CHAPTER 3
Maybe this was real. Maybe this was all a continuous hallucination born of the shock of killing someone.
Zhu hadn’t really considered the consequences of what he’d done. He refused to. Besides, the sect hadn’t sent anyone yet. He still had plenty of time to make decisions. He…
It depends, he realized.
The moment the emissary’s sect responds to their death, then it would be a tumultuous time. That he had the time to figure things out at this moment did not mean that he would have the time later.
[Karma -1]
It was surprisingly easy to activate the technique. Zhu was already an abrupt person, and he lacked friendly feelings toward his uncle.
If he hadn’t already killed someone, if he hadn’t already acknowledged in his subconscious mind that he was perfectly capable of this, Zhu might have hesitated. Or perhaps, like this morning, he wouldn't.
Zhu made a strange, unfamiliar gesture. His hands moved on their own, his fingers curved unbeknownst to his inability to control them, and he reached out blithely through his surroundings. His left arm extended, and his pointer finger unwaveringly extended in his uncle’s direction.
Let alone understand what he was doing, Zhu couldn’t even see the movements of his uncle and cousin sparring. His arm eerily moved as his uncle did, always on point, always exact.
He tried to move. He couldn’t. It was too late to change his mind, but even then, what would reducing his uncle’s cultivation do? If it really happened, that is. It struck him that this kind of technique, used like this, would probably only injure someone at worst. Doubts began to sprout from roots of uncertainty. They would just stop fighting, wouldn’t they? In fact, Zhu wondered if there was any purpose to this. Even if this was real, had he simply wasted his only point of karma?
The sky was clear and the day bright. It was to the point that Zhu squinted to look up.
However, thunder rumbled.
People looked up strangely at the suddenly formed clouds, while others contemplated.
A burst of multicoloured lightning, too far above to properly see, flashed throughout the rapidly darkening clouds.
The world briefly flashed purple, white, yellow and black… and just as fast as it had formed, the storm dispersed. The sky returned to its unhindered blue, and the sun was once again lonely across the horizon, unaware of what had transpired before it.
Far below, murmurs spurred shouts and cries.
Zhu stared blankly at the hole in Randall’s chest. His sparring partner, their fist extended, watched in shock as Randall collapsed to the dirt.
[Target Killed!]
Karma +9!
Time to live +100Hrs
[Host Level Up!]
LV.1 » LV.2
Qi +1/hr
+2 Points
[Bonus!]
Your actions resulted in the death of your own flesh and blood. The [Heaven System] admires your commitment!
All Karma gains are now 1.1x.
The elder of the sparring grounds immediately appeared beside Randall’s corpse, giving it only a quick once-over before leaving it as is and stomping toward his sparring partner.
Zhu couldn’t look away, even if his instinct was to escape the scene of the crime.
In the blink of an eye, the plainly garbed elder’s hand stabbed into an area just above the man’s waist.
[Target Disabled]
Karma +8.8!
Time to live +50hrs
[Host Level Up!]
LV.2 » LV.3
Qi +1/hr
+3 Points
Spiritual energy exploded outward from the wound in a burst of blue translucent mist. His cousin’s cultivation dwindled to nothing, and their complexion rapidly paled.
Zhu was struck frozen by his conscience.
His cousin fell to his knees and howled, a chilling sound of anguish that told an unfortunate story all on its own.
The elder pulled him roughly to his feet and marched toward the manor, and Zhu, somewhat dumbstruck, slowly followed behind them. The crowd that had amassed, of both those that came to watch and the others that had been sparring and rapidly lost interest, slowly dispersed.
Any doubts Zhu had of the Heaven System had been rather forcefully dispelled. While he was pre-occupied with the reality of what he had just done, he was also struck with awe for the power that he had been given. It hadn’t been pretty, but just now, Zhu had accomplished something. A feeling anathema to regret sprung in his gut, lightening his steps.
Zhu wasn’t a total failure.
The world wasn’t fair; for one person to rise, others had to fall. Especially in a world with cultivators, this was a common law; even Zhu, with his terrible ability to comprehend just about anything, knew all about that.
