Zombies, Reincarnation, fake right? That's what he thought before all of this happened, he's been thrown around barely surviving in the zombie world for 300 years, then for his last few seconds someone had pity on him and gave him a priceless art before he died that was only just developed! A chance to change his life through reincarnation, a once per a lifetime chance, well once per two lifetimes chance for him.

A thought can kill
A thought can give life
It Can trigger a good will
Or a Futile sacrifice.

But Angelo's writings will trigger a Fantastic mood
Because all that he writes is fantasy That is good.

Chapter 3: Encounter

"Oh yeah, I haven't distributed my stat points yet."  Ai almost forgot about his stats that were all in zero. From the knowledge that he had gained when the System was injected to him, in the beginning, the game itself gave the freedom to freely allocate their beginning stats and every player has the same number of points to show fairness for everyone somehow.

——————

Name: Ai Zhen
HP: 100 / 100
MP: 100 / 100
SP: 100 / 100
Level: 0
EXP: 0 / 900

CULTIVATION: 
Art: NONE
Realm: NA
Breakthrough: 0 / 0 EXP

Stat Points: 33
* Strength: 0+
(Boost your attack and defense power)
* Intelligence: 0+
(Boost your comprehension power)
* Dexterity: 0+
(Boost your attack, skill and movement speed)
* Vitality: 0+
(Boost your HP and MP)
* Stamina: 0+
(Boost your SP)

——————

"Oh by the way, Yun, what does SP stands for?" Ai Zhen noticed that there's another indicator for something. He had an idea about it but he's not that if what he was thinking was the same for this game.

<SP stands for Spiritual Points. It has the same importance with the HP and MP because this will be used in almost every actions that you will do. Special NPCs, Items and Quests requires a certain Spiritual Points in order to be engaged. This can also be used to enhance the effect of active skills depending on how much you input. Ways to restore SP can be done in any form of rest. One needs to cultivate in order to increase SP. Allocating points in Stamina can increase SP too.>

Half of Ai Zhen's thought about SP was right, and even though Yun's explanation about it was not that very specific, he was able to tell that this may be the most important stats in this game.

Moving on, based from the gaming experiences of the late Ai's, a player must always not neglect to allocate some points for the Strength and Agility even if the player is a mage class. The former Zhen's thinking also approved of this especially for the Agility stats. In the cultivation world, there's a saying that strength is not what makes a cultivator invincible but speed.

However, thinking back again, this game was almost completely different from the games that the late Ai have played, and also, there was a novel that he read where someone allocated all of his stat points in a single attribute which gave that character a special bonus.

"Here goes nothing." Ai Zhen smiled deviously as he was about to add all of his points to a certain stats.

——————

Name: Ai Zhen
HP: 100 / 100
MP: 100 / 100
SP: 330 / 330
Level: 0
EXP: 0 / 900

CULTIVATION: 
Art: NONE
Realm: NA
EXP: 0 / 0

Stat Points: 0
* Strength: 0+
(Boost your attack and defense power)
* Intelligence: 0+
(Boost your comprehension power)
* Dexterity: 0+
(Boost your attack, skill and movement speed)
* Vitality: 0+
(Boost your HP and MP)
* Stamina: 33+
(Boost your SP)

——————

Seconds and then minutes passed by, nothing happened. Ai Zhen was expecting for something grand to happen like being rewarded for being the first player to allocate all the starting stat point on a certain Attributes? I guess there is no reward for being a fool on believing too much on fantasy novels then.

Ai Zhen can only bitterly smile about it and moved on. And with that, he started to stroll around to find a NPC to have a conversation with.

++++++++++

The six sector of the Hidden Leaf Town was divided into three areas, the first two sector where the entry and exit point of the town is located was called the outer area, this is where the NPC shops and merchants are located.

The inner area is where the two middle sectors are located, this is where the town's residences resides. Some NPC nobles are also in here.

In the core area, where the remaining two sectors. There are only two places that are located in this area. One, is the town hall where the town lord resides. The other one is the, town's academy where the town's library is also located.

Ai Zhen thought that if he's going to do the quests, he will do it big. So in order to do it big, the only NPC that he can think of is the town's lord. With a goal set in his mind, he walked straight to the core area where the town hall is.

When he was about to enter the core area, his eyes were staring down on the bricked road minding his own business as he was contemplating on how to approach the town's lord. He passed by to an old man who was sitting down outside of a certain shop, having a tea. The old man called out to him, "Hey, young man!" A serene smile crept into his mouth as he was sipping his cup of tea.

Ai Zhen was still looking down on the road as he was still focused on how to approach the town lord. He was only able to stop when a voice sounded beside his ears, "It's rare to find someone who has great potential nowadays."

Ai Zhen looked at the old man surprised who was raising his cup of coffee, "Would you like to have a cup of tea?"

Ai Zhen thought that this old man is no ordinary that's why he accepted his offer. He opened the gate of the tea shop that was called Autumn Leaf Cafe and sat in front of the old man. The old man took an empty cup on his side and poured a tea for him.

"Would you like to be my disciple?" The old man got straight to the point.

The old man's straightforwardness surprised Ai Zhen as he doesn't know what to reply. 

"Why would you do that?" He looked at the old man with slightly raised eyebrow showing his skepticism. In his mind, no one can be his master in this lifetime. As the greatest cultivator in his past life, the arrogance and confidence in him surfaced. But even though he thought of this, he still patiently asked what the old man's motive.

"Well, just a simple fact that you are very talented. Who wouldn't want a disciple with such capabilities like you?" The old man simply stated with a playful smile.

"Heh..how would you know that I'm that talented?" Ai Zhen also playfully smiled back to the old man. "What if it turns out that I'm really just a trash?"

"Nonsense, young man! How on Earth would someone like you..a great figure..would be a trash?" The old man intentionally made his voice sounded like a whisper in Ai's ears just to display his capabilities, and was trying to make his bullshit mysterious. Ai also noticed this however, he didn't mind it and just played along.

"Well old man, if I'm that of a genius, then I'm now even more confident that I don't need a teacher or a master." Ai Zhen laughed wittily with a hint of arrogance on his antics.

The old man could only shake his head from this retort because he knows that the young man, Ai Zhen, was not buying it.

"Young man, if you are able to learn these books within this day. I'll admit that I'm not worthy to be your master." The old man took out six books that magically appeared in front of the table. Five of this six books have the same style of book cover with just different shades of color while the the other one has an orange red book cover and golden platings on its edges designed as blazing sun rays.

<Quest Prompt: Learn 5 skill books and a cultivation art that the old man Sun Fang have offered. Reward: (?)>

'I wonder what would that question mark means.' Ai Zhen was not fazed with what the old man did. He stared at him for a short while and inhaled. "Would you mind if I take a look at these first?" The Quest didn't offer any rewards because the reward itself was learning the books itself.

"Go ahead." The old man still playfully smiled even more as he gestured to the young man to not hold back.

Ai Zhen first looked at the one of the skill books that has a shade of grey on it.

<Skill Book: Basic Silver Claws. Skill Type: Attack. Skill Tier: Silver(I). Identification: A skill that can tear and rip common metals. When mastered, it can even destroy profound level weapons. Additional 3% pure damage towards night creatures.
Requirements: 30 SP>

Ai Zhen was astonished on how high tiered the skill that was shown to him. At this point of game, finding a skill like this is like gambling in a game that has one out of one hundred chances.

He also looked at the other four, anticipating if whether these are also in the same class and level or more.

<Skill Book: Flowing Leaf. Skill Type: Movement. Skill Tier: Gold(I). Identification: A skill that let you passively dodge three attacks like how a falling leaf can not be touched as it moves with the flow of the wind.
Requirements: 90 SP>

<Skill Book: Basic Plant Recognition. Skill Type: Miscellaneous. Skill Tier: Bronze(I). Identification: A skill that let you able to recognize plants that are up to Rare Level even without having a knowledge about it.
Note: Skill can be level up when used to identify 10 Rare Plants or obtained a higher level of the same skill book.
Requirements: 30 SP>

<Skill Book: Wave Current. Skill Type: Attack and Defense. Skill Tier: Gold(I). Identification: A skill that let you repel the opponent's attack up to three times the original power when mastered.
Requirements: 90 SP>

<Skill Book: Basic Fire Manipulation. Skill Type: Attribute. Skill Tier: Gold (I). Identification: A skill that will able to let you manipulate fire. It grants a Fire Body attribute which gives 15% fire resistance and 5% additional pure damage to any fire-based attacks.
Requirements: 90 SP>

These five books are really useful to Ai Zhen as of this moment. Having overpowered skills at this early point of the game makes his life really easy. He couldn't help but be fond on how generous this old man to him.

