บท 11: System Upgrade
[New function unlocked]
[New items for sale]
[As the host has officially started cultivation and reached 1000 points accumulated, a one-time lottery will now be activated]
Yan Guang quickly skimmed through the influx of system notifications until a lottery wheel appeared in front of his very eyes.
When he attempted to touch it, his hands simply phased through, as if it was air.
So, the system can even create holograms, Yan Guang thought.
He then clicked the button below the wheel which said 'SPIN' in bold lettering.
As soon as he did, the lottery wheel began spinning and the options on it became visible.
In total, there were 7 segments of the wheel, each with its reward. The rewards ranged from a random talent to black-rank martial arts or even black-rank cultivation manuals. Everything on the wheel was a cut above what could be accessed in the shop.
Of course, there were also the standard rewards like 2500 points. That was quite a sizable amount, but the rest were quite clearly worth more.
What stood out to Yan Guang the most was the ??? segment. Usually, the question mark always had the most exotic reward on a lottery wheel, so he was excited to see if he was lucky enough to get it.
Yan Guang silently gulped as the seconds passed, watching the wheel slow down.
Right as it seemed it was about to stop, the wheel moved one last segment.
What had it finally landed on?
Yan Guang rejoiced in his mind as he realized the wheel had actually landed on '???'.
This was exactly what he wanted!
As the wheel faded into nothingness, Yan Guang felt the strongest migraine he had ever felt in his life accompanied by a burst of memories.
If one could see inside his brain at that moment, one would undoubtedly see neural synapses, the building blocks of memory, being formed at a frightening rate.
It was said that a person's neuroplasticity, that being the ability to form new synapses, was a key factor in determining their aptitude to learn new things.
Therefore, it was a wonder in and of itself that the system was actually able to speed up this process to almost instantaneous levels, creating new memories of an entire technique inside Yan Guang's head in mere moments.
After a few minutes, the sudden pain subsided and Yan Guang was able to review all he had learned.
Yan Guang's eyes widened in surprise. This wasn't a martial art, or cultivation or body-refining method, it was something else entirely.
It was a mind-refining technique!
Only now was he made aware of the existence of such a practice. He knew that traditional cultivation and body-refining were two paths that warriors in this world often took, but he had never heard the slightest mention of mind-refining or anyone who followed this path.
However, there had to be a first time for everything. He was not scared to embark upon a path no one else followed. Such a path would only make him stronger.
Not only was it part of an entirely new path of cultivation, but the manual was also black-rank inferior-tier, a whole rank above any technique Yan Guang had had before.
It had a name befitting of its rank, being called the Starsoul Illumination Art.
His first impression of the technique was that it was domineering.
At its essence, the goal of the technique was simple.
Imagine the soul as a star, illuminating the world.
Expand the star, allowing the strength of the soul to reach unimaginable heights.
To say such things was easy; to achieve them was difficult.
Yan Guang had no idea where to begin, so he put the matter aside for now.
There was still something higher on his priority list: the new system function.
"System, open the new function tab.", asked Yan Guang.
[Talents tab opened]
[Upgradable talents]
[Inferior cultivation talent -> Medium cultivation talent (0/1000)]
[Inferior martial physique -> Medium martial physique (0/1000)]
[Inferior comprehension -> Medium comprehension (0/10000)]
[Semi-eidetic memory -> Eidetic memory (0/5000)]
[Total points: 1073]
"Only enough points to upgrade either cultivation talent or martial physique, huh...", muttered Yan Guang.
He was definitely going to grind points later. How could he possibly pass up on such alluring upgrades?
At the moment, though, Yan Guang had a choice to make. Fortunately, it wasn't a difficult choice.
A cultivation talent would only come in handy over time. Yan Guang guessed that it was probably related to his overall affinity for sensing and manipulating Qi motes, thereby increasing his rate of cultivation.
While such an ability was definitely incredibly useful, he felt it would only be useful in the long term. What he needed was an upgrade that would make him stronger right now, so he decisively chose to invest 1000 points into his martial physique.
[1000 points added to inferior martial physique, upgrade commencing]
When the remolding of his body began, Yan Guang actually felt quite nostalgic. The same pain he had felt right when stepping foot into this world had returned.
To the present Yan Guang, the pain was quite tolerable. His many sessions of body-refining had increased his pain tolerance to inhuman levels, after all.
He could feel his body's metabolism rising rapidly as his cells began demanding for more nutrients.
All of a sudden, a new kind of pain struck as he felt as if thousands of ants were eating at the very marrow of his bones.
Not only that, he could feel his bones stretching by a small amount as if he was experiencing a growth spurt that was sped up a thousand times.
His muscles felt like they were cramping from how tense they were.
Every part of Yan Guang's body was screaming in pain, yet growing, being refined.
