[For surviving 10 years in the Heaven Spark Continent of the Red Dragon Plane, you gain 500 Talent points.]
[For surviving 10 years WITHOUT ANY TALENT IN CULTIVATION in the Heaven Spark Continent of the Red Dragon Plane, you gain an additional 500 Talent points.]
[For surviving without talent in non-cultivation skills for 10 years in the Heaven Spark Continent of the Red Dragon Plane, you gain an extra 300 points.]
[For gaining the Innate Talent: [Basic stealth( Mid Red Grade.)] (Hid from danger successfully for over 5000 hours.) you gain an extra 200 points.]
[For gaining the Innate Talent: [Basic Innate Body Control (Low Orange Grade)] (Practiced martial arts without martial art talent for 10000 hours): you gain an extra 400 points.]
[For gaining the innate Talent: [Natural swiftness(Mid Black Grade)](ran for your life without movement techniques for over 1000 hours) you gain an extra 100 points.]
[For gaining the Innate Talent: [Dexterous hands(High Black Grade)] (Practiced sleight of hand for over 5000 hours) you gain an extra 100 points.]
[For dying to the most common pest spirit beast in the Heaven Spark Continent twice in a row you gain an extra 100 points]
[Your life total is 2200 talent points.]
[Open talent purchasing menu?]
I was calm, too calm. In fact, I felt like I couldn't get angry or sad if I wanted to.
Luckily I had long ago come to terms with dying on the streets as a nobody. This was clearly some kind of opportunity, but I needed to know more.
Even if the calmness felt unnatural, I should focus on what's going on in front of me.
"Can you explain what's going on?" I asked.
[Welcome to The Mists. As an outsider soul, you are given a random ability. Lucky for you, yours is The Mists. The mists are an autonomous soul sorting plane for outsiders who have gained access to it. Those with access to the mists will never permanently die. When killed, users will be given talent points based on their life to buy innate talents which boost their talent in certain things. Most talents have synergy with one another.]
I nodded, that explanation was quite comprehensive.
"Alright, open it."
[Opening talent purchasing menu.]
[Innate Spiritual Constitutions](Expand?)
[Innate Physiques](Expand?)
[Basic Innate Talents](Expand?)
[Innate Dantian Enhancements](Expand?)
[Innate Meridian Enhancements](Expand?)
[Innate Soul Enhancements](Expand?)
[Locked Option]
[Locked Option]
[Locked Option]
I navigated the talent purchasing menu, my brow furrowed in concentration as I weighed the options. The 'Innate Physiques' and 'Innate Spiritual Constitutions' sections were quickly dismissed. The limitations attached to each affordable option felt more like a burden than a benefit. Who needs "Iron Bones" if they turn you into a rigid statue?
Scrolling through the 'Innate Talents' list, I scoffed at entries like 'Basic Musical Prodigiousness' and 'Calligraphy learning bonus.’ I was sure those would be useless skills for a street rat turned aspiring cultivator. Finally, my eyes landed on ‘Qi Sensing’ and ‘Qi Absorption.’ Wait, why don't these come built in? These seem like a basic requirement to even cultivate at all!
500 points each. That's a serious sum of my points, but it's manageable.
I selected both, a grin forming on my spectral face.
Finally, I'd be able to sense and absorb chi.
1200 points remaining. It didn’t seem like much, but it was surely enough for one last upgrade.
Then the memory of the old, leather-bound manual resurfaced, its pages filled with intricate diagrams and cryptic text. The emphasis on meridian and dantian quality was clearly the foundation for efficient Qi cultivation.
‘Enhance Meridians to Selected Grade’ and ‘Enhance Dantian to Selected Grade’
Orange grade was definitely the bottom-tier options in their respective categories, but I could easily buy them with the last of my points.
600 points each to reach High Orange Grade.
Still far from ideal, but a ridiculously significant improvement over my starting point.
With a click, I allocated the remaining points, a sense of finality settling over me as the menu interface dissolved.