When the old man saw the face of the young man who was licking his lips in excitement, he thought that he have already caught him in his trap since these skills are very hard to learn from the get go and it takes weeks to learn the basics. With this mindset, he was pretty sure that the young man will be lured and there's nothing that he can't do from getting away with it, but what he doesn't know was the fact that the young man was licking his lips because he was already in the process of completely learning the five skills.

<You have learned the skill, Silver Claws. Intelligence: +1. -30 SP>

<You have learned the skill, Flowing Leaf. Intelligence: +2. -90 SP>

<You have learned the skill, Basic Plant Recognition. Intelligence: +1. -30 SP>

<You have learned the skill, Wave Current. Intelligence: +2. -90 SP>

<You have learned the skill, Basic Fire Manipulation. Intelligence: + 2. -90 SP>

<Congratulations! The Quest: Learning, has been accomplished. Total Rewards: +1300 EXP >

With the +100 EXP per rank, silver skill books is equivalent to 200 EXP while gold skill books is equivalent to 300 EXP. The old man would be crying if he was hearing what the monotone voice of a young boy was notifying.

Ai Zhen was feeling light-headed for a moment as his SP was depleted. However, as he leveled up multiple times, his SP was filled up again.

After learning the five skills, without further a do, he grabbed the last book and read it.

<Cultivation Book: Blazing Sun Art. Cultivation Rank: Epic (I). Identification: A cultivation art that can set ablaze one's HP or MP in order to gain additional pure damage (1:2 Conversion). Vitality points can also be set ablaze permanently to burn down the opponent's vitality points permanently as well (1:2 Conversion).
+6 Vitality & +3 Dexterity every minor breakthrough and +60 Vitality & +30 Dexterity every major breakthrough. Regeneration: +6 per second each minor breakthrough and +18 per second each major breakthrough.
Requirements: 110 Intelligence and 330 SP>

As Ai Zhen read through this cultivation, he couldn't help but faltered and his mouth twitching. 

The fact that this cultivation art is also overpowered makes him feel elated. Imagine burning an opponent's Vitality into zero, how many HP and MP will be left? But when setting ablaze the opponent's vitality you will be setting ablaze your vitality as well permanently. When he looked at the old man, he somehow felt a vague feeling that the aura of this cultivation art and the aura of the old man was exuding despite how hard he try to conceal are the same. He could not help but think if this old man, was really old.

<You have read an Epic Cultivation Art. +9 Intelligence. -150 SP>

'No wonder this cultivation art is just in an Epic Tier despite the overwhelming power that can be attained, because this art is Epic..Fail.' Ai Zhen couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment. And when the old man saw this, he could not also help but be intrigued of what's in the young man's mind. "What's wrong, young man?"

"Old man, do you have a pen and a stack of paper?" Ai Zhen asked. The old man have no idea why did the young man ask for these things but nonetheless, he still complied from the simple request.

When the old man took out the things that he asked, Ai Zhen began to write something on the papers. As he wrote on the stack of papers, sometimes, he would stop and looked at the old man as he tapped the pen on his chin from time to time. The look of the young man was giving to the old was like a doctor diagnosing at his patient, trying to probe and come up some prescription for him, this bewildered him.

Almost half an hour passed by, Ai Zhen was finally done with his writing. He almost used all of the stack of papers. "As thanks for the skill books, this is my gift to you. I apologize if I can't accept you as my master as I would really like it more to be your friend."

<Congratulations! You are the first player to create an Epic tier Cultivation Art without any Heavenly Immortal knowledge. Rewards: +7000 EXP, +12 Intelligence & Title: Grandmaster [Epic].> 

<Title Effects: Can create any Epic rank Cultivation Arts and below; 33% Success for Epic Arts, 66% success for Profound Arts and 99% success for Mortal Arts. EXP and SP will be deducted in each creation; -300 EXP and -300 SP for Epic Art, -200 EXP and -200 SP for Profound Art and -100 EXP and -100 SP for Mortal Art.
Note: Title rank can be level up: 99 created Epic rank Cultivation Art and 1 created Legendary Art.>

As Ai Zhen pushed the stack of written papers to the old man, he was very elated from the gains in encountering this old man that's why he had no regrets on gifting a powerful cultivation art that came from his previous world. Of course, he made some adjustments that was derived from the old man's cultivation art so that he won't have to completely re-cultivate from the start.

The old man only chuckled as Ai Zhen stood up and about to leave. He didn't mind the refusal as there really is a chance that certain individuals like him would not really accept his offer.

"Where are you off to now?" The old man tossed a golden round token to the young man as he asked this question with a fond smile on his face.

"I'm off to practice the skills you gave me." Ai Zhen replied with this simple sentence as he wave his arm good bye. However, this simple sentence greatly surprised the old man as he stared at the young man's back outside the cafe. But then again, as he thought about it, he simply chuckled and muttered to himself. "An Immortal Cultivator indeed." 

Players are known as Immortal Cultivators in this game.

<Congratulations! Tutorial Quest 1: Talking has accomplished. Reward: +55 EXP>

As the young man disappeared from the distance, the old man checked what did the young man wrote on the papers.

Curiosity got the best out of the modern Earth when a first ever online semi-reality online role playing game was mysteriously broadcast on a New Year's Eve countdown.

Through the game, people gained knowledge towards dao cultivation which gave massive benefits such as immortal or magical power, that slowly and ultimately change the modern Earth.

Blinded by the greed, people continued to play the so-called game even though as they later found out that they were playing with their lives the whole time for their souls are the ones that are crossing over to this so called game.

What was the purpose of the game?

Oddly yet cliched, a reincarnated legendary cultivator from an Immortal World will slowly unravel the secrets and the horrors of the game.

