Body Cultivation Hurts - Chapter 3

“Bloody hell,” Nathan screamed as he regained some semblance of consciousness. He’d gone through it before, but the second time didn’t feel any better. His initial evolution would be the most painful for most paths, but his specific one didn’t follow that rule.

He lifted his head too quickly. Gritting through dizziness, he let his head fall back onto the matt and he stared up. The phantom text was there waiting for him.

~You have officially taken your first step into a much wider world. The choices you make will fundamentally transform your mind and body, but your soul will indefinitely remain human.

The system has elected to provide you with points dependent on your genetic data. The amount given is determined by the amount of energy it will take to change your body. As much as I’ve labored to create a fair system, everyone is genetically different. A path may take less energy for one person and more for another, therefore, it might cost more or less per individual. Different paths, however, may hold opposite results for those same two people. If you find you don’t have enough points to choose your preferred path, then consider others.

If you insist on one that you can’t afford, a trial will be provided where more points can be earned. I warn you though. All trials hold the danger of dismemberment and death.

Achievements

Most demons killed.

Boss monster killed.

More than 20 solo demon kills.

More than 50 solo demon kills.

More than 100 solo demon kills.

More than 1,000 group demons killed.

Congratulations!

Total Points Awarded: 20,000

~

He’d hoped for more, but it was a good amount to work with. The next screen gave his total.

~

Your starting total is average.

Additional 20,000 points added.

You have a Total of 47,000 Points Available

Note: Ninety one percent of all paths are open to you. ~

It was almost twice what he had in his first life.

~ The following categories were created to simplify the selection process. They’ve been broken up by ability type. However, because there are thousands of possible starting points, if there’s something you’re already interested in, just say it out loud. The system is interactive and will answer your questions.

Path Selection

Cultivation

Magic

Warrior

Monster

Superhuman

Note: Progression is made possible by taking in energy and utilizing it in the body. Different paths might have unique methods to gather this energy.

~

Even though he already knew what he’d choose, he still would spend time going through it in case he missed something the first time. He was far more experienced now, and also had far more points.

First, he chose Cultivation.

~

Cultivation Options

Body

Potential - Top tier

20,000 Points to Specialize

Note: After specialization, further specializations can be taken.

Explanation: Body cultivation focuses on strengthening the body to its maximum potential.

Top tier.

Energy

Potential - Top tier.

20,000 Points to Specialize

Note: After specialization, further specializations can be taken.

Explanation: Energy cultivation focuses on strengthening one’s core to its maximum potential.

Soul

Potential - Top tier.

20,000 Points to Specialize

Note: After specialization, further specializations can be taken.

Explanation: Soul cultivation focuses on strengthening the soul to its maximum potential.

Category Note: If a specialization is chosen during path creation, then the person’s cultivation talent in the chosen specialty will rise with it. This will increase the speed of cultivation and the maximum power potential while at each realm.

~

He was already partial to this path sense it was the one he had chosen before. Specifically, the path of the Body Cultivator. Cultivation was basically a magic system from the east. The three categories mentioned were common enough, even if they were sometimes called by different names or had slight differences. Ultimately, cultivators were like the fantasy version of martial artists.

~

Body

Potential - Top tier

20,000 Points to Specialize

Taking this specialty will strengthen your physique and cultivation talent.

Talent: G àF

Physique: F+ àE

Note: This will give you above average talent. Comparable to an arrogant young master common in cultivation fantasy tropes.

If you specialize further in body.

Talent: F àD

Note: Prodigy. One-in-a-million level talent. Even divine realm sects would be willing to make you an outer sect disciple.

If body specialization is taken to the max.

Talent: D àA

Note: Heaven Defying talent. All cultivation bottlenecks will dissolve before you like snow in the heat of the day. Qi will be drawn to you with little effort. What the protagonist prays for, and the antagonist gets by default to make things interesting.

