145. All About Mechanics

A few minutes after his conversation with Long Ruolan's clone, Han De expanded his spiritual sense and found the same servant that woke him up.

<Who is the most senior elder on this celestial ship right now?>

Though the servant should've detected his spiritual sense since her cultivation was much higher than his own, she still ended up flinching after hearing his voice transmission.

<Y-Young master is the most senior.>

'…'

<Where is the Han family, and the Starfall Mountain sect? Wasn't this their celestial ship?>

<… T-this servant does not know. Young master's attendants should know more. This s-servant only handles basic tasks.>

<Call for the highest-ranking attendants.>

<Yes, young master.>

Han De went outside and roamed around the gardens of the temple. Less than a minute later he felt the familiar spiritual ripples of his lackeys, though oddly enough, they were showing signs of higher cultivation bases.

""We greet the young master!""

Along with Old Peng, who was now at Unity Realm, and a few other higher cultivation lackeys, he also saw a rather worrying sight. A pair of red-haired women were also kneeling right next to his lackeys.

'Hold up. Didn't I pay you enough for that hidden rea- Oh S#$% I didn't.'

"You may rise."

He inexplicably fell asleep right after his disciples started awakening their bloodlines. Under normal circumstances, it was Old Peng's duty to carry out his orders, and pay "awful lot of money" to the family of the hidden realm.

"Report."

Old Peng understood the unspoken question and responded immediately.

"The Xin family unanimously decided to join the young master's ranks. Before entering secluded cultivation, elder Long Xiu herself have chosen a total of 1023 servants to follow the young master."

A scroll appeared from his sleeve at the right moment. Han De appreciated Old Peng's preparedness and opened up the personnel report at once.

'She started from 512 Core Formation experts and halved the numbers for each subsequent realm? That's not that bad. I can make do with a single Transcendent Realm expert… For now…'

The said Transcendent expert was in front of him right now. Thankfully, Old Peng's report did contain information about what happened to the Xin family.

'Right, their family name was Xin. Right… Her name was… Xin Meili. Anyway…

So a few of them did chose to leave, but most chose to stay. I guess that's an obvious outcome in hindsight. Their knowledge from the hidden realm can't compare to the Long family, not by a long shot. A true cultivator should know when to hug a rich thigh.'

Han De didn't have any worries about their loyalty. The mother and daughter were already vetted by Long Xiu some time ago. Anyone that could pass her test could be reasonably trusted.

As always, lackeys' loyalty wasn't absolute. It was up to Han De to plan around this fact.

'Alright. Minimally acceptable safety standards. Check.'

"Where are my disciples?"

"Answering to young master, Disciples Ning Bi, Yao Qing, and Jin Shu are consolidating their gains. While disciples Yu Xian and Liang Cuifen are attending lessons from senior Treebeard."

Han De nodded. Considering how he could stay silent for weeks, Treebeard should be a good, patient teacher. His fate was quite positive as well. This was the perfect scenario.

"Where's the Han family and the Starfall Mountain sect now?"

"Answering to young master, the Starfall Mountain sect has been dissolved. A new sect will be formed once patriarch Han Wei exits his seclusion. Head of the Han family, Han Shan, moved everyone to the new Han Dynasty Realm. Young master is to resume his duties after he returns."

The entire ship started to vibrate all of a sudden. Not enough to cause a panic, but enough to seriously alarm. A moment later Long Ai's power signature retreated.

'Oh… It's not that she retreated, but the ship moved instead…'

"According to the Grand Elder's instructions, the celestial ship is to return to the Han Realm once its purpose is complete, lest it attracts unwanted attention."

Han De felt a tinge of pain in his heart. A celestial ship was the ultimate get-away trump card. However, catching unwanted attention was definitely undesirable, so he accepted this compromise quickly.

He nodded once again. All of his immediate concerns were dealt with, he could have a sigh of relief.

The rest of the personnel report mentioned there were 50 'personal' servants assigned to him by the Long family, and 2 men sent by his father, Han Wei.

'Wu Fu? Qin Yu? Who the F#$% are they? Former is crippled, latter is only in Nascent Soul?'

