“Huh.”
Staring at the screen that appeared before him, Arthur became silent for a bit as the gears in his mind began to turn. Reading the line of text that was on the screen, the young man thought back to the actions he had done so far, eventually recalling that most of them were actions Sisa had suggested him to do.
Slowly putting two and two together in his mind, the young man briefly stared at Sisa for a bit as a specific thought popped up in his mind. ‘Wait… could it be…?’
“Quests.”
Wanting to know whether his hypothesis was correct or not, Arthur commanded the system to bring up the corresponding part that had something to do with the notification he had just received. At this point, it was not difficult for him to intuit the other remaining parts of the system he had yet to explore. For one, he was certain that there was a section of the system specifically made for upgrading his skills and manuals.
Whir…
Hearing the blue orb go through its usual process in response to his command, a considerably large holographic screen soon appeared in front of him, prompting Arthur to think that the system had made it that size in case he had multiple ongoing quests later on.
Focusing his intent towards the only quest that was on the screen, the system swiftly took note of his intent as the details related to the quest popped up to the side of the quest screen a few seconds later. Reading through its description, as well as the objectives that needed to be completed to fulfill the quest, an expression of understanding eventually appeared on Arthur’s face as he glanced at Sisa once more.
“I knew it.”
Learning the Ropes
Having chosen to be a part of the New Cosmos Project, you have been given the opportunity to obtain a system that would aid you in your journey to the pinnacle of strength. However, in exchange, you would be reborn as an inanimate object.
Choosing the spirit nucleus out of the three choices that have been given to you, your system has awakened as the Spirit Vein Ascension Apparatus after your rebirth, a system that is considered a near-perfect emulation of the long and arduous path of cultivation.
To many, such a system is nothing but a trifling matter to control thanks to their prior experiences. Though, for someone like you who came from the Cosmic Void Zone, such a concept might be difficult for you to understand. Thus, this quest was intentionally made in the hopes that it would ease your transition into the world of cultivation through the help of your new system.
Mission Objectives:
> Check your status screen (1/1)
> Pull an Aptitude stat (1/1)
> Pull a Spirit Manual (1/1)
> Pull a Vessel Manual (1/1)
> Activate [Qi Transmutation] once (1/1)
Mission Rewards:
> 15 Ascension Points
> Quest: First Foray into Cultivation
With the entire quest all but confirming his hypothesis that Sisa was hinting him to do things that would make the quest before him progress, Arthur began to have mixed feelings.
On one hand, he was thankful that Sisa was gradually allowing him to get used to the system to the point that he could now intuit the other parts making up the system. On the other hand, he felt a mix of negative emotions since from another perspective, it was as if he was a marionette on puppet strings.
Of course, with how Sisa had given all of those suggestions for his own benefit, the young man knew that his assistant did not have that kind of intention in mind. Nevertheless, it still took a while for the errant thought to thoroughly disappear from his mind, taking in a few deep breaths to calm himself before closing the screens he had brought up.
“You know, you could have told me that I had an ongoing quest before making those suggestions,” said Arthur as he looked at Sisa.
Hearing how serious the young man was, Sisa let out a brief apologetic chuckle before letting out a sigh in response. “Alright, I admit that it was my oversight to not inform you about the quest from the get-go. Kind of wanted to surprise you that you completed a quest out of nowhere, you know?”
“It definitely did surprise me,” replied Arthur, telling Sisa not long after that he wasn’t really mad at her for doing such a thing. “Though, it would be great if you could give me a heads-up on things like that later on.”
“I will,” replied Sisa as she figuratively nodded. “Speaking of which, you’ve yet to claim the rewards from the quest you just completed.”
“Really?” Talking a bit more with Sisa to make sure that their conversation just now did not sow any discord between them, Arthur opened up his quest screen after Sisa reminded him, only to find out that the quest he had checked earlier was still there.
Trying out a few phrases that seemed apt for the action he wanted to achieve, the young man eventually enlisted the help of Sisa, who told him that the codeword used to claim quest rewards was far simpler than his initial thoughts.
“Receive.”
With the blue orb responding to the codeword he had just uttered, Arthur briefly sported a wry smile as he watched the quest on the screen gradually disappear. Not long after, a new quest took over the place where the previous quest was. At the same time, a small screen accompanying the quest’s appearance popped up by the side.
You have received 15 Ascension Points.
“So… is 15 Ascension Points a small amount or is it a lot?” Closing the notification screen that just popped up, Arthur quickly brought up his status screen, faintly grinning as the number on the line for Ascension Points had gone up from 0 to 15.
Hearing his words, Sisa let out a slightly awkward chuckle. “It’s enough to get you a single upgrade.”