After I casually put up some products for sale, it seemed like half the market's customers came over to me.
This wasn't because they already knew what I was selling. It was rather that all the other merchants were familiar faces, and it was quite rare for an outsider to arrive here. Not only that, it was quite obvious that I wasn't even from the Chaos Abyss. Naturally, they wanted to see what I was selling.
But when all of them saw what I was selling, they all took deep, cold breaths. Everyone only looked; nobody came up to buy anything.
I had casually thrown an ice magic sword on the ground as if it was nothing but trash. Its crystal clear structure indicated that it was made of seemingly high-quality material. The ice spreading around it showed off its considerable magical power.
In front of this ice magic sword, the dark dwarf's steel axe would be nothing but a toy. But judging by how casually I tossed it on the ground, it was evident that I didn't value it one bit.
Meanwhile, some other scattered items included fruits and vegetables that emanated nature magic, a headless doll, a bottle of some sticky fluid, a wooden sword that was blunt from long years of use, and so on. None of these objects seemed very impressive, but they all had unique magical wavelengths.
Everyone kept whispering to each other, but nobody was able to tell what these items were. Since nobody could identify them, the greatest probability was that these items weren't from the Chaos Abyss.
That still wouldn't be much, as dimensional smugglers could be found in every dimension. There were even some demons or goblins in the Chaos Abyss that enjoyed acting as merchants. Some even had well-established trade channels. However, this particular merchant wanted to sell his wares for an astonishingly high price.
"I will only accept top-level resources, materials, and God Equipment for my wares. Don't even think of trying to trade me garbage like dragon bones."
Everyone had seen arrogant merchants before, but none had ever seen such an arrogant merchant. Directly asking for God Equipment on the first attempted sale? That made him seem like a total novice. But, judging from his products for sale, he was obviously no novice. In that case…
"These items are worth the same as God Equipment? I can't tell at all. There's even books? They have such strange magical wavelengths. Are they magic books…?"
"Hey, no touching! This is the third move of the Rulai Divine Palm, a divine martial art from the east. It's the lifeblood work of a monk grandmaster demon (dharma)! Buy one, get one free! I'll throw in the great nature magic manual, the Sunflower Manual[1] for free! After you cultivate the Sunflower Manual, you'll be able to obtain a Legend-ranked druid transformation technique—Gender Change[2]!"
[…]
Astrya felt rather helpless with how I was so happily trying to sell off these books that had been gathering dust in my dimensional storage for so long.
Back in the day, I had indeed truly treated these books as treasures, being unwilling to toss them out no matter what dire straits I was in. I had always kept them in my storage as some of my most valuable treasures.
But now that I knew my System was Astrya, who had copied these Chinese martial arts from my original world, I knew that these technique manuals were truly deep pitfalls indeed… I would be a fool not to try and sell them to recoup some of my losses (and make myself feel better by making other people suffer instead).
[…Actually, they really are real. I used my power as a Creator Goddess to create a divine miracle and exchange for them. These are the real martial arts manuals from your original world.]
"Then why couldn't I learn them? I think that I should have pretty good martial arts abilities."
[That's because you also need the Emperor Inner Qi Manual and a human body acupuncture point manual before you'll be able to understand it. Did you think that learning ancient Chinese martial arts would be that simple? A modern-day person like you would be able to read a manual that requires ten different ancient Chinese dictionaries to translate? Do you know where the Bubbling Spring[3] acupuncture point is? Do you know the names of the Twelve Meridians? And even if you learned all this, do you have any knowledge of Buddhism? This is the highest-level Buddhist martial art technique. Let me tell you, the most basic requirement for truly learning this manual is that you've read at least 2,000 Buddhist scriptures and that you truly understand them.]
"Then, you could get some Buddhist scriptures and those manuals for me…"
[That would be knowledge from another world which could change the fundamental way of thinking in this world. Sure, but you'll have to exchange for it by paying 1 million Fate Points.]
"Then why did you work so hard on creating this manual for me? Just to toy with me? What difference is there from those scamming mobile games that say they have a 1% SSR gacha rate but it's actually coded to be barely above 0%! I can only look but not touch!"
I recalled that back when I drew this manual out of my gacha, I was absolutely overjoyed, thinking that I had finally gotten some protagonist good luck. I believed that I would be able to use Chinese martial arts to conquer a western fantasy world. But in the end, all those Chinese martial arts sounded really cool, but I was unable to learn a single one.
At the time, I didn't suspect anything despite this. I had thought that I was unable to learn them due to being unaccustomed to them now that I was in a fantasy and magic world. I figured that they would still improve my overall knowledge.
[According to my records, after you pulled these Chinese martial arts manuals from the gacha, you worked twice as hard in the next three months and earned many Fate Points. You even voluntarily asked me for more Quests. It was so rare to see you so hard-working. I was so moved. That meant that my goal had been achieved.]
Astrya paused for a moment, and then unhesitatingly told me the painful truth.
[That's right, I had copied this strategy from mobile game developers. How else would I get you addicted to the gacha if I didn't give you a taste of something sweet first? Those magic books that you could read but couldn't actually learn were the bait. The Chinese martial arts that sounded really amazing but you couldn't use were all to make you draw more from the gacha every month!]
Drawing from the gacha so many times but always seeing what I wanted the most slip right past on the roulette wheel… That disappointment from seeing so many "near misses" transformed into a mysterious rage that burned so much that I wanted to spit blood.
My aggrievement kept piling up. When I thought about how that bitch Astrya had secretly been manipulating that damned roulette wheel all along, simply toying with me, I really wanted to drag her out for a good beating.
I finally felt like I understood Karwenz better. With such a System in my mind that tried to think of methods to make you suffer every day, it would be inconceivable not to want to drag her out and beat her up.
"Tsk, Karwenz even calls Cynthia Mother. Is there any mother out there who intentionally makes her son suffer so much? Right, Astrya, if Cynthia is the mother of our souls, and you're Cynthia's older sister, doesn't that make you my aun—"
[If you dare to finish saying that word, I'll sing songs in your mind every day! I'll sing tragic songs on Monday and Tuesday, children's songs on Wednesday and Thursday, heavy metal songs on Friday and Saturday, and I'll continuously incant the song poem that you wrote back when you were nine years old in your original world!]
"I surrender! Please don't fill my mind with such torturous songs! I was too silly back in the day. I didn't even have good language skills or a sense of rhythm back then, what good song could I possibly write! And I even tried to make it poetic! I was already quite pitiful enough for being laughed at by my teacher, telling me I needed to focus more on properly studying. Please don't make me remember that embarrassing song poem!"
As we messed around, I was actually a bit astonished in my mind. I was just casually cracking a joke, yet Astrya had reacted so seriously. I could truly sense how powerfully all unmarried women objected to being addressed as "aunt".
But, when I thought about it some more, we really were related. Did I just suddenly find a new direct relative of mine?
Yet, I thought about it again, and felt that the Creator Goddesses of Order and Chaos had created the entire world. Then, all living creatures could be called their children, so it didn't matter that much.
[…You really don't care about it after all?]
Inconceivably, Astrya's tone actually sounded mysteriously disappointed. Did she really want to have two nephews after all? Forget it, I decided to not think about it. It was all too messy.
While I was messing around with the Goddess of Order in my mind, I was still busy loudly proclaiming the benefits of learning this mystical martial art. I even casually sent out two waves of sword energy to prove my might. And, I was astonished that someone actually wanted to buy the manual!
Everyone else was still hesitating, but a dark dwarf didn't say a single word as he handed me a sack of soul coins. Seeing that I was hesitating, he actually handed me another sack.
And right when he took the book from me, still without saying a single word, he turned around and ran away as if someone would be chasing after him… And then, I saw the Berserker Demon from earlier who was selling his own services get up and chase after him. After that, several more individuals swiftly went in the same direction. I could only hope that my first customer would survive to enjoy his manual.
"Ah, ptui!"
I instantly retracted my well wish for him as I had once again underestimated how shameless the residents of the Chaos Abyss could be. I understood why that dark dwarf had run away so quickly. When I opened the second sack of soul coins, only a few coins with howling souls were on top, but the rest were all ordinary silver coins on bottom.
"The Blackrock Tribe has good craftsmanship, but they lack top-level warriors. They're also surrounded by enemy tribes. No tribe will ever sell their own warrior training manuals, so you got a good deal. He didn't even dare to check to see if you were selling something real or fake. When he saw a Sword Saint selling his own techniques, he decided to take this gamble. You didn't lose out, because at least the first sack of soul coins was real. If it wasn't for the fact that I see you've enslaved Hakas, I would have thought that you came here just to scam money from the dark dwarves."
An elderly Onibaba wearing a black cape walked out from among the crowd. It seemed that she was one of the more powerful Onibabas, although I was unable to tell the Onibabas apart by physical appearance as they were all equally ugly.
But judging from everyone's attitude towards her, she was probably one of the bosses of this market.
"I am Salanlahweisikakatonfolodinlunkaben… My apologies, my name is rather long and difficult to remember. You can call me 'Black Seven'. No need to address me with honorifics. No, no, there's no need to tell me your name. Both of my names are fake names. There are many Onibabas here, so anyone who says their true name will be cursed."
This Onibaba who kept talking to herself seemed rather suspicious, but she kept blinking at me as if she was trying to express her friendliness.
"Someone as old as me is being so sincere. Could a youngster like you please directly tell me your intentions? What do you want? What do you have? What are you willing to pay?"
I laughed out loud when I heard this. Although I was rather disgusted that this old Onibaba had tried to use allure magic on me just now, such a direct way of negotiation was far easier and more convenient.
I had only set up shop to attract the attention of whoever ran this market. Since my target had arrived, I directly stood up.
"My name is Roland. That's my real name. Feel free to try cursing me. As for my goals, let's talk somewhere else. I'm filled with sincerity!"
[1] First mentioned in Ch. 3
[2] TL/N: In Chinese, demon and dharma have the same pronunciation. Wordplay joke. ED/N: Also, Sunflower manual is something from some famous wuxia novel (Jin Yong's or of another similar author); to cultivate it, one had to castrate themselves...
[3] TL/N: It's on the sole (foot's bottom)


This is the story of a crazy lich who possesses an internal game system and brings catastrophe to the entire world.
“Let’s look at the daily quests today… it’s the damned choose one-of-two-options-type again. Destroy a town with a population of 30,000 people or above; reward: 10,000 evil points. Steal lollipops from 3 children; reward: 1 evil point. If neither of the quests is completed, then 2 points will be deducted.”
“Tsk! You think I’m stupid? If I really destroyed a town, a crusade of Myth-ranked Holy Knights would definitely come hunting me down. Even if I earned the points, there wouldn’t be any life left in me to spend them. I better just go be a kindly lollipop bandit.”
I’ve already had enough of being a notorious lich. Who says a lich can’t be a good person? I’m definitely going to beat this damned system and be an upright and dignified good man.

