History of Mankind, I Guess

"I don't quite understand, Young Master Xianli. You called me here, and ask me to sit down, while you daydreaming watching my chest. Just what do you want from me?" Dian Juewang narrowed her eyes.

If I answer her, it would be seen as I finding some excuse. Better to change the topic.

"I'm sorry for the unsightly behavior. I want to ask you about cultivation and the world. Can you help me with that?"

"...," she coldly gazing at me, sighed and said, "fine then, what Young Master Xianli want to ask?"

"First, tell me all about the Cultivation Stage."

She frowned, and this time a cold mist seeped from her body.

"From the basic? Doesn't Young Master Xianli already learn this knowledge in the Elementary School?"

"Iyaa ..., this is embarrassing but, I have no memories of it. So please, tell me about it from the basic."

This excuse was usable because I was notorious for being a useless trash Young Master. It seems that the title has its use.

"Alright then ..." she glanced at the scattered cultivation book and scroll on the table and said, "Let's not dig deeper into the myth and lore and just go straight to the core of cultivation. Before that, I'll tell you about the era of this plane.

The first known era was the Creation Era. This was the time where humans, beasts, and plants were created in this world. They were a newborn baby and still didn't grasp what was cultivation or didn't know how to handle the Primal Heaven and Earth Qi. When the inhabitant of this world finally able to wield Qi will they advanced to the next era.

The second era was the Desolate Era. At that time, the plant and animal were the first to comprehend how to use Primal Heaven and Earth Qi. Because of that, a snake evolved into a Dragon, and another animal followed suit. Many Primal Demonic Beasts born in this era, and when they procreated themselves, a huge population of Demonic Beast was born.

The human was on the verge of destruction because of the demonic beast. In front of such danger, The First Human Monarch appeared, he gained power through drinking demonic beast blood. And with that, he and his followers gained control on the west part of the First Continent.

Three thousand years after that, humans realized the weakness of the Bloodline Alteration method. While it's true this method can make one stronger, there's a limitation on how much they can gain. And this method was risky.

Nameless Monk gained enlightenment after three years of meditation on top of the Bodhi tree branch. The enlightenment revealed a brand new method of manipulating energy different from the known Bloodline Alteration. It was by manipulating Element Qi from all around the world. He called the new method as True Qi Manipulation, this will be the first known Cultivation Method.

Nameless Monk, with his benevolent heart, shared this new method and let the others learn it. This new technique breaks the limitation of Bloodline Alteration. After a few hundred years, numerous techniques derived from the first True Qi Manipulation and they spread wide.

Thus ended the Desolate Era and revealed a new era, the Expansion Era."

She stopped the explanation and took a sip of lemon water from who knows where she got it. This is some worldbuilding we got here. No, I should say, the history of mankind ..., in the cultivation world, maybe?

But did some time ago she said that she wouldn't delve deeper into the lore and myth? Then, what was this all if not lore? I don't understand, this girl is full of contradiction. I don't mind with it though.

While I thinking about useless thought, she continued.

"In the Expansion Era, human prospered and developed. They eliminated and chased out the Primal Demonic Beast out of the First Continent and reign supreme on the land.

At that time, Monarchs of the First Continent learned about the land beyond the ocean. They planned to expand into that land before knowing that the Primal Demonic Beast in the New Continent was stronger than the one in the First Continent.

But, they still stubborn and want to live in that land. After all, they realized that Heaven and Earth Qi on the New Continent were purer and richer than the First Continent. Even if they have to struggle, they still want to live in this New Continent.

Ten thousand years passed since then, however, humans still couldn't conquer the New Continent. But they managed to take over the other three-continent in the north, south, and west. They named the continent based on what is the biggest faction reign over there. The Jaire Household of the First Continent. Withorn Guild of the Third Continent. Nasset Caliphate of the Fourth Continent. And Firema Empire of the Fifth Continent.

At this time, the factions were less and less care about their ancestor initial goal. That is to conquer the Second Continent. They were busy controlling their own continent, so how do they care about unobtainable jewel out there.