Category Note: Talent is an obstacle destined to be broken. By definition, a cultivator defies the heavens. Having talent makes things easier, but it isn’t impossible to reach the same level without it, just more difficult.

~

Before, he hadn’t been able to choose to double specialize in cultivation until after he’d undergone the Point’s Trial. It would be offered as soon as the system sensed he wanted more than he could afford.

When went through the motions.

~

Tiers

The paths are ranked as follows: low-tier, mid-tier, high-tier, and top-tier. This speaks to the maximum combat level a path can reach without help from items, ability blending, and the unlocking of rare evolutions.

Surpassing Limitations

Surpassing a path’s limitations is possible, but rare.

Items – Just as a swordsman with a superior blade will often defeat a swordman of equal skill with an inferior, there are items that can propel some paths to higher heights.

Ability Blending – There are countless ways abilities can be used in combination and even fused.

Example: One focused on flight combined with one that focuses on channeling the power of lightning. Separate they are both limited, but together, they become tactically superior in the right context.

Rare Evolutions – Some evolutions are still unknown even to the system and its creator. The complexity of genetics and all the possible combinations allows for new options to become available at later stages of advancement in some cases. When available, they will be made known by the system.

~

He confirmed cultivation was still considered top-tier, then continued.

~

Breakdown: If Body cultivation is selected, there were two types of techniques one had to possess.

Energy Gathering Techniques

Fire

Lighting

Earth

Nature

Water

Ice

Weapon Specialty

Beast Devourer

Core Absorption

Yang

Yin

Misc.

~

Stopping with the first type of technique, he asked to see the Fire Energy Gather Techniques. A whole new list opened up.

~

Fire Techniques

Cost: 10,000 Points

Fire Breather’s Sutra

Flame of the Heavens Manuel

Volcanic Cultivation Tome

Star Fire Scroll

The Patient Flame Manuel

Current of Fire Sutra

Tome of the Windblown Blaze

Moonlight Flame Sutra

Manuel of the Dark Inferno

…

~

The techniques just kept going. When he chose one, it defined the technique, how it worked, its source of qi, and its rank. All of the ones listed on the first page were rank S and they all had the same point cost. What it didn’t tell you is that purchasing one only gave you the first technique in that set. Many of them had three or more techniques, up to ten.

Before he had focused on fire techniques. It was also why he’d recommended it to Kyle. If his friend became a energy cultivator with a fire specialty, then there would be enough overlap that he could help him.

He moved on to techniques.

~

Martial Techniques

Bow

Sword

Spear

Staff

Axe

Mace

Poleaxe

Fist

Misc.

~

He selected sword to find it just as complex as before.

~

Sword

One Handed Single Edged Blade

One Handed Double Edged Blade

Two Handed Single Edge Blade

Two Handed Double Edge Blade

One Handed Flexible Point Weapon

One Handed Firm Point Weapon

Two Handed Flex…

~

Even those categories were broken down further by curvature, guard, length, and weight. And that was before he even got into the more exotic weapons. He could also just ask it for the common Chinese jian and dao, the Japanese katana, wakizashi, tanto, or even the European longsword, claymore, rapier, sabre and so on.

He then moved on to Energy Cultivation. The tiers for talent were the same. The difference between Energy Cultivation and Body was how they used qi. Energy focused on manipulation of the qi outside the body in the most skillful and destructive way possible, where body focused on using qi to bolster and improve the body. One used qi as a weapon, where the other uses qi to turn the body into a weapon.

Then there was soul cultivation. It sounded very similar to energy cultivation, except it required someone to feed energy into their spirit or soul as opposed into a core or dantian. It was the weakest in the beginning, but could eventually attack the soul directly for which there was little defense. At the beginning, it was close to energy cultivation, but weaker. Thankfully, Nathan knew how to strengthen the soul and defend it whether he took soul cultivation or not.

Next, he pulled up the Superhuman paths.

As soon as he asked, the list changed and a knew list took its place.