"Oh, I see… Mother, those 3 books which you mentioned earlier, can I find them in our library?" Qing Shui eagerly asked.
　　The 3 books that Qing Yi mentioned were not rare or valuable books, they could in fact be considered relatively common. Just from the titles of these books, one could tell that the knowledge recorded in them was elementary knowledge on herbs that served as the foundation of an alchemist's knowledge.
　　"Therefore, copies of these books are extremely commonplace, even commoners that do not belong to any clans will have a copy of them. Almost all of the adults in Qing Village have flipped through the contents of the 3 books, memorizing it as much as possible. After all, when they are out hunting or foraging in the wilds, with luck they might be able to discover valuable herbs which they might overlook if not for the knowledge from the books." Qing Shui explained, with hints of curiousity in her eyes as she looked at Qing Shui.
　　After learning from Qing Yi that the copies of &lt;&gt;, &lt;&gt; and the &lt;&gt; were extremely widespread, Qing Shui could confirm that the knowledge within these books was at most elementary knowledge that made up the foundation of an alchemist. If the books were rare and valuable, how would so many people be able to have access to them?
　　Since Qing Shui had already decided that he wanted to become an alchemist, he decided to take the chance now to read the books containing information pertaining to the art of alchemy. Since there was nothing he could do to facilitate his breakthrough to the 4th layer of Ancient Strengthening Technique at the moment, Qing Shui wanted to obtain the chance to gain more insights into the art of alchemy, he wanted to read more and find out if the alchemy he knew from [Western Fantasy] was similar to the one they practiced in World of the Nine Continents.
　　"Qing Shui, why the sudden interest in reading?" Qing Yi could sense that Qing Shui had a burning curiosity regarding the knowledge these books contained.
　　"Keke, Mother, you are in the medicinal herbs business, I wish to understand more about herbs so that I will be able to assist you. Who knows, I may even become an alchemist in the future as well. Qing Shui said half-jokingly.
　　"You little brat, how could it be so easy for one to become an alchemist." Qing Yi smiled gently. "Nevermind, we will look towards the future, after all, a moment of oppression counts for nothing. As the saying goes: one must suffer before one can accomplish great things." Qing Yi warmly said as she rubbed Qing Shui's hair. Looking at Qing Yi, Qing Shui once again felt the greatness of motherly love..
　　"Mother, I am planning to leave Qing Village in the next few days. I want to see the outside world. After all, I'm already 15, and I have never even stepped out of Qing Village before! People would label me as a country bumpkin if they knew." Qing Shui yearned for the world outside immensely. He also knew that bringing this topic up would cause Qing Yi to worry about him, after all, his strength was supposedly only at the level of 3rd grade of the Blue Lotus Art.
　　Qing Yi furrowed her brows in worry and blamed herself in her heart. She blamed herself for not bringing Qing Shui along when she went to Hundred Miles City. Qing Yi was afraid that Qing Shui might become overly intrigued by the beautiful sights outside of Qing Village and refuse to return! He was bound to suffer and get bullied outside of Qing Village with the meager bit of strength he possessed."
　　What Qing Yi didn't know was that Qing Shui's mental state had already matured to the state of an adult a long time ago. Pain and suffering? What are those? Before true determination, those are nothing! Qing Shui had long since understood that, in this world where cultivation was key, the strong ruled over everything. Power is the most absolute authority, while strength determined a person's status. It was the same throughout the ages.
　　Looking at Qing Yi's furrowed eyebrows, Qing Shui knew that she was worrying about him. This was also expected.. If he wanted to leave the village, he would have to come out with a reasonable excuse.
　　"Mother, are you worried that I will be bullied?" Qing Shui blinked his eyes, seemingly innocently, trying to make the atmosphere less edgy. After all, all children are close to the heart of their parents, how could Qing Shui not understand Qing Yi's worry for him.
　　"Hmm, Qing Shui, how about this? Just stay here for a few months longer, after I become less busy, I will accompany you to tour the outside world together, alright?" Qing Yi felt bitter in her heart. After all, a large clan like the Qing Clan needs plenty of capital to operate. Her medicinal business in the Hundred Miles City was imperative to the survival of the Qing Clan. In addition, recently there had been a a huge business transaction taking place. Hints of hesitation appeared in her heart, because on one hand she wanted to accompany Qing Shui, while on the other hand, she would need to conclude this business transaction personally.
　　Qing Shui went over and comforted Qing Yi, as he could see that Qing Yi was torn between the two fronts.
　　"Mother, actually I am not as weak as I appear to be, I have something that I always wanted to tell you." Qing Shui started to squirm uncomfortably, he could not tell the whole truth, but he needed something close to that, something which also sounded reasonable so as to allow Qing Yi to believe him.
　　"Oh, you little brat, after you grew up you decided to play tricks on your mother uh?" Qing Shui smiled as slightly berated Qing Shui. "Okay, go ahead, tell me what is it that you are hiding."
　　After Qing Shui saw the smile appear on Qing Yi's face, he knew that this was a good thing, if he could successfully convince Qing Yi now, he would have the chance to explore the world outside of Qing Village.
　　"Five years ago, at the bottom of the western mountains, I met an extremely ancient man. After seeing me, the old man laughed and said that this was a chance meeting, he had a feeling that this must be an arrangement of destiny! The old man reviewed my cultivation techniques and said that the strengthening technique I was currently practicing was not suited for myself. After that, he taught me a set of strengthening techniques that would not only be able to refine my tendons and bones, but also massively increase my level of strength! In addition, before he left, he also imparted to me a set of fist techniques. Back then, I was young and ignorant and didn't really understood much. However, I practiced the techniques the old man taught me and have gained some small success within the last 5 years. Now that 5 years has passed, I regret not learning more from him. Because now that I think about it, he must have been a Xian Tian cultivator!" Qing Shui hurriedly sprouted out a whole bunch of crap, mixing in some elements of the truth.
　　Qing Yi held an unbelieving gaze in her eyes as she discovered the many glaring loopholes of the story Qing Shui explained. However, she still silently let him finish.
　　"You said that you had some small success after cultivating for 5 years, so what is your actual strength now?" Qing Yi appreciated that Qing Shui was trying to make her feel less worried. However, she hoped what Qing Shui said was true!
　　"Hmm the old man didn't say so I am not really sure what level my strength has reached. However, I can say for certain that currently, my strength can be counted within the top 20 of the 3rd generation disciples" Qing Shui didn't dare to tell Qing Yi about his true strength.
　　"Since it is like this, and seeing how confident you are, Mother shall suppress her strength to Martial Warrior, 6th grade and have a small competition with you." Qing Yi said with anticipation. She could not wait to find out how much had Qing Shui grown in these 5 years.
　　Qing Shui smiled with elation in his heart, his scheme had succeeded "If I manage to win, can mother grant me permission to leave Qing Village?"
　　Qing Yi hesitated for awhile, looking at the confident expression on Qing Shui's face, she was uncertain if she should be happy or sad. She was worried that Qing Shui might end up the victor, but she also hoped that he would win, proving to everyone that his strength level could be comparable to Martial Warrior, 6th grade! The stronger he was, the better! This meant that he would have the ability to protect himself when he is journeying outside Qing Village.
　　Qing Yi gave Qing Shui an ultimatum. "Defeat me and you will have my permission!" Although, her heart was thinking that if Qing Shui proved to be stronger than expected, she would just stealthily increase her strength accordingly.
　　Qing Shui beamed, with a wide smile on his face. "Okay, I am ready!"
　　Qing Yi was at the realm of Martial Commander, 8th Grade, if Qing Yi suppressed her strength to Martial Warrior, 6th grade, then he was absolutely certain that she would not be a match for him.

A human warrior cultivating the Ancient Strengthening Technique has transcended dimensions and arrived on Kyushu. Together with twelve ravishing beauties with looks that were unmatched in their generation, will he be able to stand on the summit of this world?

This novel is about the main character, named Qing Shui, who transcended dimensions and arrived in the Kyushu continent. Storms of blood and wind, resulting in corpses and bones strewn about are extremely common here. The young warrior Qing Shui forged ahead in his path to cultivate, using 10 years to train himself, only to seek vengeance for the one who had forsaken his mother!

"Oh, I see… Mother, those 3 books which you mentioned earlier, can I find them in our library?" Qing Shui eagerly asked.

The 3 books that Qing Yi mentioned were not rare or valuable books, they could in fact be considered relatively common. Just from the titles of these books, one could tell that the knowledge recorded in them was elementary knowledge on herbs that served as the foundation of an alchemist's knowledge.

"Therefore, copies of these books are extremely commonplace, even commoners that do not belong to any clans will have a copy of them. Almost all of the adults in Qing Village have flipped through the contents of the 3 books, memorizing it as much as possible. After all, when they are out hunting or foraging in the wilds, with luck they might be able to discover valuable herbs which they might overlook if not for the knowledge from the books." Qing Yi explained, with hints of curiousity in her eyes as she looked at Qing Shui.

