Chapter 546 - To The Mountains (I)3 days ago
Han Yimu felt a bit touched by the speech, as he'd never heard anything like it before in his life. The others, too, seemed to take a silent note of it for a moment, but it truly was just for a moment--before a flurry of requests exploded. The first one was, surprisingly, Long Tao of all people.
"I need an art that immediately makes me break through into the Demigod Realm--"
"--get lost." Master interrupted unceremoniously.
"I need a powerful attack art, Master!" Dai Xiu said. "Even though I punch a lot, I barely hurt them!"
"I'll see what I can do about that, Xiu'er," Master said with a faint smile.
"I need an internal art," sister Wan Lan said. "Something that I can silently charge up while taking a beating."
"... weird way to phrase it, but alright. Master will look through his coffers."
"It, it may be too much," Rayce said. Hmm? Wasn't he an Shaman? Han Yimu frowned, wondering why a shaman was seeking arts from a cultivator. "But perhaps an art that can automatically inscribe very simple, everyday Words? That way, I can dedicate most of my time to more complex and layered phrases."
... phrases? Han Yimu's frown deepened? He didn't know much about Shamans, but he knew for certain they wrote words and not phrases.
"It truly would be helpful," Master said. "Perhaps there might be one, Master will see."
There... was?
"Master... could, could I have an art that helps me with my weapon?" Xing Feng asked somewhat shyly. "I, I know there's so many stances, but..."
"No, no, you're right. You more than deserve it, Feng'er. I'll be sure to find something fitting you."
No, Han Yimu thought, you cannot simply findan art like that.
"I'd like an art that--"
"--you haven't even fought," Master interrupted the alchemist with a frown on his face. "What are you butting in?"
"Master, I've fought, though?" Long Tao said.
"Why are you still there? Didn't I explicitly tell you to get lost?" the kids laughed as Long Tao rolled his eyes, and Han Yimu found the entire situation more and more confusing.
"Master, I'd like an art that lets me stay underwater for as long as I want!" Light suddenly announced.
"... uh, w-why?" even Master seemed a bit confused.
"Fishes are pretty and I want to be able to swim with them."
"... sure. Master will see about that."
"She didn't fight either," the alchemist protested.
"... really?" Master looked over at him, the look in his eyes quite strange. "Really?"
The alchemist sighed and turned away, seeming to be pouting, which was quite a strange thing to do for a man that was hundreds of years old, at the very least. Just then, too, Master looked over at him as did everyone else, and they kept staring as his blood rushed into his cheeks.
"W-what?" he finally dared ask.
"What do you want, Yimu?" Master asked.
"... h-huh?"
"You've also done really well," he said, smiling gently. "And deserve an award. Look at these gremlins immediately demanding stuff. Be more like them and less like Zhao'er sitting over there waiting his turn."
"That's not fair, Master," Xi Zhao said. "All I want is just for you to be healthy and nothing more."
"... tsk, kiss-ass," Dai Xiu said with a good amount of derision.
"... alright, yeah, definitely don't be like Zhao'er," they laughed, once again, making him feel... odd. Since becoming a martial artist, he was taught that anything but proper behavior in front of a Master was considered disrespect. Though he'd already recognized this little group hardly followed conventions, he had still underestimated them severely.
Rather than a Master and Disciples, more and more they simply just seemed like a... family. A decidedly weird one, for certain, but a family nonetheless.
"So, what would you like?"
"..." he stared back at the Master for a moment, thinking whether to play along. In the end, he truly was lacking in everything since he had to abandon all the previous arts he'd learned. And the one he definitely needed the most... "A movement art," he said. "Any kind would be fine."
"Alright," his Master nodded, smiling. "I'll see what I can do. Anyway, everyone--rest for a bit and see if you can find anything we can sell in this place. Once we've rested for a bit, we'll change our faces--oh, right, Yimu, let me know if you have trouble understanding it. Also, I forgot to give you a sister-art of sorts. Master is truly becoming forgetful in his old age..."
"You're ten times younger than me," the alchemist said.
"And you've forgotten all your manners, so it tracks."
"... haah."
"Anyway," Master tossed him a crude-looking booklet. "If you have gained the initial mastery of the Art of Survival, change your face however you'd like. If not, you can come to me or anyone to help you along."
