Chapter 2 Creating the 4th
Now that he had gone over his past lives, Jin understood what was going on. He was currently in what could be considered the center of Samsara and therefore the center of reincarnation.
After he had died during his 1st Incarnation the white screen, which he liked to call the Will of Samsara, had appeared in front of him and gave him a basic rundown.
Every time he died the sum of his deeds would be added up and converted into his Reincarnation Points which could be used to enhance his next life's talents and fortunes.
"Begin the 4th Incarnation customization process." Jin declared as the screen in front of him shifted and warped. Soon a list appeared in front of him, unfortunately the options were all locked besides one.
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World:
Azure Star (Open),
Crimson Star (Locked),
Indigo Star (Locked),
Gold Star (Locked),
....
???? Star (Locked)
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While this was quite unfortunate, it made his life much easier. Selecting Azure Star the screen warped once again showing him a new list this time.
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Reincarnation Points: 20
Location:
Jade Sword Sect (0 RP),
Black Blade Pavilion(0 RP),
Golden Sun Sect(20 RP),
9 Dragon Empire (200 RP),
....
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This time Jin had a higher degree of options. After his 1st Incarnation he had only a single Reincarnation Point, and he had selected the Jade Sword Sect. His village at the time had just entered their scope of power and it was suspected that the Black Hill Bandits were lackeys of the Black Blade Pavilion.
But this time things were different. A rule of his incarnation was that they'd all have the same name, additionally he would always be born within a year of his death. This meant that the Jade Sword Sect was a risky place at the moment considering his interactions with Wu.
'It wasn't like I was particularly against him, but at every point and turn our enmity grew deeper. First it seems some of the weaker outer disciples in my faction used to bully him and then he beat them up after growing stronger, they then called some of the stronger people in the faction and Wu then beat them up and the cycle rinsed and repeated till he killed me.'
Not to mention Wu's well known penchant for holding grudges, the Jade Sword Sect as a whole now seemed like a risky option for his 4th incarnation considering he'd be born as "Jin" once again.
The option of the Golden Sun Sect was also intriguing as the resources and talents in their region were on average much better. This would mean despite being unable to increase his other attributes his start wouldn't be all that bad. Unfortunately he dismissed that option quite quickly. Without more reincarnation points he'd be unable to stand out amongst the masses in the Golden Sun Sect and his further reincarnations would end up with less points by consequence.
"....Above all else, I can't say I am not extremely pissed off at Wu killing me. The choice now seems obvious!" Jin declared as his anger began to surface. Immediately he selected the Black Blade Pavilion.
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Reincarnation Points: 20
Status:
Commoner (0 RP),
Merchant's Son (1 RP),
Elder's Son (2RP),
Young Sect Master (5 RP),
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Without a second thought Jin immediately selected "Young Sect Master". One could argue this was a waste of Reincarnation Points but Jin didn't care. In his 3rd incarnation he had experienced first hand the difference between the resources the child of an Elder received, and those he was provided once he became the Grand Elder's disciple. Had he not accepted Jianyu as his master Jin probably would have just barely entered the 9th Layer of Qi Gathering at the time of his demise. Not to mention that being the child of the Sect Master would net him even more resources than that.
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Reincarnation Points: 15
Talents:
Cultivation: 1(+/-)
Comprehension: 1(+/-)
Appearance: 1(+/-)
(Locked)
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In all his previous incarnations and this one included, Jin was only able to increase his cultivation, comprehension and appearance with the other possible talents being locked. He didn't even know what they could be so he speculated once he encountered them in an incarnation they would be unlocked, or so he hoped anyway.
Immediately he increased Cultivation to 3, the same as his previous incarnation. This cost him 3 Reincarnation Points, every point higher cultivation, talent or appearance were raised their price would double.
He then increased his Comprehension to 3 reducing his Reincarnation Points down to 9. Comprehension was vital, in his past incarnations he had underestimated its importance. Naturally his 1st incarnation having only 1 Reincarnation Point to spend simply made himself a Merchant's son while, his 2nd incarnation increased his talent as much as possible.
While this strategy worked out, it ultimately failed as evidenced by his death to Wu who was a major realm lower than him.
'On the other hand if I increase my cultivation talent to 4 Stars wouldn't I be able to become the undisputed strongest cultivator in the Black Jade province?' Jin mulled over this question before shaking his head.
Technically he could increase both to 4 and then he'd even have 1 point left over for appearance, but there was something else he needed. Ultimately Jin went with his original idea, increasing his comprehension to 4 and leaving himself with 5 Reincarnation Points left.
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Reincarnation Points: 5
Talents:
Cultivation: 3(+/-)
Comprehension: 4(+/-)
Appearance: 1(+/-)
(Locked)
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Looking at the screen Jin was satisfied and dismissed it. The void then warped again and the screen shifted once again.
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Reincarnation Points: 5
Abilities:
None (0 RP),
Copper Body (2 RP),
Iron Dantian (5 RP),
.....
Flood Dragon's Physique (30 RP),
Embodiment of Flame (100 RP),
Eye of the Sage (500 RP),
........
??? of the World (10,000 RP),
Memories of the Past (10,000 RP) (Permanent),
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Naturally Jin selected the Iron Dantian, this was an important part of his next incarnation. While it wouldn't increase his cultivation speed as much as if he chose to increase his talent, it would increase his overall Qi capacity by 30% while enabling him to cultivate more powerful and volatile techniques. This was important if he wanted to have a chance of beating Wu in his next incarnation as it would bring his battle power to another level.
With that finished he dismissed the screen and the final shift in the void occurred.
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Note (Limit 5 words):
<Reincarnate! >
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Seeing this Jin simply nodded thinking back on his life before gazing into the void and sighing. While he would still be alive he wouldn't be himself anymore, at least not until he died once again whenever that would be.
"Beware Jade Sword Sect's Wu"
Thus the white void warped and Jin's soul disappeared.