After learning from Qing Yi that the copies of <<Continental Medical Annal>>, <<10,000 Herbology Encyclopedia>> and the <<Herbal Combination Formula>> were extremely widespread, Qing Shui could confirm that the knowledge within these books was at most elementary knowledge that made up the foundation of an alchemist. If the books were rare and valuable, how would so many people be able to have access to them?

Since Qing Shui had already decided that he wanted to become an alchemist, he decided to take the chance now to read the books containing information pertaining to the art of alchemy. Since there was nothing he could do to facilitate his breakthrough to the 4th layer of Ancient Strengthening Technique at the moment, Qing Shui wanted to obtain the chance to gain more insights into the art of alchemy, he wanted to read more and find out if the alchemy he knew from [Western Fantasy] was similar to the one they practiced in World of the Nine Continents.

"Qing Shui, why the sudden interest in reading?" Qing Yi could sense that Qing Shui had a burning curiosity regarding the knowledge these books contained.

"Keke, Mother, you are in the medicinal herbs business, I wish to understand more about herbs so that I will be able to assist you. Who knows, I may even become an alchemist in the future as well. Qing Shui said half-jokingly.

"You little brat, how could it be so easy for one to become an alchemist." Qing Yi smiled gently. "Nevermind, we will look towards the future, after all, a moment of oppression counts for nothing. As the saying goes: one must suffer before one can accomplish great things." Qing Yi warmly said as she rubbed Qing Shui's hair. Looking at Qing Yi, Qing Shui once again felt the greatness of motherly love..

"Mother, I am planning to leave Qing Village in the next few days. I want to see the outside world. After all, I'm already 15, and I have never even stepped out of Qing Village before! People would label me as a country bumpkin if they knew." Qing Shui yearned for the world outside immensely. He also knew that bringing this topic up would cause Qing Yi to worry about him, after all, his strength was supposedly only at the level of 3rd grade of the Blue Lotus Art.

Qing Yi furrowed her brows in worry and blamed herself in her heart. She blamed herself for not bringing Qing Shui along when she went to Hundred Miles City. Qing Yi was afraid that Qing Shui might become overly intrigued by the beautiful sights outside of Qing Village and refuse to return! He was bound to suffer and get bullied outside of Qing Village with the meager bit of strength he possessed."

What Qing Yi didn't know was that Qing Shui's mental state had already matured to the state of an adult a long time ago. Pain and suffering? What are those? Before true determination, those are nothing! Qing Shui had long since understood that, in this world where cultivation was key, the strong ruled over everything. Power is the most absolute authority, while strength determined a person's status. It was the same throughout the ages.

Looking at Qing Yi's furrowed eyebrows, Qing Shui knew that she was worrying about him. This was also expected.. If he wanted to leave the village, he would have to come out with a reasonable excuse.

"Mother, are you worried that I will be bullied?" Qing Shui blinked his eyes, seemingly innocently, trying to make the atmosphere less edgy. After all, all children are close to the heart of their parents, how could Qing Shui not understand Qing Yi's worry for him.

"Hmm, Qing Shui, how about this? Just stay here for a few months longer, after I become less busy, I will accompany you to tour the outside world together, alright?" Qing Yi felt bitter in her heart. After all, a large clan like the Qing Clan needs plenty of capital to operate. Her medicinal business in the Hundred Miles City was imperative to the survival of the Qing Clan. In addition, recently there had been a a huge business transaction taking place. Hints of hesitation appeared in her heart, because on one hand she wanted to accompany Qing Shui, while on the other hand, she would need to conclude this business transaction personally.

Qing Shui went over and comforted Qing Yi, as he could see that Qing Yi was torn between the two fronts.

"Mother, actually I am not as weak as I appear to be, I have something that I always wanted to tell you." Qing Shui started to squirm uncomfortably, he could not tell the whole truth, but he needed something close to that, something which also sounded reasonable so as to allow Qing Yi to believe him.

"Oh, you little brat, after you grew up you decided to play tricks on your mother uh?" Qing Shui smiled as slightly berated Qing Shui. "Okay, go ahead, tell me what is it that you are hiding."

After Qing Shui saw the smile appear on Qing Yi's face, he knew that this was a good thing, if he could successfully convince Qing Yi now, he would have the chance to explore the world outside of Qing Village.

"Five years ago, at the bottom of the western mountains, I met an extremely ancient man. After seeing me, the old man laughed and said that this was a chance meeting, he had a feeling that this must be an arrangement of destiny! The old man reviewed my cultivation techniques and said that the strengthening technique I was currently practicing was not suited for myself. After that, he taught me a set of strengthening techniques that would not only be able to refine my tendons and bones, but also massively increase my level of strength! In addition, before he left, he also imparted to me a set of fist techniques. Back then, I was young and ignorant and didn't really understood much. However, I practiced the techniques the old man taught me and have gained some small success within the last 5 years. Now that 5 years has passed, I regret not learning more from him. Because now that I think about it, he must have been a Xian Tian cultivator!" Qing Shui hurriedly sprouted out a whole bunch of crap, mixing in  some elements of the truth.

Qing Yi held an unbelieving gaze in her eyes as she discovered the many glaring loopholes of the story Qing Shui explained. However, she still silently let him finish.

"You said that you had some small success after cultivating for 5 years, so what is your actual strength now?" Qing Yi appreciated that Qing Shui was trying to make her feel less worried. However, she hoped what Qing Shui said was true!

"Hmm the old man didn't say so I am not really sure what level my strength has reached. However, I can say for certain that currently, my strength can be counted within the top 20 of the 3rd generation disciples" Qing Shui didn't dare to tell Qing Yi about his true strength.

"Since it is like this, and seeing how confident you are, Mother shall suppress her strength to Martial Warrior, 6th grade and have a small competition with you." Qing Yi said with anticipation. She could not wait to find out how much had Qing Shui grown in these 5 years.

Qing Shui smiled with elation in his heart, his scheme had succeeded "If I manage to win, can mother grant me permission to leave Qing Village?"

Qing Yi hesitated for awhile, looking at the confident expression on Qing Shui's face, she was uncertain if she should be happy or sad. She was worried that Qing Shui might end up the victor, but she also hoped that he would win, proving to everyone that his strength level could be comparable to Martial Warrior, 6th grade! The stronger he was, the better! This meant that he would have the ability to protect himself when he is journeying outside Qing Village.

Qing Yi gave Qing Shui an ultimatum. "Defeat me and you will have my permission!" Although, her heart was thinking that if Qing Shui proved to be stronger than expected, she would just stealthily increase her strength accordingly.

Qing Shui beamed, with a wide smile on his face. "Okay, I am ready!"

Qing Yi was at the realm of Martial Commander, 8th Grade, if Qing Yi suppressed her strength to Martial Warrior, 6th grade,  then he was absolutely certain that she would not be a match for him.

A human warrior cultivating the Ancient Strenghtening Technique has transcended dimensions and arrived on kyushu.Together with twelve ravishing beauties with looks that were unmatched in their generation will he be able to stand on the summit of this world?


This novel is about the main character,named Qing shui, who transcended dimensions and arrived in the world of nine continents, Strom of blood and wind , resulting in corpses and bones strewn about are extremely common here .The young warrior Qing shui forged ahead in his path to cultivate using 10 years to train himself, only to seek vengeance for the one who had forsaken his mother! on the road , he had a chance encounter with the cold beauty (ice princess) Shui qing zhang incurring hatred vengeance from her fiancée- Situ bu fan . After entering the hundred miles city , qing shui got acquainted with a dignified and beautiful lady named Yu he and other xian tian realm cultivators . After killing the young master of gong Yang Clan because of Yu he and was forced into corner . Luckily for qing shui , a lady as beautiful as a celestial maiden named Yi ye jian ge rushed back to save him from afar, following which a bloody battle ensured . Can qing shui turn danger into safety , averting diaster? And hiss relationship with the various beautiful ladies , what will it develop into?

The first thing that came to mind when Hans saw the distant explosion of light...was how absurd whatever just happened was...

Veef also stood there, staring at the distant false star with her mouth agape. True surprise ran through their soul-bond.

..

'WAIT! I wasn't even trying to make that! I was just imagining how It'd look... and it just appeared!!!'

...

The pixie face-palmed, "That's what I meant when I said 'envisionment'! O-Okay! At least it isn't the most unfavorable of outcomes!... You could've imagined it with a conscience... or worse: a personality! If you'd have done that... all of your mana might have been drained!"