~

Superhuman

Flight – Cost 20,000 Points

Invisibility – Cost 20,000 Points

Telekinesis – Cost 15,000 Points

Teleportation – Cost 20,000 Points

Mind Flex – Cost 8,000 Points

Regeneration – Cost 10,000 Points

Strategist – Cost 10,000 Points

Super Speed – Cost 8,000 Points

Super Strength – Cost 8,000 Points

…

~

There were more options in this category than in the Cultivation category many times over. And the options were far more varied. It started with the most popular types of powers, but certainly wasn’t limited to just those. Things like Beast Speak and Converse with Fish were a thing. Merman, Beast-man, Lazer Eyes, Sonic Shout, and X-ray Vision were all on the next couple pages. Every superhero and famous comic book mutants had their powers available for you to select. The only one’s missing were those that specifically could control another person’s mind. That was impossible.

He had a laugh as he read through some of the funnier ones. There were crazy things like Fur Armor, Beard of Whips, Toe Talons, Corrosive Loogies, and Four Arms.

He found himself reading further than he desired just to see the crazy possibilities. It had been a while.

“Bring up information on Teleportation?”

Immediately, new text replaced what had been there.

~

Teleportation

Potential – Mid to High-tier

This requires a body capable of changing back and forth between a physical and energized form quickly.

Starting Abilities:

Energy Form

Energy Sense

Teleport

~

Nathan had known are few high rank teleporters. They were pesky enemies to face, and even better to fight with. He began to ask for more information about each of the abilities in the Superhuman category. Flight required a Massless Form or Wing, but a person wasn’t able to change their mass itself. The system made it possible to manipulate the pull of gravity on your own body, though. Invisibility required Light Bending. Strategist, the least obvious ability on the list, required Mind Segmentation.

He studied the costs to see if there were any that were far less than they should be. Some people genetically leaned close to one path than others. As far as he could tell though, at least for the paths he knew had at least high-tier potential, nothing stood out.

It was also possible to take multiple abilities from the list. Many of the abilities could evolve into more powerful versions. However, some selections would make it impossible to select other abilities. Certain combinations just weren’t possible because of the extent of the genetic change. For example, Teleportation and Invisibility were impossible to be taken together.

He was beginning to mix and match them in his head, imagining the possibilities. He went through a series of questions of some of the more tempting combinations. As a past body cultivator and someone familiar with most of the best combinations but sifted through them carefully. The problem with cultivation was that it could take a very long time without heavenly and natural treasures. He wondered if he could blend cultivation with a superhuman path might be an option?

He laughed out loud as the wall of text revealed the answer.

Body Cultivation and Invisibility was possible, but it would only work if Invisibility was taken first. In doing so, its highest potential tier actually went down. However, if he kept the top-tier Body Cultivation with Super Strength, the tier would remain the same. It was what he’d chosen the first time. He could also add Super Speed to his body cultivation and have no negative effects. It would guarantee he was faster than average even when he ranked up. It was an interesting way to customize things further.

Time to keep going. “Bring up the monster category,” he said.

As the next list appeared, he couldn’t help but to snicker.

~

Monster

Apparition – Cost 30,000 Points

Banshee – Cost 20,000 Points

Bigfoot – Cost 10,000 Points

Demon – Cost 40,000 Points

Dragon – Cost 40,000 Points

Goblin – Cost 10,000 Points

Vampire – Cost 30,000 Points

Troll – Cost 20,000 Points

Giant – Cost 20,000 Points

Werewolf – Cost 30,000 Points

Orc – Cost 20,000 Points

Lich – Cost 50,000 Points

Zombie – Cost 5,000 Points

…

Monster Races are often capable of evolving to improved, more powerful versions.

Note: Some of these paths were designed to be similar to what is common in popular fiction, however, many of the flaws in the more fantastical races were removed. In the end, this isn’t a game.

Example: Taking an Undead path does not make you the living dead. You won’t die if said paths are chosen and your flesh will not rot and fall off. Instead, your body will be adjusted to digest raw bio-organisms and death type energy.