Once the elder had dragged his unfortunate cousin into the manor, Zhu split off to find a servant and enter his personal washroom, where he ordered the skinny male servant to draw him a bath.
He was now fully confident in the ability of the heaven system to provide to him everything it said it would, and if cultivating through the heaven system was at all like typical cultivation, then impurities would be expelled from the skin. Zhu would never accept dirtying his clothes with something as mundane as bodily impurities.
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His slightly chubby, weaker-than-average frame dipped into the water, careful so as not to slip, and he waved away the servant.
“Can I see my attributes?”
[Attributes]
LEVEL 3 [Karma: 2.8/20]
Cultivation: Mortal [+] Cost: 1 Pure Qi
Cultivation Talent: 0 [+] Cost: 1 Point
Comprehension: 0 [+] Cost: 1 Point
Spirit Energy: 0/0 | 0/hr
Pure Qi: 1/1 | 3/Hr
Point(s): 6
Time to live: 171Hrs
The menu appeared in front of his eyes, a simple cyan font decorating a soft grey square, and he carefully tapped the box next to Cultivation. He braced himself for whatever was to happen.
[Cultivation Initiated!]
As this is the host’s first-time initiating cultivation, please select the difficulty level for future breakthrough.
Difficulty 1:
Cost to cultivate: x1.0
Battle Power: x1.0
Spirit Energy: x1.0
Lifespan: x1.0
Difficulty 2:
Cost to cultivate: x4.0
Battle Power: x1.5
Spirit Energy: x1.5
Lifespan: x2.0
Difficulty 3:
Cost to cultivate: x8.0
Battle Power: x2.0
Spirit Energy: x2.0
Lifespan: x3.0
Please read:
Difficulty settings can be increased and applied retroactively for the difference in past to present costs. Difficulty cannot be decreased.
If he more readily understood the consequences, Zhu might have chosen something different. As it was, he easily selected Difficulty 1. It was simple, and it didn’t need any thought. He didn’t want to wait any longer than he had to for any kind of cultivating; it had already been a long, long time coming. If the numbers were meaningful, he didn't care.
A shower of multicoloured lightning danced atop his skin!
DING!
[Cultivation Success!]
Mortal » Body Refining | Stage 1
Spirit Energy +10 | +1/Hr
Qi Limit +100
Section Unlocked: Cultivation Techniques!
Section Unlocked: Martial Techniques!
Zhu shuddered, but he felt no pain.
The lightning petered off, the purples, blues, greens and the myriad of other colours dissipating as quickly as they had come.
He felt none of the sensation that he had expected, and in some part, he felt that he had been scammed somehow.
If that was all there were to it, Zhu might have truly believed that, in the end, he really was insane. However, the murky black of the once clear bath water made it clear that something had muddied it, and he hadn’t been nearly that dirty. It was almost definitely impurities from his body that had been cleansed at lightning speed.
Zhu idly wondered if he should have been electrocuted.
The water fell from his frame and decorated the impressive etched tiling as he left the tub and walked toward a ceiling-length mirror. He withheld a frown at his reflection. Zhu was still unfit and unassuming, but maybe not as much as before. The effects of the first stages of body refining weren’t very clear, but he did feel marginally better in strange, esoteric ways. Existence felt a bit more comforting than before.
He should be more excited over this. Once, cultivating had been Zhu’s dream – it was a common dream, but… his father had once exhausted every option and avenue that anyone in the family could come up with. Zhu utterly failed to accomplish anything. Over the years, it had sunken in that he wasn’t ever going to cultivate, that he was always to be weak and unfit, and that he wasn’t going to live very long even compared to peasants.
It was around then, around ten years ago, that he had started failing in simple things, and his father had slowly drifted away from tough regimes and into providing his current life of luxury.
Perhaps his father never expected him to be any good at that apprenticeship to the family blacksmith, and maybe his father never expected him to pick anything up from the meeting today. In retrospect, a critical failure like today was inevitable.
Zhu was deeply talentless. He was so talentless that it defined him.
His finger tapped onto a soft cyan square.
DING!
[Talent Increased!]
