Chapter 21

It was a peaceful day, as the academy training grounds were mostly empty, with only a few students using the last bit of time they had left to fully utilize the free resources.

They were mostly people of the lower classes, having just recently reached the body refining stage, which that in itself was a great feat for their low talent.

These people could be considered future prospects for the empire, being flexible enough to be trained in any field needed in the future.

What these people lacked in cultivation talent, made it up in perseverance, being motivated to reach greater heights, as long as that kindling of hope still existed in their hearts.

Many of these individuals will give up their dreams as things got harder, but the ones that kept this mindset till the end will reach incredible heights in the future.

They were all focused on achieving some results.

Despite that, they couldn't help but glance in a certain direction from time to time.

A young man with great talent and potential had been there since months ago, continuously refining his body, not being like the rest of the geniuses that stopped after the fifth or sixth refinement.

The young man seemed unfazed, as his body was currently submerged in something that the watching students called "lava".

Of course this young man was Rui, who had gone through constant body refinements.

This was a liquid created solely for body refinement since ancient times. It was currently burning in 3000 degrees c, reaching heats that the human body would have normally long perished.

The liquid consisted of various herbs of the yang attribute and some of the yin attribute, but the main ingredient was what truly made this formula work.

Blank rune stones, otherwise known as money in the world of rune masters.

They literally smelted the rune stones in extremely high heats and used the excess energy it created to refine the body in a tortuous way.

This was known as the "lava bath method".

It was not incorrect to call it a lava bath, due to the fact that molten rune stones were similar to lava.

However, even this remedy wasn't enough for the current Rui, as he could feel the amount of progress he was making slow down considerably.

He had reached the eighth body refinement and was currently striving for the ninth.

Just as he had expected, the chain mission didn't end with the seventh or eight body refinement and the mission rewards got greater the higher stage he got.

After achieving the seventh body refinement, his bloodline got an upgrade, becoming much purer and with a higher concentration. Although there weren't any massive changes, the minute details of his person changed slightly, as well as his aura.

It was as if he had somehow become more regal and royal in a span of seconds. This was the result of bloodline repression and the biggest difference bloodline made.

Bloodline effected ones destiny and ones future achievements. It was like a trick of fate.

As such, the three great walls were placed in cultivation, first being cultivation talent, that being comprehension, absorption ability and the sea of consciousness.

Second being the physique, which of course could be upgraded or even downgraded in various ways, though most of them required evil rituals.

And finally, bloodline, considered the fate of an individual.

The physique(body) was the tower that housed the talent(soul) and the talent was subsequently supported by the bloodline(fate).

These three were the most important things to a cultivator, losing one of them would result in a catastrophic situation.

After completing the eighth refinement the reward he received was an upgrade to his passive skills, both [Ansuz] and [Heightened intelligence] changed into different skills.

[Ansuz] became [Clairvoyance].

While [Heightened intelligence] became [Parallel Thinking].

[Clairvoyance Lv. 1: Passive, The truth of the world. +100 Intelligence.

Gives absolute defense over any illusions or brainwashing.

Gives the ability of understanding.

Scales with intelligence]

[Understanding Lv. Max. Active.

Able to peer through the truth]

[Parallel Thinking Lv. 1: Passive, The ability to think of two things simultaneously, +40 Intelligence, +50 Wisdom.]

Both of the upgrades brought immeasurable joy to him, as both of them were truly overpowered in every sense of the word.

Any of the two could be an ability that one might need a life time to achieve and what's more, the level of these abilities was one.

Rui couldn't rule out the possibility for another upgrade to his skills in the future, which made him excited.

Despite that, what he was currently focused one was reaching the ninth body refinement.

The quest rewards for the ninth body refinement were truly what he needed at the moment, that being of course…

[Perfect body, Perfect mind (4)]

[The eighth body refinement is considered the peak of a runic master when it comes to the strength of ones body in the early stages of cultivation. However, it is still far from the true peak one can reach at this stage.