Even if the Second Continent got something that makes them droll, they didn't want to risk their lives. But an unexpected crisis befalls on the plane. The four continents were under attack by the outlanders.

The Firema Continent in the west was conquered by the outlanders. The Jaire, Withorn, and Nasset gathered their force to take over the Firema Continent. However, they are incapable of defeating the outlanders. The outlander was innately strong while also has something that humans didn't. And that was a Battle Technique."

"But why a human can use Cultivation Method while they are clueless about Battle Technique? This is strange, you said that it has been more than ten thousand years since human comprehend Cultivation Method, right? Add that with the Desolate Era, human has through thirteen thousand whole years!? How can they still didn't develop a battle technique?"

I stopped here because this seems funny, A Battle Technique is like a skill, like Martial Art. And a Cultivation Method is like the Inner Energy Manipulation, like those 'Tenaga Dalam' or something. In my memories back on Earth, Pesilat1 trains their body first through a set of a movement called jurus before they could train the Inner Energy Manipulation.

But in this world, it worked the opposite. Human first altered their bloodline by drinking blood of demonic beast, then a certain monk got enlightenment and somehow able to cultivate Qi. Even after all of that, they didn't produce a single battle technique. This is really weird.

"It's not like that, Human did create numerous Battle Technique, however it still far from the completion. If we talk about Battle Technique Rank, humans at that time would still create the Human-rank Battle Technique, while the Outlander uses Heaven-rank Battle Technique. That's why we lose to them."

"I see ..., and by the way, Juewang, Is this story has something to do with Cultivation Level?" I carefully asked, even if I after all of this talk a bit uninterested with her long-winded explanation.

She frowned and shouted with her fist slammed on the table. "Of course, it is! We're just barely started. Let's see, the Expansion Era come to an end when ...,"

I kept listening to her explanation and noted the summary of it.

The major line of her explanation is that this world until now divided into 7 eras.

The first three are the Creation Era, Desolate Era, and Expansion Era like she explained just now. After that, there was the Ancient Dragon Era, the Seven Stars Era, the High Heaven Era, and the present time or what was called Myriad Monarch Era.

The Ancient Dragon Era was when the slumbering dragon inside the Second Continent awaken and raze the ground of the other four continents. Be it the Human or Outlander, they reign over them.

Seven Star Era was when the Heroes of the Seven Star completely end the tyrannical Ancient Dragon and restore humanity's superiority on the continent. One of the Seven Star, Richard Lastarte, sacrificed himself on the last battle in Nasset Continent. This last battle shook the world and change the soil in the Nasset Continent. However, with the Ancient Dragon has been killed, peace restored to the planet.

The rest of the Seven Star conquest to the Second Continent, finally fulfilling their ancestor's dream. To honor the hero who sacrificed his life for the world, the Second Continent will be named as Lastarte.

The High Heaven Era was when Holy Emperor Jiang Chen ascended to the throne of High Heaven and reign over Lastarte Continent. He standardized the cultivation stage, item(artifact), cultivation technique, and battle technique into a rank system. He also revolutionized the use of elements and opened numerous academy to help cultivator pursue the bigger dream, that is, to be released from the shackles of this world.

The standardized Cultivation Stage and Level was something like this.

1. Minor Warrior

2. Intermediate Warrior

3. Head Warrior

4. Elder Warrior

5. Knight

6. Grand Knight

7. Knight King

8. Fundamental Saint

9. Exalted Hero

Every Stage has 9 levels. My system recognizes Intermediate Warrior into level 11 to 19, 21 to 29 will be Head Warrior. Something like that, perhaps? And the level 10, 20, 30, etc, it will be Job Promotion or bottleneck right?

The artifact was divided into 9 grade. This work like how the Talent Rank System, with Rank, becomes Grade. Overall it's the same, but yeah without the 'peak' Rank 10 to 12. There are only Low-grade, Mid-grade, and High-grade.