Han Yimu caught the booklet his Master tossed; as far as the face-changing art went, he did actually reach the initial mastery. Despite the art's complexities, he had been a prodigy, and one thing he didn't lose while losing all his cultivation was his comprehension abilities.
He opened the new art his master gave him and scrolled through the pages somewhat slowly. It was... a strange art, to say the least. It held within some very beginner concepts that even children would intuitively know how to use, but also some profundities that began to unfold Yimu's understanding of the world.
Han Yimu felt his heart stop for a moment--this was terrifying. Ability to change natures of Qi, to adjust them, to mix them... it was almost on the level of face-changing art. No, in some ways it was even more astonishing as it could be the difference of a victory and a loss in combat.
When would it all stop? The constant revelations that had him spinning out. How was it possible that this was just an 'ordinary' group in the Lower Realm? It wasn't. Master was either a being of the Upper Realm who descended, or they were part of some ancient clan that had decided to send out a generation of their kids out to train them.
... but why would Master accept him, then?
"If you think too deeply about it," sister Wan Lan suddenly appeared next to him, speaking with a faint smile. "Your head will start to hurt."
"Ah."
"I've stopped doing it... huh, it's been a couple of years, hasn't it?" she looked at the Master silently for a moment. "You'll come to learn that both he and brother Tao have a long list of family members--from brothers and sisters to grandaunts and fourth cousins thrice removed--who had left behind a good number of things. Such an extensive family tree is bound to have the endless coffers, no?"
"... you do know that's impossible?" Han Yimu spat out almost instinctively, regretting it. She merely glanced at him and smirked.
"Another thing you'll come to learn," she said. "With Master... nothing will feel impossible, trust me."
Chapter 547 - To the Mountains (II)New2 days ago
The kids went to the side and started playing back the fight they just had, noting what they did right and what they did wrong and how they could have fought better, and a million other things, I imagine. Their excitement was palpable, but mine was a bit faded.
I was once again in need of new arts and, as every other time, they were perfectly vague and nonchalant in their requests. As I have the image of a sagacious master to maintain (I think?), I didn't inquire any further, but that meant the bulk of actually making the damn thing was left up to me.
Plus, with the new points limit of gracious 1,000, even my healthy reserves of points resting in tens of thousands aren't immune to being drained.
"Are you conferring with your coffers, Master?" Long Tao interrupted my thoughts with a cheeky smile, prompting me to sigh.
"What do you want?"
"... my heart," he said. "I feel like I'm close to lessening the curse."
"Oh. That's good." wait, did we ever directlytalk about his heart being cursed? I... I don't think so?
"Not really," he shook his head. "Whoever cursed me at my birth, no doubt due to my extensive family," ah, there it is. "Also left behind an imprint. And, despite the extensive knowledge my family left behind for me, I do not know how to hide the curse being slowly cured."
"... so, if your condition becomes better, whoever cursed you at birth will immediately know?"
"Probably," he nodded. Right. That actually is a bitch. But there's a small caveat that is lost in our deluded discussions--whoever cursed him... knows he was reborn. So, there's at least one person somewhere out there that knows Long Tao is alive.
It's actually kind of a hint; anyone who truly loathed him and wanted him dead would have immediately come over and killed him once they realized he'd reincarnated. However, seeing as he was quite healthy (otherwise) and very much alive, it meant that whoever cursed him just wants him to suffer. And since it's a curse of heart...
"If they hated your family so much," I probed gently. "Why did they let you live?" the look in his eyes shifted a bit as he likely picked up on it, lips stretching out into a bitter smile.
"There are kinds of hate, Master," he said. "And from what little I was told, this wasn't the loathing sort."
Yup. Definitely some lover or such, no doubt. Just what the fuck did you do for her to curse you with something even you can't dispel? Sheesh.
"So, you do need an art."
"If there's anyone who has it, it's the Master's coffers, no doubt."
"... alright. I'll see about it. Now shoo. I was meditating."
"Of course."
Haah.
Troubles never cease.
