Chapter Thirty-Five: Is It Because I Haven’t Paid That You Won’t Let Me Level Up?
“I have some jute and wheat husks—do you think they could serve as oars?” Chen Xiang mused aloud.
The legendary Dog-Beating Staff Technique… but revised! And it’s only a low-tier earth-grade martial art? They even throw in a staff! This system must be out of its mind—what can't it conjure up?
“Do I really look so much like a beggar?” Chen Xiang reached out, drew a bronze mirror across the room to himself, and examined his reflection.
“System, shouldn’t you give me Seventy-Two Transformations? Then, with the Hundred-Change Robe, I could disguise myself as the Monkey King. That would be impressive! Can you swap it for me?” he asked.
“Ding! The very essence of a gift pack lies in its unpredictability, which brings surprise and anticipation. Alteration is not permitted.”
Chen Xiang was speechless. He simply didn’t know how to retort.
“Forget it, let’s see what’s in the next gift pack!” His gaze shifted to another mysterious bundle.
“Ding! Would you like to open the ‘Mysterious Gift Pack (Nascent Soul Edition)’?”
“Yes!” he replied.
In an instant, the gift pack flashed, and several beams of light emerged.
“Ding! Congratulations, Host ‘Chen Xiang,’ you have received one Intermediate Space-Breaking Escape Talisman.”
“Ding! Congratulations, Host ‘Chen Xiang,’ you have obtained one Earth-Tier Martial Art Selection.”
“Ding! Congratulations, Host ‘Chen Xiang,’ you have received the Compendium of Foundational Formation Knowledge.”
…
“Earth-Tier Martial Art Selection!” Chen Xiang’s eyes gleamed. Another fine reward! Don’t underestimate a single choice—it could save him a fortune in reputation points!
“Hmm? Another Space-Breaking Escape Talisman, and this time it’s intermediate.”
“Pfft—Compendium of Foundational Formation Knowledge? Could you get a less impressive name?” Chen Xiang grumbled.
He examined the two items.
“Intermediate Space-Breaking Escape Talisman: Ignores certain spatial constraints and teleports the user up to two hundred miles away.”
“Compendium of Foundational Formation Knowledge: Contains fundamental knowledge of all formations.”
An escape talisman that disregards spatial prohibitions? Now that was precious—best saved for a critical moment. Nearly every gift pack yielded an escape talisman, but this was the first intermediate one he’d seen.
The compendium was also useful; he couldn’t set up even the simplest formation yet, so this would fill that gap nicely.
“Hehe, now to redeem that earth-tier martial art,” Chen Xiang snickered. Last time, he’d eyed several earth-tier techniques but couldn’t afford them. Now, with a free pick, he wasn’t about to waste it.
“System, redeem the Four Symbols Destruction Sword Art!”
“Ding! Earth-Tier Martial Art Selection used successfully.”
“Ding! Four Symbols Destruction Sword Art (High Earth-Tier) redeemed successfully. Begin cultivation?”
“Yes!” Chen Xiang replied.
“Ding! Four Symbols Destruction Sword Art cultivation successful.”
A torrent of memories surged into Chen Xiang’s mind, accompanied by a warm current flowing through his body. The Four Symbols Destruction Sword Art was now engraved in his memory, as if he’d practiced it for decades.
This sword art cost eight hundred reputation points in the system shop—the Four Symbols being Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Each use invoked the power of a sacred beast within the sword technique. When fully mastered, all four could be unleashed at once, with power rivaling a low-tier heaven-grade art.
Last time, he hadn’t chosen it because the Emperor Seal Technique, at its peak, could match heaven-grade arts, while this sword art merely approached that level—still a gap.
Next, Chen Xiang emptied his storage pouch, recycling all techniques and useless weapons for mastery points, keeping only a third-grade profound sword and the newly acquired seventh-grade profound Cloud-Dragon Staff.
His mastery points now exceeded fourteen hundred.