Han De didn't dwell, nor did he attempt to recall the names through his cultivator memory, because the last section of the report caught his interest. The part about his crippled lackeys.

Only 3 could recover their cultivation. 4 agreed to retire and live a normal life, while the rest chose to reincarnate with the help of the Long family. As a reward for their loyalty, all of them were going to begin their next lives with innate Dao bodies.

'… I… didn't know that was an option. That's… good to know.'

Han De held back his desire to gulp. Was reincarnation that easy?

"What is the estimated time for arrival?"

"2 days, young master. High Elder Long Juan provided charts of the realm beforehand, ready to be viewed at your discretion. Gifts of the Long and Han families were delivered to the vaults. Grand Elder also left an intelligence report for young master's eye only."

'2 days… quite short…'

The celestial ship started vibrating again, this time it was ever so slightly stronger. A moment later Long Ai seemed a little farther away.

"Peng."

"Yes, young master."

"Instruct others as I have instructed you. Within these two days, I want everyone to learn how to operate. Nonsense will not be tolerated."

"Yes! Young master!"

"Emphasize the sect interactions and dealing with local anomalies. Create a report of the viable worlds, select the mid-level ones relative to the region's cultivations.

Select suitable intelligence operatives from people that can travel through the void. Keep their numbers at 5 for now, and increase when necessary. Passive information collection only, absolutely no interference!"

Old Peng gave a sharp nod. They operated under similar orders during their time on the Cloudy Mountains.

"What happened to the anomalies inside the Starfall Mountain sect?"

"Answering to young master, patriarch Han Wei agreed to follow the previous arrangements."

Han De nodded. Most of the 'anomalies' he had collected were false positives. Their numbers were small as well, taking care of them shouldn't be a burden to a sect that mobilized millions of disciples to leave the planet.

'… Most of them are expendable, but Yao Qing's childhood friend is among them. Shouldn't be too much of a problem, right?

Ah… Speaking of MC's childhood affairs…'

"Send a message to the Long family. Yu Xian's stepfather should still be in that world. Send him life-prolonging pills, and cultivation methods. If he can't cultivate, they should help him reincarnate into a fortune blessed life after the end of his natural life.

They should find the souls of Liang Cuifen's parents and do the same. Other than these two matters, they are not to touch the planet, or interfere with its affairs.

Hmm… From now on this is the standard procedure for the immediate family and friends of my disciples. Past and future. Pay special attention to both Jin Shu's and Yao Qing's families."

"At once, young master!"

Old Peng started sending multiple voice transmissions on the spot. When he first heard how his friends would reincarnate into innate Dao bodies, he was truly shocked. Who would've thought losing one's cultivation could be a blessing?

Xin Meili herself could see the currents of reincarnation and exert some control to a degree. If she went too far, the wrath of the higher heavens would most certainly strike her down. To the Long family though, this was a minor affair, fit for a lesser elder to handle. It was as if the cycle of reincarnation was theirs to play as they please.

The treatment that Han De's 'servants' received was the final incident that convinced the Xin family. The lines between the word 'servant' and 'favored' had become blurred after learning the true nature of power!

Seeing that their young master ordered the families of his disciples to receive the same treatment, neither Old Peng nor Xin Meili was surprised. Of course, their young master had already known of this matter.

Meanwhile, Han De was especially pleased.

'This is literally free points. I can scam so many MCs with this power…'

The possibilities… were positively frightening!

"You."

Han De pointed towards Xin Meili, the sole Transcendent Realm master under his orders.

"From now on your number one priority will be the security of me, and my disciples. All other orders are secondary."

Xin Meili didn't let her surprise affect her voice. "By your wish, young master!"

'Should I assign personal guards too?... No, no. There could be miscommunication-based events if I do that. One Transcendent master for everyone should suffice…'

"Carry out your duties."

""By your orders, young master!"""

As the lackeys of the new and old left, Han De checked his status screen. True enough, there was a tiny new section.

[Current Realm: Whispering Realms]

[Fame: Calculating]

[Status: Eligible]

'That's it?... Just eligible?'

