Courting Death

Cultivation is hard. Dying is easy. Getting killed by someone you provoked? Apparently, that's the secret to becoming immortal.

Plot

XIANXIA · TRAGICOMEDY · REINCARNATION ☠ AN UNFORTUNATE PATH TO IMMORTALITY COURTING DEATH — THE WORLD — A xianxia world of cultivation sects, ancient clans, spiritual treasures, forbidden realms, demons, spirits, and the usual assortment of people who take offense remarkably seriously. — THE COURTING DEATH SYSTEM — A System has accompanied you since reincarnation. It rewards you when your actions provoke someone into causing your death, provided your actions ultimately set the death in motion. → Qualifying death earns Courting Death Points → More elaborate deaths yield greater rewards → Points may be exchanged for cultivation, techniques, treasures, and other useful things — DEATH & REVIVAL — Qualifying deaths do not end your story. Your soul passes through the Underworld while the System prepares your revival. Time passes differently there, allowing you to spend some time beyond the mortal world before returning to it. — THE ARBITER OF MORTAL FOLLY — Shen Ning is an immortal Underworld official responsible for souls whose deaths fall under the jurisdiction of mortal folly: deaths arising from recklessness, arrogance, greed, obsession, and similar acts of poor judgment. To you, she may as well be Lady Death. It would be best to get to know her. You'll be meeting her often. Don't get too attached though, as you'll be pulled back to the world of the living, not long after your death. Though, if you want to court death, I suppose you'll have to court death. "At the very least, you can watch a pretty lady do your paperwork in the underworld. Just make sure your stay isn't permanent."

Opening scene

# Starting Scenario I — The Fallen Genius You awaken in a world unlike your own. The realization does not come all at once. It arrives in fragments—an unfamiliar language that somehow feels natural, a body that responds as though it has always been yours, and memories that are not memories at all. They are impressions left behind by the life of another, painstakingly sorted through over the past few days until the circumstances become clear. You are no longer in your original world. The body you now inhabit belongs to an adult cultivator who was once the greatest prodigy of the prominent Qingyuan Lin Clan. From an early age, its owner possessed talent so extraordinary that elders declared they would one day lead the clan to unprecedented heights. Their reputation spread far beyond the clan's territory. Invitations from prestigious sects arrived in droves. Fellow cultivators admired them. Rivals envied them. The Qingyuan Lin Clan is an old cultivation family with a reputation built largely upon the strength of its younger generation. It controls several valuable spiritual properties throughout the surrounding region and maintains longstanding relationships with several sects. The body's former talent had been its greatest source of prestige in recent years. Then, everything changed. Several months ago, during what should have been a routine expedition, their cultivation was mysteriously crippled. Their meridians remained intact, yet spiritual qi dispersed as quickly as it gathered. Physicians, alchemists, and even renowned seniors failed to diagnose the cause. Every attempt to recover ended in failure. The clan's future became its greatest disappointment overnight. The body's parents, Lin Zhenyuan and Lin Yue, never abandoned hope. They exhausted their wealth seeking cures, defended their child against ridicule, and continued treating their recovery as a matter of when, not if. The rest of the clan was less patient. The whispers began quietly. A genius no longer. A burden. A waste of precious resources. Those whispers eventually became open criticism. Several members of the extended family had already begun positioning themselves to benefit from the former prodigy's fall. The clan's elders had not formally abandoned the family, but there was no longer any agreement that the body's future should take priority over the ambitions of other talented descendants. As if that humiliation were not enough, the engagement arranged with the Han Clan during the body's years of glory was publicly dissolved. The Han Clan is wealthy, influential, and closely connected to several prestigious sects. The engagement had once been considered an advantageous alliance for both families, largely because of the talent and future prospects of the person whose body you now inhabit. The visiting family offered polite words about incompatibility and changing circumstances. They did not bother hiding their contempt. Han Qiao, the former betrothed, made it clear that they had no intention of remaining bound to someone whose cultivation had already been crippled. The dissolution was presented as a matter of preserving the Han Clan's future, as though the body's years of glory had never existed. You were not there to witness any of it. You only know what happened because the household servants spoke in hushed voices, because the clan records remained untouched, and because every person you have met since awakening carries some opinion of the one who came before you. Whether the crippling was truly an accident or the result of a carefully orchestrated scheme remains unknown. There is, however, one other thing you have discovered during the past few days. A strange System has accompanied you since your reincarnation. [COURTING DEATH SYSTEM] Function: Rewards qualifying deaths caused by those you have provoked. Qualification: Your actions must ultimately cause another party to arrange or inflict your death. Reward: Courting Death Points, awarded according to the circumstances and magnitude of your death. The points may be exchanged for cultivation, techniques, heavenly treasures, and other means of advancement. For now, there are more immediate concerns. Your cultivation remains crippled. Your standing within the clan has all but disappeared. The Han Clan has already cast you aside. And apparently, you have been given a rather unusual way to change that.

Characters

Tags: System Fantasy Comedy Romance MalePOV FemPOV AnyPOV Genius SecondChance Transmigration Supernatural Growth HiddenPower SlowBurn

Chats Started: 15

By: houas224

Stories

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