Yan Guang could only remember a famous quote from his home, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
With every fiber of his being, Yan Guang resisted the urge to let out a guttural scream.
He would resist this pain, he would be in control of his own body!
Every second that passed seemed like an eternity, but eventually, the pain subsided and Yan Guang remained.
He had remained conscious throughout the whole experience, braving the pain for a chance at a transformation.
The very first thing Yan Guang noticed was the smell. After looking around, he realized that it wasn't coming from an external source, it was coming from him.
His body was covered in a black sludge that seemed like it was a combination of the dirtiest things imaginable, and it smelled like it too.
Yan Guang took off, sprinting out the door and down the stairs before exiting the inn and running to the nearest bathhouse.
As this town was still firmly in the Middle Ages, finding any inn that had a bath attached was close to impossible.
The only way to take a decent bath was to go to the public bathhouse and pay a hefty fee for 2 silvers.
This was why Yan Guang would usually just wash off in the rivers in the forests surrounding Guming town. It was free and convenient.
This was crossing his bottom line of cleanliness, however. He had to take a real bath this time.
Taking a hot bath for the first time since he came to this world was quite a relaxing experience, in actuality.
Yan Guang felt it was well worth the 2 silvers. Perhaps it was because he had just sat through the worst pain of his life, but relaxing in a warm pool of water felt divine.
The patrons at the shop were rather unsurprised by this. They had seen quite a few martial artists run to the bathhouse before, and it was always after they had completed one of the civil quests that required going to the sewers.
Looking at the level of grime on this man, it simply had to be true. What a hardworking young martial artist, they thought.
Soon, Yan Guang had finished bathing and was about to leave when a stranger approached him and patted him on the back before speaking, "Good work out there, son. We need more folk like you in this town, willing to do honest back-breaking work."
???
Yan Guang was confused. Had this man mistaken him for someone else? The only back-breaking work he did was almost getting his back broken fighting a rhino.
Disregarding this random encounter, he returned to his rather tiny room.
Somehow, it seemed to have become a little bit smaller.
Yan Guang was befuddled.
He knew that with his level of visual acuity, he was well beyond 20/20 vision. Not only that, his intuition was also beyond average levels.
If Yan Guang had a hunch about something, it was more likely to be true than not.
Then, Yan Guang realized he had gotten ahead of himself.
He had just gotten taller.
Usually, a person's growth occurs over many days. Every minuscule increase was accounted for by the brain adjusting over 8 hours of sleep.
However, Yan Guang had grown at least a few centimeters in just a few moments. It was natural for him to feel some side effects like disorientation and feeling like things were smaller.
Yan Guang realized that the martial physique upgrade had a wider range than he thought. Not only did it make him stronger, but it also changed his body in subtle ways to benefit him against other martial artists
Testing out his physical parameters, Yan Guang was not shocked to see an overall improvement in almost all areas.
He was more flexible and agile; even his reaction speed improved.
When he used his martial arts, he could feel that the internal force flowed smoothly without obstructions.
It gave Yan Guang a little confidence boost. He'd probably be able to achieve better results tomorrow with this upgrade.
One thought led to another and eventually, a doubt arose in Yan Guang's head. Was the system actually reacting to his needs to create new functions, or was it simply following preprogrammed goalposts?
Any questions about the system seemed to be unanswerable for now, however. He had tried asking questions to the system but beyond the notifications, it didn't respond or interact with him in any way. It seemed quite barebones, unlike the ones in novels with entire personalities.
In a way, that was also comforting. What if the system really did have a personality? Then he would have to wonder if it was conscious, and if it was, whether it would scheme against him.
A machine might be dumber, but it was also safer.
After all of his thoughts settled, Yan Guang began what was probably his last training session before the competition began.
Quickly retrieving the jars of rhino blood he had hidden under his bed, he began to uncap and use them.
It had been a long time since he had cultivated the Tiger-Bear manual, 5 and a half days. His recovery had lost him much progress in this aspect.
As Yan Guang persevered through each exercise, he felt that it was remarkably easier than before.
Perhaps the difficulty of such training decreased as stats increased, or his martial physique upgrade was also a contributor to body-refining methods.
He ended up finishing his typical body-refining regimen in half an hour, so he decided to double it.
Another half an hour later, Yan Guang had finally managed to finish all of his sets.
With his muscles practically begging for rest, he had no choice but to stop and instead switch to meditation.
The crescent moon was shining bright by the time he was finally done with his meditation.
Although he really wished to try the Starsoul Illumination art, there was simply no time. He had to sleep and wake up early for the examination tomorrow. Yan Guang was sure that a few hours of cultivating a brand new technique wouldn't change much anyway.
As he lay on his bed, idle thoughts fluttered through his mind.
Yan Guang would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous for tomorrow. He had weeks to prepare for this.
His strength was refined to the greatest it had ever been. Now it was simply time to show it!
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