Chapter 348 - Changes (V)

"Can, can the queen move like this?" while everyone dispersed to do whatever it is that they wanted to, I chose to teach Xing Feng how to play chess.

"Yes, she can," I said. "But why shouldn't you have put her there?"

"Uhm..."

"Just look at the board. Look at what other pieces can also move to that square."

"... a-ah! Master's bishop!"

"Ha ha, good job!" I tousled his hair gently. "That's right. My bishop can now take your queen. What would have been a better move?"

"Hmm..." he fell into deep though, hanging his head just a few feet above the board. He actually kind of reminded me of myself when I was first starting out, except the board I was using to learn was about 450 years old and so worn out figures were slipping between my fingers with how smooth they were. "Ah! Maybe put her here?"

"Oh, nice move. Yes. You see how the queen is now pointing at my king, and there are no other figures between? What do we call that?"

"Check!"

"That's right! And what should I do now?"

"Uhm, move the king?"

"I could," I said. "But I can also put another figure between your queen and king. Like this knight."

"Then I'll take your knight, he he~"

"And then my pawn takes your queen."

"A-ah! I, I didn't see!"

"Ha ha, that's alright. But, as I said, you have to think about your moves. As much as you can."

"Hm. I will, Master."

"Okay, so--" I was interrupted by a small flood of the status windows; the first one informed me of their source, which was that Long Tao had broken through into the Revolving Core Realm.

"Is everything okay, Master?"

"Hm? Ah, yes. But it's fairly late; you should go rest for tonight. We'll play more tomorrow."

"Yes, Master! Thank you for teaching me!"

I smiled faintly as he left, with my focus shifting onto the numerous windows.

[--congratulations Host. Your Disciple, Long Tao, has successfully broken through into the Revolving Core Realm. Extra rewards generated]

[Long Tao has successfully formed an Eternal Core]

[...]

[Reward triggered: Disciple Long Tao was rewarded a secondary core, becoming the second-ever to do so. Due to the unprecedented feat, extra rewards have been generated]

[...]

[Disciple Long Tao's state has undergone evolution]

[Sword Embryo (Epic) --> Eternal Sword (???)]

[Eternal Sword (???) -- the very essence of the Sword permeates the Eternal Core, granting each strike an inherent Sword QI property. Sword Arts become 500% more efficient and easier to learn]

[Disciple Long Tao has unlocked a new trait: Fiend (???)]

[Fiend (???) -- a broad term for an anomaly that has stepped past the confines of Dao, however thinly]

[Disciple Long Tao has obtained a unique physique: Eternal Duality (???)]

[Eternal Duality Physique (???) -- an evolved form of a divine body, capable of containing two Eternal Cores. Though most of its effects remain locked for a moment, beyond containing two Eternal Cores, it also doubles the density and speed of cultivating, as well as Qi capacity. It allows for mixing any unique Qi energies together, even the contradicting ones]

[...]

[Disciple Long Tao's innate talent evolves further]

[Jade(+) --> peak-Myth(+)]

[...]

[Rewards have been generated]

[...]

[Reward 1: Host's talent evolves; low-Sky --> low-Heaven]

[Reward 2: Creator's Mind is unlocked]

[Creator's Mind (1/1 uses) -- a secondary part of the system-integrated body; allows for deciphering of any art, array, formation, recipe, or direct translation of any document regardless of discrepancies. However, the greater the difference, the longer it will take. 1 charge is gained every 365 days]

[Reward 3: Unsealed Meridians Imbuement (Imperial)]

[Unsealed Meridians Imbuement (Imperial) -- grants the targeted disciple the Unsealed Meridians Physical Attribute]

[Unsealed Meridians -- fashioned in shadows and darkness during the late Imperial Era, its mortal form, once bound by nature's narrow veins, is reshaped into a labyrinth of awakened channels. Qi flows unrestrained--ravenous and undiminished--gnawing at the shell that dares contain it. Many who bore this alteration endured the ravaging shattering of soul, their form undying. Can contain any manner of Qi, reshape it into an image of desire; unconquerable and eternal]