But I actually have my doubts over this; if he knew this was a risk, he would not have practice the Heart-Stitching Art orHarmonized Heart Sutra to the extent that he did. So, it was likely that either he was just straight-up lying to me, or that he already had the means of keeping it at bay, as it were, but was perhaps looking to see if I had a more 'permanent' solution.
The issue is, though, that I don't even know where to begin with this. Despite having memorized a good chunk of the options in the creator's window, none are screaming at me as a solution to his problem.
... so, kick the can down the road. It's future me problem. A tested method dating back to the ancient peoples, and it has never, not once, come back to bite anyone in the ass.
Especially me.
Nope.
Anyway, circling back to the easiest: it's probably Xiu'er's. All she wants is an attacking art, and I can just build off of her momentum-building movement art. No, wait, she already does that passively; in a way, she was explicit about what she wanted: a powerful attack art. Even though, in my head at least, it doesn't quite suit her, who cares? She asked for it, and she'll get it.
I opened the creator's window and fiddled around for a bit; when it comes to offensive arts, their entire structure alters depending on the core few parameters. And considering Xiu'er's unique physique as well as her, uh, average comprehensive abilities, something relatively simple but explosive is probably the way to go.
There was something I had to be extremely careful of before my physique evolved: I couldn't create arts that would have the kids relying on me constantly being around to gain the passive Qi recovery rate. However, now that it was global, I could let loose and have every art use inordinate amount of Qi, since they'd recover it quickly enough.
Xiu'er is probably the best guinea pig--I mean test--I mean she's the perfect one to utilize an art created with a simple philosophy: blow everything up, no bars held. Or something like that.
As such, I made it simple, sticking to just two forms: ready and go, pretty much, and only upgrading up to the Standard logic cohesion. I didn't add any special kinds of Qi or energies, saving all my points for just a few places. For starters, I added minor infusion of Destruction Law, costing me a whopping 300 points. I wept, almost, as not too long ago that was the total amount I could have used.
I did want to add an infusion of some of the Origin Concepts, but even the cheapest was 800, so that wasn't gonna happen.
The next spending bulk came in the specific effects: I stacked as many as I could. There was a concept called 'Extended Melee' which should, in theory, allow her to extend the arch of her attacks by a few inches. I think. Probably.
Beyond that, I added all sorts of debuffs, as it were, to whoever took on the art: they'd be slowed, their Qi flow would be disrupted, their perception would be dampened, their energy would be drained, there'd be a great chance of lingering damage, and the property to tear through the Qi barriers and even physical armors. In total, all of it stacked up to 455 points, leaving me with just around 200 to finish off.
There wasn't much I could add, ironically, that would alter the art too much, but there was one particular Unique Property that fit just right, costing me 170 points.
'Proportional Output'.
Per its name, vague though it kind of was, it will allow her to expend Qi beyond the art's innate capacity to increase the sheer output of the strike. How much and how useful this will be? I've no idea. Honestly, I'm hoping that the next system upgrade comes with a mental simulator or something, where I can clearly see how these arts are played out before I commit to them.
Oh well.
A boy can dream.
I quickly clicked 'Create', excited to see what will come of it--haaah. Again. It's happened again.
[--Congratulations, Host, on creating an offensive art, 'World-Sundering Fist']
[...]
[World-Sundering Fist]
[Type: Offensive Art]
[Rank: peak-Myth]
[Host Comprehension: Minor (Host should not use the art in question; it demands and extremely sturdy physique and a Qi output beyond Host's means)]
[...]
[Fist Arts, since the dawn of time, focused on precision and repeated blows to exercise utmost damage, occasionally shifting into the territory of one-kill strikes. As philosophies of fighting began to change and evolve over time, so did the approach toward all fighting schools, especially so Fist Arts; most of the practitioners were slowly funneled into defensive schools, where the priority was to endure and wear down the opponent. World-Sundering Fist, however, utterly rejects the approach and goes in a complete opposite direction. It is designed to force the martial artist to be on perpetual offensive, to strike repeatedly and strike fast, and to have nigh-inexhaustible amount of Qi to truly utilize the art to its utmost. However, if properly executed, its sheer force almost matches that of a sword. Though simple to learn and even execute, the major drawback is that it demands battle instincts beyond ordinary; an ability to quickly and precisely coalesce Qi at the point of impact in the heat of the battle is seldom found, especially paired with a physique that can sustain the expenditure of Qi required]
[...]
