Hot. Hot. Hot. That was everything that I felt. It was like I was burning in a pyre. Well, I was. Sorta. For a few moments after I fell into the magma, my lifeforce went on a sudden dip. [Photosynthesis] activated on its own and started to absorb the heat at a frantic pace. That was not enough. I opened my mouth and started gulping the magma.

Ding!

You have consumed Pure Yang Qi matter.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +6 in all six basic attributes.

The depletion of my lifeforce was offset by the natural regeneration [Eternal Stratum] offered and the extra five percent [Photosynthesis] gave me in places with Pure Yang Qi.

Sizzling sound came from all over my body. The magma burnt my body but it was soon recovered by my regeneration. Even, my hair grew back!

Ding!

You have consumed Pure Yang Qi matter.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +5 in all six basic attributes.

Ding!

You have consumed Pure Yang Qi matter.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +4 in all six basic attributes.

Ding!

You have consumed Pure Yang Qi matter.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +3 in all six basic attributes.

Ding!

You have consumed Pure Yang Qi matter.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +2 in all six basic attributes.

Ding!

You have consumed Pure Yang Qi matter.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +1 in all six basic attributes.

The stat points I could get from magma decreased and in the end disappeared. I was unable to tell whether it had become ineffective or the reservoir of Pure Yang Qi in the magma had been exhausted.

Ding!

Your trait [Photosynthesis] has absorbed Pure Yang Qi to the brim.

It can now evolve.

Would you like to evolve it?

I thought it over. The evolution should take a while. Although I was in magma, there was no immediate danger. Moreover, the burning sensation I felt in the beginning now only felt I was in a hot bath. It actually felt quite pleasant. In the end, I gave a silent ‘Yes!’ in my head. It was not like I had anything better to do.

Ding!

Your trait [Photosynthesis] is evolving.

Progress: 1%

Please wait…

It was completed in a few minutes.

Ding!

Evolution complete.

Congratulations!

Your trait [Photosynthesis] has evolved to [Pure Yang Body].

It sounded amazing. I made to open my status window.

Ding!

There’s a huge amount of Pure Yang Qi in your body and in your surrounding.

It is now possible to evolve your trait [Heavenly Butterfly Flame].

Would you like to evolve it?

Why not? I thought. Evolution meant becoming better and more powerful.

Ding!

Your trait [Heavenly Butterfly Flame] is evolving.

Progress: 0.25%

Please wait…

The process took a little more time but it was also completed without much disturbances.

Ding!

Evolution complete.

Congratulations!

Your trait [Heavenly Butterfly Flame] has evolved to [Divine Yang Butterfly].

I checked my status. There were bound to be a lot of changes.

GENERAL

Name

Su Ren

Age

11 years old

Cultivation Method

Heart’s Yearning

Realm

Qi Gathering 9

(999/1000 Essence)

Lifeforce

5730/5730 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

Qi

5790/5790 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

552

Physique

573

Movement

571

Control

570

Soul

579

Comprehension

595

Charm

69

Fate

42

INNATE TRAITS

Innards of a God

Kaleidoscope Eye

Pure Yang Body

Eternal Stratum (Incomplete)

############

Divine Yang Butterfly

Bow

Living Grimoire

Bond:

Byakko (White Tiger)

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Qi Arrow

Unranked

8/10

2.

Earth Steps

Epic

8/10

3.

Heart Force

Unranked

5/10

4.

Spiritual Sense

Unranked

3/10

5.

Mindscape

Epic

1/10

I checked the details of the two traits that evolved.

PURE YANG BODY

Enables you to absorb Pure Yang Qi from the sun and store it in your body. Enable you to control Pure Yang Qi. Grants immunity to Pure Yang Qi. Regeneration of Qi will increase by 25% in areas filled with Pure Yang Qi.

DIVINE YANG BUTTERFLY

Summons Essence Flame. Enables you to control Pure Yang Qi. Grants immunity to Pure Yang Qi.

(Note: The flame is sentient. You can transfer it.)

The effects of the two traits looked similar. Still, I was happy with what I got. I hadn’t expected to benefit from this debacle. I opened my [Kaleidoscope Eye] and looked for that Nascent Soul Stage assailant but came up with nothing. Still, I stayed inside the magma for a while. You never know what sort of trick it had in its sleeve. Besides, it was pretty comfortable inside.

