Interface directly accessed. You have slain 12 mortal slavers, 2 Bronze-ranked Cultivators, 2 Basic Cultivators, 1 Greater Spirit Beast, and 1 Demonic Abomination (Rank Undefined). Do you wish to claim their potential?
You have access to 7 Lesser and 2 Greater Beast Cores. Do you wish to claim their potency?
You have access to 3 Spirit Pearls. Do you wish to claim their Qi stores?
Alex blinked, licking dry lips. Of course, it made sense. He had completely stripped the quartermaster’s wagon, and had spared only a moment transferring back a large chunk of food, furs, and spears, not bothering or having time to worry about all the knickknacks, hadn’t even considered what treasures might remain in the supplies he hadn’t returned. And it appeared that Fang had profited quite handsomely both in his Spirit Beast hunts and in coin, if his recollection of Spirit Pearls was anything to go by, each being worth an absolute fortune, thanks to the pristine Qi locked within that would serve as a powerful surge of spiritual energy and allow for breakthroughs as potent as any cultivation pill.
Of course, very few would bother doing so, most treating them as the priceless coins they were.
All this raced through Alex’s dying mind in a flash. He deliberately declined using either his Spirit Pearls or the Beast Cores he had claimed, electing to absorb only the potency, or to his mind, experience point value, of his kills.
He knew it was a mad gamble, to think that this mad hunch might save him, but it really had seemed like a thousand hours of intense cultivation had passed by in no more than an hour’s time.
He flashed a bitter smile as he contemplated his Dual Path cultivation technique, near 96% efficacy, before embracing the Golden Realms meridian restoration technique Alex had diligently learned by Liu Li’s side, on the off chance he might one day need it. A soldier’s healing technique so gentle even basic cultivators could make use of it, and, according to his mentor, much like the Cleansing Breath purification technique, it was one of the best ones out there, at least in terms of manuals and techniques basic cultivators could expect to have access to. Of course, he knew it at only 15% efficiency, having studied it as much to keep Liu Li company as for any other reason. He had never thought his life might actually depend upon it, his injured meridian channels in no shape to channel thousands of hours’ worth of the divine Dual Path cultivation technique.
He could only hope it would be enough.
Alex sobbed as he stared through teary eyes at his clawed hands, one holding a poultice-soaked bandage, horrified by the pain he was about to feel, knowing his wandering thoughts had been a desperate, futile move to delay the inevitable, but knowing he dare not hesitate any longer.
He screamed when he tried to put the bandage on, his blood-stained armor with all its rents digging into his wounds and making it almost impossible to put the bandage on in any case, and he too exhausted and injured to struggle out of his armor.
Then he blinked, realizing where he was, and knowing he was being a fool.
He smiled at the wondrous garden he had put together with his own mind, in the heart of an artifact filled with wonders he could shape with his own will.
True, he could only take out what he put in, but whether it was water, seeds, and soil, or paper and ink he could dream together as a copy of a text he had mastered, he already knew that on some level he could manipulate everything he put into his ring.
So why not manipulate all the gear upon his person?
With a sob equal parts pain and relief, a suddenly naked Alex, save for his hated collar, was upon soft loamy ground with a single linen sheet caressing his skin. And then his agony truly began as a poultice-covered linen wrap, shaped like a glove, began gently pushing things back inside where they belonged. Alex screamed, in so much agony he knew he was hallucinating the spiritual doctor frowning down at him as he clamped layers of muscle, fat, and eventually skin tight together before nodding and stepping back.
“Alright, Alex,” said the doctor, whose soothing voice sounded so much like that quack of a practitioner who had talked Alex’s mother into approving a deep-freeze for her son, as well as the voice of WiFu himself.
Alex blinked. Only in that moment realizing that the voices were actually one and the same.
“That should hold. The rest, I’m afraid, is up to you.”
Alex gasped. “Silver Fox, is that you?”
The ghostly doctor just smiled. “You have an active imagination, son. We removed the largest tumor, but if you’re going to be strong enough to take advantage of our wonderful cryonics program, you need to take a deep breath and focus on getting better.”