~

Nathan had no desire to even consider something like Zombie as his path even if it had the maximum tier—which it didn’t. However, he couldn’t help but imagine life as a Bigfoot kickboxer. There were also a variety of gorilla, primate, and bear-type forms that would make for excellent grappler physiques. And who hadn’t imagined what it would be like to be a vampire at one time or another. Drinking blood lost its appeal when you could have an equally long lifespan and increased strength and speed without it, though.

Of course, he’d known vampires and many that had chosen monster paths in the past. In reality, they were really just melee or magic paths designed to act like monsters from our fiction and lore. He’d known a few vampires that were a force to be reckoned with though.

The list went on and on. Many of the forms on the list caught his eye, but he gave the most epic of them all a glance. Dragons.

~

Dragon

Potential – Top-tier

Dragon Form requires your current body to be reconstructed. Your soul will undergo the trial of self. It will be the only piece of you that remains human. You must be warned. Not everyone is capable of surviving the trial of self, and some that do have their souls weakened or damaged in the process.

Starting Form:

Hatchling. You will sleep twenty hours a day, only to hunt during your wakened hours to sate your hunger. The more you eat, the quicker you grow. As you do, sleep becomes less of a necessity.

Starting Abilities:

None.

Common Advanced Abilities:

Flight

Breathing Fire

Poisonous Breath

~

As fun as it might be to imagine himself as a dragon, forgoing his human body entirely wasn’t something he could bring himself to do. The whole trial of self didn’t sound like a lot of fun either. There hadn’t been any dragons amongst the world’s rankers, so despite how powerful they might become, it took them too long to advance.

He pulled up a few more before he decided to narrow it down.

“What are the most powerful monster forms that I’m compatible with?”

~

The Monster Forms with the most potential are listed first.

Demon – Cost 40,000 Points

Explanation: A demon’s growth is only limited by what they can eat. As they devour other creatures, they absorb their power and abilities. Maximum evolution is top-tier.

Dragon – Cost 40,000 Points

Explanation: A dragon takes centuries to reach its full potential, but once it does, it possesses the highest natural strength of all creatures. Maximum evolution is top-tier.

Goblin – Cost 10,000 Points

Explanation: A goblin begins its life as one of the weakest monster races, but it evolves faster than all others. Maximum evolution is mid to high-tier. Highest chance of rare evolutions that have a chance of being top-tier.

Vampire – Cost 30,000 Points

Explanation: Vampires are slow to advance, but they start out stronger than most other races and have a maximum evolution that is high-tier.

Giant – Cost 20,000 Points

Explanation: Amongst the strongest starting races and advance at an average pace. Maximum evolution is high-tier.

~

After reading over the list multiple times, Nathan was still surprised to see demon despite knowing it would be there. It was designed by the Monarch to mimic their enemy after all. He actually gave goblin a serious look, because the high chance of rare evolution had actually placed multiple people amongst the top of the rankers list.

He already knew that it was possible to surpass the highest potential tier. Things really weren’t that straight forward. Still, a form’s normal maximum potential spoke of how strong it would be at the endgame. Unless you were going for utility, the endgame was what really mattered.

He chose the last path type.

~

Warrior

Knight – Cost 10,000 Points

Samurai – Cost 10,000 Points

Viking – Cost 10,000 Points

Hoplite – Cost 10,000 Points

Ninja – Cost 10,000 Points

Praetorian Guard – Cost 10,000 Points

Monk – Cost 10,000 Points

Paladin – Cost 10,000 Points

Berserker – Cost 10,000 Points

Persian Immortals – Cost 10,000 Points

Mongols – Cost 10,000 Points

Zulu – Cost 10,000 Points

Celts – Cost 10,000 Points

David’s Mighty Men – Cost 10,000 Points

Mamluks – Cost 10,000 Points

Mongols – Cost 10,000 Points

Assyrians – Cost 10,000 Points

Batavi– Cost 10,000 Points

Sacred Band of Thebes – Cost 10,000 Points

Khesig – Cost 10,000 Points

Medjay – Cost 10,000 Points

Longbowmen – Cost 10,000 Points

Varangian – Cost 10,000 Points

~

Unlike the other Path types, Warrior focused on skillsets common to different historical warrior types. Most of them made use of Qi, or mana, in the same way a Mage would except it strengthened the body and provided martial techniques similar to cultivators.

