I am strong.
Nearly three months ago, I was still struggling with basic exercises. Not only did I build up a body surpassing a peak athlete,I can also conjure spells that can drastically affect my surroundings.
Coupled with my Sword Heart…
It’s not the time to be inflated.
“Fu…”
I looked at the bed opposite of mine. Instead of the typical Kiana glued to her phone, she is now actively cultivating. She sat on the bedside and maintained a straight posture.
Well…
It is what it is.
The Tuna became hardworking. I sometimes forget I am not dreaming.
“That sensation from earlier!”
I nearly forgot about this. I entered the golden orb space. The moment my eyes gazed upon the orb, I received a brand new set of information.
{Myriad worlds, throughout the river of eternal time, receive the gifts of Dao.}
A short translation later, I found a brand new function.
“Am I dreaming?”
The new function…
There is no way….
It is real!
“Damn.”
Previously, the golden orb can only feed me back techniques. I made it with random bullshit at first. As I received more knowledge, it became less and less bullshit with more realistic takes on cultivation.
More realism meant a better filter. I can get the techniques I really want instead of the randomness from my random bullshit.
Currently, the number of techniques inside my head is nearing two hundred and fifty. I had worries about my brain not having the capacity to store them all, but I am still fine now.
Anyways, the sole function is the techniques. Now, there’s another one—one that made me smile.
Thank the heavens.
“Wait… Isn’t this similar to a random draw?”
Recalling my horrendous luck, the fifteen consecutive 50/50 loss, my E10 Yanqing, C8 Qiqi...
I heaved a deep sigh. It’s not the time to be happy yet.
The newest function is to conjure treasures. It is random. It also needs my input—spiritual qi inside my two dantians.
The more I can input, the higher the grades of the treasure. It has a cooldown of ten days.
Nevertheless, I am still happy. My biggest problem so far is the lack of spiritual materials. Be it alchemy, talismans, divination, formations, artifacts…
Heck, even the ‘cultivation while sleeping’ and ‘cultivating three techniques at the same time’ can be solved via spiritual materials. The former needs a special incense or any calming herbs. The latter needs spiritual materials that can enable an auxiliary technique to run, therefore allowing the cultivation of three aspects with one session.
Once one of these two problems can be solved, cultivation is a done deal.
I did not need to think much to use it. My spiritual qi began to get drained at a fast speed. I know my current state must be some sort of projection, but I can feel the ‘drought’ my real body feels.
Dazedly, I saw a small golden orb emerging atop my palms. It slowly expanded until it emitted a blinding brilliance.
Moments later, I blinked again. There are foreign things in my palm.
“Leaves..?”
I was speechless. The so-called treasures turned out to be five green leaves. They emitted a light and refreshing scent.
Mint..?
I decided to return to the real world. Immediately, I felt my dantians completely empty. My automatic recovery began.
My eyes are greeted by five different leaves floating in front of me. I can see things better this time.
“...Well, shit.”
Each leaf contains a huge amount of spiritual qi. The refreshing feeling it brought is similar to the [Toushen Manual], except it is weaker.
The alchemy techniques inside my head began to wake up. The recipes I painstakingly ‘invented’ one by one appeared in my mind.
After some cross checking…
I don’t know what it is called.
I do know its effects, though. The calming presence leans to mental improvement upon consumption. The fine lines on each leaf represented a vein where spiritual qi flowed. It has the effect of increasing the spiritual qi inside the dantian.
Considering the intensity of their spiritual qi, I must say… middle or late stage?
I decided to touch one of them. It stopped floating when my fingertips touched it.
I grasped it into my hand. Spiritual qi began to flow on the leaf. It is the most primitive yet effective way to check for a spiritual plant’s effects. If it is poison, I can purge it inside my fingertips.
A cool flow appeared from my fingertips. It is a trace amount of the medicine’s effect.
Seeing my meridians actively circulate this energy up to my dantian, I confirmed it is not poisonous.
“Fu…”
My heart skipped a beat. It is my first time taking a spiritual plant. I am looking forward to its effects.
I looked at Kiana. I want to give two of them after I fully confirm their effects.
Just then, I remembered something: Medicinal Resistance.
Taking a single plant will cause one’s body to adapt to it. The greater the adaptation, the weaker the effect.
There are a lot of techniques to circumvent this bad side effect…
They all cost other spiritual materials.
My only option now is to take all three of them. Only in this way will the gains be maximized. It takes advantage of my adaptability not being able to respond swiftly.
Alright.
I waited until I had fully recovered. It only took twenty minutes.
I touched the two floating leaves. I can see that their current states are frozen. I vaguely felt the dissipation of their efficacy the moment they stopped flying. In fact, the leaf I held now noticeably lost some of its luster.
Touching the three mint leaves, I unhesitantly placed all of them inside my mouth. My tongue felt very cold.
I began chewing on it.
It’s bitter.
Resisting the urge to gag, I started swallowing them. A cool sensation appeared from my throat. It first circulated on the intangible meridians near it. Then it went up to my head, body, arms, and feet.
I feel so comfortable…
*****
Never had Kiana felt time passed by so fast.
It was fine at first. She felt responsible for Shi Tian. The earlier days consisted of him coughing up blood and being tired after practice. She performed better than him. Part of it is her genealogy; another part is honkai itself.
She could not see it, but her insane honkai resistance allowed her to stay in honkai infected areas without any form of protective clothing. It invisibly increased her physical strength.
Two and a half months later, things became the opposite.
Shi Tian acted faster during the kidnapping. He took care of ten armed men by himself.
Him being able to chase a car, save someone, and now…
Bam-!
The sense of sharpness remained around Shi Tian, though it no longer harmed her.
‘...It is very tall!’
Kiana could not imagine that a meter-long sword can cut down an entire tree in half—neatly, too.
At least, she could not do it before. [Void Shield]? Maybe.
It brought a certain point forward:
She is being left behind.
‘Won’t I be protected by him? The roles are switched! Nope!’
Perhaps it was competitiveness or a newfound sense of responsibility. Even her father’s whereabouts relied on Shi Tian’s work!
It made Kiana feel like she can’t do anything right. Two years of travelling the world… yet it wasn’t even as productive as her two months of travels with Shi Tian!
The consecutive blows brought forth a kind of determination even she did not know existed.
‘Cultivation is not that boring. If I can sleep while doing it…’
*****
A/N: The draw is completely random. I made up simple rules for it:
The draws use a number generator. 1~30 is for early stage; 31~70 is for mid stage; 71~99 is for late stage. It is limited to Shi Tian’s current realm.
Once I get 100, the rewards will proceed to the next stage. Another roll will be made from 1 to 100.
Once I get 29, 69, or 99, it falls under a special “jackpot” reward.
His current stage acts as the hard pity. If he is halfway through the middle stage, the RNG goes from 51 to 100.