Alex felt a cold chill transcending mere agony, wondering just how deeply and for how long he had been a plaything of powers beyond his comprehension.
The eyes suddenly glaring into Alex’s own were most definitely WiFu’s. “Now, Alex. You have no more time to waste.”
Even as he sobbed in pain, no longer sure what was real, what was madness, and what was his own psyche’s struggle just to survive, Alex took the next desperate step.
You have slain 12 mortal slavers, 2 Bronze-ranked Cultivators, 2 Basic Cultivators, 1 Greater Spirit Beast, and 1 Demonic Abomination (Rank Undefined). You have chosen YES to accessing their potential via Golden Realms Meridian Restoration Technique, known at 15% efficiency. Efficacy doubled as you are in direct communion with your patron god. Commence?
“Yes!” Alex screamed. And his world became a pristine golden-white blaze of pain, cultivating the incredible potential of all his kills at a thousand-fold his normal cultivation rate.
Golden Realms Meridian Restoration Technique now known at 20% efficacy… 25% efficacy… 30% efficacy…
Meridian Channels have been completely healed.
And still the experience gains roared through him like a howling whirlwind, a storm of potential with nowhere to go.
Alex blinked, or a sliver of his still awake, still sentient soul did, as so much of him hovered between life and death, his own natural regeneration abilities just barely keeping him together, only now realizing how close he had come to ultimate corruption thanks to the infernal injury he had taken, and how lucky he was that his gift was slowly giving him immunity from even that, the golden light of his saintly fangtian ji keeping the corruption at bay.
You have achieved 10% Immunity to Infernal Taint…. 15% Immunity…. 20% Immunity… Taint purged.
Yet there was so much more to discover, to learn, to embrace, the soul of Alex realized in a wonderful epiphany as he gazed with trembling awe at the magnificent catalyzation between gold and pristine White Qi and how together they had neutralized even the deadliest of all conceivable taints.
Then he peered deeper. Deeper than his Qi Perception would normally allow. Into the inner workings of his very cells, some drifting part of his soul lost in the wonder of his body’s natural regeneration properties having been catalyzed into being, like the most primitive of chordates, thanks to his interface enhancements.
And he realized in that moment he could do more. So much more, gently focusing on channeling the swirling maelstrom of beneficent Qi cycling endlessly along peripheral meridian channels long since healed, into his very cells in the tiniest, most incremental surges.
Avoiding all injury, merely mirroring the gentle ministrations his interface put into effect.
At first, it was a careful blending of all his different Qi elements, each gently balancing the other in a pristine harmony only someone with his elemental gifts could hope to emulate.
As his dance between life and death continued, all his monster cores and even his Spirit Pearls slowly being absorbed in the process, his mastery grew as well.
What had at first been incredibly difficult, as like to rupture as repair a cell, now became as easy and natural as breath itself.
Breath infused with golden spiritual energy that would not only assure a soul healed, but a soul free of all infernal taint.
The thought of Liu Li, looking so pale and wa
n, or Peng and Yong Ming, covered with deadly wounds Alex could only pray hadn’t festered and worsened, compelled him, drove him on to further perfect a technique that was as much communing with his soul as it was brilliant flashes of scholarly insight.
Until at last, with a triumphant sob as the last of his Spirit Pearls, which could have bought him a fantastic manor in the heart of the city, evaporated away to nothing, his comprehension was complete.
Tears ran down his cheeks as he took his first pain-free breath in days, months, or years, marveling at the faint silver scars upon his abdomen and the technique he had somehow forged in a fit of incredible inspiration.
Congratulations! You have had a breakthrough!
Thanks to your massive stores of beneficent White Qi, Spirit Pearls, beast cores, access to spiritual treasure, and fully mind-mapped interface, you have devised your first body restoration technique!
Body restoration technique: The Eternal Fox - Forged.
