Johan slammed the door to the greenhouse open. Dad was there, watering the carrots.

“Why did you sell the mansion?” Johan demanded.

“For capital. The company needs funds,” came Dad’s low voice, as if he hadn’t ruined his life’s work on a whim.

“Then why did you give that capital away?”

“It was salary, not a giveaway. The employees built the company. They deserve proper pay.”

“If you had fired some of them, then we wouldn’t have to—”

“Johan, listen,” Dad said, and Johan stopped. “Even without the mansion, we can live. But the factory workers, their families, they would starve without the pay.”

“You’re their employer, not their caretaker. This isn’t rational,” Johan said. “You’re breaking apart our family to save some strangers! If Mum was here, she would never agree to this.”

Dad sighed. Johan felt a pang of guilt in his heart for bringing up Mum. But he didn’t back down.

“You’re right,” Dad finally said. “If I sacrificed the employees, we could get out alive and unhurt.” But there was no guilt in his voice. He stood firm in his conviction. “But that’s not how you live.”

“And why is that?” There he goes again, being all sentimental. Johan pressed down on his temples, feeling the throb.

“It’s a lonely and boring life. Even if you succeed, there will be no one to enjoy that success with you. It’s all meaningless,” Dad said.

“Nonsense.” Johan walked out.

More than a decade later, Johan admitted Dad was right.

***

+1 True Qi

+2 Arts True Qi -> Deep Sleep

+205 Arts True Qi -> Echoing Dreamscape

“You okay, tubs?” Li Yao shook Yu Han.

The headache was agonising. It was as if someone had hit him with a hammer.

“Dad?”

“This daddy Li Yao is not your father.”

Red and blue spots fluttered in Yu Han’s vision, and he groaned. It felt like a hangover dialled to eleven. What the heck happened?

His hand instinctively reached for the dagger.

“Stop that. Did you hit your head or something?” Li Yao said, prying the dagger from Yu Han’s hand and setting it on the bed. “Go to the doctor.”

“Get away,” Yu Han slurred. His vision slowly focused.

Li Yao shrugged, then pointed at Yu Han’s nose and ears. Yu Han touched them. His fingers came away with red flakes. Dried blood.

“I’ll go,” Yu Han said. He got out of the bed in a haze.

“You need help, tubs?”

Yu Han said something, but he didn’t know what. Nor did he know how he stumbled his way to the doctor.

“Did you overuse your Art, young man? This is why young’uns are…” the old doctor trailed off, clicking his tongue. “You need to be careful. Your Qi is completely depleted.”

“Uh, is that so?” Yu Han said. The hangover-like feeling was fading. What remained was a dull throb. He brought up the status screen.

Name: Yu Han (Johan)

Level: 0

True Qi: 1/110

Pure Qi: 50/110

“Do you mean True Qi?” he asked the old man.

“Not that. But the spiritual energy every being possesses. You cultivators can control it, but us mortals…” The old doctor shook his head. “As for True Qi, this old servant can’t mention sect secrets. Be patient. The masters at Verdant Blade will teach you when the time is right.”

Verdant Blade?

He gave Yu Han three more pills and some exercises. Yu Han left without asking about Pure Qi and Tribulations. He would need to know more about the unwritten rules of the trade before sharing anything that might be a secret. After all, he had gotten Pure Qi after killing that creature.

While he was going up the stairs, the voice of Qiao Jinhai echoed.

“Every disciple shall gather on deck within the burning of an incense stick.”

How long was that? Wouldn’t it depend on the make of the stick?

Yu Han trotted up, holding the guardrails. There was a thick rope coiled at the bottom, lining the edge between the stairs and the wooden wall.

Arts:

Deep Sleep

Type: Bloodline

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Grade: Mortal Level 1

Mastery: Initial Step Level 1

True Qi: 2/200

Echoing Dreamscape

Type: Auxiliary

Grade: Mortal Level 9

Mastery: Initial Step Level 2

True Qi: 5/300

Was the headache-like side effect the result of staying “conscious” throughout his sleep, or Qi depletion, like the old doctor said? Or was it that green meteor? The moment Yu Han thought of the meteor, the headache worsened.