No dramatic pronouncements, no fanfare, just a quiet confirmation of my choices.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.
High Orange Grade Meridians and High Orange Grade Dantian paired with the Basic Qi Sensing and Basic absorption Talents would definitely form to build upon.
It wasn't much, but it was a start.
I knew deep in my bones that even in the unforgiving world of cultivation, this Mists thing would make it so a start was all I needed.
[Inserting into random stillborn at pre-birth, Entering Dragon Fist Continent of the Red Dragon Plane. City selected, Low grade city(6 rings): Forge-great City. 3rd Ring selected(Upper middle class). Servant of the Lesser House of a major blacksmithing clan. Good luck, Spiritward Grandsmith.]
My eyes opened as a woman held me in her arms. I cried involuntarily.
Then I got mad.
I could speak the language, sure, but my baby mouth just let out gurgles and 'waa's'
I cursed as best I could but it just came out as incoherent baby noises.
How dare those damn snakes kill me twice! I'd eliminate every last damned emerald scale snake! Gah!
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I ignored my new mother and father cooing at me in delight, and raged.
I quickly exhausted myself.
"Isn't he the cutest?!" were the last words I heard before sleep overtook me.
Month 3
Walking came easily, my steps swift and silent. This was clearly the work of the talent gained during my years as a street urchin in my previous life. The Dragon Fist Continent dialect of the common tongue was a bit different, but I learned quickly.
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"Little Spiritward is quite the observant one," Sister Mei remarked one day, her voice laced with a hint of curiosity and what was clearly false admiration.
I offered her a fleeting smile, careful not to reveal the suspicion that festered within me. Kindness, I had learned on the streets and in my previous clan, often masks ulterior motives.
Especially with Events like this.
What maid goes complimenting prominent babies of a lesser house who can barely understand the concept that deception exists at all with a clearly stupid reason like ‘being observant.’
Clearly she wanted something from my father and wanted to go through the gullible toddler who can understand and speak language at the rate of one of the more talented individuals.
Except I was cheating at progression and while it may look as if I was at a higher grade of talent, I was still only at the top of orange grade.
But that Didn’t mean I was stupid.
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Calligraphy lessons were a tedious exercise, each stroke of the brush a reminder of the expectations that burdened me and that I knew would remain unfulfilled.
I mimicked the forms with precision, masking my disinterest with a facade of diligence. There was no way this was useful, I was sure, but pleasing the clan meant I got better food and more time in the library.
Even if the spiritual essence infused goods would never be given to me due to the fact that I was going to be exiled at five, I still needed to show them I could tow the line in order to use the library.
I couldn't use all of the memorized books from my first life here because they were irrelevant to this new continent.
The ‘face’ society and social conventions were scarily identical, but almost everything else seemed different.
The food and medicine that was available in the area along with other common goods were all completely different.
So I needed the library to update my knowledge and learn more about cultivation.
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I couldn’t break through to the first level of body tempering yet, but storing Qi in my muscles without using it seemed like a good idea.
The faint hum of Qi within my meridians was a secret solace, a hidden source of power I guarded fiercely. It was a reminder that I was not entirely powerless, that I possessed a spark of potential that could one day ignite into something more.
Only morons would cultivate into a breakthrough before the age of 5 and that’s if they even had the knowledge to cultivate at all.
Even if somehow a child did know how to break through, they would just destroy themselves with a backlash.
Month 5
My small legs pumped furiously, propelling me through the winding paths of the Grandsmith compound, my senses alert for any sign of danger or scrutiny.
Plum, my fellow junior brother, struggled to keep pace.
His laughter, that once would have been a source of amusement, now grated on my nerves.
He was naive, trusting, oblivious to the harsh realities of this world.
He was just a child, I knew.
He would learn about this world just like i was forced to.
But that just made me feel sick.
How dare he be happy when everyone around us were horrible scheming bastards.
"Slow down, Spiritward!" he panted, his face flushed with exertion.