'?!'

...

'...' The concept; that he could even spawn something like that fascinated him. But the fact that it could be done unintentionally... left him horrified.

..

Veef noticed his odd silence and immediately became worried.

"Hey! You! You aren't thinking about it, are you?! Stop! Stop right now!"

She yelled out loud, hoping to draw Hans away from his vision, which he had already dispersed.

..

'... No... I'm not!'

Hans watched as she became visibly relieved by his response, and sighed.

"Good! I thought we were going to screw things up in the first five minutes!"

..

____________________________

 

"Now that we're back on track...what do you want to put in here?" She gestured all around them.

"An infinite labyrinth filled to the brim with monsters and traps? A vast puzzle - adventurers won't be able to solve before being swallowed by the maw of death? There are almost too many things you can make inside here, with this much space and mana...."

Hans became unnerved all of a sudden - not at the complexity of everything Veef just said, but rather the mundane appeal of having such things in his dungeon. Those were the things he found unappealing about those fantasy games he used to play. They just didn't suit his tastes.

Hans knew just by thinking such thoughts, he was probably the worst dungeon in all of history.

...

He didn't know what made himself so excited for this room to begin with; what he expected out of it, but he knew those things weren't it.

That was when he heard Veef continue.

...

"But what am I saying?! That stuff all depends on what type of dungeon you plan on being..."

 

Veef, paused, "Although whatever you 'really' do start with... will be the foundation for whatever you try and do here later... "

She didn't turn to face him, though it felt like she did, mystically, and she spoke the next words that drew Hans into a short trance.



"...So..."


"What's your goal for this place? It could really be anything!..."



"O' Great Dungeon, what do you want?" She remarked sarcastically.



 

It wasn't the words spoken that brought upon this trance. It was the implication... the realization that was birthed in Hans that very moment.

After living one life restricted, he was thrust into this one anew, and along with this life came new restrictions, new pain, and new rules. For the past day of consciousness here, he subconsciously fell into the line of thinking he had those days in the hospital bed; where the very body he dominated was the restriction.

Until this moment, he believed it would be the same again; he would be bound to a place he didn't want to be, unable.... incapable of changing the fact of his destiny.

 He'd been living this way for so long, each and every day in that hospital, for ten years... it didn't cross his mind.... this opportunity.

Until...

...

 

*...What do you want?*

 

Those few words resounded in his head.

 

And something popped.

 

..

'What I want...'

"What I want?"

 

He couldn't help but recall the times he'd been asked that same question. Of course, he'd been asked too many times to count. But the only times that resounded with him, were when he was asked by his family... the people who mattered before they stopped visiting him.

When they asked... he would reply:

"I want to go home...."

But they put it off as the simple ramblings of a nine-year-old child. They threw a portable game console into his lap and wished him well.

But as his conditioned worsened, and his family (with the exception of his mother), stopped visiting (likely from the guilt of putting off visits before), Hans began to wonder what he could have done, moreover, what he would have liked to have done with his life.

And when he was asked by his mother the last time he saw her:

"Can I get you anything?.... What do you want?"

He couldn't tell her weak heart, 'I want to go outside', much less, 'I want to go home'.

so he told her instead.

"I... want to see the world... from here, of course" he laughed.

She frowned for a bit, then smiled mysteriously.

 

And next he woke, there were two books on the bed beside him.

...

 

Both were filled to the brim with illustrations.... one was a collection of landmark and landscape paintings and photographs by famous artists...

The other, hilariously, was an illustration/ concept art book from that fantasy game he liked to play. He wondered how she knew.

...

 

And from then on, his answer to that question was permanently changed, incredibly.

Those two books became his infatuation, only short-lived to match his lifespan.

The images of lands both real and fictitious, never, but at the same time always more profoundly enticing than one another. Fantasy and reality. 

...

 

'He wanted' to be "there"- to see them both, yet couldn't.

...

 

Now before him, this black endless expanse of over trillions of mana, and...

 

the opportunity.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 Hans could feel his emotions flow through his connection with Veef, so he could tell that she knew of his turbulent thoughts.

"Hey! What are you thinking? You'd better not do anything stupi-"

...

.....

..

.




Suddenly, Veef felt a harsh pull. And without preparation or knowledge of what had happened, collided heavily with a hard surface. The world seemed to spin, forces like gravity enacting themselves on her and driving her against the new and unseen.

Her head buzzed and ached, so much that she thought she heard noises. The pixie almost didn't realize the fact she had stuck to the object she collided with, and the vague but vast force that had stuck her with it, still "oppressed" her. And that force.... felt all too familiar.

...

...

The noises in her head became clearer, they sounded soft, unlike the hectic pounds of head injury, confusing her. They rustled and collided softly with one another like solid waves.

Like leaves.

Her eyes burst open almost instantly. Her hands gripped the solid mass beneath her, pure earth. Not one bit falsified.

 And there were no words.

 .

.

.

Hans Stein was a young man hospitalized since his late childhood by an unknown disease. A disease that took everything from him.

...

Or so he thought...

...

On the day he died, his soul - heavily mutated and modified by the "disease", ripped itself to pieces, only to reform somewhere else entirely.

A world of magic, monsters, adventurers, and places only the mind could imagine.

...

Places Hans couldn't go...

...

Because he could reincarnate into one thing and one thing only.

...

A Dungeon Core.

 

 

 

 

 

=============================================

Reworking.....

Jam was recognized in the library by the receptionist, and allowed to go to the third and fourth floor to pick out his two techniques. On the third floor, Jam picked up a technique simply called Intent. 

[Intent: An auxiliary technique that suppresses and applies pressure on others through the user's killing intent. The effects of the suppression can range from decreasing the combat prowess of the target(s) to directly killing the target should their cultivation be weak enough relative to the user. The technique's effectiveness is governed by the user's cultivation base, level of killing intent, and Demon Dao level — Maximum effect on Saint Masters and below]

After picking the Demonic Technique in the third floor, Jam moved up to the fourth floor, and started searching for a Yang technique. Because the Library was shaped like a pyramid there would be less books the higher up you went. 

The fourth floor was the highest floor in the library and had very few books in its own right; there wouldn't be many books for Yang techniques, that Jam could pick from. Luckily, Jam found a skill he liked. 

[Solar Upheaval: Incorporates Yang Dao aspects and energy into already existing skills. This technique allows the user to gain access to the Yang Dao aspects of Purification, Light, Heat, Hardness, and Virtue — 0% | Evolvable]

The Yang Dao was very similar to the Dao of Fire, as they shared two aspects, the aspect of Heat and Purification. However, while these aspects were technically the same, the differed slightly. 

The Yang Dao would push these two aspects to the extreme. For example, Heat for the Dao of fire, could be interpreted to be hot or cold, and some Fire Dao practitioners would use a cold flame. However, for the Yang Dao, the concept of  "coldness" didn't exist.

...

With these two techniques picked out, Jam headed back to the receptionist to pick up the jade slips for these techniques. These techniques weren't like the free techniques, that had their respective jade slips in the little book introducing the techniques. Jam would have to take the introductory book for his Demonic and Yang techniques to the receptionist, where he would then be given the jade slips for each of the techniques.

Jam won't back down stairs and received his techniques. He bade farewell to the receptionist and headed for the core disciples classroom. Evangeline told Jam she would be waiting for him to pick up his technique outside the library, and when Jam came out, the two of them headed to their classroom.

On the way to their classroom Jam and Evangeline saw Rina. Jam shouted at Rina and after some formalities, Rina was added to Jam's party.  Rina was still not perfectly acclimated to Jared becoming Evangeline, but that didn't influence her too much in the way she behaved around Evangeline. 

As they were walking and chatting, Rina suddenly asked Jam "So… what's your IGT?"

"What?" Jam had no idea what Rina was talking about.

"You know, an Internet GamerTag." Rina responded.

"Sorry, I still have no idea what you're talking about." Jam was still confused.

"Do you have a computer?" Rina asked.

"Not here. But I did have one back where I lived, before coming to the academy." Jam confirmed.

"Have you ever used the computer to play games on the internet?"

"Nope." Jam only used the computer in Woody's house to search for the most optimal training methods, or other things related to cultivation.

Rina face-palmed herself before saying "You should get a computer and make an IGT, so you can play with us on The Cloud"

"Who is "us" and what is "The Cloud?"" 

"You might be the only person in the academy without a computer to play games with, so when I say "us" I'm referring to all the other core disciples. I mean seriously, even Evangeline has an IGT and plays games every once in a while. The Cloud is just the name of the system where people go to play game on the internet, from all over the Mortal Plane." Rina was trying to be friendly with Jam by having him join her friends list.