Their benefit was that a variety of martial techniques would be provided with each path. They were the easiest Paths to start with. Each one was customized according to historical and cultural records. There were also fantasy versions of each, which were some of the most popular Paths chosen. However, they might also give you techniques you rarely if ever find use for.

For cultivators, techniques had to be purchased separately. A Warrior Path wasn’t a terrible option but would need help from the Superhuman category to reach high-tier. Top-tier would require rare resources or special purchases from the store for future evolutions.

Nathan decided to ask for the highest potential of all Paths that he was compatible with. It was exactly what he suspected.

~

Cultivation

Body

Potential - Top tier

20,000 Points to Specialize

Note: Specialization can be taken more than once.

Explanation: Body cultivation focuses on strengthening the body to its maximum potential.

Top tier.

Energy

Potential - Top tier.

20,000 Points to Specialize

Note: Specialization can be taken more than once.

Explanation: Energy cultivation focuses on strengthening one’s core to its maximum potential.

Soul

Potential - Top tier.

20,000 Points to Specialize

Note: Specialization can be taken more than once.

Explanation: Soul cultivation focuses on strengthening the soul to its maximum potential.

Magic

Elemental – Cost 30,000 Points to Specialize

Explanation: An elementalist that reaches the Master Rank in every element is able to practice Apocalyptic Elementalism. Each of their elements will never match a Grandmaster Rank Elementalist that focuses on a single element, but Apocalyptic Elementalism mixes the elements to reach the highest level of destructive force. Centuries to master. Maximum rank is top-tier.

Force – Cost 25,000 Points to Specialize

Explanation: Once a force mage reaches the Grandmaster Rank, they are able to manipulate Time, Space, and Gravity to a limited degree. Millenia to master. Maximum rank is top-tier.

Holy – Cost 25,000 Points to Specialize

Explanation: Once a Holy mage reaches the Grandmaster Rank, they are able to resurrect a person that has died before the soul leaves the body. Uses the power of light to purify, making them capable of massive destruction. Millenia to master. Maximum rank is top-tier.

Monster Forms

Demon – Cost 40,000 Points

Explanation: A demon’s growth is only limited by what they can eat. As they devour other creatures, they absorb their power and abilities. Amongst the quickest to advance. Maximum evolution is top-tier.

Dragon – Cost 40,000 Points

Explanation: A dragon has one of the highest possible combat potentials of all divine beasts. It is also the only one that has given permission for others to take its form. The Phoenix, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, among others, forbid their genetics from being copied. You will be considered a son or daughter of a True Dragon. Maximum evolution is top-tier.

Lich – Cost 40,000 Points

Explanation: A lich’s starts out as the most powerful of the monster races, but also has the slowest advancement. There are no further evolutions. It takes ten thousand years on average for a lich to reach its full potential. Maximum top-tier.

~

It was the same as his first life. There was no surprise that Warrior wasn’t listed. It was a category best taken with Superhuman. There were certain combinations that would make for some high-tier paths. Some of the more popular one’s Nathan remembered were Invisibility and Ninja, Teleport and Samurai, Flight and Longbowman… Those three Superhuman abilities weren’t limited to just those Warrior paths either. Longbowman was focused on archery, but there were Roman, Greek, Samurai, and countless more Paths that had an archery focus as well.