Cultivation Talent: 0 » 1
Qi +1/hr
Spirit Energy +10%
Spirit Energy Regeneration +10%
This time, there was no light show. In fact, there was nothing at all. Zhu, in part, felt as if much of this was just too underwhelming. Nothing he triggered really disclosed its effects, and if it weren’t for the catastrophe he had wrought upon his uncle, he wouldn’t be nearly so certain that this was truly happening.
“Attributes?”
[Attributes]
LEVEL 3 [Karma: 2/20]
Cultivation: Body Refining | Stage 1 [+] Cost: 10 Pure Qi
Cultivation Talent: 1 [+] Cost: 2 Point(s)
Comprehension: 0 [+] Cost: 1 Point(s)
Spirit Energy: 10/11 | 1.1/Hr
Pure Qi: 0/100 | 4/Hr
Point(s): 5
Time to live: 171Hrs
Did Zhu have that kind of time? He had to wait more than two hours, and he'd only be reaching the second stage. Impressive for the time it could take, probably? But it was useless in the face of what might arrive. Even Zhu understood that sects were unbeatable, but the sect wasn’t going to arrive before even a single night passed, right?
He hesitated, but in his heart, he deeply understood his desires.
[Talent Increased!]
Cultivation Talent: 1 » 2
Qi +2/hr
Spirit Energy +20%
Spirit Energy Regeneration +20%
[Talent Increased!]
Cultivation Talent: 2 » 3
Qi +3/hr
Spirit Energy +30%
Spirit Energy Regeneration +30%
There was a faint sensation of static dancing throughout his flesh, and Zhu couldn’t help but frantically itch at his exposed skin. It dispersed in moments, but the uncomfortable feeling was already deeply embedded in his memory.
“Attributes.”
[Attributes]
LEVEL 3 [Karma: 2/20]
Cultivation: Body Refining | Stage 1 [+] Cost: 10 Pure Qi
Cultivation Talent: 3 [+] Cost: 4 Point(s)
Comprehension: 0 [+] Cost: 1 Point(s)
Spirit Energy: 10/16 | 1.6/Hr
Pure Qi: 0/100 | 9/Hr
Point(s): 0
Time to live: 171Hrs
He felt justified in doing what he did. At least, compared to killing the emissary and then killing his uncle and incriminating one of his cousins.
Zhu narrowed his eyes and slowly, carefully thought about what he was doing. Was he just going to wait? Was he supposed to twiddle his thumbs for the next hour?
A clean robe awaited him beside the entryway, and he shucked it on and pushed through the thick doors of his washroom. If the large doors took less effort to move than before, he wasn’t sure. He did, however, feel very clean. He felt very comfortable, and his steps were quite light.
It was something of a miracle that he had managed to clean up so well when the tub was full of impurities.
“You!”
He pointed to the same servant that just set the bath, who had patiently waited outside.
“Empty and rinse the bath. It’s dirty.”
He tidied his robe and tightened the conspicuous jewelled belt at his waist, glad to be wearing something that wasn’t bloodied.
“Also, throw out those robes.”
…
“Father!”
The big man was unhappy when Zhu entered his office, but once he was recognized, a strained smile crossed his father's face.
“Son? I’m busy.”
True to his words, he was in a fresh set of decorative robes and hunched over parchment, a quill entwined in his fingers and an ink well by the side. Atop his deck laid a neat stack of envelopes, freshly sealed with the family insignia. Beside it were allayed fresh ones, awaiting contents.
It was clear that his father was going to ask for every favour he could get and then some. Perhaps it was an absolutely necessity, but it warmed Zhu’s heart nonetheless.
At the same time, his guilt only deepened. What was to come? How long did they have before the inevitable?
The corpse was missing, and the rug replaced with one of similar design. The flooring had been deeply cleansed, and the room smelled of soap. Curtains fluttered in the wind by a window that was rarely open.
Zhu released a long, slow breath. Tension dropped from his shoulders, and he nodded to his own thoughts.
“Test my cultivation.”
His father’s quill slid across the parchment, muddling words and drawing a swear.
“Excuse me?”
“Test my cultivation.”
His father blinked owlishly. “Well, come here then.”