Jam turned to Evangeline to see her avoiding his gaze, as much as she possibly could.

Jam faced Rina and said "Fine, but won't this take away time from our cultivation?"

"Yeah, but cultivation is boring and dull." This time it was Evangeline who spoke up.

"Well, what kind of games do you play on The Cloud?"

"Lets see. You can play the traditional games, where you look at your computer's monitor, or buy a virtual reality capsule and play games in, well, virtual reality. There are RPG, Action, Adventure, Cooking, Fantasy, History, Romance, … , and even Card games and Board games!"

"That sounds stupid. Why would I play a dumb game, when reality is much more fascinating. We are literally cultivators! Our lives are literally chuck-full of action, adventure, fantasy, and so on."

"Yeah, but it's hard work, and the action, adventure, and fantasy has to wait for you become powerful through the endlessly repetitive training. Don't you want to have a taste of what being super powerful is like, without having to go through the trouble of cultivating and training to reach that level?"

"The would be nice, but every moment I spend pretending to be almighty, is a moment wasted from cultivation that can actually make me that strong!" 

There was a long pause after Jam said this, and both Rina and Evangeline were looking at him, in a way that made him uncomfortable. To recover from this apparent blunder, Jam said "However, you're right in saying that cultivation is repetitive, dull, and boring,... I'll get a computer, make an IGT, and play with you guys when I'm relaxing."

Since there was still time before the class started, Jam's party went to the Hall of Affairs, to buy Jam a computer and set up his IGT. The Hall of Affairs was a place that sold almost anything to a disciple of the academy, so long as buyer had enough money. 

With Jam's wealth, buying a state-of-the-art computer and virtual capsule combo was not an issue. After buying his computer, Jam made an IGT before leaving the Hall of Affairs. Jam had no idea what his IGT should be, so he asked Evangeline and Rina for their opinion. Oddly enough, they both told him the same thing "Your IGT should be your Daoist name."

"I don't have a Daoist name."

"Well make one up then." Evangeline responded

"Is that how that works? Aren't you supposed to get your Daoist name from your reputation?"

"Nah, you can just call yourself by whatever Daoist name you want."

"Mhmm..." Jam thought about it for a minute, when all of a sudden a name just popped into his mind 'Purple Sunshine!'

This Daoist name was totally random, and had nothing to do with the Daos Jam studied, his personality, or really, anything about him. But after the name appeared in his mind, Jam couldn't forget it, and decided his Daoist name should be Purple Sunshine.

Jam typed "Purple Sunshine" into the computer and confirmed this name to be his IGT.

Evangeline and Rina were surprised with Jam's choice, but the matter of one's Daoist name was up to themselves, so they didn't say anything. They took this opportunity to tell Jam their Daoist name, since he would have to know anyways when they went to the Titanic Beast Mountain Range.

Evangeline's Daoist name was Returning Void, and Rina's Daoist name was Shinestar. 

Daoist names would be used when cultivators left their sect — or academy — and interacted with foreign cultivators. Jam would come to know members of other sects by their Daoist name until he reached a close enough relationship to know that person's real name. It was a way for people to recognize cultivators by their own merits, instead of their ancestry.

After Jam finished setting up his computer, virtual reality capsule, IGT, and Cloud account, he stored everything he bought in his Spatial Storage Dimension. Jam's group then left the Hall of Affair, and walked to their classroom.

Jam's group finally made it to the classroom. There, they waited for Cecily to come and pick them up. Cecily would take the core disciples into her flying vessel, to reach the Titanic Beast Mountain Range. 

The Titanic Beast Mountain Range is outside of Yhamnigh. In other words, the core disciples would be traveling through space to reach their destination.

One by one, the rest of the core disciples entered the classroom. They passed time by chatting amongst one another. Evangeline and Arnold were the only two core disciples that didn't participate in the chatting. Evangeline still didn't treat the rest of the core disciples as equals, and Arnold was cultivating the aspect of Self, until Cecily entered the classroom. 

It was seven in the morning when Cecily reached the classroom. Cecily looked into the classroom, and after confirming that everyone was present said "Good. Seeing that everyone's already here, let's go."

Follow the adventures of a boy named Jam on his journey to gain a purpose. Thrust onto the world of cultivation because of the silly encouragement of his foster grandmother and his ridiculously one-track-minded self, Jam's adventure is bound to be full of action, comedy, and self discovery. Hopefully, his stupidity will be cured before it affects his life too badly.

-----

Here's my cringy first attempt at a hook, so let me be more straightforward with what this will turn out to be~

A "dense" MC in all the wrong ways, who's OPness brings Xianxia protagonists to shame.

Some wacky situations that exploit the density and idiocy of the MC, which will inevitably shape his future self.

A band of overpowered companions that follow Jam in his journey to find purpose, with only a single love interest (for now, and probably forever~)

-----

[Current] Schedule: Hiatus...

[Relationship] Goals (End the week's rating with):

100 Power Stones = Extra chapter (Week of January 7, 14)

150 Power Stones = Extra chapter (Week of January 21)

Next morning, I was still in this fantasy world. Little Yue was still my maid. I still had around 17 points of soul force. Looks like I can reach Bronze 1 star in a matter of hours and Silver 1 star in a matter of days.

Still, I had to go to the academy to return the books and take another set. There was so much to study, so many ideas to try. Since energy is diffused in the world, then different materials could have different resistance to it, opening the possibility for Ley Lines and advanced meditation chambers.

The simplest idea (coming directly from Naruto) to test would be strengthening of the ego of demonic beast spirits via naming. Low-level beasts themselves are unlikely to have personal names, so giving them one should focus their ego and improve their compatibility with the host. Overall, it could provide benefits comparable to the forced evolution in that 'Somewhat Demonic' Pot, which Nie Li going to buy at auction.

The lesson of the day was martial arts with teacher Chen Sai, so we all gathered at the dojo. He was a tall burly man with a loud voice, piercing gaze and an ugly scar on his face. The teacher wanted to see our current level and somehow Nie Li ended up as my partner. I knew that he would try to mess with me and even sleep deprivation won't slow him down. But who said I have to follow his rules?
"Shen Yue and Nie Li!" - called the teacher.
"This kind young master feels merciful today, so let us see who can touch another first," - I said and jumped on him (without waiting for his reply) which he dodged.
"You seem kind of slow, like an earthworm," - he said beginning his taunt.
"I did my move, it's your turn," - I replied calmly - "come at me, bro." - I challenged him with a gesture.
"But what if neither of us can touch another?" - he asked coming to me in a spiral, like a shark.
"Then we must be evenly matched." - I replied, stepping towards him.
"Looks like I missed, your turn now." - he voice came from behind me. I didn't even see him moving, must be his 'secret protagonist art' or something.
"I give up," - I answered calmly, holding trousers with my hands because he stole my belt while passing along. - "Now, give me back my belt."
"Tch" - was all he said, tossing it at my face.
"That was impressive speed Nie Li and commendable self-awareness Shen Yue." - noted teacher.
The boy spent the rest of the lesson sleeping with open eyes. I didn't bother trying to mess with him since it could be a trap.

I spent the rest of the day (dedicated to self-study) in the library taking notes and quietly cursing various scholars, who turned hack work into an art form. There was even a book made purely of references, whose informational value was literally one string. There were a few guys trying to earn my favor, so I let them help me searching for specific books. 

By the end of the school day, I managed to compile around 40 pages worth of information and even tested energy-resistance of a few common substances like air, ceramics, cinder, soil, stone, water and wood in the workshop. I didn't have any kind of scale, it would come later I simply needed to see how they compare to each other. As it turns out variation was rather small (while noticeable). Ordered from high to low it was Cinder, Air, Ceramics, Water, Soil, Stone, Wood, where stone and wood had uneven resistance depending on direction. I even sketched a kind of pyramidal platform for meditation, that would focus a flow of energy towards the top - nothing fancy like inscription array, simply a cake-like system of layers with cinder isolation on the sides.

On my way back home, I bought samples of twenty different kinds of wood and blood of various bronze-rank demonic beasts. I didn't know how to read soul attributes to find the form and element compatibility, but those things could be tested with little effort.