I entered my . Seeing no one there, I was relieved. Evolution didn’t appear to have any adverse effect on me.

After some hours passed, I swam out of the magma.

I took out a new set of clothes from my spatial ring and wore it. My previous ones were burnt by the magma as soon as I collided with it.

I opened [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Silver] and [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode White] as a combo. This little episode had made me realize. The many strange clusters of energy my eyes had come across from time to time in the forest could bring a huge benefit to me. The fierce beasts in the forest had avoided them; so, I did the same.

The only reason I had run towards this particular place was due to the presence of Pure Yang Qi. I felt I would survive inside it due to [Photosynthesis] and [Innards of a God]. To think I would unexpectedly benefit from it…

Didn’t that mean that the other types of energy would bring me gains, too?

The more I thought, the more attractive the idea seemed. At the same time, I told myself to be cautious. I wouldn’t have the same advantage I did when I had approached this magma region.

I found another region with similar peculiar energy. Unlike the red glow Pure Yang Qi gave off, it had a cold dark glow. The place was a few kilometers from where I was. The energy it gave off was on a smaller scale. I thought this was perfect for my little experiment.

Several minutes later, I reached the region.

The thing that was emanating the energy was an orb about the size of a football. It had a metallic sheen.

As I neared the area, the energy emanated from the orb shaved off my lifeforce. The closer I moved, the more my lifeforce was removed. Fortunately, [Eternal Stratum] recovered it soon after. I could understand why the beasts didn’t approach the strange clusters of energy. If you didn’t have high lifeforce regeneration, to approach it was equivalent to offering your life.

I picked the orb. It was cold, heavy and metallic.

Examining it for a few moments, I brought it to my mouth. It tasted weird, to say the least. The most fitting description I could give would be: metallic. I can’t say it was a pleasant thing to eat. I finished it in a few minutes.

Ding!

You have consumed Meteorite Metal.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +8 to all basic attributes.

Cool.

Ding!

Suitable material detected.

It is now possible to upgrade your trait [Bow].

Would you like to upgrade it?

Sure.

Ding!

Your trait [Bow] is evolving.

Progress: 1%

Please wait…

A few minutes later…

Ding!

Evolution complete.

Congratulations!

Your trait [Bow] has evolved to [Metal Bow].

I immediately checked the details of the evolved.

METAL BOW

Creates a metal bow according to your imagination. The damage of your attack will be increased by 10%.

(Note: You can upgrade the bow further by ingesting materials]

Pretty neat.

I summoned the [Metal Bow]. The figure of the compound bow was not vague like before. It was solid. It looked glossy and most of all, strong. I nodded in satisfaction. This was how a bow should be. With it in my hand, I truly felt like an archer.

After examining and admiring it for a while, I dismissed it.

Now that I could harness the clusters of energy safely, it was time to get to work. I moved to the other regions. There, I found a small pool of dark water that had a dark blue energy swirling over it.

Ding!

You have consumed Dark Water.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +6 to all basic attributes.

Ding!

You have consumed Dark Water.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +5 to all basic attributes.

Ding!

You have consumed Dark Water.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +4 to all basic attributes.

Ding!

You have consumed Dark Water.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +3 to all basic attributes.

Ding!

You have consumed Dark Water.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +2 to all basic attributes.

Ding!

You have consumed Dark Water.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +1 to all basic attributes.

Next, I found a block of frozen ice.

Ding!

You have consumed Yin Qi matter.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +7 to all basic attributes.

Apart from the increase in my stats, there were no other effects but I was satisfied. I couldn’t get lucky all the time. I found a cave and retired for the night. Naturally, I made extra sure there were no dangers waiting to spring on me.

The next day, I continued the lookout for the masses of energy. Now that I was searching for them purposefully, I found they were not as numerous as I thought they were.

I found a beautiful red flower swaying gently in the air. I plucked it and stuffed it into my mouth.

Ding!

You have consumed a thousand year Blood Orchid.

Congratulations!

You have acquired +7 to all basic attributes.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have acquired the trait [Aroma].

I perked up. This was a pleasant surprise. It had been a long while since I last obtained a trait. I checked the details of my new trait.