“Is that so?” Looking at his assistant in silence for a bit, Arthur wryly smiled once more as he closed his status screen. After that, he moved his quest screen to the side for the meantime before uttering out a codeword that he felt would open up the system’s upgrade section.
“Upgrade.”
Now more or less understanding how his new system worked, the young man went over some of the thoughts he had related to the system with Sisa as he waited for the blue orb to do its thing. By the time he had spent a far longer time than he initially thought talking with Sisa over aspects of the system, the corresponding screen had finally presented itself, giving him a decent list of options to choose from.
Upgrade Module Ascension Points: 15 Cultivation Upgrade Aptitude stat by 0.1 points 15 Ascension Points Upgrade Spirit Manual to Level 2 15 Ascension Points Upgrade Vessel Manual to Level 2 15 Ascension Points Upgrade cultivation realm limit for the Path of the Spirit to the 1st Stage of Qi Sensing 15 Ascension Points Upgrade cultivation realm limit for the Path of the Vessel to the 1st Stage of Body Tempering 15 Ascension Points Skills Upgrade [Qi Transmutation] to Level 2 15 Ascension Points
“Who knew you literally meant I could only get a single upgrade with the Ascension Points I got from the quest?” Letting out a faint chuckle as he thought of Sisa’s earlier words, Arthur went over his current choices in great detail, feeling that any upgrade he chose would improve his current situation.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Of course, some of the choices among the list would undoubtedly help him out more than the others, such as the upgrade to his Aptitude stat or the upgrade to [Qi Transmutation].
With how he would need to amass 100 grams of byproduct first before being able to receive a single Ascension Point in exchange, Arthur needed to make use of the opportunity to increase his rate of output. With that, those two choices became prominent in his mind, knowing that a higher Aptitude would undoubtedly increase his yield while reducing the time needed for transmutation thanks to the skill’s formulas.
On the other hand, he had a hunch that [Qi Transmutation] would have a similar effect to a higher Aptitude stat if he were to upgrade it to the next level. Then again, with him relying on guesswork and gut instinct to get to that conclusion, the young man was more confident in choosing to improve his Aptitude stat than upgrading the skill itself.
“Say, Sisa. Which upgrade should I choose?” However, just as he was about to come to a final decision on what to upgrade first, the young man recalled that he had just obtained a quest that had the word ‘cultivation’ on its title. With that, he decided to ask for Sisa’s suggestion as he closed his status screen. Not long after, he brought up the details of his newly obtained quest on the side, hoping to hear her words first.
“It’s either you choose to upgrade your cultivation realm limit on the Path of the Spirit or do the same thing on the Path of the Vessel,” replied Sisa, taking note of the fact that Arthur had brought up his quest. “Either way, it doesn’t matter which one you end up choosing. Either one would still allow you to complete the new quest you just received.”
“Got it.” Arthur nodded in response as he shifted his attention towards the screen containing the new quest’s description.
First Foray into Cultivation
Now that you have obtained a basic understanding of how the system operates and how you could use it to your advantage, it is now time to proceed onto the next step, this time having something more to do with the world of cultivation.
As a spirit nucleus, you are considered the future core of a spirit vein, a precious resource highly sought after by cultivators of various shapes and sizes. Though you may be able to produce qi in your current form, such an amount is not enough to pique the interest of cultivators, nor is it enough to reach the pinnacle of strength.
With that, you must take the first step on the path of cultivation, a path where both risks and rewards go hand-in-hand.
Mission Objectives:
> Ascend to either the 1st Stage of the Qi Sensing Realm or the Body Tempering Realm (0/1)
Mission Rewards:
> 45 Ascension Points
> Opportunity to pull another Spirit and Vessel Manual
> Quest: Laying the Foundations
'Those are some good rewards,’ thought Arthur to himself after he was done reading. ‘Not only will I be able to upgrade three more things once this quest is complete, I could also pull for a pair of manuals from the gacha without having to fork up Ascension Points.’
While waiting for the upgrade screen to appear earlier, Arthur decided to ask Sisa during their conversation on what kind of currency he needed to accumulate in order to use the gacha. By the time he heard her response, the young man instantly felt the urge to slap himself since it was more than obvious.
Nevertheless, the fact that the starting price to pull a gacha was 100 Ascension Points did quell his urge to use the feature. Not to mention the fact that the cost gradually increased in accordance to a specific formula after every subsequent pull.
“Hmm…” Closing both his quest and status screen, the upgrade screen was the only screen that remained in front of Arthur’s vision as he pondered over which of the two choices Sisa gave him he should choose. Thankfully, a bit of mulling over the situation was more than enough for him to come to a decision, spending his newly obtained Ascension Points on the upgrade that would benefit him more in the short run.
