“Well, that was unexpected,” Jack chuckled dryly, finding himself teleported in a small clearing. His senses indicated no danger, but he had no recollection of encountering this clearing to Adept Lanhai’s Abode. His guess was that the system had randomly teleported them into their near surroundings, because the distance to the citadel remained similar to before, although the path indicated by the system had slightly shifted.

“I almost feel cheated,” Sarah complained, but her tone sounded more amused than anything else. The image of a wizened old master of the cultivation arts was shattered, only to be replaced by a cocky young man grinning back at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Yeah, I’d come to respect the old man as a teacher. Still, that doesn’t take anything away from his advice,” Jack shrugged, figuring that whoever the young man was, he was frighteningly skilled, likely beyond his age. He called himself the ‘scion’, of a clan, which indicated that he belonged to some sort of hereditary organization, but further speculation on the point was useless.

Sarah nodded, having engraved the words of advice into her heart. She would not make the mistake of limiting her possibilities, both of what she could do and what the opponent was capable of, again.

“Anyway, I was relying on making some purchases back in the safety of Lanhai’s Abode, but we ran out of time too quickly. Mind guarding me?” Jack asked, not having gotten the free time to purchase the [System Module: Talent Detection] or invest his free points.

“Sure,” Sarah agreed, giving her spear a quick twirl. She exuded a confidence that was lacking in her actions before, a certainty derived perhaps from receiving proper instruction in the spear, for the first time in her life. Maybe in her mind that was enough for her to no longer consider herself a novice who found her thoroughly outclassed, another unexpected boon that stumbling upon Lanhai's abode had gotten them.

Jack nodded in thanks, opening his status screen.

Name

Jack Fletcher

Age

28.6 Years

Race

Human [F-]

Cultivation Level

5 [8%]

Class

Swordsman (O) Lv. 5 [19%]

Cultivation

Initiate I

Talent

-

Skills:

Inspect, Qi Blade [MAX], Qi Pulse [Lv.2], Qi Projection [Lv.1], Minor Cure [Lv. 1]

Feat

Warrior

Equipment

[F] Honor’s End, [F- ] Lunar Wolf Cape, [F- ] Lunar Wolf Boots, [F-] Twilight Boar Pendant.

STR

9 (+1)

CON

11

DEX

11

AGI

13(+2)

PER

8 (+1)

WIS

7

INT

9 (+1)

WIL

8

QI

4/15

FP

5

TP

1900

You have [5] unused Free Points from reaching Cultivation Level 5.

Perhaps not immediately investing his free points had been for the best. Were it before his encounter with Adept Lanhai, Jack would lean towards Agility, Dexterity or Strength, while giving consideration to Constitution. But the encounter had reminded him of a key limitation of the human body, for strength or even agility were meaningless without an ability to perceive the attack in time. If his Perception stat had been higher, would he be able to discern Adept Lanhai’s movement to a greater extent? Would he be able to guard up till the third blow, or at least manage to barely evade it?

At 15, his agility had reached a high threshold, but his Strength was starting to lag behind. Constitution was another valuable stat, but Jack really didn’t believe that the stat had the ability to protect him if his heart was pierced or his throat perforated. Testing his own limits to see how much damage he could endure was one thing, but Jack had a feeling that he had only scratched the surface when it came to the forest’s horrors. Constitution was a stat that seemed to require more long term investment, so he sidelined it for now.

Making his decision, he said the words in his mind.

‘Three to perception, two to strength.’

Jack felt the blue flames wash over him, slightly catching Sarah’s interest before she resumed guarding him with a stoic expression on her face.

He could immediately feel the difference, his eyes gaining a piercing quality to them. Jack felt himself develop a new sense.... one that was far inferior to [Qi Sight] that he had gained under the influence of that mysterious liquid, which was more like an entirely new form of realm of sensation that could only be described by the term 'sixth sense'. The sense that his Perception stat had brought him was more like an extension of his senses, his eyes darting across the surroundings and scanning for threats at a rapid pace. He had a feeling that if an archer were to target him from afar, Jack would no longer be so helpless to respond. The sensation would give him a light warning in advance, but that would depend on his proximity to the archer.

At the same time, his muscles swelled, before rapidly compressing the next second. Jack couldn’t see what was happening, but he could understand. His muscles had gone up a notch in density, and he felt a burst of strength as he clenched his fist. Jack had a feeling that even if he were weaponless, up against a low level twilight boar he would eventually come out victorious through physical strength alone. Overall, he was happy with his choices.

Now, it was time for some shopping.

Tutorial Shop

Cost

F Rank Weapon Artifact [Requires Class Lv. 10]

12,500 TP

Race Evolution Stone [Requires Race: Lv. 25] [100,000/100,000]

10,000 TP

Qi- Attunement Stone [Earth] [Req. Class Lv. 5, Race Lv. 5] [99,902/100,000]

5,000 TP

Qi- Attunement Stone [Fire] [Req. Class Lv. 5, Race Lv. 5] [99,921/100,000]

5,000 TP

Qi- Attunement Stone [Water] [Req. Class Lv. 5, Race Lv. 5] [99,923/100,000]

5,000 TP

Qi- Attunement Stone [Wind] [Req. Class Lv. 5, Race Lv. 5] [99, 942/100,000]

5,000 TP

Class Change Token [Requirement: Before Class Evolution, limited to introductory classes only].

1,000 TP

F+ Grade Cultivation Manual [100,000/100,000]

20,000 TP

Elixir of Life [Increases Mortal Lifespan: 100 years. Transferable, Effects do not stack]. Does not work on Cultivators. [100,000/100,000]

10,000 TP

F- Grade Cultivation Elixir [Increases Cultivation experience gain by 100% for twenty four hours.]

8,000 TP

Familial Contact Stone [Lets you contact ineligible mortals/non-cultivators once every twenty four hours]

100 TP

System Module: Talent Detection [Informs the cultivator when a talent has been used in the vicinity.]

500 TP

Minor Tribulation Pill [Assists when breaking through cultivation level bottleneck trial. Increases chances of success by 30%]

8000 TP

Soul Sword [F- Ranked, Growth E+] [25/25]

100,000 TP

Qi- Attunement Stone [Thunder] [Req. Class Lv. 5, Race Lv. 5] [100/100]

80,000 TP

Randomized Familiar Egg [F- to E+]

25,000 TP

Empyrean Weaponsmith Token [1/1] [Receive a F- growth weapon upgradable up to C- grade.]

10,00,000 TP

Attunement Removal Stone [Only valid till level 25.]

5000 TP

Available Funds

1900 TP

Jack noticed that the Attunement stones were starting to be purchased, but the amounts were still quite negligible. He himself was not sure if he wanted to hedge his bets on a weaker attunement, when the Qi-Attunement Stone [Thunder] was clearly a far more superior offering, at least based on the cost. And what about Adept Lanhai’s Qi? Was that shadow attunement? The system mentioned that more items would be offered as time passed, would that be one of them?

‘Purchase [System Module: Talent Detection]’ Jack mentally made the decision, and another blue screen popped up in front of him.

500 TP has been subtracted from Available Funds. System Module: Talent Detection has been added to the System Interface. Current Module Slots Used; 1/10, Would you like to turn System Module: Talent Detection to setting: Always on?

‘Yes,’ Jack assented, feeling slight relief in partly neutralizing the unknown threat talents posed.