Mission requirement:

Ninth stage of the body refining stage

Mission rewards:

An upgrade to your bowl]

A bowl upgrade.

Something he so desired at the moment, due to the amount of time he had racked his brain to come up with a way to upgrade his bowl.

Thanks to [Parallel thinking] he was able to get quite a few thoughts in while refining his physique, but even using [Understanding] and [Clairvoyance] he was unable to come up with a solution to his problem.

This mission was truly his savior.

But there was one small issue, he couldn't find a way to further refine his body with the resources the academy could provide.

The amount of pressure just wasn't enough and the time he had left was less than a week.

Plus he still had another quest to complete, which was [Man and earth as one].

Although the rewards were unknown, he had a hunch that it was important for him to complete it.

As such he dedicated most of his thinking to using [understanding] and [Identify] to his surroundings, assisted by the unique vision his physique had given him.

Even though the refining methods he was using weren't enough for his physique, there still was minor improvement over time, so he wasn't really wasting his time.

As such, optimizing things to the best he could, he spent three days studying his surroundings while continuously increasing the heat in the "lava mixture".

He studied the way energy flowed through things and observed each and every change in his surroundings.

He witnessed how even the bugs that were flying aimlessly around, looking for food, unconsciously absorbed the energy and released it.

So did the plants and even the rocks and sand.

Everything seemed to be full of runic energy, as if the world itself was made out of this energy, but at the same time not, as it could freely flow.

The ground didn't truly contain runic energy, but the energy flowed through the ground, giving the illusion that it possessed it.

The energy came in waves, some bigger some smaller, but it was clear that it was moving rhythmically. It seemed liked the energy itself was breathing, creating the illusion of life.

To understand this phenomenon better, Rui copied the way the energy moved with the energy inside his body.

Since he had yet to complete his bowl and body refining, unlike the rest that had already started the energy gathering stage months ago, Rui only possessed the energy he initially absorbed to refine his bowl and the energy that had mended his body after each subsequent refinement.

He used this energy to copy the way the energy moved, completely synchronizing himself up with the world.

[You have entered the state of man and earth as one.]

[Your understanding of this state has increased]

[Your understanding of this state has increased]

[Clairvoyance has been activated]

[You have entered into a deeper state]

[Your understanding of this state has increased]

Rui could feel his consciousness fading, but at the same time getting larger and larger, as if he had emulated with the world itself. He felt that each and every single one of his cells was the world itself.

Just like the last time, he was way too absorbed to the feeling that he didn't notice the constant system windows.

[Your body and mind are undergoing changes]

[Quest 'Perfect body, Perfect mind (4)' has been completed]

[Distributing rewards]

[Beginning upgrade of your bowl]

Rui had no idea as to what was going on, but he felt massive changes to his body.

The bowl that resembled a black hole was slowly changing into an elliptical shape.

From the majestic image of a black hole, what seemed like a pure white glowing egg appeared.

[True Bowl has been created]

[True Bowl]

[The highest stage of a bowl known. Not much is known about its functions, but many mythical 'cultivators' possessed this level of bowl.]

[Congratulations, you have completed a legendary achievement of a "cultivation world"]

[New life, Achieving the 'True bowl' in the foundation establishment stage]

[Sending achievement to database]

[Failed to send]

[Trying once more]

[Failed to send]

[Trying once more]

[Failed to send]

[Trying once more]

[Failed to send]

[Trying once more]

This continued for a while, but to no result.

In the end another system window appeared.

[…]

[calculating]

[Storing achievement into save data]

[Achievement saved]

[Your achievement will be recorded into the inter-dimensional database once the system is back online, please do not worry]

Not wanting to get distracted from what he was currently feeling, he focused his mind into completing the [Man and earth as one] quest, completely oblivious to what had transpired.

[Your understanding of this state has increased]

[You have entered into a deeper state]

[Your breathing has synchronized with the world]

[You are the world and the world is you]

[Quest 'Man and earth as one' has been completed]

[Distributing rewards]

[An item has been has been added to your inventory]

[Body refinement initiated]

Suddenly Rui felt similar pain to the one he felt when his physique upgraded.