This body restoration technique will allow even the most novice of cultivators to slowly heal almost any injury over time, no matter how severe! (Assuming blood loss or blood poisoning doesn’t kill cultivator before repairs are complete!) Practitioners can regenerate 1 pound of lost matter per 1000 hours spent in meditation per rank achieved in this art. Every increase in cultivation tier, from Basic to Bronze to Silver to Gold to Jade, increases the efficiency by one full order of magnitude.
Your body restoration technique enjoys the following breakthrough benefits!
1. Saintly Technique: even wounds inflicted by infernal, cursed, or otherwise tainted creatures or artifacts can be healed! Note: healing rate drastically reduced for any infernal wound. Daily use of this technique will also prevent the progression of any infernal curse or other foul taint until said wounds are finally healed.
2. Basic Technique: your body cultivation technique has the unique ability to be used even before Bronze is achieved, relying on peripheral meridian channels inherent to even the most limited of cultivators.
3. White Qi Technique: Your technique can be used by anyone able to channel Light Qi, no matter their specific affinity.
You know your body restoration technique at Rank 3. You may heal an additional 3 pounds of lost matter per 1000 hours of meditation. As the founder, your added comprehension will allow the chance of further breakthroughs with each additional Rank achieved. As your current Rank is 3, your divine technique is currently capped at 3 breakthroughs.
You may copy this technique and teach it to other students or transcribe it to a pristine manuscript at will. Note: this is a divine technique. No student who does not fully understand it to at least Rank 3 will be able to transcribe or teach it.
Alex couldn’t help grinning in awe. Amazed to find himself gazing at a few faint silver scars and not at a hideous gut wound inflicted by a hellish beast that might have scarred his very soul. To be free of pain and breathing comfortably, he couldn’t help laughing in amazement, awe, and relief.
He blinked then, gazing with wonder at his garden which, despite its lack of Silverbell blossoms, still looked like it had grown for several years undisturbed.
Alex’s euphoria turned to a sudden chill of apprehension. Had he been lost in a meditative daze for literal years?
He shook his head, realizing he had no way of knowing until he dared slip free of his ring once more. But before he did that, he knew he should prepare himself, taking a careful inventory of his possessions both physical and spiritual, when a message only slightly less urgent than the healing that had saved his life suddenly flashed across his mind’s eye.
Congratulations! You are now Rank 5 in Adderstrike! You are now an Adept in Adderstrike! You may pick 1 additional breakthrough with Adderstrike! Breakthroughs include: A. Powerful Blows - Expect to inflict massive damage as your Adderstrike blows hit harder than ever! B. Fluid Blows - You may now use Adderstrike from all angles! Front-line attack limitation removed! (Fox’s Disciple: you have already achieved partial affinity with this breakthrough.) C. Full Body Blows - Each use of Adderstrike temporarily protects your entire body from all damage! (Note: you have already achieved partial affinity with this breakthrough.) D. Efficient Blows - Each use of Adderstrike only costs you 0.5 instead of 1 point of your Qi reserves!
Alex’s mind raced with the possibilities in an eye blink of time. He loved the ability of striking his foes from all angles, and how sweet it would be to always be utterly immune to his opponent’s strikes the moment he hit them, so even if a blade had pierced his flesh it would instantly stop, all inertia cancelled, and what would be a deadly injury would be reduced to a flesh wound, his foe able to damage no deeper than to yank the weapon away as if in a draw cut, which few confused foes would even think of doing before he had spun out of the cut, rolling with the blow, striking his enemies in turn.
But even now he recalled all the times he had already bordered on breakthroughs in just that direction, able to conceptualize his entire body as a weapon momentarily invulnerable at the point of impact, most specifically when he executed a flying kick, crashing into his opponents after jumping from what he now realized had been a fatal height, or otherwise expertly combining Adderstrike and Bullrush in one deadly maneuver.
Of course, he was no fool. He knew he had been courting peril each time, should folly hit before the odd technique was mastered. Nonetheless, this was not how he wished to advance his skill. Fluid Blows was another useful advancement, but perhaps even more than Full Body Blows, his shin strikes had already stretched the rules, and somehow it inspired him to know he could push his gift even further. Powerful Blows, on the other hand, appealed to his inner gamer like nothing else. The thought of delivering devastating blows able to rupture his enemies gave him a fierce sense of power and joy.