[Creation Points Value: 965/1,000]
[Comprehension Difficulty: Easy]
[...]
[Creation Bonus: Dragon-Scale Greaves (Legendary)]
HomePostsCollectionsMembershipChapter 548 - To the Mountains (III)NewYesterday
Alright. That actually turned out marginally better than I expected. I was a bit bummed that the system, once again, explicitly told me not to try and use the art despite me having some understanding of it, but hey, at least I'll be able to quickly bring Xiu'er up to speed if nothing else.
I was also a bit surprised by the reward as it was another piece of 'gear', which was one of the rarer rewards as far as they went. Weapons and such? I got those often enough, I feel, but actual pieces of armor were... rare.
As such, I quickly scoured through my prison and located them; it was a pair of quite shiny boots, sliding between dark scarlet and completely black in color, with steeped, layered front like scales would be stacked, and low, wide heel at the back. They didn't seem particularly comfortable, honestly, as they looked like they weighed as much as a semi did, but depending on their stats and whatnot... I mean, they do have a dragon in their name. That's got to count for something, no?
[Dragon-Scale Greaves]
[Tier: Legendary]
[Crafted somewhat roughly by someone who clearly lacked experience handling a material as durable as a dragon's scale, the greaves still offer exponential protection and benefits, even if they do come with severe drawbacks. As the scale in question wasn't a so-called 'living' one, but rather a discarded, flawed scale found in the wild, its Qi-conductivity ranks quite low on the scale, but its sheer durability is actually graded highly. Once donned, like every other piece of armor crafted from dragon parts, they become Soulbound to the wearer]
[...]
[Due to the sheer weight, topping at approximately 120 pounds, they must be worn by either a body cultivator or someone with an extremely powerful physique. They are nigh-indestructible, outwardly, and can block strikes from virtually every weapon of sub-Primal tier. Additionally, the array inscribed within their soles can be engaged by moving a massive amount of Qi toward it, granting the wearer the ability to propel themselves in any direction at speeds beyond count. Note that the wearer will have to navigate by themselves, as the boots merely offer the speed boost]
... did, did this thing just say they weigh hundred-and-twenty-fucking-pounds?! What the actual fuck?! That's how much I weighed most of my freakin' life! Can anyone even actually wear them? My initial idea was to obviously give them to Wan Lan, but even with her physique and prowess, I don't think she can actually wear them. Well, at least wear them and fight normally, that is.
Sheesh.
Well.
We'll see, I guess.
Shrugging it away, I pulled back and started mulling over the next art I was to make. I was a bit torn between going with Lan'er's request and Rayce's, settling on the latter as that one seemed a bit more complicated and exploratory.
What he was looking for was essentially a template--now, I don't think I can create one, as I'm not a shaman, but maybe I can create an art that allows him to make a few templates and passively spit them out?
The logic itself, at least on my end, was feasible; this was that division between manual versus automated labor, the cornerstone of the peachy modern world that I lived in.
Pulling up the creator's window yet again, I shuffled over to the shaman section--cutting of large chunks of options--and started looking through the options. Honestly, it kind of felt underbaked, like a thought that was never quite fully put into words and was left hanging. Huge parts of what was accessible in the ordinary window were missing, and they were hardly cultivation-exclusive aspects.
Nonetheless, I did stumble upon something.
There was a small, relatively inexpensive option called 'Impression' that cost just shy of 200 points. On its own, it was perfectly mundane, as its ever-perfectly vague description read, 'Leaves an impression of the Word for a short period of time after it is used'. Sort of like a DoT, I'm guessing, or a temporary area of effect.
But--what if I combine it with some permeating effects? Namely, 'Mindful Pen' and 'Living Ink'. Like the Impression, they were quite pedestrian on their own--Mindful Pen merely made slight corrections to the movements while he'd write Words, and Living Ink would 'spill out' into a line. So, he'd just have to 'block out' the word and Living Ink would, theoretically, 'fill it out'.
Theoretically, of course.
But, once I combined the three... the result was interesting. I wasn't yet sure if it actually worked, and since I had about 100 points leftover still, I combed through the cheaper options and found one last addition that might be useful: unlike the previous three, it didn't have an 'official' name, just a description of what it did.