[Reward 4: Heart-Stitching Art evolves; Heart-Stitching Art (mid-Sky) --> Harmonized Heart Sutra (low-Myth)]

[Harmonized Heart Sutra (low-Myth) -- a higher variant of Heart-Stitching Art, allowing for complete immunity to all Heart Curses and Poisons under '???' grade, and partial immunity to ALL Heart Curses and Poisons. Gain slight intuition toward recognizing innate hostile intent aimed at you. Gain great resistance towards heart-form illusions]

[Reward 5: Soul-Tempting Lyre (Legendary)]

[Soul-Tempting Lyre (Legendary) -- crafted from the bark of the ancient Woodwrye Tree and containing remnant traces of Soul Spirit. When played by those skilled at Dao of Music, it can allow for temporary Soul Possession or, in a lesser way, Soul Entrapment. Do note, however, if unskilled musicians try to play it, their own Souls might be consumed by the lyre]

[Reward 6: Cycle-Stabilizing Pill (x1) (Host-Bound)]

[Cycle-Stabilizing Pill (peak-Jade) -- increase number of cycles during the Revolving Core realm by 1 and immediately stabilizes the realm. Only useable by Host]

... huh.

Alright, there's a lot to unpack here. Setting aside Long Tao's kind of stupid evolution, I whipped out the Cycle-Stabilizing Pill from the spatial ring. It was fingernail-sized, coated in thick twilight sheen, and seemed rather... squishy to touch. Almost like a piece of jell candy.

Without any reservations, I popped it in and... holy shit, it's strawberry candy! Seriously, just straight-up strawberry candy!

It quickly melted in my mouth and started to cool my throat on the way down, almost like mentos, before settling somewhere in my depths. Just as I thought system scammed me, I felt a 'pop' in my dantian and a status window congratulating me on reaching the fifth cycle, just one shy of the peak.

... just like that. No fanfare of any magnitude. Ever since I got the strange bloodline, Depthless, I've been looking forward to exploiting it, but none of the pills that Lao Shun was concocting for the kids were even Jade-tier, let alone above. They were great pills, but just of lower tier as the kids themselves were of lower cultivation realm.

Having the ability to just pop any pill and never worry about long-term consequences, even with the restriction of being able to only consume individual pill types only 3 times in a lifetime... kind of a blessed existence.

But, forget the pill. For however amazing it is, it's, honestly, kind of... the worst of the rewards? My talent got upped an entire freakin' realm and is now roughly at the level of kids', which is just... ah. I could weep.

Then there's Creator's Mind. My heart paused for a moment at this--though the restrictions were kind of annoying, they just spoke volumes of the fact that this thing was fucking broken. Well, had the potential to be broken depending on how I use it. For now, it will stay unused, wallowing.

The first thing I want to check out is the lyre.

Why?

Because every other reward kind of makes sense. In one way or another, they empower either me or the kids or our potentials.

Lyre?

It just feels so... random? Unless, well, unless Long Tao was hiding some musical talent in the depths of his soul, this thing would really just be a prop in my spatial ring.

... or is the system saying that, soon enough, I'll pick up another random kid from the seeming nowhere-fast, and they will have extreme talent in musical arts?

"What do you think?" I mumbled out loud as I took out the lyre. Who was I talking to when there was nobody there?

That tumble of literal weed in the corner. That decided to follow us. The thing that has been crawling into my nightmares ever since we left the city.

I looked over at the corner, but the tumble just shook before 'wind' blew it forward toward me, whereupon it turned into a... cricket, and hopped onto my shoulder. Which was where it fell asleep.

"Right. Of course."

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Just the one chapter today; it seems I've gotten that seasonal flu as I've been burning up a bit the past two days. Hope you guys are staying safe & healthy out there ^^