Checking in for 100,000 Years Chapter 1: 100,000 years ago, the ancestor came back from the dead!
"DING! Will the host check-in?"
"Check-in."
"DING! Congratulations to the host for successfully checking in for 100,000 years, with a total of 5,256,000,000 check-ins. Your merit is now complete. The Check-in Space will begin to unlock. Countdown: 10 minutes..."
「In a vast, deep space.」
Ye Yun, existing as a Prime soul body, abruptly caught the System’s voice, bringing a trace of life into his dull soul at last.
Within this shadowy Mystical Space, he persisted in checking in once every ten minutes across 100,000 years.
Ye Yun waited in silence...
「...」
「The ruins of the Dragon God Sect.」
「The back mountain.」
"Master, we've finally laid you to rest!"
"On the way carrying your ashes, us three martial siblings faced pursuit. Eldest Martial Sister held them off for us, and her fate is still unknown even now..."
"I fear... she's likely gone..."
"Youngest Martial Brother... got caught along the road..."
"I'm the sole survivor of the entire Dragon God Sect now..."
"Master, though you handed me the Sect Master position before passing, I'm afraid... I can't fulfill your legacy."
"Once I've settled your burial, I'll depart this place too, take a new name, and vanish from sight forever..."
"Master, I just can't bear it alone anymore..."
In front of a freshly raised grave, a girl wearing ragged, filthy robes knelt while burning incense, her dirt-streaked face brimming with grief.
Around sixteen or seventeen years old, the girl's robe hung in shreds, exposing patches of pale skin. Dark red blood, still damp in spots, seeped through the cloth, creating a horrifying view.
She had whispered her deepest feelings right at the grave.
That heavy burden weighing on the girl's mind appeared to ease. Her face softened noticeably.
Rising to her feet, Luo Li scanned the surroundings. Nearly three hundred graves crowded the valley around her.
Though the Dragon God Sect ranked as a nameless small sect, its legacy stretched back ages. Each Sect Master got buried here upon death.
Weather-beaten steles rose before those packed graves. Some stood so ancient that their age exceeded a hundred thousand years by calculation.
"Alas, they once called my Dragon God Sect a peak Eternal Level power. Never imagined we'd sink this low..."
Luo Li let out a sigh, her petite, dirt-smudged face radiating bleakness.
As the penniless Sect Master, Luo Li lingered at the eighth layer of the Gathering Qi Realm, marking her as the feeblest Sect Master ever.
During her years of Cultivation alongside her master, she and her fellow disciples constantly hid or escaped from chasing foes.
Thus, Luo Li's cultivation remained woefully low.
Legend held that the 250th Sect Master of the Dragon God Sect provoked a mighty force.
Since that moment, one generation after another of Dragon God Sect members fled relentlessly.
Even so, the Dragon God Sect lasted nearly fifty more generations. When it reached Luo Li, she became the 298th Sect Master.
Memories of that harsh history darkened Luo Li's expression further, prompting several soft sighs.
Maybe the Dragon God Bloodline fueled such unyielding resolve in the Dragon God Sect's heirs. Sect Master after Sect Master battled on amid crises, dodging endless enemy hunts.
Gradually, the Dragon God Sect dwindled. In her master's era, spanning decades, he accepted just three disciples.
Her master had only reached the Origin Sea Realm in Cultivation.
"Alas, dwelling on the past brings too much pain..."
Luo Li's sorrowful eyes drifted over some older graves farther in, and she muttered suddenly, "Never mind. Since I'm not returning, I should pay last respects with incense to the Sect’s ancestors!"
With those words, Luo Li grabbed a bunch of incense and headed to the initial row of graves deeper in the valley.
「...」
Beginning at the founding ancestor's grave, Luo Li lit incense in quiet reverence, her small, grimy face grave and serious.
Reaching the 13th grave, Luo Li eyed its worn stele. A shift flickered in her slender, almond eyes.
Her plump lips twisted into a scornful smirk as she remarked, "HUMPH! He's the briefest-lived Sect Master in Dragon God Sect history!"
Despite her anger, Luo Li placed the incense anyway. After all, this 13th Sect Master had guided the Dragon God Sect to its grandest triumphs.
He merited this final tribute from her.
For the first twelve ancestors, Luo Li had bowed low after each incense offering.
Yet for this 13th Sect Master, no bow came. She remained rigidly upright.
"Ancestor, without your arrogance and all those foes you made, how could the Dragon God Sect have plummeted so fast afterward?"
"You yourself, from what I heard, suffered cultivation deviation while Cultivating and dropped dead! Your enemies back then celebrated, claiming our Dragon God Sect earned its doom through endless sins..."
Having vented her grievances, Luo Li muttered complaints and spun toward the 14th grave for incense.
Abruptly, the earth shifted, with subtle rustling noises rising.
As the ground kept heaving, terror seized Luo Li, draining color from her face.
Shaking like a leaf in terror, Luo Li froze in fright.
A pale bony hand thrust suddenly from the dirt pile.
BANG!
The grave mound exploded outward!
A skeletal figure vaulted skyward, crashing down right in front of Luo Li.
"Heavens, a ghost!"
Luo Li toppled backward in horror, eyes rolling white, on the verge of losing control of her bladder.