Leave it for later! After a few deep breaths, he could think again. Let’s go back to numbers.

He barely earned any True Qi for Deep Sleep. But Echoing Dreamscape had a Mastery of “Initial Step Level 2.”

Since Deep Sleep started at “Initial Step Level 1,” and his True Qi for it was 2/200 after gaining +2 Arts True Qi, it was a safe guess to assume that Echoing Dreamscape also started at Level 1 with 0/200. And after he gained 205, 200 went into levelling up, leaving 5 extra.

So True Qi is like experience points in an RPG? Yu Han covered his face with his hands. The sun was too bright. The chatter hurt his ears. The wooden deck under his feet rocked in an unsteady rhythm. He thought he might belch.

Qiao Jinhai sat cross-legged at the front of the deck while recruits got into neat rows. Behind him was the Branching Dragon River, with other far smaller vessels moving out of the way like scurrying ants before an elephant.

On the horizon, the silhouette of a city.

Echoing Dreamscape started with the Grade “Mortal Level 9.” The Grade of the Art didn’t show any changes despite the Arts True Qi gain, nor did the Grade have a progress bar.

On the other hand…

Deep Writhing Clam Bloodline

Grade: Mortal Level 10

True Qi: 0/1100

For this Trait, there was a True Qi progress bar under Grade.

Does it mean I can level up the Grade of a Trait, but not the Art? For Art, the only thing I can level up is the Mastery? Other than the semantic meanings, what are the actual differences between Grade and Mastery? Or is it just the semantic meaning—one is the quality of the thing, the other is how well I can use the thing?

And from Qiao Jinhai’s words previously, his Deep Sleep Bloodline Art was connected to the Deep Writhing Clam Bloodline Trait. But despite the Art gaining True Qi, the Trait didn’t change.

Why?

Too many questions, and all he had were conjectures. Not enough answers. There was a pattern in the numbers, though. And patterns made Yu Han giddy.

He rubbed his temple and closed his eyes, trying to visualise a word document with bullet points. The status window was open too.

Would have been nice if I could use Echoing Dreamscape while awake. Not that I can modify the mirage it shows.

According to the status screen, to level up the Deep Sleep Art from Level 1 to Level 2, he would need 200 Arts True Qi. And for Echoing Dreamscape, the requirement was 300 Arts True Qi from Level 2 to Level 3.

So the level up requirement for each level is roughly the next level times one hundred? This means that for each consecutive level, it increases by one hundred.

Something else followed this pattern. The Deep Writhing Clam Bloodline, which had the Grade of Mortal Level 10, showed a True Qi progress of 0/1100. The next level to 10 was 11, and a hundred times 11 was 1100, which checked out.

There was an issue with this guess. The level under his name, assuming it was his “character level,” was 0, with the True Qi showing 1/110.

The next level would be 1, and 1 times a hundred was 100. Where did the extra ten come from?

Yu Han had overlooked something. What was it? Coming from an era where he had the answer to all questions in his pocket, it was frustrating that he simply couldn’t Google a solution.

“I’ll never take tech for granted.”

“What’re you muttering about, tubs?” Li Yao appeared from nowhere and patted his shoulder.

“Numbers,” Yu Han said.

“You need better hobbies. I plan to check out the training floor after this. Join me. I’ll teach you how to use that dagger,” Li Yao said. “The dagger owner’s little brother eyes you wherever you go, like a hungry mutt. You might need it soon.”

Li Yao pointed at Bushy Beard’s brother, who stood with Sima Yan and the guard commander’s son. Their eyes met.

Yu Han shuddered.

“Daggers are for stabbing. Knives are for slashing, right?” Yu Han asked the taller boy. Or teen. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen. And yeah, daggers stab. But no one said you couldn’t slash with it.”

“I’m older.” By either one year or a couple of decades. Was he a wizened old uncle or a fat little kid now?

