Elemental Laws!

I could immediately feel the difference, a big change happened!

The previously elusive meaning that was out of touch, started becoming more tangible and within reach. Every single bit of elemental mana that was absorbed by me to refine my body, gave me something new, something I did not have before.

A deeper understanding of the fundamental laws governing said elements. How normal mana was able to transform and become something else entirely, how the same type of mana was able to do several functions.

The wind could carry you, kill you, increase your speed, be a shield, and the same thing with darkness. It was like they were alive in sense, they could understand what you wanted them to do.

My cultivation was no longer simply a process of body refinement, but there was something new that was also being constantly refined.

To say it was spirit, soul, personality, or psyche would be wrong... It was refining something very profound and fundamental to my existence yet I had no idea what it was!

Was there something else entirely besides those?

The more answers I found, the more confused I became and my questions only multiplied.

I opened my eyes and stood up. If you saw me before and looked into my eyes now, you would without a doubt notice a big change but you wouldn't be able to truly pinpoint what changed. Outwardly only my color changed to an even darker shade of black, but it was not just that.

Even I didn't know! Sure, I was more in tune with my elements, if you were someone with either wind or dark affinity you'd feel the mana joyfully swimming around me. However, I felt like I was on the verge of grasping something else, I just couldn't say what it was for now.

'System can I turn off a passive skill?'

[Yes, just will it and it shall be so.]

I like how everything system related is always so intuitive, I tried to make an intention to turn off the Dao field.

And unsurprisingly it worked!

I wanted to turn it off because after upgrading it directly to Perfection, it became a bit too noticeable and the range was huge 200 meters! This would undoubtedly spell trouble.

I could feel the mana was no longer attracted to me nor as abundant as before, and those elemental laws became elusive again. But after all, was said and done, I was still someone with a high affinity towards both elements and I was cultivating a divine manual, coupled with the fact that I was starting to grasp the fundamentals workings of the elements if you were sensitive you'd feel a very ancient aura around me, especially if you were a wind or darkness user.

I opened my Status window and Skills panel to take a look.

[~Status Window~

Host: Zed - Umbra Storm Eagle.

Titles: {Blazing Heart}, {Truth Seeker}, {Dauntless Spirit}

Level: 31

Experience Points(Exp): 54650/65400

Rank: Body Refinement(High)

Health Points(HP): 285/285

Magic Power(MP/Mana): 381/381

Spiritual Power(SP): 391/391

Magical Resistance: 41(28)

Physical Resistance: 28(19)

Spiritual Resistance: 31(37)

Vitality: 67(100)

Strength: 67(100)

Stamina: 51(76)

Intelligence: 75(112)

Agility: 61(91), Dark: +18, Nearby Enemy: +15, Sky Dash: +18.

Spirit: 71(142)

Available Stat Points: 29

Available Skill Points: 2

Karma Points: 100

[Skills]

[Quests]

[Shop]

[Map]

[Inventory]

[Party(Locked)]

]

[Sky Dash(Active): Grants +40% Agility for 20 seconds while above ground. Cost(20MP) |Advanced|]

[WindBlade(Active): Creates a magical wind blade that has a range of 300 meters, Deals Intelligence(x3) in damage. Cost(10MP) |Perfection|]

[Umbra Hand(Active): Generates a hand from shadows that can be controlled by the user range 150 meters. Cost(3MP/Second) |Advanced|]

[Bird of Darkness(Passive): Soundless Flight and grants +30% Agility in the dark. |Advanced|]

[Mask Presence(Passive): Masks the presence of the user to a certain extent in the dark. |Mastery|]

[Zephyr Child(Passive): Grants +25% Agility if there are any enemies within a 200 meters radius. |Advanced|]

[The Stranger(Passive): +50% to all Stats. |Perfection|]

[Predator's WarCry(Active): Grants the user the ability to use their Spiritual power through sound. Cost(200SP Max) |Mastery|]

[Dark Shield(Active): The user is able to quickly condense a shield made of Dark elements. The shield's durability depends on the amount of Mana spent creating it. |Intermediate|]

[Dark Clone(Active): Creates a clone with 60% of the user's offensive attributes that lasts for 2 minutes. Cost(50MP) |Advanced|]

[Shadow Dive(Passive): The user can hide in the shadows of living beings. |Advanced|]

[Fiery Charge(Active): Once activated the user will be set in flames of their main element for 8 seconds. Deals Intelligence(x4) in damage in an 8-meter radius. Cost (150MP) |Advanced|]

[Firm Stand(Passive): All Resistances +70%. |Advanced|]

[Gentle Touch(Active): The skill is activated through touch, the target receives a +300% HP Regeneration for 10 seconds. The user cannot cast it on himself. Cost(200MP) |Beginner|]

[Dao Field(Passive): Creates a field of 200 meters with the user as the center in which the World Mana is abundant and Elemental Laws are easier to grasp. |Perfection|]

[Piercing Gaze(Active): The user is able to launch a spiritual attack that affects the mental state of the target. Cost(100SP/Max) |Advanced|]

I still had 2 Skill points, but after looking at my skills I figured it'd be better to save them up for now.