Even so, for minor nobility like my Dian clan or mother's Liu clan, or even Gu clan of Xianjing City, getting a Mid-gradeArtifact was difficult. That was why the mothers were spellbound by the [Sword of Blaze(R)] even though that thing was just 'Common' Red equipment.

Maybe the standard of Myscreat and this world is just different.

As for Cultivation Method and Battle Technique, it divided into 3 ranks. Human-rank, Earth-rank, and Heaven-rank. This actually a compact version of the 9 rank system. Because in each rank, it divided again into three ratings, first, second, and third rate. With the first as the best rating.

Why bother with the standardization of the cultivation level? Because it's convenient. When someone knows what their level is, then they will know how strong they are.

Before this, the cultivator was clueless with their own power. They thought reaching the next stage would make them all-invincible. However, the cruel truth was that they would die when facing one level above even though they still on the same stage.

This standardization was really helpful. Not only that, this Jiang Chen or Holy something created numerous artifacts that could appraise talent, cultivation stage and level, artifact, and many more. This made his name eternalized as the grandest figure in this world.

Unfortunately, High Heaven Era didn't last long. Not long after the Holy Emperor ascended into the upper world High Heaven Empire ceased its Golden Age and collapsed. The princes and dukes of the Empire went into a war to determine who will inherit the High Heaven Throne. Unfortunately, no one was capable to unify the power and the High Heaven Empire was separated into numerous monarchy and kingdoms.

The Myriad Monarch Era replaced the High Heaven Era. The current era was called as such because of this world divided into thousand of factions and myriad monarchs.

There is a lot of strange thing about this Myriad Monarch Era, like the Noble Seal, and the Territory Orb.

This Noble Seal was something that could be obtained by doing a certain thing to the mass of people. The easiest thing to get this was to lead men into conquest and claim a territory of ten hectares. This would grant the one who leads a Territory Orb and a Noble Seal of the lowest rank.

According to Juewang's explanation, Noble Seal was something that every noble or warlord had. It was imprinted on their backhand with a unique pattern.

In my memories, my father also had a red mark on his left hand. As for the pattern, it only has one stroke and looks like the Master Seal that I see in the Fate franchise. No ..., it was more like the Crest in the Record of the Grancrest War.

Damn, my dark memories.

The more high-ranked a Nobleman, then their Noble Seal will be more complex.

How to raise the ranking? Of course, through conquest or by getting recognition from the higher rank Noble.

And the Territory Orb, it was something that works alongside the Noble Seal. A Territory Orb can be used as a barrier to protect its territory. Only the Noble Seal that binds the possession of the Territory Orb could use it.

I now understood why Dian Clan can't occupy the City Lord Manor, it was because my father was already placed some filtering or something against the Dian Clansmen.

My father issued a prohibition to the Territory Orb so that only his family and it's vassal could enter the City Lord Manor. Ironically, my father didn't include Dian Clan as his family, even though he was raised by that clan.

My father's noble rank is Bupati, second-worst from the noble ranking. This is the ranking of the Noble Seal starting from the lowest rank.

1. Camat | Chief

Authority of 10-hectare land.

Noble Seal: Faint, incomplete stroke.

2. Bupati | Baron

Authority of 100-hectare land; can appoint 1 vassal.

Noble Seal: One stroke.

3. Patih | Viscount

Authority of 1.000-hectare land; can appoint 3 vassal; unlock First Lord Skill.

Noble Seal: Two-stroke.

4. Adipati | Count

Authority of 10.000-hectare land; can appoint 5 vassal; unlock Second Lord Skill; can grant up to Rank 1 Noble Seal.

Noble Seal: Three strokes.

5. Bhre | Duke

Authority of 100.000-hectare land; can appoint 9 vassal; unlock Third Lord Skill; can grant up to Rank 3 Noble Seal.

Noble Seal: Four-stroke.

6. Raja | King

Authority of 1.000.000 hectare land; can appoint 25 vassal; unlock Fourth Lord Skill; can grant up to Rank 5 Noble Seal.

Noble Seal: Five strokes.

