While the clan deals with the consequences of Li Wei’s actions, the person in question has their consciousness enter a vast collection of books upon multiple columns of shelves. The library before him could put every faction in the 77th District to shame easily. As he walked over to a shelf at random and grabbed a book, a distinct feeling of its age could be felt. This was an unexpected feature of this creation that he hadn’t included in its description. It seems that his creations can have aspects outside the scope of what they are described for. Nevertheless, this little perk was beneficial as it allowed him to understand that this manual in his hand was nearly four thousand years old.
It was the Origin Focus Blade technique. A skill he already practices with, which has been a staple of the Li Clan for generations. It seemed like this was one of the few techniques that survived all those years. A relatively simple technique in concept but quite versatile. This was a technique that guided the user toward their opponent’s weaknesses. The longer one fights with this technique, the more weaknesses will reveal themselves. It was just that the pace of the reveal was dependent on how skilled the opponent was. A good, solid technique but it is not what he came here for.
He placed the manual back on the shelf and started walking through the library. He tried to gauge the age of the shelves as a whole before making contact with them. It was strenuous but it worked after a few tries. For what seemed like hours, he roamed the vast library, following the ever-increasing age he could feel emanating from the shelves. Until he stopped before a shelf with only 11 manuals. These books felt hundreds of thousands of years old if not millions. When it came to such ancient works, he could not pinpoint an exact approximation. But every fiber of his being told Li Wei that these were the oldest and probably the most important skills of the Li Clan’s entire history.
Li Wei’s eyes scrolled past the manual titles before doing a quick scan of their contents one by one. They were all extraordinary skills of the highest caliber. They would be superior to most skills of the same rank nearly every time and could likely compete with similar skills of a higher rank. Because skill ranks mostly determine the progression one has made with a skill, their actual quality can differ greatly within the same rank. Of all the skills in front of him, he chose three manuals: Genesis Manifestation Blade, Nine-Star Lotus Qi Cycling Method & Void Slip. These were their introductory descriptions:
Genesis Manifestation Blade | Everything Reverts to the Genesis of Everything.
Nine-Star Lotus Qi Cycling Method | Growth Begets Growth.
Void Slip: Traverse through the edges of the Void to become an invisible observer.
They seemed quite profound, particularly the cycling method which was the original method that their current cycling method has been based on, despite being leagues superior in every way. Unfortunately, it had been lost to the annals of time with their ancient relocation. This cycling method would improve the entire clan greatly as the rank of the skill will correspond with their progress in advancing the Steps. When reading further into the others, he decided to ask something just in case he was choosing a skill that would cause unnecessary problems.
“From what I’ve read of the Void Slip manual, it treats this ‘Void’ as a real place. If so, what exactly is it?”
{[Query Accepted!] Concerning what you and others of this world refer to as the ‘Void’, it is a filter that surrounds the entirety of the Eternal Realm. It is a secondary measure against foreign entities from other realities that bypass its barrier. Despite this construct’s earlier claims that the barrier was previously impregnable before the anomaly that brought you to this reality occurred, the truth is that there are entities that go against the traditional sense of power within the cosmos. This filter is there to counter more unorthodox beings that are outside the logical definitions of power. A vast empty darkness drains the lifeforce of any being that enters. The intensity of this drain is dependent on whether they are on the borders of the void or closer to its center. It must be noted that the host was traversing through the Void for approximately 2.6 thousand years with constant repairs being done to their soul by this construct which had been hidden in the stated soul. This caused a tempering of the host’s soul and is the reason for your high Soul attribute when reborn in this reality. }
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Upon hearing this, Li Wei became alarmed and blurted out.
“Over two thousand years! What the fuck!? And you didn’t think it was necessary to tell me until now?”
{[Query Accepted!] It was not relevant information at the moment.}
Li Wei narrowed his eyes and grunted noncommittedly.
‘So it can’t be sarcastic but it can still be an asshole. Good to know.’
An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he dove back into the techniques at hand. These skills were quite sophisticated and honestly not practical to learn in a short amount of time. However, with enough insight gained while in the Li Records, the practical approach in reality will be vastly quicker to execute. With that in mind, Li Wei studied the two technique manuals thoroughly for 288 years inside the Li Records. The longest he had ever studied and meditated upon skills ever since landing in this new world. This further showed the complexity of the two skills he chose. They were skills that most likely the founder of the Li Clan personally used in battle. A quite chilling prospect with a lot of expectation and responsibility that comes with it.
As his mind exited the Li Records, he quickly spoke to the Ultimate Creator System.
“I wish to create an E-Grade Sword that is soul-bound to me. It will be called Deathreaver and can absorb the residual life-force of all beings slayed by the weapon. This life-force will gradually improve the Grade of the weapon.”
He quickly accepted the already familiar prompt, having 9500 Creation Tokens removed from his balance.
He held what looked like a dark red blade with a black handle with numerous small carvings of screaming victims embedded upon it. This type of sword was necessary as the Genesis Manifestation Blade was a transformational technique of a sword that deconstructs anything it touches at a pace depending on the power disparity and skill rank. It does not, however, affect the user if the sword is soul-bound. Otherwise, Li Wei would have learned this skill for no reason. Though, he had yet to truly learn either of the skills he chose just yet. As that thought crossed his mind, he went to work.
While it took two days to gather hundreds of years of insights into these skills, it took about two hours to have all three skills already to E Rank. A feat that would baffle others and show how monstrous this new Bloodline Trait was. The more unnerving of the skills was Void Slip as it truly made him enter what seemed like a different reality altogether with a deep nothingness pervading his surroundings and a chilling sensation latching onto a precious aspect of his body and soul. Fortunately, due to the skill and most likely his two thousand years of involuntary tempering through the void, it was barely any discomfort. As long as he didn’t try to stay inside indefinitely, he should be fine. Another feature of the skill was that he could view the main reality of the Eternal Realm through what seemed like a glass window but was truly the edge of the Void. It was the perfect stealth skill for someone in the Mortal Steps to have.
And while it is unfair to compare to Li Wei who was already considered a prodigy even before his golden finger came in, this training speed will still drastically improve the average power of the clan in unprecedented ways. After his training, he removed his inferior Star Lotus Qi Cycling Method Skill which did not affect his capabilities whatsoever due to how inferior it was. He then looked over his XP notifications from the Heavenly System, placed his free attribute points, and then viewed his status screen for the first time since gaining his cheat.
[ Info
Name: Li Wei
Bloodline Trait: [Li Records]
Race: Human (1st Step)
Level: 165
Class: Sword Disciple
Attributes
Mind: 63
Body: 273
Soul: 578
Skills (9/20):
Identify (E)
Iron Body Tempering Technique (E)
Origin Focus Blade (E)
Qi Sense (E)
Swordsmanship (E)
Soaring Sword Dance (E)
Soul Transmission (E)
Nine-Star Lotus Qi Cycling Method (E)
Fluid Steps (E)
Genesis Manifestation Blade (E)
Void Slip (E)
Creation Tokens: 15,822,000 ]