I also had a huge 29 undistributed stat points to allocate, shit! After giving it some thought, I decided to focus on my Vitality and Strength, thus increasing my overall health points, and physical resistance, and making my body even deadlier to be more efficient in my Fiery Charge combo! The stats gained from the system won't affect my cultivation thus keeping my advantage.

I assigned 10 to Vitality and 19 to Strength.

I could immediately feel the difference! My heart started beating faster and louder, pumping rich and vigorous blood that appeared as if out of nowhere to the rest of my body. I could feel my body getting firmer by the second, my feathers, beak, and claws longer, sharper, and sturdier!

Health Points(HP): 351/351

Magical Resistance: 41(28)

Physical Resistance: 42(29)

Spiritual Resistance: 31(37)

Vitality: 67(100)

Strength: 67(100)

Stamina: 51(76)

Intelligence: 75(112)

Agility: 61(91), Dark: +18, Nearby Enemy: +15, Sky Dash: +18.

Spirit: 71(142)

With this improvement in physical prowess, I had the same Vitality and strength as a Mid rank Foundation Establishment and even higher resistances.

If I were to face the bandit's leader's full-blown attack that previously insta killed me, I would be able to handle it and even manage to run away as long as my wings were intact.

I moved towards the edge of the watchtower only for the wooden floor to make creaking sounds with every step I took, I knew that the floor was already weakened but it gave me this feeling of strength seeing the floor tilting and almost falling apart with every step.

I looked towards the middle of the camp, only to find that the women were still asleep. Technically, this would be around 10 AM but if you stay long enough in this forest your sense of time would eventually become all messed up. Our biggest indication of time is light, so when there is only darkness all day long, you couldn't help but feel a bit unnatural and uneasy inside. You could tell that something wasn't right because it was going against everything you were used to.

*Thud*

I sat down, closed my eyes, and continued cultivating.

'System alert me if someone wakes up'

The system originally said that it couldn't interfere with the outside world or help in any way, however with the addition of the map which is technically a system function that deals with the surveillance of the outside world, it would be able to help in stuff like this.

I had also put another 'alarm'.

'Notify me when a monster in the Foundation Establishment is detected in the map's range.'

That is the beauty of the map, I could be at ease when cultivating without having to keep a tight watch on my surroundings. The Map's detection abilities are even stronger than my own, with just a small margin of course. But it's a huge blessing!

Spirit sense as with any other sense can be focused, and when you could be focused on something it directly meant you could neglect other things.

Just like the saying, if you go left you immediately create right, and so the map was capable of an Omni-Focus type of thing.

...

-Ding!

[+4 Intelligence, +2 Spirit]

I heard a ding sound, signifying someone woke up.

A huge 6 Stats in total, even though I had not even cultivated that much and was more experimenting.

I did not gain any physical attribute, it was intentional. I was focusing on destroying/rebuilding the place that holds the most mana inside of my body, it was a very mysterious body part. It seemed to be on my body, yet not. I did the same thing with my mind for a while, thus subsequently increasing my Spirit by two.

I stood up and glanced in the direction of the campfire, they were all more or less awake, except for the girl named Cai Yi.

They were collecting their blankets and pilling them up. Seeing that they still had food, I immediately thought of something else.

Water!

I have never needed water personally, I had no idea why. The biology of monsters in this world was indeed a bit different in a lot of ways.

I opened my inventory to look for water, then I noticed something and I was shocked!

My heart started beating faster, I could not believe what I was seeing!

I went through a multitude of intense emotions in just a short while.

First, I was confused and even doubted my eyes then shocked, and then I was over the moon!

My divine cultivation manual was still in my inventory! Initially, I thought it was only one use consumable, this assumption was not without reason because when I put my mana into the Leria's Universal Language Scroll it sent a ton of information to my mind and the moment it finished doing so, it evaporated!

All of the energy it had was only capable of teaching a single person the language, which naturally gave me the assumption that all scrolls were the same.

Thus, when I learned and got all of that immense energy from the divine cultivation manual's scroll, an energy that was able to directly give me a treasure trove of information, some that I was not even able to unseal yet and managed to raise both of my affinities by a huge ten percent.

With all of these factors combined, it made sense for me to think that I had already used it, so I didn't even bother to check my inventory since yesterday.

But now!

I moved as fast as lightning and checked its information, and I was even more shocked to find a number beside it that was not there before.

[Stygian Tempest Heavenly Arts] 4/5

I naturally understood what those numbers signify.

This changes everything!

Originally, the plan was to stay with the women until help arrived, if not I'd take them close enough and return. Then, I'd keep cultivating and hunting in the forest and once I had enough of it, I'd leave Kali, the tigers, and the Mama bird and go see the world by myself.

After all, I couldn't babysit them while neglecting my growth, the mission was more or less to help people, but without the strength to back it up, I wouldn't be able to save shit.

