“What kind of cultivator do you want to be?” I asked and I activated a special spiritual companion skill, the [Cultivation Technique Matching Tool]. I faced a whole long list of questions. Do I really have to fill all of them?
I did. At least complete the initial assessment. Thankfully the tool wasn’t stupid and could get the answer direct form Zeming.
“Uh...” Zeming frowned. “I want to be a good cultivator I guess? I mean, I want to be a righteous cultivator.”
The tool took in the answer and prompted the next one.
“Alright alright. Next question, what’s your favourite color?”
“Uh.... maybe blue? Or gold?”
“PIck one.”
“Gold. Because it represents money.” The tool gave me a little ding.
“You do know that money and righteousness are usually conflicting?”
“Yeah, but I’d like to be an honorable one? If I have money, I can be honorable.”
“Alright. How about elements. What’s your favourite element?”
“You mean like water, fire and all that?”
I nodded. I was just a little rat that rested on his shoulder as he walked to the town
“Uh... I like water I guess? I mean, it’s like the friendly type.” The tool made a ding. I chuckled at how silly the questions are, it’s some like stupid personaltiy quiz thing. Seriously, was this how the system determined what’s a suitable cultivation method?
“Alright, uh... let’s see... so, do you have a favourite weapon?” Much better, this sounded more like a cultivation related question.
“Uh... no. I only used a wooden sword briefly but I honestly don’t really like it.”
The tool took that as ‘none.’
“What about games? Do you have a favourite game?” I rolled my eyes at the question. And I thought the quiz was finally going to get serious.
“I uh... I like to play catch and hide and seek.” I seem to forget most of these main characters are children and teens. “I also make my own wooden toys sometimes, but now that I’m 15 I usually have to help out with the farm.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“I see.” Ding.
The next question needed him to sleep, and so that night in his dreams, I somehow, without knowing how I did it, slipped into his dreams.
"This is my dream?" Zeming looked lost.
"Yes." I appeared as a wise old man with glorious long hair and a beautiful beard. I was like a super handsome wizard, or maybe a wise white-beard cultivation master, and that was intentional. Dreamspaces are awesome.
Anyway, the question appeared. He had to choose from a choice of 5 girls. "Which one would you pick?"
The five beautiful girls all had different hairstyles, dresses and ornaments. Zeming just stared. "They all are so beautiful."
"Hey don't be greedy-" Ding. The system noted Zeming's choice, and I was instantly kicked out of his harem dream.
The next day, the system finally completed processing of the choices and then prompted a few potential methods, but I only have 50FPs to spend for Zeming. So why bother with the non-purchasable options?
[Arts of the Endless Sea- A Rank - Water Element - MC only]
I mean, its power rank was A. There's S, and SS, and SSS above it. Or maybe more. Or maybe all these power rankings are just meaningless numbers.
[Hey, you are absolutely right! It’s all meaningless trash!]
The system even agreed with me. Great. Power rankings are useless. Why show it then?
[We needed to fill up the screen]
...fuck that malicious compliance.
Anyway, I bought the technique and instantly I received 5 small scrolls in my inventory, each an Endless Sea scroll, but separated into 5 grades, Grandmaster, Master, Expert, Advanced and Basic. The higher 4 scrolls were greyed out, and essentially, only the Basic scroll can be used]
I didn't waste time and immediately used the Basic Scroll on Zeming. His eyes turned white momentarily as the scroll dissolved from my inventory and entered his mind directly.
[Your character has received his first proper cultivation method. You received 3 Plot Armor Tokens. When faced with difficult situations you may choose to take the hit, or trigger the Plot Armor Token to save your character. You have little control over how the plot armor plays out.]
Fucking hell.
"Master, is this alright?" Zeming asked as knowledge of the technique entered his mind. Now that he knew the basics, it was time to practice and build his cultivation.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, is it alright to just pass on this knowledge to me? Cultivation techniques are sect treasures!" Oh how naive, like any other innocent main character who unwittingly stumbled into power.
"Ever heard of how some great men emerge out of nowhere, after they had a fortuitous encounter that changed their life?"
"Ah. Like the stories." Zeming spoke with his eyes wide.
"Well." I jumped closer and then pinched his ears. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I had just given you the basics. Start cultivating and let's see whether you have any chance."
At that moment, something triggered.
[You’ve unlocked the Beginner Cultivation Assistance AI. You will be able to guide your subject for the first 3 cultivation stars. Further assistance will need to be purchased with Fate Points. You’ve also unlocked the Beginner Events Minimap]
There were a tonne of error messages. Zeming sucked so bad that I had a wall of errors. Sorry, I meant corrections. I sighed.
I spent hours with Zeming, as we went through the errors one by one.