‘Tsk, tsk. I’m a literal pink skeleton now~!

Her internal organs also seemed to have grown much sturdier than before. Which in turn signified she could suffer an even heavier beating. ‘I should be able to three attacks from Fang Jin! Perhaps even more.’

She continued, turning her attention to her Heart, which beat calmly yet vigorously, pumping blood. Her entire body seemed to be boiling with a powerful vitality, like a volcanic eruption waiting to happen. Every single muscle in her body seemed to have become denser, heavier and more flexible. 

Her Physical Cultivation had increased greatly. 

‘It’s a good thing there were many Fasting Pills among those that I swallowed. I might really have turned into a shrivelled Mummy…’ 

She paused for a bit.

‘I seem to be straying further and further from the path of an elegant Jade Beauty!’ she sighed in defeat. She felt like she was some sort of Spirit Beast packaged into a Jade Beauty!

Yet, the corner of her corner lips twitched upwards slightly - she had gotten stronger!