AROMA

Sends a fragrance that attracts all beings that possess less Soul than you.

Range: 10 Kilometers

It appeared quite useful.

I activated it to see the effect. A pleasant and tantalizing aroma emanated from my body. The smell of everything I loved hit my nostril. If I didn’t know the fragrance was coming from me, I would have run to the source.

I didn’t have to wait long to see the result. Rumbling sounds came from all around me. Using [Kaleidoscope Eye], I looked over the situation. A huge amount of animals that ranged from a small insect to giant beasts were moving towards me. I immediately turned [Aroma] off.

Strange! Why hadn’t they stopped moving?

I sniffed at my body. Weak but the smell was definitely there.

Swearing all the profanity I could think of, I summoned [Metal Bow]. With [Kaleidoscope Eye], I found the area with the least monsters. I started shooting for all I was worth.

Thank goodness! There weren’t any strong beasts. I was able to pave out a path for myself and break out of encirclement. With no Byakko and Ling by my side, there was no way I was going to engage them. As soon as a bunch of them reached me, with no close quarter combat skills in my arsenal, I would be as helpless as a flock of sheep in front of a wolf.

Although I escaped the horde, I had to keep running. Insects and beasts chased me as if I had stolen their most precious belonging. For all I know, even microscopic beings might be chasing me or they might even be nibbling at me.

It took two hours for the scent to wear off. I had to be on a constant run the whole time.

That was stupid. To be brought to such misery by one’s own trait, there couldn’t be anything more stupid than that. Also, I had been the one to trigger it… I had always praised myself for my cautiousness but this.

I found a big tree to rest at and opened my status window.

GENERAL

Name

Su Ren

Age

11 years old

Cultivation Method

Heart’s Yearning

Realm

Qi Gathering 9

(999/1000 Essence)

Lifeforce

5990/5990 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

Qi

5990/5990 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

595

Physique

599

Movement

599

Control

599

Soul

599

Comprehension

599

Charm

71

Fate

43

INNATE TRAITS

Innards of a God

Kaleidoscope Eye

Pure Yang Body

Eternal Stratum (Incomplete)

############

Divine Yang Butterfly

Metal Bow

Living Grimoire

Aroma

Bond:

Byakko (White Tiger)

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Qi Arrow

Unranked

8/10

2.

Earth Steps

Epic

8/10

3.

Heart Force

Unranked

5/10

4.

Spiritual Sense

Unranked

3/10

5.

Mindscape

Epic

1/10

All of basic attributes, except strength, had hit a bottleneck. It was about time to think about breaking the third shackle. Then, I could advance to Foundational Stage. But before that, I need to take care of the little tumor that might prove to be a huge headache in future.

Closing my eyes, I entered my .

A pleasant aroma wafted over to my nose. The ego of [Aroma] was in my . Yet when I looked around, I found nothing.

I panicked. Coming across an opponent without form was a first for me. I was so used to relying on the combo of [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Yellow] and that it flustered me when I found I couldn’t use it.

I took a deep breath and calmed my heart. It was times like this where I was required to have clear head.

I ran through the options that were available to me. When the solution came to me, I couldn’t help but gawk foolishly at the empty landscape that stretched before me.

I summoned flame. With [Diving Yang Butterfly] and [Pure Yang Body] assisting me, it wasn’t difficult to fill the entire with flame. I wasn’t affected since I was immune.

Ding!

You have subdued the ego of [Aroma].

The tantalizing smell disappeared. The raging flame also disappeared like a dream.

I opened my eyes and let out a happy smile. Now, I could move to the next agenda on my list. First, I needed to find a place where I wouldn’t be disturbed. I decided on the cave we used to live in before.

On the way, I noticed a huge group of demons congregated at the edge of the magical forest that was on the opposite side of Red Dawn City. There were at least five hundred of them. If it weren’t for [Kaleidoscope Eye], which boasted a whopping one hundred fifty kilometer range and the ability to identify, I wouldn’t have noticed it or I might have dismissed them as a group of humans.

They were up to no good. I had a premonition. Things were not going to remain peaceful for long. I made a mental note to talk about it to Sister Yu.