I did feel a bit complicated at the thought of just abandoning them, but I had to look out for myself and rationally leaving them because they'd shackle my strength would eventually lead to me saving even more people, and so it was an absolute win.

I also realized something, due to all the hero and saving talk with the system and the huge opportunity there were a lot of emotions involved which got me carried away.

So far all the decisions I made one way or other would rationally result in me saving other people in the future while also looking out for myself, but I got the order wrong.

I was definitely selfish and would always look out for myself first. All the saving people is an extra amazing bonus so that people can lead a good life, but if push comes to shove and I had to choose between saving a bunch of people and myself, I would undoubtedly choose myself without any hesitation. I did not have it in me at all, the feeling of genuine selflessness.

So, I was definitely going to ditch them if it was going to jeopardize my strength thus life.

However, I had one issue with that plan. The fact that things I could do by myself were very limited. If I had some strong people with me I would be able to do many things at once, a lot of options would open up, and it would also strengthen my chances of survival.

Now, things are different.

The divine cultivation manual could be used by four other people. Anyone who consumed and learned it would receive a humongous increase in potential and an overall transformation through its godly ability to raise one's affinity by 10 percent at first, then an even more increase after continuous cultivation and refinement of the body. Coupled with my new improved Dao Field, I had the best ingredients to start an overpowered organization.

I had three candidates in mind. First, Kali, she's naturally very loyal and looks up to me but her character is still blurry and it's too early to say. I don't need people to just have loyalty toward me, but also to themselves. I needed people who would never stomach the thought of betraying me for the simplest reason because it'd directly harm a lot of other people involved. People would never see themselves doing that, I knew there were no absolutes in the world and people change, but as long as you plan everything that is within your control to the best of your ability the rest is naturally up to fate would unfold.

I needed to build up to that image first which would take a bit of time.

The Mama bird, though I did not have any strong feelings towards her, I could not say the same for her. Motherhood is something sacred in any world and I doubt she'd harm me, but there are always exceptions so we'll see.

Finally, Jia, does trust me a bit and we do have the grounds on which we can nurture a good relationship, but I considered her simply because she was someone who has been wronged in her life and understands the difficulties and pain that come with it, plus the fact that she was a person who was honor driven thus she'd never be able in good conscience harm me unless she justified her actions by vilifying me in some way. Which again takes us back to the image, and how they view me in their mind.

There was also the fact that I did not have any confidence in myself as a leader which made me prefer the solo route, but fuck it! I won't be able to know unless I gave it a try!

Of course, I'd still mainly operate by myself, I do enjoy my solitude a lot. More than that, I doubt anyone would be able to catch up to me even with a divine cultivation manual because I had it and I also had a system that rewards skill points and stats upon leveling up among other things.

I flew out of the watchtower and glided in their direction.

"Hey Jia, do you guys need anything else?" I spoke after she came in my direction after I landed farther away from the rest of the group.

"No, we don't need anything for now. We also have some water left in the huts.", she said with a grateful expression, but then she looked at me with a disgusted look and pinched her nose, "You smell so bad, what happened to you? You also seem a bit different, did you break through or something?"

Oh shit, I completely forgot about that because I closed off my sense of smell before. I awkwardly said, "Oh yeah sorry, just a little breakthrough."

I quickly sent my senses towards the huts and I could feel that there were some meter-long jugs filled to the brim with water, but I decided against using them to clean up, I had way more efficient and cool ways to clean myself thanks to magic!

I controlled my mana and turned it into wind elements, then I created very small wind currents all over my body starting from the skin and going up to the end of my feathers, thus expelling all of the filth.

I was like a dog shaking his wet body to dry off, but instead of using the force of my body, I was using wind elements.

The black filth was thrown all over the place with me as the center, some of them almost hitting Jia in the face, Yuck. She did not seem to find it inappropriate though, only a bit funny.

Finally!

I then turned to look at her and noticed that she seemed to be on the verge of saying something but looked hesitant.

"Just say it, if I don't want to do something I won't", I said after giving her a bit of time to speak but remained silent nonetheless.

"It's just that, I didn't want to bother you. You've already done enough," she replied with an awkward smile.

I did not say anything and just waited for her to continue.

Seeing that I was still wondering what she wanted to say, she added "We don't know if there will be anyone coming to help, and we were wondering if you could help us get near the city and we will continue on our own."

Ah I see, that's what it was about. That's what I originally planned to do, but I thought waiting a couple of days would be better in case someone showed up. However, it seemed like they wanted to go now.

Probably because they wanted to get as far away as they possibly could from here, or the fact that there was no guarantee that people would come to help them which would make the wait all the more difficult. The others also did not trust me completely which is reasonable, so the quicker they could return to their people the better.

Seeing that I was silently thinking, she quickly added "Of course, we can just wait maybe there will be people coming."

"Alright, give me some time until I finish some things and I'll take you there." I said, then I continued, "By the way, I happened to hear you guys mentioning something called The Guya Ghost Dungeon what is it?"