“You want this daddy to call you Senior Brother?” Li Yao got into line behind Yu Han. “I’ll wait until Qiao Jinhai is done, then we can fight it out.”

Was that a joke? Yu Han patted his pocket full of pouches. That was a joke, right?

“Quiet,” Qiao Jinhai said. He levitated to his feet. “Before we reach the next city, I will announce the rules you must follow. The disciples recruited earlier than Riversong already know this, but it is worth repeating. Because failure to adhere will mean punishment, if not death.”

He walked between the rows of recruits like a drill sergeant.

“One: No conflict within the ship. The Ver—” Qiao Jinhai coughed “—Stormy Reef sect has yearly tournaments. All disputes shall be settled there. Understood?”

“Yes!” A deafening chorus rang out. Yu Han was slow to reply, as were Li Yao and the rest from Riversong.

Qiao Jinhai continued. “Two: The sect has its own Cultivation Arts which you will receive when we reach the sect. No other Cultivation Arts are allowed! If we discover you have studied something else, the lightest punishment would be the crippling of your cultivation base, am I clear?”

“Yes!” This time, the recruits from Riversong City replied in time.

“Three: The ship has formations to gather the natural Qi. Just by being on the ship, your body will assimilate the Qi into True Qi. Many of you must have earned some by now. Those from Riversong, report your True Qi gain with your name, one by one. If I find out that you have lied, I shall cut off your tongue. You.” Qiao Jinhai pointed at the first recruit on the row. “Junior Brother Sima, start.”

“Three. Sima Yan,” Sima Yan said.

“Two. Pang Jiming,” the guard commander’s son said.

“Two. Ma San,” said Bushy Beard’s brother.

“T-two. Guo Yexi,” said the girl with the pigtails.

“Two. Chen Da,” the kid with a side of his head shaved, shouted.

“…One. Yu Han,” Yu Han said. Sima Yan and Bushy Beard’s brother whispered to each other.

“Four! Li Yao!” Li Yao shouted out with a grin.

The murmurs rose, and Sima Yan’s relaxed look changed into a scowl.

As did Yu Han’s.

“What? No need to be jealous,” Li Yao said. “If you beat this daddy in a fight, you can be the senior brother.”

Yu Han corrected his expression, while Sima Yan pursed his lips as if he had eaten something sour.

“Four: Only those with a True Qi gain of one are allowed to disembark, though I highly advise not to. In the path to immortality, insects like you will need every advantage you can get. Especially during the first year in the sect,” Qiao Jinhai said. “If you still want to disembark, you must be back on ship before I am. Or I shall count that as desertion, and the punishment is capital. The same if any with a True Qi gain over one disembarks. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” The agreement was accompanied by laughter, as a few people hid their faces. They were grouped together near the back. Were they fellow ones? It seemed there were not many who were even qualified to disembark.

“Okay, now disperse—” Qiao Jinhai stopped. “I’ll need one of you to come with me. Decide amongst yourselves. You have five minutes.” Qiao Jinhai sat down and closed his eyes.

“You good enough to train, tubs?” Li Yao asked. “What did the doctor say?”

“No large movements. But I’ll train. I—”

“Hey, Fatty.”

One large boy with a cleft lip approached Yu Han. “I heard you had a gain of one despite having a Bloodline?”

There were some stifled laughs.

“What do you want?” Yu Han said. Jerks.

The boy strode to the group that had looked embarrassed when Qiao Jinhai mentioned who could disembark.

Wait, are they…? Yu Han had planned to rest up like the old doctor had advised. He had a bad feeling about this.

“Senior Brother Qiao, we have unanimously decided that Junior Brother Yu Han shall join you,” Cleft Lips shouted.

“I didn’t—” Yu Han said.

“Big one,” Qiao Jinhai said. “Report back in an hour at the gangway.”

What could he do? He sent a venomous look at Cleft Lips. “I’ll do as Senior Brother says.”

Qiao Jinhai clapped, the sound waves spreading out in visible ripples. “That is all. Disperse.”