[Congratulations, your painting skills have reached a level akin to a deity.]
[The System will now deactivate until the host has gathered one thousand karmic points]
[Current Points: 0/1,000]
Within a certain room inside a humungous cave abode, a simple-looking ink brush fell out of a certain young man's hand after reading the contents of the holographic message that only his eyes could see.
His irises turned pin-sized due to the sheer incredulity he was feeling, and a bewildered expression was blotted on his face.
However, this shock was soon washed away by the riptide of a stronger, more passionate expression.
Anger.
Pure, unadulterated rage.
Shooting up from the small wooden stool he was sitting on and completely dismissing the stunning masterpiece he had spent days finishing- not even giving it a cursory glance- his fists clenched tightly and he spat out unrelentingly with an ugly expression,
"System!?
"Deactivation?
"Karmic points?
"...Don't fuck with me!
"This...this must be some joke...right?!"
Awaiting a response seemed futile, as the only thing he got was silence.
However, this silence only served to provoke the young man even further as he began storming around the fantastical room filled with various era-shifting pieces that had been hung upon the glistening white marble walls - Each of which would make any other paintings seem like children's doodles in comparison.
Like a snow avalanche, which continuously grew worse as it cascaded downwards, the vexation within his tone grew as he roared out all of his woes.
"Not only have you had the audacity to kidnap an innocent blue planet-ling such as me and throw me into this barbaric danger-strewn world which has not an ounce of modernity, but you've also provided me with nothing useful to fend for myself.
"Fishing, calligraphy, painting, medicine, sculpting etc. All that which you've taught me is nothing short of useless!
"What in god's name are my sculpting skills ever going to help with when a starving spirit beast or bloodthirsty demonic cultivator decides to make me their next victim?
"All these mortal means, no matter how refined, cannot ever compare to immortals following the mystical path of cultivation!
"And now... you leave me?!"
After the passionate ranting died down, all that remained was the loud heaving and huffing of a despairing young man. As his composure started to return, his mind instantly drifted towards the solution, karmic points.
How am I even supposed to amass one, let alone a whole thousand?
Let's break it up. Doesn't karmic usually entail something to do with people?
More often than not, does it not concern relationships with people?
Hmmm, perhaps the system wants me to go out and socialise... with people?
But I already do that with a bunch of people down in the village, so how could it be possible that I do not have a single karmic point to my name?!
Being lost in his own thoughts the young man failed to notice that the brush he dropped to the floor mere moments ago began twisting and turning as if it were alive!
The brush part, which was dyed black partially due to the ink, started to shake as if it were a tail, and the rigid, straight body of the 'thing' began morphing shape into a wavy form.
Once it had finished its transformation, the brush looked like a mini wooden dragon.
As a matter of fact, it was a wooden dragon!
Laying still as a rock- or brush in this case- the dragon brush began internally screaming to its pitiful self.
Oh by heaven's mercy!
Finally, that Immortal Master has let go of me otherwise I may have accidentally yielded to my natural instincts and stretched back into a dragon, mid-painting. And from what I've been told by that damned Nine-Leaf Sage Clover over in the garden, doing such a thing during the Immortal Master's Immortal-Mortal tribulation is practically seeking death!
Damn it all!
Who would ever think in this vast realm that an ancient branch dragon, crystallised from the condensed essence of the wisdom tree and the true blood of the dragon emperor, such as myself, would be used as a mere brush?!
It kept raving on and on about its misfortune to itself until the dragon guiltily turned to look at the paintings once more, carefully analysing one specific one which depicted the shadow of a dragon upon a boundless field.
A mere glance was all it took for the glamour of the Dao to blind the dragon's eyes, completely enslaving it in its beauty.
Just before the dragon entered the trance, no more were the vulgar thoughts.
...All that remained was visceral awe and deep-seated fear.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
...
"Thank you for the lesson, Teacher!"
As a unanimous body of high-pitched voices rang out in a small grassy courtyard filled with human-shaped wooden dummies, a young man's hand rose up and motioned for the hosts of the voices to take their leave.
As heaps of children began eagerly scurrying out of the courtyard to run to their parents outside, the young man couldn't help but shake his head slightly and let out a long sigh.
I'm not complaining, but these past few weeks have been feeling too peaceful.
It's unnerving!
I suspect this guy is probably from that 'trope', but it's so quiet I'm starting to question myself. I mean, when has there not been a whirlwind, or at least a gust, of chaos when a damn protagonist is involved?!
He took a brief glance at one of the young girls from his martial arts class, as she walked away with her mother in hand, and couldn't help but cringe a bit from the luminous blue, [Side Character], above her head.
Just what are the goddamn chances the vacation spot I chose happened to be the territory of a damn protagonist?!
It's actually been quite laidback being a martial arts instructor in this small village during the week, then going for little camping adventures to see the beauty of nature at the weekend. If I had known this was going to happen, I should've just asked that bastard Fan Lin to transcribe the book for me!
A point of contention surrounding this ordeal could have been just to turn a whole 180 degrees and bolt back to the sect!
As a matter of fact, that was exactly his initial plan!
But after a sudden revelation, and the notion that another two months of travelling was way too much of a hassle, Zhang Wei convinced himself that staying for a month or something wouldn't be an impossible venture.
So with his head propped up high, Zhang Wei entered the village with the determination to tussle it out with any nonsense this new protagonist would throw his way. To try to avoid problems he started with the good ol 'keeping a low profile' and rented a cosy little wooden cottage for himself for a copper or two.
