[Ding!]
[Qi Qingluo has been registered as the doting target of the Doting Dad System~]
[It's been detected that the host doesn't wish for more children and despises the thought of taking in another woman!]
Suddenly, the always serene casual window blared red with sounds so loud it wrecked Qi Shou's mind.
Thankfully, it lasted less than three seconds.
Before Qi Shou could even recollect hinself and think about it, the system window returned to boring black and golden.
[Doting target has been locked and no more doting targets found!]
[Hidden Achievement Unlocked!!]
[One Woman, One Man; Enough For Life]
[Achievement Rewards: 1X pair of engagement rings]
[Ding!]
[Qi Qingluo has only one mother and wouldn't be subjected to step-family...]
[Ding!]
[1 Year of doting target completed and official name given...]
Then, the system finally went silent and none of the so-called rewards were by his side.
It left Qi Shou stunned as if the system had vanished.
Yet he couldn't care much for it at the moment.
There was an information overload going on inside his head as realization and acceptance dawned on him regarding his situation.
Even in such a chaotic mental state, he smiled and muttered, "What a beautiful name, just like you... and her."
The last part of his words was a bit streched as he only noticed after her face flushed red that there were others in the room and his words would be outright frivolous in this era.
Qi Shou smiled bitterly.
He could only hope they'll act like they didn't hear anything and the matter would pass.
And it indeed did.
No one would feel comfortable talking about it and it was better to focus on the birthday girl.
So, everyone's attention soon diverted to Mingzhu, or Qi Qingluo.
Qi Shou, on the other hand, seemed lost.
His eyes were fixed on Mingzhu as he recalled what a traumatic life she was destined for.
Her family died with only a maternal uncle who was seething for revenge yet raised her well-enough without letting an ounce of his intentions leak.
She'd only figured it out on the day Qin Hanliu died.
She, having used an alias to participate in the once-a-decade tournament and winning it, had to now join the 'Heroe's Party'.
Left with no choice, she joined with ulterior motived but ended up falling for the protagonist.
The man, however, only loved one girl and ruthlessly rejected others.
Adding to that, Qi Qingluo still wanted revenge and hid her feelings well even until her eventual death.
Though she managed to take down a few talented ones around the Young Hero, even better than her uncle.
Her last words were, "...at least I can take you down with me, bastard!"
She said those words to the Young Hero's friend who had personally humiliated and killed Qin Jiyue.
...
"Why are you crying?" came the sudden voice of Qin Hanliu as she wiped Qi Shou's tear off.
"...I'm just too happy," replied Qi Shou with a strained smile, taking a deep breath and reeling in his inner turmoil.
Although there was nothing forbidding him from spilling the beans about his reincarnation and everything, he felt a sense of dread, as if death creeping upon him whenever his mouth opened to utter those words.
It was instinctive and he had no evidence or place to vent his frustration.
Left helpless, he could only shake it off.
As time passed and the celebration ended, he lay in bed, thinking of this world and things he planned to do next.
However, the sudden disappearance of the system was greatly unnerving for him.
No matter what, he was a reincarnated soul, he ought to have a golden-finger, but his vanished without a clue.
Just as the worrying thought ceased, he heard a faint familiar sound.
[...g!]
[Ding!]
[System Upgraded!]
[Doting Dad System 2.0 is an all inclusive system that counts and calculates every decision and action which would be beneficial for the child, including but not limited to, the host's relationship with the child's mother and her family, getting exiled or getting promoted, joining a sect, creating a sect, finding treasures(both negative and positive impacts)...]
[Based on these factors, the host may be rewarded or punished.]
Qi Shou was too stunned to speak and jolted awake from the bed, almost waking up Qin Hanliu.
Carefully looking at her and tucking her in before getting off the bed, he finally talked to the system... or at least tried to.
[Ding!]
[Detected that host has no knowledge of cultivation and can't protect the doting target Qi Qingluo...
Imparting basic information!]
And with that, Qu Shou felt a jolt to his consciousness as he realized that the novel only gave half information regarding cultivation and even then, he remembered less than half of that.
To put it in simple terms; in this world, Cultivation began with Body Refinement, where a to-be-cultivator refined and tempered their body to be strong enough to bear the full might of the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth.
Most commoners spent their lifetime achieving Perfected Body Refinement Stage, let alone advancing.
It wasn't all that easy as breaking through the ranks and cross-fighting as most protagonists could do.
The next stage was called Qi Gathering, where they gathered the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth and refined it into Zhenqi (or True Qi, Essence Qi, or simply 'Qi' or 'Ki' or 'Chi').
However, this also is just the beginning and one can't be called a cultivator so soon.
The next step is to open up the meridians and acupoints of the body.
After opening a minimum number of meridians they can connect the said meridians through the imaginary Dantian and form a cycle of Qi in their bodies and achieve Foundation Establishment realm.
The naming sense is simply because a cultivator's base level of strength can be more or less defined at this stage.
It wasn't like reversing one's fate by changing low level foundations and becoming the strongest.
No, that would only make one the weakest in the higher realms, if they could even reach them, that is.
Of course, this all is just the bare-minimum first step of cultivation.
While Foundation Establishment realm cultivators can indeed be called cultivators, they still don't have a solid dantian, so they aren't all that strong.
At most they can quake the ground around them and crack it up or jump as high as 10 meters, depending on their foundation.
Then came... nothing.
The information granted to Qi Shou stopped flowing as if it was enough to know just this much for now.
And indeed it was.
He himself felt a headache with just this much, who knows if he'd still be alive if all the cultivation knowledge was thrusted in his mind at once.
[Ding!]
[Tutorial Completed!]