<I am a code made by you.> The system replied in its usual cold tone; however, Lu Zhen's eyes widened when he heard this, as he couldn't believe that he made this system.

"Oh, when did I make you?" Lu Zhen replied calmly as he tried to maintain his cool.

<Remember the first time you made the game which did horribly in the market?>

When Lu Zhen heard this, his bad memory of his previous world surfaced. He remembered staying in his slums, barely making ends meet while he focused on making his first game with his crappy computer, which crashed ever so often. Still, it was the only property he had.

The homelessness and the minimal food had made Lu Zhen skinny and malnourished to the point where he felt it was better to die than live in a condition way worse than in this world. Those memories were not pleasant to remember.

However, he knew it was his fault for leaving his home and deciding to live on his own, believing that he could earn for himself.

"Wait, are you…" Lu Zhen's eyes widened with realization.

<Yes, I am the very first code you created for your game.>

"But I don't remember coding you like this," Lu Zhen almost instantly retorted, although he was quite sure that he had added the system interface and voice of himself in the game. The mechanics of the game were totally different from this.

<There is no recorded data of that. The only data here is after you transmigrated into this world.>

"I was hopeful for nothing," he thought to himself as he sighed.

"Forget it then," Lu Zhen shook his head with resignation, as he had been hoping to find at least a clue as to why he had transmigrated here.

<My system adapted to this world after you arrived here. However, it still needed time to become more activated. If you hadn't taken a day in despair due to your initial struggles in this world, the system might have been blank and even shut down for months as it adapted properly.>

When Lu Zhen heard this, he heaved a sigh of relief.

"System, can you change your voice to something else? It feels weird hearing my previous world's voice."

<Yes, but it will require more power and a reboot…>

"Then don't do it. I can cope with it for now," Lu Zhen shook his head, as he had other pressing questions, and he couldn't be bothered with the hassle if it was such trouble.

"Alright, so how does this energy thing work?"

<The system is like a parasite of the host, and as the host gains power, the system will also gain more data and energy to work. So as long as the host grows, the system will grow with you.>

Lu Zhen nodded when he heard this, although he was quite surprised by the system's honest tone.

"Do you have any emotions, and can you think independently?" Lu Zhen asked with a stern expression.

<No, I cannot think independently and do not have any emotions, as I am bound to you, host.>

Hearing this, Lu Zhen was quite relieved. Having an independent thinking system was never a good thing, and it often ended up causing problems in the novels and anime he had read and watched in his previous life.

"The important question then. Where are you located in my body?"

<The system is attached to the host's brain.>

"Do you mean that you are physically attached to my brain?" Lu Zhen's eyes widened when he heard this, and he instinctively touched his head.

<Yes.>

This simple answer shocked him to the core.

"So, if my brain is destroyed physically, do you also die with me?" Lu Zhen asked, his unease growing.

<Yes.>

"What if it was slightly grazed or had too high a temperature?"

<No, the system isn't affected by those things. As long as it isn't directly attacked, other things won't affect me.>

Lu Zhen nodded when he heard this, though he remained uncomfortable with the idea.

"Sigh, is the brain my biggest weakness? I must protect my brain more," Lu Zhen thought. He decided to be more careful in the future, especially with things related to his head. He couldn't let anybody get near it.

"Alright, I have another question. Can you help me manage my skills?"

<Yes, I can.>

Lu Zhen nodded to himself, feeling a bit more reassured now that he had a direct line to his system.

"Do it, then."

<Permission to shut down?>

<Yes> <No>

"Huh, why does it need to shut down?" Lu Zhen asked with a perplexed expression.

<It needs to arrange the skills into classes and will get an upgrade since the host has reached the Third-stage martial realm.>

"Why didn't it upgrade previously, then?"

<The system didn't get permission from the host.>

When Lu Zhen heard this, he nodded with a satisfied expression. However, he had another important question.

"How long will it take? And can I use all the skills of the system while it's shut down?"

<This time it might take around 2 to 3 weeks, and yes, you can use the system's skills during the shutdown, but the status won't be visible. You can still level up.>

Lu Zhen decisively imagined pressing the "Yes" button in the prompt.

The moment he did, the entire screen snapped off, displaying a blank screen.

"System," Lu Zhen tried to summon it, but nothing happened.

"Whelp, I won't be able to contact the system for a while now, huh…" Lu Zhen thought to himself.

"Let's just cultivate for the remaining time as I still have a day to go before I can get my hands on the demonic qi cultivation method." Actually, Lu Zhen was quite curious about the benefits he could gain from cultivating demonic qi. However, now that he knew his weakness, he needed a solution to protect his head as much as possible while carefully threading.

He looked at the rows of bowls, each containing paste.

[Body-refining paste]

[Grade: Qi item]

[Remark: Accelerates the process of attributeless qi conversion in the body, strengthening one's body in the process.]

[Qi-refining paste]

[Grade: Qi item]

[Remark: Enhances a martial artist's ability to condense and refine qi, increasing its efficiency and speed of condensing qi.]

Lu Zhen decided not to cultivate his qi since it took too much time, so he opted to refine his body first. He could feel that he was very close to breaking the bottleneck he had for his body cultivation. So, he took the body-refining paste and began to practice.