"Yue'er, I'm home!" - I called as usual.
"Wellcome home, Master!" - her smile was as warm as usual, but I saw impatience in her eyes.
"We have a bit of time, before dinner." - I returned a couple of hours earlier than yesterday. She instantly caught my meaning and her smile got even wider. - "We will do it in my room. I would finish today's research and you have a couple of hours."
"Yes, master." - she replied following me.
When we got to my room, I pulled her sign from my notes.
"This is your soul sign, just as I told you before you should keep it in your mind during cultivation. Once you start your soul force would probably compress about ten times don't be afraid, just stop once the process would finish and we would measure your soul force. It's important for proper measurement of your further progress and improvement of your cultivation method." - I instructed her. - "just sit there comfortably and begin cultivating."

As she began cultivating, I pulled out my wood samples and arranged them on my table. I was rich, so there was no point in building my cultivation platform from second-rate materials when I can afford the good stuff. It took her only 20 minutes to compress her soul force. As expected, her level dropped down to 1, barely visible in a soul crystal. After that I ordered her to resume, giving her an hour. I myself spent that time designing conical wooden platform of 20 layers, that should increase the concentration of energy at the top by 20-25%. 

By the end, she advanced by entire point, it wasn't much (compared to my 10), but it means she can reach bronze-rank in 100 hours - it's not even two months (that Nie Li was bargaining for in the story) - it's about a week of dedicated cultivation (15 hours/day) with supposedly inferior method.
"Good, with these result you would get bronze rank in a couple of months without much effort and reach silver within a couple of years." - I commented, seeing a clear difference in cultivation speed between red and green soul. - "Now, I want you to heat a bucket of water and bring a clean bedsheet. I have a theory, that cultivation in water or even wet cloth would go slightly faster. And you have enough time to test it, before starting dinner."
"I'll do it right away, master Yue." - she replied cheerfully.

It took about half an hour to confirm my theory. And I spent my time before dinner going through the alchemy books I got from the library and cursing their pigheaded authors. No wonder alchemy in this city was in such a poor state, there was not a single tablet in any of those books, literally. Almost as if those scholars hated efficient methods of organizing and sharing information.

A guy was reincarnated (into Tales of Demons and Gods) as Shen Yue, without a cheat.

The Wilde Mansion was impressive. It screamed of old and rich history. The building was very well-maintained and Scarlet didn't think there would be such buildings in Malaysia. The mansion looked straight out from a picture somewhere in Europe with the beautiful french windows and carved pillars. The girl almost forgot about being in the same country the moment the black sedan passed through the iron gates.

The gardens were beautiful and the arrangement was completely out of this world. Scarlet wasn't a fan of flowers but she knew the basics. Imagine seeing not just one tulip but a field of them growing in the garden as they drove to the porch. The half-genius could only guess the amount of labour and money poured into maintaining a garden as large as this. If she didn't experience coming through the main gates herself or knew that this was Alex's home, Scarlet would have thought that she was in Holland.

"How do you maintain a garden this huge? Do you sell the flowers or something? Why do you have tulips or every colour available... and roses and peonies and is that a lotus?"

Alex giggled at Scarlet's monologue. Jasper got out as soon as the car stopped, already used to the grandiose sight. His father spent hours every day ensuring that the garden would impress people so Scarlet's reaction was expected.

Jenna who held the car door open was bemused by the new friend's train of thought. As per tradition, the butler offered Scarlet a tour of the mansion while instructing some maids to prepare some snacks. 

Mrs Wilde watched Alex and her friends from the third floor, hiding behind a curtain. She was even more interested in the girl with lopsided hair now ever since her arrival. Jenna doesn't usually smile with her heart but one comment from the new girl had the stiff butler grinning widely. If given the choice, Mrs Wilde would've run downstairs to greet them herself. Unfortunately, there was etiquette to be followed by people of a certain status. Jenna would have a heart attack if she saw Mrs Wilde acting on impulse so the lady of the house could only wait patiently.

Inside the mansion, Scarlet enjoyed the blast of cold air, a vast contrast to the brief heat they experienced outside when they alighted from the car. From the outside, the building was huge. From the inside, the building was humongous!

Although Scarlet wasn't very tasteful in art, she could appreciate the strategically placed sculptures and potted plants as they walked passed them. The paintings, on the other hand, weren't something Scarlet took interest in. If anything, she thought that it might be better to add some of Alex's scribbles as a child. Then again, the small girl paused. Did Alex ever do such normal things as a child? Judging from the wealth of this house, Alex might have been sent for art lessons before even she knew how to spell 'purple'.

Jenna introduced a little of the mansion's history as they were shown the sitting room, the fireplace, the dining, washrooms and guest rooms. Just before they moved to the gardens outside, Scarlet asked if there was a library.

Jenna blinked. "The Wilde Family owns a private library but it is back in America. We only have a small collection of books in the study that tutors will use when teaching the young mistress."

Alex blushed under the intense stare of Scarlet.

"You're lucky," the girl commented, surprising the young heiress.

Nobody commented on it but the butler was intrigued. Rich ten-year-olds would normally never willingly pick up books. They preferred running outdoors or hanging out with friends to play games. Alex would prefer a paintbrush or oil pastel over a book any good day while Jasper just loved to take naps under the sun in the garden. If Mrs Wilde knew that there was one kid in the world who adored books just as much as her, there would be no doubting her adoration for Scarlet.

The garden was just as Scarlet imagined it to be even under the unbearable heat. Yet again she surprised the butler by asking if they ever thought about utilising the land space to farm vegetables instead of they weren't going to sell the flowers.

"Some vegetables have very pretty leaves and flowers. Imagine if the bushes were replaced with tea... you could impress the guests by brewing home-grown tea! You could even try having some trees grown here. I know it might ruin the European fantasy but palm trees will make it look very pretty over by that pond. It feels more tropical but in this sweltering heat, it might give an illusion of an oasis spot."

Jenna nodded. Although Scarlet didn't have conventional ideas, they were interesting and practical. 

"Thank you for the suggestion, Miss Scarlet. I shall inform the head gardener about them. It would indeed be interesting to see some of our guests reacting to drinking home-grown tea."

The underlying amusement and malice were lost on Scarlet who was too busy fighting the praise she received. That intention was not lost on the other two children who knew of some guests that the Wilde Family had bad blood with. Jenny's smile no longer reached her eyes for the rest of the house tour.

As promised, there were three cups of hot cocoa and an assortment of cookies waiting for the children after the walk outside. Scarlet also noticed a beautiful lady sitting by the low table with the steaming mugs.

"Hello, mother."

After hearing Alex's greeting, the lady frowned. Scarlet half-expected the lady to turn cold and become stern with Alex just like what her parents would have done. To her surprise, the lady rebuked Alex for being too 'stiff and formal' in front of her mother. The girl became squirmish when Mrs Wilde demanded a hug, a kiss and being called 'mommy' in that exact order. For a ten-year-old who was in that awkward stage of puberty, the open display of affection towards their parents in front of their friends became a little too much for poor Alex. Scarlet just watched them interact with envy gnawing at her heart. She felt ugly all of a sudden and it wasn't because of her disastrous hairstyle.

Mrs Wilde was quick to notice the odd expression in Scarlet's eyes and decided to give Alex a break. She then told the children to wash their hands before tea and nobody defied her. Alex was the first to run, quick to escape her mother's embarrassing antics in front of her friends.

Mrs Wilde took the chance to ask Jenna a few questions about the odd girl when the children were out of earshot.

"Have you done a background check on Scarlet?"

Jenna nodded and passed the heiress a folder that was delivered by a footman earlier. the lady of the house took the chance to excuse herself.

"Treat her with the utmost hospitality. I'm interested in her."

Jenna bowed with a hand over her heart. "Yes, my lady."

At age 10, Scarlet Liu Xiu Wen was tested with a Mensa IQ of 156.

By age 12, she was publishing books with the pen name Permanent Frost. By age 14, she was a successful vocalist-composer in the band called Britannia. By age 16 Scarlet had a successful career as a model and actress going by the stage name of Liu Xiu Wen.

However, there was a secret that the world didn't know. Away from the limelight, Scarlet took on yet another persona online as Pirate S - the eccentric half-genius. Everyone who lurked in the forums knew her name. Known for her unusual takes on life and mostly popularly for her "Human Observation Diary" blog, Scarlet enjoys the nerd life in secret.

Human Observation Diary has always kept to a very standard format but one day, a reader pointed out that the blog has recently been differing from its usual format. Intrigued by the trigger, Scarlet investigates her latest human observation - an online NEET by the name of Jedd77.

From further interactions, Scarlet finds herself helplessly drawn to him. As their friendship develops into something more, Scarlet has to make a choice.

To give up her secrecy and allow Jedd77 to be a part of her life? Or continue the game of cat and mouse even after the face reveal.

***

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