Would you like to spend 15 Ascension Points to upgrade your cultivation realm limit for the Path of the Spirit to the 1st Stage of Qi Sensing?
Confirming his choice, the blue orb on the pedestal soon began to rotate on its axis as it gave off a great amount of light through its esoteric runes. Sometime later, the orb released a few strands of light, all of which made their way to Arthur as a wave of information entered his mind.
Rumble…
“Woah.” Feeling as if his mind was briefly transported to a higher dimension, Arthur blankly stared at his internal world for a while as he processed and organized the information he had just received. Eventually, he focused his attention towards Sisa, asking her a question in the process.
“Mind giving me a rundown on the first couple realms of cultivation?”
“Sure! Just give me a couple of minutes!” Hearing Sisa’s exuberant tone as she agreed to his request, a faint smile crept up the edges of Arthur’s lips as he glossed over the information he had just received once more.
Having just upgraded his cultivation realm limit, the information the young man obtained was none other than the method needed to reach said limit. At some point, he even found out that the information came from his current Spirit Manual, making him wonder for a bit what kind of changes a better manual would bring.
Seeing that Sisa would take a bit longer before she could begin her explanation, the young man took the time to check his status screen, focusing on the part that talked about his current cultivation.
Cultivation Realm (Spirit) None (1st Stage of Qi Sensing) Cultivation Realm (Vessel) None
From the way the upgrade was worded to the information he had just obtained, Arthur more or less understood that even though the system would aid him in other areas, it would not aid him in the path of cultivation. After all, according to the surge of information he had just obtained, cultivation was essentially a personal journey to the peak, which meant that he had to put in the effort.
‘I guess it’s also the system’s way of preparing me for the time I can transform into a human,’ thought Arthur to himself, knowing that there were more benefits to the path of cultivation than what it offered through his system at the moment.
“Alright.” With Sisa telling him that she was now ready to begin her explanation, Arthur went ahead and closed his status screen as he began to listen to her words in earnest. “First and foremost, let me preface this explanation by saying that cultivation is ultimately a personal journey, which means that the path could be interpreted in a myriad of ways. Nevertheless, any of those ways would still allow one to reach the peak.”
“In any case, practically speaking, cultivation is the refinement and tempering of either body or energy in order to obtain greater levels of strength and lifespan. If one were to refine and temper their body, they would be proceeding through the Path of the Vessel. If one were to refine and temper energy instead, then they would be proceeding through the Path of the Spirit.”
“As you have chosen to proceed through the Path of the Spirit first, I’ll go over the first three realms for that path for now,” said Sisa. “Once you upgrade your cultivation realm limit on the Path of the Vessel, only then will I discuss the corresponding realms there.”
Obtaining a nod from Arthur in response, Sisa figuratively nodded back as she continued. “Qi Sensing, Qi Gathering, and Acupoint Opening. Those are the first three realms of cultivation for the Path of the Spirit.”
“While in the Qi Sensing Realm, your goal is to gradually become more in-tune with the ambient qi in your surroundings. Because of that, some beings take a long time to proceed through the ranks of this realm, while some only take hours to reach the pinnacle of this realm. In fact, some are even born to skip this realm altogether and proceed onto the next realm due to how great their aptitude for cultivation is.”
“Nevertheless, many beings pay great attention to this step due to the fact that it sets a great precedent for your journey into the path of cultivation,” Sisa told Arthur. “By the time you get through the first 9 stages of Qi Sensing, you eventually arrive at the peak of Qi Sensing, allowing you to open what is called a Qi Aperture.”
“It is mainly through the Qi Aperture where you absorb qi into your body. In fact, that’s the entire reason why most spend a lot of time tempering and expanding their Qi Aperture in order to accept more qi at once. After all, the more qi you could absorb, the faster your progress in the subsequent realms.”
“In any case, once you open your Qi Aperture, you now gain the ability to absorb qi into your body. Now, once you absorb enough qi into your body so that it condenses into a qi strand, you enter the second realm of the Path of the Spirit, which is the Qi Gathering Realm.”
“With how you’re still far away from this realm in your current state, I’ll only give you a brief overview of what generally happens during that realm.” At those words, Sisa let out a bit of laughter. “Then again, from the name of the realm itself, it’s quite self-explanatory. Just absorb more qi into your body and use it to form more qi strands.”
“Eventually, after amassing enough strands within your body, you can now proceed to manipulate these strands and break open hidden spaces within your body that would allow you to both store more qi and make greater use of it at the same time. These hidden spaces are also known as acupoints, and they’re the main star of the Acupoint Opening Realm, the third realm of the Path of the Spirit.”
“Either way, it’s better to internalize this information through practical experience than just hearing it from me,” said Sisa with a slight grin. “With that being said…”
“How about we begin your first ever cultivation session?”