7. Kaisar | Emperor

Authority of 1.000.000.000 hectare land; can appoint 50 vassal; unlock Fifth Lord Skill; unlock Imperial Seal.

Noble Seal: Seven strokes.

As to why the old Majapahit Empire nobility pops out in the Chinese-filled world, don't ask. I also want to ask about that.

Why not the Chinese version of nobility?

Like ..., right, like those Prefecture Lord or something.

But apparently, this is something that Holy Emperor of High Heaven left for the world. He made this system and distributed it into the mass.

Maybe he was thinking that with this Noble Seal, 'everyone can be a monarch' ..., or something along those lines, I guess.

But it's true, with this fair and helpful system, to be a monarch is something that can be achieved through hard work.

Sounds like something come out from shounen manga.

If I want, I also can gain this Noble Seal, but that's just a waste of my father Noble Seal. Although his seal was something that granted by the King of Bai, I can still inherit those.

And if he died, that seal will automatically be transferred to me, the first in line. But, I don't want to see him dead just yet.

What is that man doing? Don't die just yet! What will happen if you die? Leaving eleven beautiful ladies to be a widow ..., who's gonna take care of them if you're gone? Please come back in one piece and stay safe.

Back into the Noble Seal.

Right now the distribution of power in the Lastarte Continent is somewhat balanced. The Continent was divided into five big empires. Maldigan Beast Empire in the West, Garant Empire in the Center, Blood Jade Empire in the East, Eralian Empire in the North, and Hathria Empire in the South.

Although this world is a Chinese filled world, the name of their Empire not-so Chinese. Still, the ruler behind those empires or the 'dynasties' were Chinese-named Clan. No, I should stop saying Chinese and use Jiang to describe those Chine- I mean Jiang.

The five big empires become the big parasol to protect the kings and lesser monarchs. Those lesser monarchs were fighting over everything. Yes, everything could be used as a reason to attack another state. As long as they released an ultimatum or war declaration, they could wage war, whatever the excuse.

And the five big empires just let them do the fun, they will only interfere if the conflict escalated to the point of continental war. But that's just impossible so no worries about the empire.

What a nice system, I feel like I want to get it for myself. The seal could slightly raise one innate talent, even if it was only a little. It's good than nothing.

"This Noble Seal thing ..., can everyone get it?"

"..., yes. In theory, everyone can." Juewang nodded.

"Anyone can get it? Like, for example, me or you or ... some random beggar on the streets, all of us can get this Noble Seal?

"If they have the minimum requirement, and that is to complete a 'quest', then the Noble Seal will be rightfully theirs. There was also some interesting thing happened five hundred years ago in Maldigan Beast Empire. Before, when the Empire was still a Kingdom, a slave revolt arises on Maldigan Kingdom territory. The slave occupies one of the kingdom's city and the one who led those revolt ..., uhm, what was his name again ..., ah, right Pest-skin, this Pest-skin got a Noble Seal. He changed his name into Lyon Slavar. He built a country of free peoples ..., or former slaves. Unfortunately, when Maldigan 117th King arises into the throne of an Emperor, Lyon Slavar and his monarchy were annihilated."

"I see." I feel like I can conquer the whole world.

Now I got some more things to do on my agenda.

The first is to gain trustworthy allies. The second is to send a backup to father and bring him back here. The third is to gain this Noble Seal, but this is optional.

That is my long term plan, as for the short term ..., I need to find a source of income, raise my mana pool, and deal with the Dian Clan.

I need to plan carefully and not make any mistakes.

I glanced at the intelligent girl, she just finished her lemon water, this is the sixth glasses. I play with my already drawn card, it's 80 cards in my hand now. That's means, an hour or so has passed since we talk.

Because I keep this summoning mode active, the card is continuously drawn from the deck and inventory.

The only thing that I lacked is Mana. I have 225 Mana now, thanks to the recent level up. I add the three Attribute points to Wisdom and three of the rest to Intelligence. Adding 30 to my mana pool.

With this, I can convert 22 Void Crystal.