He was a good kid and I wish I could help him.
But I ignored him, pushing myself harder, seeking refuge in the physical exertion. Trust was a luxury I could not afford.
Month 9
Calligraphy lessons became a good distraction, a way to conceal my rage at the injustice of this world.
The elegant characters I formed on the paper were a deception, hiding the turmoil that raged within me.
The elders, with their pronouncements of talent and potential, were just throwing away human lives.
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I remembered one of my friends from my last life, one of the only street rats who I could get along with.
'All clans are the same,' Timekeeper told me, 'They want talented disciples and throw away the trash like us. Then they pretend we never existed in the first place. 5 years is all we get and then we die our first death.'
That was the last time I saw him alive. He was hung upon the gates of the Melodybright clan for kicking a guard of that clan in the nuts.
18 years of trying to learn how to survive and he wasted it trying to fight his old clan.
I handed my paper in, and the elder nodded at me disinterestedly.
I'll show them.
Month 12
I could break through to the first level of the body tempering realm and I would if I wanted to destroy my body.
I really don't, so I guess I'm stuck for now with martial arts training and weapon katas.
Seriously, weapon katas and martial arts at one year old?
I was benefiting but they were absolutely insane!
Month 18
The world was a stage, and I was a reluctant actor. Martial arts training had begun, each movement a carefully choreographed dance of aggression and defense. My body, upgraded by the talent gained by years of survival in my previous life and further enhanced by my purchased talents, moved with a fluidity that surprised even myself.
"Junior disciple brother Spiritward shows promise," Master Swordsteel, the clan's martial arts instructor, commented one day, his stern gaze lingering on me. "His form is precise, his movements efficient. He may yet become a capable warrior."
I accepted his praise with a stoic nod, careful not to reveal the bitterness that churned within me.
Martial prowess was merely another tool, another weapon to wield in the fight for survival.
The main tool that would make what he said actually true was missing from my arsenal.
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Trust, as always, was reserved for no one but myself.
Plum, my ever-optimistic companion, reveled in the training showing his enthusiasm that was bordering on excessive. He saw martial arts as a path to glory, a way to prove his worth and earn the respect of the clan. I saw it as a necessary evil, a means to an end.
His age was a good excuse, but something about his happiness just hurt me in an agonizing way.
It made me ache deep inside with anger.
"We could be the best fighters in the clan, Spiritward!" he exclaimed one afternoon, his eyes shining with excitement. "Imagine the adventures we could have, the challenges we could overcome!"
I offered him a sardonic smile, my gaze drifting towards the imposing walls of the Grandsmith compound. "Adventures? Challenges? We're trapped here, Plum. Can’t you see? This is just another cage, another gilded prison. One we'll be kicked out of in short order when we don't measure up."
He frowned, his youthful optimism momentarily dimmed. "But we have each other, Spiritward. We can face anything together."
I turned away, unable to meet his trusting gaze.
I hate this.
Friendship was an illusion, a fleeting comfort of make-believe in a world defined by betrayal and self-preservation.
I had learned that lesson the hard way in my last life, and I would not forget it.
Team up to grab food from a stall?
Get left behind on purpose as a distraction and be forced to run like hell.
Make a real friend? On the off chance this happens they'll just die.
Make a shallow friend? They'll just stab you in the back when they want your silver.
I didn't listen to Plum prattling on about how amazing we'd be as guards, meting out 'justice' where any dastardly bandits come and go.
"I need to use the toilet." I said.
I'm at least glad to have plumbing via beast cores.
Year 2
The wooden sword felt good in my hand. The katas we practiced were repetitive, although their movements quickly became ingrained into my muscle memory through countless repetitions and additionally thanks to my new talents.
I learned this very quickly at least.
I'm pretty happy with the talents I got from The Mists space.
This body control ability is extremely useful.
I sighed, I guess I'll stop angsting about my death and inevitable second exile.
I was helpless after all.