He asked more about Superhuman Ability Blending. Superhuman was the most customizable way to go, but it would also cost the most points to create something that could compete with the top-tier paths. It was possible though. Without blending, Superhuman abilities would be powerful early on, but the best of them only had high-tier potential. As fun as it would be to have such abilities, he ruled them out as a primary path. There was no personalized information on what mix of abilities he could choose to reach top-tier either, which made it a gamble.

He quickly scanned against through the Monster Forms. Lich might start out powerful, but when he brought up its information, he asked about weaknesses. Besides looking like a hideous floating corpse, it was especially fragile against Fire and Light Magic. It also had a frail physical form. On top of that, it took the longest to advance—literally ten thousand years—which made it a hard no.

He then asked about the lifespan to get a refresher. Many of the monster races lived far longer than normal. Of course, any path that he chose would extend his lifespan. The further he progressed the longer he would live. That was typical for cultivators at least, but he confirmed it expanded to every path of progression.

He ruled out Demon because of the whole eat-to-advance concept. It was something he might enjoy reading about, but to actually live that way? Not to mention, the enemy that they were supposedly at war with was the demon race. He still couldn’t fathom why it was even offered as an option if they were the enemy.

That left Magic. Elementalist, Force, and Holy could all be extremely powerful. They made up some of the best damage dealers on the rankers list.

~

Magic

Mage – Cost 10,000 Points

You can use your remaining points after purchasing mage to specialize in general magic by selecting Mage again, or select a School of Magic to specialize in.

~

“Bring up schools of magic.”

~

Schools of Magic

Affliction – Cost 10,000 Points to Specialize

Elemental – Cost 10,000 Points to Specialize

Force – Cost 10,000 Points to Specialize

Holy – Cost 10,000 Points to Specialize

Illusion – Cost 10,000 Points to Specialize

~

He took a moment to go over the schools that he hadn’t already seen. Affliction specialized in magic that affected the body and mind. They couldn’t control a person or creature through something like mind control, but spells like Daze and Confuse were all there. Then there was Illusion which was exactly what it sounded like. It allowed someone to create illusions that fooled the senses. They might sound weak, but either school could produce monstrous results.

Elemental unlocked magic that focused on controlling the different elements. Force was a lot like crowd control. It started out with a weak push and pull ability that let you trip up your opponents and do minor damage. Then Holy was your typical healing and light magic class.

As he remembered, mage specialization worked much like cultivation did.

~When choosing Mage, the body is reconstructed to allow for mana (qi) manipulation. All mages can manipulate every school of magic with enough practice but specializing improves one’s affinity for the chosen school. Specializing in Mage improves one’s general affinity for magic. ~

He checked off a few more things from his memory. Energy cultivation and a Mage were in many ways the same. Anything a mage could specialize in, an energy cultivator could as well. When asking about the overlap, he received the pragmatic answer he expected.

~Motivation is one of the key factors necessary in determining whether a person will advance or grow complacent. Even if some traditions are neglected or done away with, the outcome is what matters. If I must breathe life into your myths and legends to encourage quicker advancement, then so be it. ~

This was the Divine Monarch he remembered. Frighteningly powerful, yet also desperate.

He turned back to where he had started. “How long will it take to advance body cultivation with Rank A talent compared to other paths?”

~It is generally accepted wisdom that a cultivator at Rank G, or with no talent, it will take 10,000 years to reach the peak of the martial arts. This is only possible with the help of natural and heavenly treasures.

For someone with Rank F talent, it is much more likely for them to reach the peak. The timetable is still the same, but they’d need less resources.

Someone with Rank D talent has far less need for resources. With them, they could possibly reach the peak in 1,000 years.

As for someone with Rank A talent, resources aren’t necessary to reach the peak. They will do so through cultivation alone in 1,000 years. However, with the right resources, they can reach it within a century.

Compared to every other path, someone with Rank A talent is considered average without resources. With them, they are amongst the fastest to advance.