It was as if countless swords pierced each and every single one of his cells, making him go through a torturous amount of pain.

Suddenly an outburst of energy rushed out of his body, completely silencing and damaging the area.

The furnace that he was using for refining was destroyed and his naked body sprawled on the floor as he yelped in pain.

The training crowd looked on in shock, since the young man that was sitting quietly for so many days let out such an outrage of cry and caused such a scene.

[Body refinement complete]

[Congratulations, you have completed a legendary achievement of a "cultivation world"]

[Ten body refinements, achieving the 'perfect body' in the foundation establishment stage]

[Sending achievement to database]

[Failed to send]

[Trying once more]

[Failed to send]

Just like before, the system failed to send the achievement to the 'inter-dimensional database', repeating the same sequence.

[…]

[calculating]

[Storing achievement into save data]

[Achievement saved]

[Your achievement will be recorded into the inter-dimensional database once the system is back online, please do not worry]

[Level up! One free stat point has been rewarded]

[Level up! One free stat point has been rewarded]

[You have reached level 10]

[System locks have been partially lifted]

[You can now purchase items at the store]

Rui looked around dazed.

His ears were currently buzzing and he had completely lost any sense of direction.

The world had turned pure white for a few seconds and it took him a few minutes to recover to a somewhat normal state.

Looking around, he found that everyone was staring at him with concern, but not for Rui, but themselves.

Rui had caused what the alchemist called a "furnace explosion". It was a common phenomenon with apprentice alchemist, but not to such scale.

Since what caused this situation was his physique refinements reaching ten, he was not wearing any clothing.

Since he was constantly refining his body with extreme heat, the absence of clothing was necessary as it would be a waste to constantly burn clothes.

Not wanting to bother anyone any more than he already did, Rui put on the clothing he had preprepared and started cleaning up the mess he had caused while constantly apologizing to the training students.

Since he was at the center of the explosion to begin with, he started gathering the pieces around him while constantly looking at the system windows that had appeared while he was in a deep state of meditation.

At first he looked at the reward for reaching nine physique refinements and was very pleased with the result. However, when he read the 'achievement' and 'inter-galactic database' a shiver ran down his spine.

He now could come into more conclusions about the system and its origins. Thankfully it seemed that the system had lost connection with the main branch, making his achievements essentially private.

He spent some time inspecting his body and reading the system windows, using [Parallel thinking] to optimize his time to the fullest.

The egg that was currently his bowl showed minor changes as it absorbed runic energy passively at a moderate amount.

At the beginning it was pure white, but a slight hue of golden patterns had appeared around it as time passed and it absorbed energy.

Reading through the system, he found that he had reached ten body refinements, exceeding his expectations. He could clearly feel much more powerful than before, as if every ounce of his body had become denser and packed. Despite that, his skin still felt and looked smooth like a baby's.

After he read through all the windows, he spent all his energy to clean up his mess and headed to his designated quarters.

He had to check out things that others shouldn't see. Such as him pulling out an egg out of thin air and checking out the system store.

After reaching his quarters, he entered inside and headed to the bathroom.

"Yue, how many days have I been cultivating for?"

"3 days and 12 hours and 23 seconds master"

Yue responded with incredible speed.

Rui clicked his tongue in disappointment. He had no time left. Tomorrow was the final day of the academy for him and the rest of the students.

After Rui had taught it how to calculate milliseconds and seconds, Yue quickly adapted to that new system and this made it easier for Rui to comprehend how much time had passed.

Although they used hours and minutes to divide time, they didn't count milliseconds and seconds, rather they used obscure increments of time like incense sticks or breaths. This made Rui quite annoyed, because he was accustomed to the way time was calculated on earth.

After cleaning himself up, he sat cross-legged on his bed and opened his inventory.

Putting his hand inside it, he pulled out a golden egg the size of his palm.

Placing it on his grasp, he used [Understand] and [Identify] on it.

[Golden egg]

[Pet item

The egg of a mythical beast. Requires attention and nutrition. Feeds on yang energy.]