Though the place wasn't even a fraction of the size of his old courtyard or nearly as luxurious, it didn't impose difficulties whatsoever as it wasn't like he had a lot of stuff with him- And the stuff he did have was in his storage ring.
Yet again, Zhang Wei had felt another burst of incredulity for spatial storage units due to how criminally understated they are in Xianxia novels by the authors- By now he was whole-heartedly subscribed to the 'Spatial Supremacy' school of thought and now felt a tinge of disdain course through his veins whenever he spotted a cupboard or a drawer.
After doing an essential quality check of the bed by blasting himself on it and being satisfied with the results, Zhang Wei exited the cottage with vigour, ready to take in the natural wonders of the world.
Looking back at it, in his previous world he never truly bothered with exploring nature beyond watching the occasional documentary on Rhino Beetles, so his sudden passion about it may come about as strange. Though If you gave it a momentary thought, you'd realise it wasn't.
Of course, the cultivation world contained a myriad of exceedingly wonderous and magical things but... those things were generally only witnessable by the rich and mighty unless you had a penchant for suicidal adventures.
Below all that was, in all honesty, a backwards normal society.
No internet, no real entertainment except the occasional drunk storyteller or busker. All in all, it was dead boring!
Unless you were a cultivation maniac or very fortunate, like a certain group of people starting with the letter p, you'd have no choice but to find homage in nature or relationships.
As Zhang Wei made a cursory trip around the village to get a grasp of the layout, a certain wooden wall dotted with wooden signs hanging from it caught his attention. The wall had the words 'Community Requests' engraved upon it.
Curiosity piqued, Zhang Wei scoured through the wall till one grabbed his interest. Upon reading the details a blazing elation was reignited within him that he hadn't truly felt since his first encounter with cultivation.
Looking for a martial arts instructor in a small village?
Isn't this like the number one setting for a hidden expert template?!
His breathing pace quickened, and his resolution to take the job soared due to his desire to relive an authentic xianxia experience.
As a mighty Foundation Consolidation Realm powerhouse, who else but me would be more suited for the task anyway?!
After snatching the small sign off the wall, everything fell into place. No administration or advertising was needed for this as the village was so small that word of mouth would sort everything.
Coming back to the present, Zhang Wei was giving the dilapidated little courtyard which he was given to use for the sessions, a quick sweep as usual. Whilst doing so, Zhang Wei's mind drifted to the reason he came here in the first place.
Do I save it for a regression template or should I just choose a providence right now?
But... I'm also deathly curious about the prospects of changing genres or whatever 'A Miniscule Revertion of Heavenly and Earthly Destiny' implies.
Ahhhhhhh, damn it all!
Why have I been cursed with terminal indecision!?
On that fateful day, the system presented his bewildered self with a choice between three rewards for successfully assisting Lin Fan.
...
{Providence Acquistion}
[Sick of being an individual without a cheat template?]
[Worry not!]
[For you can gain hold of one providence you have personally encountered as a background character, regardless of rank. However, don't get too big for your boots, as whatever providence you have chosen to acquire will be cut to 50% of its original effectiveness.
[Note: Regardless of whether the providence chosen is situational, variable, or unexpected the duration of the providence will be altered to indefinite.]
...
{Genre Change}
[Sick or bored of all the Xianxia nonsensicality?]
[Fear not, for the underlying premise of this reality can be changed with the mere action of choosing this reward. Murim's chaotic and callous landscape, to the colourful and romanticised world of aristocracy and magic, all is within the realm of possibility.]
[Note: Given this choice is selected, an unbiased and completely randomised genre will be chosen.]
...
{A Miniscule Reversion of Heavenly and Earthly Destiny}
[Deviate your fate by a minuscule margin]
[Note: Can be inconsequential or detrimental]
...
Zhang Wei always had these three options at the back of his mind after they had been presented.
The primary thought he had was that couldn't he just amass an indomitable regressor template by finding a regressor MC and copying his providence?
These thoughts certainly circled in his mind alongside the multitude of ungodly providences he could encounter, however, the 'Reversion of Heavenly and Earthly Destiny' had also forced him to second guess himself.
What if this option could genuinely rid himself of the background character status and transform him into a true protagonist template?
Zhang Wei wasn't very certain which option was more beneficial, however, he knew that the genre change option was most definitely a trap.
Why?
Well...What genre could a Xianxia advocate such as him possibly know better?!
Furthermore, although Xianxia was usually risky in the sense that there were overwhelming foes, it was also true that the enemies were mainly not as serious or hellbent on pursuing their enemy as long as they were not sworn enemies.
So out of the three, [Providence Acquistion] held an irrefutable advantage.
Not only would it give a permanent advantage with zero risks, but it also opened up the pathway to protagonist city.
If he could grab an overpowered providence, it mattered not whether it got nerfed to 50%, as he'd be invincible outside of that protagonist!
In fact, if he grabbed a hold of that motherfucking regressor template, there was a chance he could have infinite resets!
And if that was so, the possibilities were endless!
Curiously and unexpectedly, the one who walked into his training hall next and interrupted his excited thoughts was the very person whose sheer identity acted like a shot of espresso, keeping him awake at night.
It was none other than the protagonist, himself.
Before Zhang Wei even had the opportunity to say anything, a certain providence that floated beneath his name caught Zhang Wei's eye causing him to choke on any words he had prepared...
...