The day I became Rank #9,999,999… was the day the world stopped pretending I was human.
Kneeling on the stone floor of the Outer Disciple dormitory, I scrubbed dried blood from the execution grounds. Not mine—never mine. Some Young Master from the inner sect had "accidentally" shattered a servant girl's ribs during sparring. They'd peeled her body off the floor in three pieces.
A System notification flared across my vision:
[Daily Task Complete: Clean Execution Grounds]
[Reward: 1 Low-Grade Spirit Stone]
The stone blinked into existence in my palm, its weak glow barely brighter than my breath in the cold.
Behind me, laughter echoed.
"Look at Bottom-Feeder Lu!" jeered Zhang, Rank #8,456,221. His jade pendant gleamed—proof he served some inner disciple like a loyal dog. "Even the System throws him pity scraps!"
I said nothing. I never did. I pocketed the stone, already calculating. Thirty more like it, and I could afford one low-tier pill. Maybe two, if I begged the alchemists. With a miracle, I might reach Foundation Establishment by the time the stars collapsed.
Above the courtyard, the Divine Ranking shimmered into view—a golden scroll stretching endlessly into the clouds. It displayed the top 10,000 cultivators in glowing script, their ranks updated in real-time like a scoreboard of gods.
Gasps rippled through the courtyard.
[Rank #9,872: Li Yue – Verdant Sword Sect]
I watched as a sword formed before her—green lightning dancing along its blade. I knew that technique. It had torn my village apart.
My fingers curled into fists, the spirit stone digging into my palm. That should've been me.
The Forgotten Tomb
That night, I stole into the Graveyard—where the sect dumped the bodies of failed disciples. Most had died from broken cores, poisoned pills, or crushed dreams.
I was searching for spirit herbs. Anything to sell. Anything to eat.
The earth gave way beneath me.
I fell into darkness and rot. A shattered tomb. A corpse, cross-legged on a cracked stone throne, grinned at me with crystal teeth. Its skeletal finger pointed to a tablet etched in ancient script.
"To the Worthless One Who Finds This: Steal Heaven's Mandate."
The words rearranged themselves.
[Forbidden Technique Detected]
[Acquiring… RANKER'S GAMBIT]
[You may challenge any cultivator ranked above you.]
[Victory: Inherit Rank and Traits]
[Defeat: Soul Erasure]
My soul convulsed as the knowledge forced itself into me—branding itself onto my spine, my blood, my breath. I screamed. The corpse laughed, and crumbled to ash.
First Kill
At dawn, I found him. Old Man Teng, Rank #9,999,998—the sect's crippled alchemy assistant.
He was grinding herbs outside the pill hall, his hands trembling from old age and Qi deviation. He looked up and blinked at me.
"Lu Tian? Why are you—?"
"Challenge," I said.
The System responded instantly:
[Challenge Issued: Rank #9,999,998]
[Victory Reward: +1 Rank | Passive Skill: Herb-Scented Soul]
[Failure Penalty: Soul Erasure]
Teng's face fell. "You don't understand—boy, don't—"
I didn't let him finish.
I drove my cleaning knife into his throat.
His body writhed. Crimson threads of Qi exploded from his mouth and drilled into mine. My body convulsed. His soul, memories and all, spilled into me like boiling oil.
[Rank Updated: #9,999,998]
[New Passive: Herb Identification]
I gasped. My nose twitched involuntarily. I could smell the ingredients in the air—bitter root, ginseng, sulfur blossom.
And then, his final thought flickered through me.
"Kill them all."
System Response
By noon, the enforcer came.
Elder Wuyin. Rank #7,000,000. His presence alone silenced the courtyard. A lightning whip crackled in his hand.
"Anomaly detected. Unauthorized acquisition of Rank. You will be purged."
I ran. Past shocked disciples, through herb gardens, into the back halls I'd scrubbed for three years. The whip struck my shoulder. Skin vaporized. Blood steamed.
I dove into the forbidden archive.
The air shimmered with wards that should've incinerated me, but something—someone—let me pass. My fingers closed around a scroll sealed in black thread:
"Breath of the Drowning Star"
[ERROR: Requires Rank <5,000,000]
I unraveled it anyway.
The Qi inside me screamed. Black water exploded from my pores, flooding the archive. It roared like a collapsing sea. Elder Wuyin's scream was drowned beneath it.
When the mist cleared, only bones remained.
[Warning: Corruption +10%]
[New Title: Rogue Variable]
The scroll turned to ash. Behind me, ancient tomes burned as the System tried to erase what I'd done.
But it was too late.
I had cheated the Ranking.
I had murdered my way into history.
And somewhere beyond the clouds… the Ranking stirred. A presence. Something old. Something hungry.