Note: Every path advances faster with the high-grade resources. Cultivators are not alone in this. ~

To reach the highest talented, he’d have to specialize three times. He needed just 13,000 points more. In his last life, he’d only reached Rank D talent and advanced quickly with heavenly treasures. If he could reach Rank A, however…

“Which paths make it to the top the fastest?”

~ Goblin – Cost 10,000 Points

Explanation: A goblin begins its life as one of the weakest monster races, but it evolves faster than all others. Maximum evolution is mid to high-tier. Highest chance of rare evolutions.

Even though it would require you to meet certain specifications to undergo a rare evolution, Goblin is easily the fastest advancing path. It also doesn’t require rare resources to advance, though it would benefit from them.

Demon – Cost 40,000 Points

Explanation: A demon’s growth is only limited by what they can eat. As they devour other creatures, they absorb their power and abilities. Maximum evolution is top-tier.

Demon can be just as fast to advance if the right food source is available. This characteristic is why the demon race has been so difficult to defeat.

Note: Highly talented cultivators and mages can advance at a similar speed with the right resources. Theoretically it’s possible that Superhumans with the right blended abilities could also advance quickly. They are highly dependent on the point system. ~

He knew exactly what he wanted, so he asked. “How many additional points can I earn if I pass the trial?”

~ Points earned will always be based upon merit. Prove that you’re worthy of the investment and more resources will be provided.

You can receive 10,000 to 100,000 points depending on your performance. According to your current status, you have approximately a 90% chance of obtaining the least number of points. You have a .01% chance of obtaining the highest. Chance of death is determined by how many points you wish to earn. For the least number, death is almost statistically impossible. For the highest, you have a 95% chance of dying. ~

He grinned. Seeing as nothing had really changed made this far too easy. He asked regardless.

“What if I just want an additional 20,000 points?”

~You have a 70% chance of success and a 10% chance of death. ~

“Can I spend my points, then take the trial to earn more?”

~No. The trial is only to improve the starting point values. ~

“Can talent be improved later?”

~Yes, but it will be much more difficult after your starting evolution can cost a far higher number of points. ~

He asked if it could go any higher than Rank A talent and was told no. So the ultimate version of a martial artist in his mind wasn’t out of reach. However, if he took the 70% chance of success, and 10% chance of dying then he’d have everything he wanted. At least, that was the case if he didn’t already know exactly what the trial would be like.

Asking for a better breakdown of the points he could earn, he scanned it and began eying the 35,000 mark. He’d still have a 65% chance of success and the chance of death only increased to 15%. Anything over 35,000 had a drastic effect on the percentages. Just going up to 36,000 had the chance of success dip to 60% and the chance of death increased to 25%. He only needed 13,000 points, but he could further improve himself with 35,000. It would allow him to purchase an Energy Gathering Technique and Martial Technique. He could even delay the Martial Technique and invest in Super Strength, Speed, or something similar.

He dared to look at some of the extra things he could purchase. Super Speed and Super Strength was just the beginning. There was Poison Resistance and Temperature Resilience that could come in handy for any path. There were also things like Eagle Eyes, which improved your sight, Echolocation for super hearing, and Blood Scent for smell.

It was all far more than he’d been able to purchase the first time. He could feel his pulse quicken in excitement.

He was mostly interested in things like poison and acid resistance. They were the kind of nuance hazards that had the potential to kill someone above their rank. With the advantages his second life gave him, he didn’t want to give it up because of something he couldn’t control if he had any say in the matter. He could also get some extra regeneration that wouldn’t hinder his Body Cultivation, or even specialize in Soul or Energy cultivation once. With two cultivation paths, even if he didn’t have the same talent in one of them, it wouldn’t hurt.

“Explain the trial.” He prayed it hadn’t changed.

~

Information is available at the trial’s starting point.

You are able to forfeit at any time without any penalties. Any minor injuries will be fixed when advancing to your path. Major injuries, including dismemberment, can also be fixed for a price.

Would you like to proceed to the Starting Trial?

~

He laughed at himself. This one he had forgotten.

“Yes. Take me there.”