Still, I think this is not enough.

I looked at Dian Juewang. This girl is Water Element Cultivator, her talent is decent, Rank 4. She could reach Elder Warrior at least.

'I need to thank her for explaining this and that. Although this much is something basic, and children should know about this. I can give her something ..., oh wait, this will do.'

I looked at the useless resource card in my hand.

Sapphire Gem Fragment(1 VC)

[Blue | Common | Resource]

Add +1/4 Blue Crystal on the next draw.

This is one of the worthless resource cards. I think I can fusion this with other cards, but for now, it's no use.

I unchecked the mute setting and communicate with the Card System.

'Catherine, materialize this card.'

[Don't wanna!]

'What? What the f*ck are you up to again this time?'

[... Hmph.]

'What's this 'hmph'? I dare you to do that again, Catherine! I'm your host, the User, and what's with your attitude?'

[Goshujin-sama is in the wrong! To suddenly mute me, tonikaku, Goshujin-sama ga warui! I don't want to hear your voice!]

'This f*cker. Don't make me force you, Catherine!'

I operated the setting and look for the narrator's configuration.

[W-what are you gonna do? You can't use the Card System without me, right?]

'Ohh ..., so you think you are the one who's in control of this system? Naive girl, know your place! You are just a helper. I can disable you and ... sayonara goodbye, my little Catherine.'

She went silent for a bit. This troublesome system, she started to change because I named her like that chatterbox spoiled woman. Even her tone sounds exactly like her.

Another notification pop-out. It's her voice, looks like she has given up.

[This action required one Void Crystal. Asking for Host confirmation?]

'This is better, why don't you be obedient like this? I like a good girl that doesn't rebel .., also less talking.'

[..., just you wait.]

A faint whisper and incomplete notification pop out before it disappears. I didn't have have the chance to read it, so I asked.

'What, did you say something?'

[Nothing, Host.]

'Whatever then ...'

The card materialized into a thumb-sized sapphire fragment. Even though it's only thumb-sized, it was rich in Water Element Qi. No joke, I can feel it even if I am a Minor Warrior - 5.

"Here, for the trouble. And thank you. I learn a lot from you."

Dian Juewang dazedly stared at the sapphire and grabbed it.

"Beautiful ..." she muttered. "Young Master Xianli, what is this?"

"That's ..., it probably helpful for you. The name is [Sapphire Gem Fragment(B)]. You can feel the rich Water Qi inside right? Maybe you can absorb it or whatever, do whatever you want with those." I answered.

"This ..., it's unnecessary, Young Master Xianli. What I just said to you is some basic knowledge, I don't deserve to receive this." She didn't dare to accept it and bowed her head while giving the [Sapphire Gem Fragment(B)] back.

"No, you keep it." I walked outside without watching her reaction.

But I think she's greatly disturbed now.

A crystallized Water Qi, it was her first time seeing it. Maybe, something like this [Sapphire Gem Fragment(B)] was a rare thing in the cultivation world.

To suddenly received something like this, Dian Juewang should feel grateful to me.

[Host, I have compiled the data regarding cultivation. I can upgrade now. Asking for Host permission.]

'Okay, then ..., I permit you. I still can use the system right?'

[Yes. However, in the meantime, Host can't use Card Shop, Card Deck, Status Window, and Chat Window. Host also can't hear my voice and only a notification will show.]

Catherine respectfully spoke to me. Unlike the talkative girl before, the way she spoke this time was strange. Suspicious.

I get rid of my suspicion on her from my mind and asked.

'It sounds like a lot, then what can I use?'

[Inventory, and the main function of Card Summoning Mode and Battle Mode. Perhaps.]

'Okay then, it's fine. Go do your thing.'

[It will take about a day to upgrade, don't miss me, Host.]

'Yes, yes ..., please do something about your personality, maybe it has some bug or code flaw.'

[A.I. Helper: Catherine will be deactivated because of the upgrade ... Successfully deactivated.]

[Entering Restricted Freedom mode. Some functions are disabled.]