Repeatedly written Words become quicker and quicker to procure.
I tossed it in as it 'just' cost 80 points (forgetting that there was a time when 80 points was almost the totality of what I could use to create an art), rubbed my hands together in a silent prayer, remembered to actually name the damn thing before creating it, and pressed that 'Create' button with anticipation, hoping against hope that it was not gonna make something like, 'Writing Words becomes passively faster; can write with both hands simultaneously, yada-yada-yada'.
[Congratulations, Host, on creating the 'Wordless Writ' Shamanic Art]
[...]
[Wordless Writ]
[Type: Shamanic Art]
[Rank: ???]
[Host Comprehension: None (Fails to meet minimum requirements)]
[...]
[A creed of a Shaman is the pride in the written Word; even the most ordinary ones ought to be written with deliberate care, where each stroke was done with intent. That school of thought has permeated Shamanism from before the written records, though as for why, no one is certain. Words are not living things--they are merely intentions exercised through mana. They are actions upon the world exercised by someone, rather than on their own. This art ignores the primary principality of Shamanism, and allows a Shaman to forge Words without intent; at the expense of passive consumption and time, the art can produce basic, one-vowel Words entirely independently of the Shaman themselves. Note that further increases in comprehension may decrease the time taken and increase the number of possible vowels. Due to the art's nature, however, even the willing Shamans must be inordinately talented, once-in-a-generation geniuses, as the difficulty of comprehension rivals some of the Fundamental Laws of Dao]
[...]
[Note: Host is warned that the art goes unilaterally against the entire Order of Shamanism; should it be discovered, there is a good chance that the Host might be declared a public enemy one of the Shamans]
[...]
[Creation Points Value: 990/1,000]
[Comprehension Difficulty: ???]
[...]
[Creation Bonus: Codex of Parchments (Legendary)]
[Codex of Parchments (Legendary) -- a blank set of 100 parchments handwoven for the use in writing Shamanic Words. The quality of the parchment is top notch, and due to the deliberate handwoven nature, it increases the potency of the written Word from 10% to 50% in scant few cases. The parchment is perfectly suitable for beginner Shamans as it does not require the same precision of inking as more crude ones do]
[...]
[Creation Bonus: Word of Singularity Concept (???)]
[Word of Singularity Concept (???) -- contains a carved principality of the Word for Singularity; a Shaman may study it to properly internalize the meaning, learning to write it. Note that the concept cannot be used as a Word, merely a reference]
[A Secondary Note: beyond being able to imitate the strokes of the Word, Shaman must truly understand the internal meaning of it in order to properly facilitate its nature]
... huh.
Is it saying that I have to teach Rayce what a singularity is?
How the hell will I explain knowing that one?!
Chapter 549 - To the Mountains (IV)New13 hours ago
I've kind of knocked it out of the park with the first two, so it only made sense that my first attempt at Lan'er's art was a complete and utter dud. While it did what she asked very broadly, it was slow and kind of... off? I don't even know how best to describe, honestly, as I'm not quite sure what kind of an 'internal' art would be best suited for her.
She was a body cultivator with doubly reinforced meridians that could take a pounding like no other, and the way she fought kind of reflected all of her characteristics; even Dai Xiu thought more about her actions during a fight, while Wan Lan just... rammed. Through and through.
Which meant that the 'internal' art cannot be something that required an intent. It had to be something that would passively be there, and that would do its thing regardless of what shedoes. Because if the battle stretches out long enough, she will lose herself to that fire in her. And if she thought little before it, she'll think none during it.
I mean, it should be possible, but also there's only so much I can do with 1,000 points. The thing I noticed was that I can, generally speaking, make almost anything, really; it's not so much that the idea itself was restrained, it was just that the scope was so limiting it was sort of the case of, 'Well, what's the damn point?'.
Kind of like when I made that flight art for Light; it was borderline unusable, but it was technically possible.
Opening up the creator's window yet again, I began shuffling around and perusing the parts that I've yet to fully internalize, mostly the ones that I've unlocked later down the line. There were quite a few options specifying the passivity of the art, but that's not actually what I needed, specifically.