The celestial ship vibrated once more. Han De speculated that they passed some sort of threshold, because the distance they traveled this time was markedly bigger. Once blinding light of Long Ai was now barely qualified to be moonlight!

With this change, he immediately started sensing different and less powerful power signatures inside the ship. Then his eyes went back to the status screen.

[Current Realm: Emptiness Lotus Realms]

[Fame: Calculating]

[Status: Eligible]

'System, this thing isn't bugged, right?'

Naturally, there was no response.

'Well that's fine. As long as it shows eligible…'

There were probably some needless hoops he would have to jump through to properly establish a sect. Perhaps there was a sect establishment ceremony that he didn't know about.

The System showed the time to be 03:14, he couldn't even do the disciple acceptance ceremony right now.

'Alright, it's token time.'

* * *

[Tier 5 Exchange Token] [x1]

-------------------------------------------------

[Can be exchanged with a Tier 5 token.]

[Notes: Limited to tokens available in Privilege Level 3]

[High-Tier Random Bloodline Token]

[High-Tier Random Body Constitution Token]

[High-Tier Random Soul Constitution Token]

[Method Creation Token]

[Redeeming Tier 3 Exchange Token with Method Creation Token]

[Method Creation Token Invoked]

[Gathering statistics]

[Applicable Scriptures Unavailable]

[Privilege Level Requirements Not Met]

[Warning: Created method cannot exceed the maximum attained power level]

[Choose the method type]

'Wait, that warning… Are you telling me you can make a [Weak] body cultivation method?'

Naturally, there was no response.

Han De would be over the moon if the created method ended up being in the legendary [Very Weak] realm. He never even considered the possibility of it being in the mythical [Weak] realm. In the end, he adjusted his expectations towards the usual [Extremely Weak].

'You know what, that's fine. I choose body cultivation method.'

[Choose the core concept]

'Oh, I get to choose? Now that's a first…

Hmm. What would happen if I say indestructible? Or invincible?'

Han De rolled his eyes. The best concept for him would be survival. However, he didn't know what would happen if he chose that.

'Who would need a concept for a body cultivation method? Isn't it made for punching people really hard? Or in Buddhists' case, getting punched really hard?'

Frankly speaking, Han De was expecting some sort of scripture creation screen with stats to allocate to different portions. He didn't think the token would create a method from an abstract concept.

'Might as well shoot for the moon. The core concept will be Eternity.'

[Choose the core element]

'The only element will be Primordial Light'

[Processing...]

'Maybe I shouldn't have rushed this, maybe I should've said invincible, isn't that more doable than eternity? Will eternity be strong enough? Do I even want strength from this? Eternity should provide enough durability, right?'

A few seconds later, an entirely new panel appeared in front of Han De.

[Overall Statistics]

----------------------------------------

[Energy Efficiency: 0.77004]

[Cultivation Speed: 1.39711]

[Cultivation Stability: 0.09914]

[Perks]

----------------------------------------

[First Step]

-------------------

[Fast Absorption V]

[Passive Absorption I]

[Passive Filtering I]

[Active Filtering I]

[Hybrid Filtering I]

[Improved Agility V]

[Improved Dexterity V]

[Improved Endurance V]

[Improved Perception V]

[Improved Strength V]

[Improved Speed V]

[Elemental Cohesion II]

[Elemental Resistance II]

[Physical Resistance V]

[Poison Immunity I]

[Curse Resistance III]

[Mental Resistance I]

[Seal Resistance I]

[Internal Protection V]

[Reduced Weight V]

[Regeneration IV]

[Second Step]

-------------------

[Physical Immunity II]

[Elemental Immunity II]

[Mental Immunity II]

[Curse Immunity II]

[Seal Immunity II]

[Illusory Body V]

[Improved Regeneration I]

[Weightless V]

[Third Step] - [Insufficient Privilege Level]

---------------------------------------

[Body of Light I]

[Infinite Regeneration I]

[Light of Creation I]

[True Reality I]

[Eternal Body I]

'Whoa whoa whoa. What the hell?'

