After that short cheering from the space crew, Jin instinctively checked his phone and noticed that dozens of missed calls and loads of messages had piled up. They were mainly from Qiu Yue and Lynn who had attempted to reach him.
“System has noticed that User has entered a state of sleep deeper than any other compared to the last week and has therefore decided to mute the phone for you. Despite System’s assurance that the User was safe, the Sub System Users wanted to be sure.” Jin was surprised by the System’s gesture and thanked it before looking at his phone.
If anything, that sleep may surprisingly have been one of the best wake up call he ever received.
———–
Being a cultivator of the Nineteen Lazy Astral Pandas Style, he automatically entered his subconsciousness and found himself sitting beside his Grandfather Ming at the top of the icy cold mountain peak once more.
“Yikes!” Jin shouted as he felt the winds blew through his shirt. Unlike the previous time with Ming, he was now dressed with what he had been wearing in real life, which was not exactly intended for this kind of weather.
“Don’t worry, lad. I am not going to force you to fight any Legendary Beasts this time around. Though that turtle is still down there waiting for you with my secret. If you want to uncover it, be my guest.” Ming gleed at Jin before turning solemn.
“You haven’t been yourself lately, have you?” Ming placed his hand over Jin’s shoulder, and the latter quietly leaned at his grandfather’s side.
“Yeah. It’s been rough these past few weeks. Problems keep piling up no matter how I try to clear them. It’s as if fate actively tries to put one obstacle after the other. I don’t feel at peace no matter what I do.” Jin tried to phrase his problem without it sounding too much like whining since he knew his grandfather was a no nonsense guy.
“If I was in the real world, I would have scolded you for not having any guts. For what a sissy you have become.” Ming scoffed at Jin. “However, since I am not in the real world, let me give you something that might actually help you.” Jin’s grandfather took a deep breath before he did the most unexpected to Jin.
He swiftly moved his hands under Jin’s armpit and performed a judo throw on Jin, causing his grandson to split the bench they were sitting into two. Jin splattered blood out from his mouth in an instant while his grandfather’s smile got even wider.
“When you are confused, scratch your lungs and order them to fight! When you are angry, rise up and fight it! When you are calm, learn to fight along with it! When you are happy, fight to live for more of this fleeting moment! Whatever you do, you have to fight!” Ming preached as he sent a palm thrust towards Jin’s stomach and the dungeon supplier absorbed the entire blow.
There was no ‘grandfatherly love’ or mercy in the strike. All he felt was pain.
However, the pain was oddly refreshing. Jin had kept himself to the backline for some time now due to all the administrative work. It felt like ages since he had entered the fray, causing his fighting sense to dull a little.
“What do you do when you see a wall in front of you? Push it down! If you cannot push it, climb! Go around it! Or dig underneath it! If all else fails just keep slamming into it until the thing breaks! If your bones break, wait for them to heal and then bash it again! Eventually, it will give way! Remember, you are a System User! The System is a product of the Wills of the Heaven. You – No, we are part of the Celestial Chosen!!!” Ming emphasised with his foot on Jin’s chest.
“Hah… Celestial’s Chosen… If that is true, the world must really hate us to hunt us down continuously.” Jin remarked as he tried to push Ming’s shoe away, but the pressure seemed to only get greater until he could feel his bones begin to crack.
“Because – Never mind, that phrase just sounded good at the moment. So, just ignore what I said. In any case, look at how far you have come. Back then, when you first treated this path of becoming a dungeon supplier, you only went with the flow. You were no different from a Koi in a pond being fed bread crumbs, unaware that he might get eaten one of these days.” Ming laughed at his own joke.
“But now? You finally learned that there is more to it than just the small little pond. You have experienced what it means to get bitten. Most importantly, you are willing to fight back! Although it’s a little pathetic looking, you are getting there. Your fangs are still growing, and that is what I want to continue to see in you. Never stop trying! If things push you down, never stop moving. Even if you feel like you are going backwards, learn why you are going back. After which proceed forth.” Ming encouraged him as he pushed even further while Jin struggled to go against the pressure.
“Remember that you are no longer just a boss over a measly store. You are the boss for many villages! For kingdoms! For several monster races! Heck, even Gods and Demons are under your command.” The pressure did not alleviate, and somehow Jin believed he felt a tinge of jealousy in his grandfather’s voice.
“They may have started to follow you because the System compelled them to do so. Still, I believe some are genuinely pledging their service to you not only because it’s interesting, but you are worthy of following.”
“Just take a look at that sneaky fox. You may not realise it, but he does far more for you than meets the eye. Take a look at the girls beside you. They are doing their best to help you achieve what you are trying to do. Even Yun has been helping you in her own way. If you ever doubt yourself, never forget that there are those beside you, who believe in you.” At the same time, a tone of praise and admiration in Ming’s voice too, something which Jin had hardly ever received from him.
Yet, Ming was right.
It was not the first time Jin met with problems larger than himself. Although he had been lucky the previous times, it did not mean that he did not see things through when the tough gets going.
“I understand now, Gramps. It took me a while to understand, but please continue to watch over me.” Jin nodded as he stopped trying to push Ming’s boot away. Instead, he gathered his Maqi at his palms and summoned ice spikes to attack Ming.
Ming sniggered as he blocked the ice spikes with ease but did not realise that Jin did something else entirely out of the norm. With the ice spikes as a distraction, Jin imagined himself as part of the snow, and when the cold mountain winds blew, he immediately transformed into a pile of snow and allowed the winds to disperse him.
“Hah! You rascal! Glad to know that you still remember you are in your consciousness.” Ming laughed as he saw that Jin had reached a new understanding of himself, allowing him to passively transcend into Grade Eight Peak.