The description was small, but it was enough for Rui to understand.

'A pet reward, how interesting. In both my lives so far, I never owned one. Since its an egg, its probably a bird type, but since its a mythical beast, it could be anything. I'll be leaving the academy tomorrow, so extorting them for yang type herbs is impossible. Hopefully my clan will assist me.'

After contemplating for a while, he came to a conclusion.

Glancing at the egg for a few seconds, he pulled out his ancestral knife and pricked his finger, letting a drop of blood fall onto the egg.

The egg glowed for a while before promptly stopping, as if having fully absorbed the blood.

Rui used both [Understanding] and [Identify] once more.

[Golden Crow egg]

[Owner: Guang Rui

Incubation rate: 2%

Trust: 1%

Pet Item

An egg of the mythical beast 'golden crow' also known as the 'three legged crow'.]

Rui swallowed his saliva, as he had heard of a the legendary three legged golden crow. It was a being said to represent the sun, similar to a phoenix, but resembled a crow with three legs.

Even in this world, this being is only written down in myths, the last one having been witnessed millions of years ago.

Calming his beating heart down, he swore to make sure this crow grew up with care, since it would be an incredible companion in the future.

After placing the egg in a stash of yang attribute herbs, he opened the store window.

[Welcome to the Store. All Items require Ѻ as currency]

[user currently possesses 23000 Ѻ]

[Ѻ Is earned through completing quests and leveling up]

Rui looked at the shop in awe…

There were countless martial arts books and cultivation methods, as well as pets, elixirs, herbs and equipment.

He scrolled through to find things he could purchase with his current budget, which wasn't a lot, compared to the high tier items.

After fidgeting with the system for a while, he found a question mark at the end of the page. Being curious, he clicked it.

[You have requested help]

[Connecting to the inter-galactic database]

[connection failed]

[reconnecting]

[connection failed]

[reconnecting]

[…]

[calculating]

[System is unable to connect to inter-galactic database]

[detaching system from user to run trial]

Rui's heart skipped a beat as he read the system windows. Thankfully however, the system didn't leave him.

[Unable to detach from user]

[Running diagnosis on current condition]

[Calculating]

[System body is missing]

[System error]

[System does not exist, why is System functioning?]

[s̷̢̡͖͇̙͚͙̪̯̮̈͑̿̿͊͑͂̈̈̅͜y̶̮̫̼̪̣̘̗̪͇͕͆̍̋̔͐͋̎͂̔̈́͘̚s̸̭̣̼̪̹̓̀̓͝ͅͅt̸̡̨̛͔̯̞̮̝̘̪̠̝͕͓̼̿̇̇͂̍͐̀̈́̽̾͛̀̆̓͛̄̈̚͜e̸̡͙̱͓̠̞̩̼̫͑̇͆͂̓́͜m̸̹͚͈̾̄̊̃̈́̿͛̒͆̀̅̚?̸͚̹̬͇̦͇̠̪̥̎͑̈͐̆̋̿̾̂̓͐̕͜]

[Fatal error has occurred, control has entered hibernation mode]

[System functions will work normally, however quest distribution and completion, as well as store function will cease temporarily]

[Remaining time for system reboot 00:04:59]

Rui looked on with anxiety as the system was currently offline. He had no idea what had transpired, but losing the system now would make things much harder for him in the future.

He didn't know if the skills he possessed were due to the system or was the system just an assistant that managed and gave rewards. He waited with a feverish gaze as the timer ticked down.

After waiting for each painful second, the timer finally reached zero.

[System Rebooting]

[System functions are back online]

[System has entered independent mode]

[System has activated its artificial intelligence]

[Scanning hosts body and adjusting system status]

[User has been found to be a 'cultivator' with a 'spiritual root']

[Adjusting status windows to match the user's world]

[Status windows have been adjusted]

[Activating assistant as well as freedom mode]

╓ Greetings host. My name is R.A.A.S.I., here to assist you in any need you may have about the system. ╖