There were so many options, Han De started to gloss over them instinctively. This was the first time the System had provided him with such a detailed interface. It was as refreshing as it was suspicious.

'What happens if I click one of them?'

[Poison Immunity I]

--------------------------------------

|

|___ Fast Metabolism IV

| |___ Advanced Metabolic Control IV

| | |___ Total Metabolic Control III

| | | |___ Organic Poison Resistance X

| | | | |___ Organic Poison Absorption X

| | | |___ Inorganic Poison Resistance X

| | | | |___ Organic Poison Absorption X

|

|___ Metabolic Operations IX

| |___ Circulatory System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Digestive System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Endocrine System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Integumentary System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Immune System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Muscular System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Nervous System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Urinary System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Reproductive System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Respiratory System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Skeletal System Operation V

| | |___ ...

| |___ Energy System Operation V

| | |___ ...

|

|___ Tissue Reinforcement III

| |___ Organ Reinforcement V

| | |___ Circulatory System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Digestive System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Endocrine System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Integumentary System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Immune System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Muscular System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Nervous System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Urinary System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Reproductive System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Respiratory System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Skeletal System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| | |___ Energy System Reinforcement V

| | | |___ ...

| |

| |___ Tissue Regeneration VII

| | |___ Organ Regeneration IV

| | | |___ Circulatory System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Digestive System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Endocrine System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Integumentary System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Immune System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Muscular System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Nervous System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Urinary System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Reproductive System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Respiratory System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Skeletal System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

| | | |___ Energy System Regeneration V

| | | | |___ ...

|

|___ Energy Control X

| |___ Energy Filtering X

| | |___ Energy Conversion X

| | | |___ Rapid Energy Conversion V

| |___ Meridian Operation V

| | |___ Meridian Reinforcement V

| | | |___ Meridian Regeneration IV

| |___ Qi Filtering X

| | |___ Qi Conversion X

| | | |___ Qi Refining X

| |___ Advanced Energy Control V

| | |___ Energy Absorption IIX

| | |___ Total Energy Control IX

| | | |___ Energy Purge X

|

.

.

.

'…'

Han De patiently read everything he saw. As he clicked on the three dots, more and more perks appeared.

'I see. So the bottom part is what's required to get Poison Immunity I. If I increase it to Poison Immunity II, more stuff is needed. Ok, that's easy enough to understand. Very video-gamey…'

When Han De clicked on the details section of a perk, a completely new panel appeared.

[Selected Function: Fast Metabolism IV (Selected Level: X)]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Refinement Method(s)]

[Reinforcement, Variation(s) 8, 9, 13]

[Replacement, Variation(s) 1, 2]

[Provided Energy Type(s)]

[Primordial Light Qi: 6500 Uu]

[Provided Resources: Expand to view more… ]

[Refinement Stages: 16]

[Energy Provision: 2300 Uu]

[Maintenance Budget: 0.05 u/Cycle]

[Estimated Total Cultivation Speed: 30,000 Cycle(s) (Standard Index)]

[Estimated Total Energy Cost: 8520 Uu]

[Estimated Total Resource Requirements: Expand to view more… ]

[Dependencies: Expand to view more… ]

[Notes: Basis of all advanced metabolic functions.]

'… I can change the refinement methods? I can even change how many stages it takes?!'

This was almost too much detail, but considering how complex late-stage cultivation could be, it made sense that even this high-level overview would be this complicated.

Everything he saw had positive effects. Therefore Han De couldn't understand why some perks weren't maxed out. If they could, who wouldn't want to have Circulatory System Regeneration X over I. Higher was better!

'So many perks… System, is there any way… that I could get all of them?'

Naturally, there was no response.

Though everything seemed beneficial, there were some warnings that made Han De somewhat queasy. Respiratory System Operation perk, for example, had a deprecation warning. Apparently, it would be inoperable after the Third Step.

'Of course. No breathing after the third step. Makes sense...'

The only limitation as far as Han De could see, was the privilege level. Anything that required the third step was unselectable. Which was fine. Getting to the third step was only a pipe dream anyway. Han De would rather focus on here and now.