I reached the cave and took out the corpse of the demon I had been saving for this moment. I started a fire and roasted it. Tantalizing smell spread everywhere in the cave. I tore a small chunk of the meat and put it in my mouth. A savory flavor smell spread everywhere in my mouth.

It was nowhere near the meals prepared by Xue’er but by its own right, I felt that it was not bad.

Ding!

You have consumed the meat of a Spirit Transformation Stage demon.

Congratulations!

You have gained +3 to all basic attributes.

I waited for the raging energy that entered my body to settle to take another bite.

Ding!

You have consumed the meat of a Spirit Transformation Stage demon.

Congratulations!

You have gained +3 to all basic attributes.

With that, strength had also reached the bottleneck.

I continued eating the meat of the Spirit Transformation Stage demon and accumulating energy in my body. Although the size of the demon was small, the energy content in its meat was so much that I was starting to feel full.

After an exhausting process, I was finally able to finish the whole of the demon.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have broken through the third shackles of a mortal.

[Eternal Stratum] will be upgraded.

Please wait…

Ding!

Upgrade Completed!

Your Lifeforce Regeneration and Qi Regeneration will be set to 30% per second

Finally! It took a long while to reach here.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have acquired the trait [Devour].

Ding!

[Devour] has been devoured by [Innards of a God].

Congratulations!

The chances of acquiring traits increases. The attribute points you can acquire also increases.

I was a touch disappointed. I had banked on acquiring a strong trait from the demon. It was a Spirit Transformation Stage demon, after all. After I had broken through the third shackle of a mortal, my status ran like this.

GENERAL

Name

Su Ren

Age

11 years old

Cultivation Method

Heart’s Yearning

Realm

Qi Gathering 9

(999/1000 Essence)

Lifeforce

6840/6840 (Regeneration: 30% per second)

Qi

6820/6820 (Regeneration: 30% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

643

Physique

684

Movement

672

Control

674

Soul

682

Comprehension

687

Charm

75

Fate

44

INNATE TRAITS

Innards of a God

Kaleidoscope Eye

Pure Yang Body

Eternal Stratum (Incomplete)

############

Divine Yang Butterfly

Metal Bow

Living Grimoire

Aroma

Bond:

Byakko (White Tiger)

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Qi Arrow

Unranked

8/10

2.

Earth Steps

Epic

8/10

3.

Heart Force

Unranked

5/10

4.

Spiritual Sense

Unranked

3/10

5.

Mindscape

Epic

1/10

I brought out the notification I had shelved for a long time.

You have fulfilled all the requirements to level up to a Foundational Stage Cultivator.

Would you like to level up?

“Yes!” I affirmed.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have broken to the Foundational Stage Layer 1.

You have gained +10 to all basic attributes.

Ding!

WARNING!

You are cultivating Heaven-defying Cultivation Method.

A 3x2 Tribulation shall befall you!

I didn’t panic like last time. The tribulation lightning was nothing to be feared. More like, it was beneficial.

I went outside and looked up.

Dark clouds were gathering over my head. It was much bigger than the last time. Lightning was slowly accumulating.

I took a seat and waited for the tribulation.

The first bolt struck. The second, the third, the fourth, the fifth and the sixth followed. To be honest, the whole affair was anticlimactic. Except for some tingling sensation I felt when the electric current ran through my body, there was nothing.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have passed through the tribulation.

You have gained +10 to all basic attributes.

Post tribulation, my stats ran like this.

GENERAL

Name

Su Ren

Age

11 years old

Cultivation Method

Heart’s Yearning

Realm

Foundational 1

1/2000 Essence)

Lifeforce

7040/7040 (Regeneration: 30% per second)

Qi

7020/7020 (Regeneration: 30% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

663

Physique

704

Movement

692

Control

694

Soul

702

Comprehension

707

Charm

77

Fate

46

INNATE TRAITS

Innards of a God

Kaleidoscope Eye

Pure Yang Body

Eternal Stratum (Incomplete)

############

Divine Yang Butterfly

Metal Bow

Living Grimoire

Aroma

Bond:

Byakko (White Tiger)

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Qi Arrow

Unranked

8/10

2.

Earth Steps

Epic

8/10

3.

Heart Force

Unranked

5/10

4.

Spiritual Sense

Unranked

3/10

5.

Mindscape

Epic

1/10

6.

7.