Without hesitation, he spent four hundred mastery points on upgrading the Emperor Seal Technique.
But things didn’t go as planned.
“Ding! Host’s cultivation is insufficient. Current realm only allows mastery of the Ground-Covering Seal.”
“Ding! Emperor Seal Technique upgraded successfully. Two hundred mastery points consumed. Current progress: 60%.”
“Damn it! System, are you deliberately screwing me over?” Chen Xiang was exasperated. First, he’d been told his cultivation was too low to access heaven-grade techniques; now, the system blocked him from training the higher seals. Was the system here to make him look impressive, or just to mess with him?
“System, is it because I haven’t paid you that you’re holding back my upgrades?” he asked darkly.
The system offered no reply.
Chen Xiang then tried to max out the Four Symbols Destruction Sword Art in one go.
“Ding! Host’s cultivation is insufficient. Progress capped at 75% for this upgrade.”
“Ding! Four Symbols Destruction Sword Art upgraded successfully. Three hundred mastery points consumed. Current progress: 75%.”
Chen Xiang’s lips twitched as he cursed, “How much do I have to pay you to max it out?”
The system remained silent.
Damn it!
Chen Xiang fumed but soon calmed himself. “So, my cultivation’s not enough? Looks like I need to level up fast!”
“I refuse to believe you’ll say the same about this technique!” he growled, opening the Dog-Beating Staff Technique (Revised).
“Ding! Cultivate Earth-Tier Low Martial Art Dog-Beating Staff Technique (Revised)?”
“Yes!”
“Ding! Dog-Beating Staff Technique (Revised) cultivated successfully.”
Chen Xiang tapped upgrades rapidly, burning a hundred mastery points to perfect the Dog-Beating Staff Technique (Revised).
Once again, his mind filled with experience—this time, the nuances of wielding the staff. What made Chen Xiang’s face twitch, however, was that the mental image was of an old beggar brandishing his staff!
Since nothing unusual happened with the low-tier earth technique, Chen Xiang’s mood stabilized somewhat.
He then opened his personal status panel, and his information appeared before him.
Host: Chen Xiang
Cultivation: Core Formation, Level Four (Proficient)
Experience: 180,000/200,000
Reputation: 2,105
Mastery Points: 1,059
Techniques: Chaos Art (Volume Two)
Martial Skills: Emperor Seal Technique (60% progress, mastered Ground-Covering Seal, can barely use Heaven-Annihilating Seal), Three-Thousand Lightning Movement (Perfected), Four Symbols Destruction Sword Art (75% progress, mastered White Tiger Power), Dog-Beating Staff Technique (Perfected)
Profession: Cultivator
...
Almost ready to advance a level. But he couldn’t just go out and kill a Core Formation cultivator at random, and he still had plans for that Nascent Soul.
With over two thousand reputation points, he was now somewhat well-off, but he still felt his martial repertoire was meager.
“It seems the only path is to raise my cultivation quickly. Otherwise, if I run into another group of Nascent Soul cultivators, all I’ll be able to do is flee,” Chen Xiang thought.
After a fierce battle, Chen Xiang felt weary. He lay back on the soft bed, drifting off as he mulled over his circumstances.
In his dreams, he saw his friends from university, his first love from high school, and the beautiful girlfriend he’d just begun dating in college.
But all of it was nothing but illusion.
He had always been an orphan, raised in an orphanage, supporting himself through school with his own efforts, coming alone to the big city for an education.
But when he awoke, everything had changed. Now he was in a far harsher world, a cultivator with a system at his side. As powerful as he was, a sense of loneliness crept in…
In his sleep, Chen Xiang’s lips curled into a gentle smile, his expression peaceful, softly humming a tune.
Next door, Li Qiner, who was meditating, frowned as she listened. Lately, she’d been paying special attention to Young Master Li. Hearing the sounds from the adjacent room, she subconsciously relaxed her breath, focusing intently.
She caught a few indistinct words:
“Invincibility is the loneliest…”
“To be continued…”