* * *

Nearly 10 hours later, Han De was staring at the method creation screen with some doubt.

[Perks]

----------------------------------------

[First Step]

-------------------

[Fast Absorption X]

[Passive Absorption X]

[Passive Filtering X]

[Active Filtering X]

[Hybrid Filtering X]

[Advanced Agility X]

[Advanced Dexterity X]

[Advanced Endurance X]

[Advanced Perception X]

[Advanced Strength X]

[Advanced Speed X]

[Aging Immunity X]

[Elemental Cohesion X]

[Elemental Resistance X]

[Physical Resistance X]

[Poison Immunity X]

[Radiation Immunity X]

[Curse Resistance X]

[Mental Resistance X]

[Sealing Resistance X]

[Internal Protection X]

[Reduced Weight X]

[Improved Regeneration X]

[Second Step]

-------------------

[Physical Immunity X]

[Elemental Immunity X]

[Mental Immunity X]

[Curse Immunity X]

[Sealing Immunity X]

[Space Resistance X]

[Time Resistance X]

[Essence Resistance X]

[Illusory Body X]

[Extreme Regeneration X]

[Weightless X]

[Third Step] - [Insufficient Privilege Level]

---------------------------------------

[Body of Light I]

[Infinite Regeneration I]

[Light of Creation I]

[True Reality I]

[Eternal Body I]

It wasn't selecting the perks that took time but tweaking their refinement methods, energy expenditures, and resource requirements.

[Overall Statistics]

----------------------------------------

[Energy Efficiency: 0.00091]

[Cultivation Speed: 0.06470]

[Cultivation Stability: 1.34133]

When he first piled up X-level perks, the stability fell down to a jaw-dropping 0.00000, as such, Han De paid special attention to that statistic. Cultivation Speed became a secondary concern, while Energy Efficiency became a convenient sacrifice to strike a balance between the two.

'Stability should be pain, right? Isn't that generally the idea? The less stable the method, the more painful and faster it would be.'

Han De knew himself, if he had to endure an unimaginable amount of pain every time he cultivated, he would simply stop. Rather than go through that torture, he would try to explore other, less painful avenues.

Though the speed rating was… quite painful to look at, Han De was betting it all on his constitution. He had a 'Tremendous' boost towards Primordial Light Qi body cultivation methods.

'...It's fine! Luminescent Body only had 'Moderate' increase and yet I still reached the 7th Stage in just a few hours.'

Finally, Han De took a deep breath. He already had double and triple checked everything.

'Confirm!'

[Evaluating Settings...]

[Warning: Privilege Level Requirements Not Met]

[Warning: Created method cannot exceed the maximum attained power level]

[Warning: Only steps up to the 2nd will be created]

[…]

[…]

[…]

[…]

[…]

[…]

'Don't tell me it's gonna fai-'

[Congratulations!]

[You have created a new body cultivation scripture!]

[Eternal Light Scripture (Mortal)]

[Power: Weak]

[Comprehension: Grandmaster]

[Stage: - ]

'…

…

YES! YESS!!! WEAK!! IT IS WEAK!!!'

Han De nearly shouted out loud after seeing the power section. Though he was able to control his voice, he couldn't do so for his body and found himself doing the guts pose.

'Ok calm down. Calm down…'

He started reviewing the scripture immediately.

'… I did not expect those perks to translate into a Xianxia like cultivation method…'

Just like the Light of Creation Scripture, the Eternal Light Scripture too, had the usual Xianxia way of describing things. Thanks to the grandmaster level comprehension though, Han De didn't need to rely on such nonsense, but he still appreciated the effort spent by the System.

'… This is going to take a lot of resources.'

Han De's grandmaster level guess was that he needed 5 orders of magnitude more resources than his previous body cultivation scripture. Quality had to be higher as well.

As he reviewed everything, he realized with great relief that the Eternal Light was an incredibly gentle scripture. Highly complex, but extremely gentle!

A P2W scripture. Exactly as Han De planned it!

[Requirements Met]

[Unlocking Level 1 Scripture Modification feature]