The book responsibly supplied additional information about himself because there was a great change to record.
The state of his body changed in the book. He gained an outsider's perspective, so he could see greater detail. His features became ever so sharper, like a dull blade reforged. The contours of his muscle became more prominent as well.
From a seven out of ten to a seven and a half. Good looks are a benefit no matter the world a person's in. Ji Yuan continued to look at his body, memories of his original self filling his mind. He allowed himself to fall into reminiscence, but only for a moment.
After the description was revised and new text was added, he began reviewing his personal page.
"The illustration of my body also became more detailed with the descriptions pointing to acupoints and meridians pertaining to traditional Chinese medicine. That kinda crap was fake in the modern world, but I guess it's real here."
He looked at the diagram showing his profound veins flowing in his body and the profound entrances that determine talent—speed of cultivation and speed of energy activation.
Xiao Yuan originally had fourteen profound entrances, but the potion that remodeled his body burst open three new entrances, giving him a total of seventeen. He went from a man of slightly above average talent in the body's original clan to a person of great talent who would be deeply valued.
He was gratified by the positive change because this meant his talent was capable of being improved. His own cultivation wouldn't fall behind the power of pathways.
Speaking of pathways, right off the bat there was dark red text under his name that directly referred to the greatest change in him that wasn't the increase in his profound realm.
Sequence 9: Hunter.
With reading came understanding.
Cultivation is a method of progressively increasing one's power and the power of pathways written in the book is another method of also gaining power. To match the mainstream method of gaining strength in this world, would he have to go wide and drink potions from different paths or would he have to delve deeper and unearth the power of a Hunter in some way?
The text 'Sequence 9' answered some of his questions.
Ji Yuan made a guess that since the paths start at 9, then it must at least stop at 1 or even 0 as the end of the path. Going into the negatives would be too ridiculous.
"If Hunter is this strong already, then how much power will I have in the last sequence?"
He knows not the ceiling of the power given by the book nor the ceiling of power that can be cultivated by anyone with profound veins.
He's still a rookie navigating new territory. It's even harder for him who's simultaneously going down two paths at once, one of them being something that nobody in this world might be aware of.
In the midst of reading and thinking, there was a new piece of information on his 'status sheet' that drew his attention.
'Ji Yuan has already preemptively digested a small portion of the potion in advance.'
"Preemptive digestion..."
This is an essential piece of information needed to understand exactly how to progress through the sequences. Could digesting the potion be the way to progress through sequences? How does one digest the potion and how does one do it preemptively?
He's only been here for a single day, but his soul has been around for over twenty years. What actions could he have taken to help him digest the potion before he even ingested it? Could it be a benefit of being the owner of this cheat book?
Ji Yuan cupped his chin in thought, staring hard at the book as if his determination would manifest the answer onto the paper.
While his wishful thinking was a fruit that would never bear hope, that didn't mean the book didn't have more information to offer. Since he wanted more information, the book showed him the update that he didn't know about.
His connection to the book grew stronger when he took the potion, but he was still unaware of the changes to the book until it revealed it of its own accord.
The sound of rapidly turning pages caressed his ears, making him feel an anticipation for what's about to be revealed to him. Ji Yuan only had to wait two seconds for the turning to stop on two pages that he was familiar with.
On the left page was the word Genesis.
On the right page was the word Terminus.
Hunter was still there in its bold red ink, but there was more now.
The previous pathways returned with the formulas for their respective potions completely revealed to him.
"I have the energy to generate materials and fuse two more potions... Can I even do that?"
The book didn't say he couldn't do that and it's still not telling him that he's unable to do that. If he can't take potions from multiple paths, then why did their names return with the formulas prepared? It's as if he's being told to take more potions.
Ji Yuan hesitated, his mind running several kilometers a minute.
While it's not saying there's a risk, it's also not saying there isn't a risk. It didn't inform him about the pain of drinking a potion. What if there's a conflict between paths that causes some horrible side effects, like someone mixing bleach and vinegar?
Take Warrior and Reader for example. Just from the names, one can tell their focal points. In an ideal world, both brain and brawn in a single person is balanced perfection, but will that actually be the case when both brain and brawn are granted by two separate potions each with their painful consumption process?
Opposites attract, but they also conflict.
In a relationship, sparks flying between two lovers is fun, but sparks flying within a person's body can only be called ominous.
It's too risky.
"Then what about drinking another Hunter potion? It'd just be adding more juice, right?"
No, he can use a different analogy here. His body, a container for the potion, is mostly full. It would've been completely full had he not have digested a tiny part of the potion already.
If he were to drink another entire potion, the container would either overflow or burst entirely. In other words, there is a conceivable risk regardless of what additional potion he might consume.
For now, it's best to be cautious. This is a power system he's still greatly ignorant of.
Ji Yuan temporarily shelved the topic of taking another potion and decided to first 'digest' his current one instead. If digesting is a safe way of gaining strength, then why should he hastily and greedily seek more?
Yes, it should be a more last resort thing to drink potions from different pathways. Only when he has no choice or when he's decided it's safe will he do such a thing.
He nodded to himself and started thinking about a different topic.
Now that he's become a Hunter and advanced to the Nascent Profound Realm, what should he do next? He recalls the directions Tu Di, the archer, gave to him when asking for the nearest town.
Should he head to New Moon City?
He thinks he possesses the qualifications to protect himself with this newfound strength, but what if it's not enough? It feels like a town after the starting zone, but who knows if there are hidden masters four realms above him just sitting around?
There's also the fact of this original body's assassination incident.
He doesn't mind risk. That's the spice that adds flavor to battle.
However, a curb stomp isn't fun.
The risk won't go away if he delays going to New Moon City. What's more important is getting used to his new abilities and building up more strength while figuring out how to 'digest' this potion and cultivate profound energy.
"How long should I stay in the forest? Let's say...a month?"
There's all those stories about how cultivators can sit in a cave for months just to meditate and cultivate their power, but he's obviously not amazing enough to do that.
So, he estimated a month would be more than enough time to get used to his abilities, learn how to properly fight as a being beyond common humanity, fill up the map progress, gather more herbs while searching for rarer materials in the wild, build up more energy in the book, and finally start adjusting to living a different life in this new world.
The last part is probably the most important thing.
He's figured it out.
Even though his parents aren't here, the people who he once used as restraints have also disappeared, and he's arrived at a completely different world in a different body, the lessons he learned were imprinted into his soul.
As long as he kills more animals, he should be able to make himself understand...that there's no need to hang onto the things that fill him with conflict.
He already had his first meditation session, so this could be called his first seclusion.