But the fact was that even without that advancement, his Adderstrikes could blast through wooden stumps and rupture armor. It was already a deadly attack. The opponents that stood up best to them were those with some sort of elemental or body cultivating protection, or simply massive Spirit Beasts that needed to be struck at just the right spot to pierce a vital organ or such.
And for all those things, nothing beat efficiency. Nothing beat being able to effectively double the amount of deadly strikes he could unleash before exhaustion crushed him. Whether it was overwhelming his opponent, figuring out how best to overcome a particular defense, sensing the best place to strike, or just surviving a swarm of foes, he could think of nothing more useful than turning 13 Adderstrikes he could unleash before exhaustion was risked into 26, perhaps even 27. To say nothing of the benefit of being able to practice his technique twice as often between rest breaks and further train up his skill, assuming he could train it beyond Rank 5 outside the crucible of combat. Either way, the choice, for him, was clear.
He then blinked and smiled, realizing that the choice was already made. Had already been made, somehow, the moment he had gained Rank 5 in Adderstrike. His mind was only now coming to process and understand the why behind what was the only choice he could have made.
With that thought in mind, he accessed his character sheet once more, keeping it as concise as possible, focusing mainly on all the ways he had improved himself since last he checked. For all that he was still a Rank 6 Basic Cultivator and the surge of spent experience and potential had made absolutely no headway in clearing his massive 7th meridian channel, he took comfort in all the other ways he had grown.
___________________________________________________________________
Alex Hammer
Class – Cultivator: Disciple of the Dual Path (Unlimited potential. This is a Divine path.)
Rank 6 Basic Cultivation Achieved
Physical Characteristics
Strength 15 (Exceeds 95% of Population)
Vitality 15 (Exceeds 95% of Population)
Quickness 14 (Exceeds 90% of Population)
Finesse 14 (Exceeds 90% of Population)
Spiritual Characteristics
Schol
arship 11 (Exceeds 62% of Population)
Perception 13 (Exceeds 83% of Population)
Willpower 14 (Exceeds 90% of Population)
Qi pool 14 (6 Meridian Gateways Open)
Health Points: 225
Perks
Insightful – Rank 2
Charismatic – Rank 2
Favorite Skills
Golden Realms Kung Fu – Rank 4
Fangtian Ji (Halberd) – Rank 4
Long Spear (Pike) – Rank 4
Gladius (Short Sword) – Rank 4
Poison Spitting – Rank 4
Qi Disciplines
Adderstrike – Rank 5 (Breakthroughs Achieved: Efficient Strike, Impact Invulnerability & Expanded Mastery. Can be used with all thrusting attacks, straight-line punches or kicks, and all shin strikes. Cost to use: 0.5 Qi point per strike.)
Bullrush – Rank 3 (5) (2 specialization points spent. Extended Range is between 10-40 feet in any direction. Breakthroughs achieved: Lightness, Maneuverability, Linked usage with Adderstrike. Cost to use: 1 Qi point per blink.)
Piercing Strike – Rank 0 (You have yet to fully comprehend this art.)
Qi Deflection – Rank 0 (You do not yet fully comprehend this art.)
Qi Absorption – Rank 2 (Rank 3 vs Fire-aspected Qi. Rank 1 vs all other Qi aspects until experience garnered absorbing those energies.)
Qi Flood – Rank 1 (You now have the ability to flood your target with Qi, even in combat! (What other uses for this skill might there be?)
Qi Perception – Rank 3 (You can now sense both physical and Qi manifestations around you within a 20-foot radius with concentration. You enjoy a passive +6 bonus to all Perception checks within this radius and all stealth checks and Qi cloaking disciplines will suffer an equal penalty when used against you. When actively used, you will enjoy a bonus in sensing the inner-workings of all Qi attacks and wards. With sufficient training, this sense can be used as a substitute for sight. You will not be able to read or differentiate differences relying on visual colors, patterns, or minute details without making use of additional senses.)
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reforged: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 2 Page 14