It had to be both--it had to passively pool, but it also had to actively discharge in some capacity. But try as I may, I wasn't actually able to marry the two in a cohesive structure.
I tried--spending about 4,000 points in almost unusable arts--but nothing came of it.
But I can't give up. Of all the kids, Wan Lan received the least from me, I'm pretty sure. What if I create a duality of Demonic Qi and ordinary Qi?
Have the core be passively 'filled' by Demonic Qi, and then use ordinary Qi as a 'trigger' point. So, once the 'pool' is 'full', it somehow balloons to just the right side to trigger itself through Qi?
... no, that's just dumb.
I wrecked my little dumb head trying to think of something, but nothing was coming to it just yet. It looks like Lan'er's gift will have to wait a bit.
One art that I was actually pretty confident in making was Feng'er's. Multi-mastery of the weapons was his bread and butter, and he's been pretty much improvising it all this while, but I did try to make something that fit him quite some time ago and got pretty close. The issue was--and still is going to be, I imagine--that every additional weapon added also adds a decent amount of points to the total.
Even fully optimized, and even using the drawback of it being extremely difficult to comprehend which added another 200 points to the total, I could only make it for four weapons.
There was some good news--I could actually make two separate arts to cover all seven stances of his weapon, and I could then hope that, someday in the distant future, once I've leveled the system up enough, there will be a way to combine compatible arts into one.
With that hope in mind, I quickly shuffled through the options and made the first one, covering the four weapons I'd seen him use the most: Sword, Spear, Polearm, and Bow.
The total cost was 1195, down to 995 with the drawback.
[--Congratulations, Host, on creating the 'Way of the Weapon Master' Weapon Art]
... right. How did I forget to name it? Again?!
[...]
[Way of the Weapon Master]
[Type: Weapon Art]
[Rank: middle-Myth Tier]
[Host Comprehension: None (Fails to meet minimum requirements)]
[...]
[Those willing to pursue the Many-Weapons Path are few and far between. Even mastering just one is akin to summitting the heavens, and pursuing any more than that is often seen as an act of lunacy. However, there will always be those who are either foolish or brave enough to attempt it. Succeeding means becoming the mountain others cannot conquer, but failing means existing in perpetual mediocrity until death. As there has never been anyone who truly succeeded, there are no high-rank arts for anyone to follow, making the path easier. While this art fails short of being path-illuminating, it is good enough of a hammer to tear down the first hurdle and allow one to comprehend the Many-Weapons Path to quasi-Imperial Realm]
[...]
[Creation Points Value: 995(1,195) / 1,000]
[Comprehension Difficulty: ???]
[...]
[Creation Bonus: Gloves of Enu (Legendary)]
[...]
[Gloves of Enu (Legendary) -- said to have been worn by one of the earliest Child of a Dragon and woven by a Draconic Tanner, the gloves contain incomparable capacity of grip, allowing the wearer to hold onto their weapons no matter what]
... alright. That's actually pretty good. The other one was practically exactly the same, just without the creation bonus which, on its face value, wasn't that good. However, it was quite case-specific, as it was probably kind of godsent for Xing Feng. He has to swap weapon stances somewhat slowly as the changing of the shape runs the risk of the weapon slipping through, but if these gloves just magically guarantee the weapon won'tdrop... can't he just disregard everything else and go for speed?
We'll find out, I guess.
Stretching, I glanced out and saw a quite comedic scene--all the kids abruptly whipped their heads away from me and immediately looked as though they'd been engaged in the best conversation of their lives.
Was I so engrossed in my shit that I didn't even notice they've been staring at me this whole time? Yeah, probably. What did they think I was doing, though? Like, literallysearching through the 'coffers' or that I'm making their requested arts on the spot?
Huh.
Well, it would be odd if I magically pulled all of their requests at once, so it's a perfect time to take a break from creating and finally leave this godforsaken place. After all, there's a mountain a-waitin', and an old acquaintance that might be joining us.
"Alright, everyone," I announced. "Pack your things and let's leave."
"What about our rewards, Master?" Long Tao asked with a smile.
"They'll come when they arrive," I shrugged. "Until then, they might not even exist. Alright, let's go, let's go. We have places to be and things to see, and time waits for no man. "