Chapter 3 - Gathering Information
1907 Words
"Hmm, not bad."
Zheng Jin said as he walked inside the shack. Although the outer appearance was not pleasing to the eye, the inside was clean and his belongings were organized. He must've been a neat freak, he thought.
Inside his shack was a desk filled with books, a closet with many sets of clothing, a sword, and a bed. The shack might be small, but there is still space to move around. He saw a small room at the back; must be the toilet. Zheng Jin sighed in relief.
"Great, there's nothing here to let me know who or what I was before..."
He searched the shack for clues about who he was, but there doesn't seem to be any diaries or even notes about anyone or anything. He also searched if he had any relatives, but no such photographs or letters were found.
After searching for quite some time, he turned his attention to the books. If he can't find any clues as to who he was, he could at least find out where he currently is with those books.
"That's a lot of books. I must've been a scholar or a bookworm at least."
He looked at the books one by one, searching for the best book to read first.
"Ah, here it is."
Zheng Jin picked a book from one of the piles. The title was "The Profound History of the Primordial Dragon Continent".
He flipped the book open. As before, he could still understand what every character in the book meant. And so, knowing that he won't have any trouble reading, he began to read...
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Countless hours passed as he read the book, Zheng Jin completely oblivious of the passage of time.
"So...it is true then."
He was indeed reincarnated in another universe, or at least in a different world from his original one.
From what he found out in the book, he was now at the Primordial Dragon Continent. As to what the actual name of the planet or world he is in, the book was very vague about it.
As it turns out, the era right now is the Age of Exploration...or should he say...Re-exploration. He knew this because he had read in the book that about 100,000 years ago; an unimaginable disaster took place in this world, shaking its very foundations to the core and completely erasing any records of the eras before it. It could also be said that the Great Disaster made humanity to significantly regress, as it almost completely wiped out every sect, kingdoms, and even empires.
As to what the disaster actually was, no recorded evidence has been documented, and varying theories had been formulated in regards to it. It was also a fact that all of the continents were united before this disaster, until it was eventually cracked to pieces by it. The scholars deduced this by piecing together the topography of the 3 discovered continents and finding out that they used to be parts of a whole.
As of now, only 2 other continents were discovered, each with their own kingdoms, empires, and sects. The scholars believed that there were at least 3 more continents waiting to be discovered; as to when it might happen, they didn't know.
He had also read about another interesting topic, which is this world's "cultivation". It appears to be how this world measures an individual's strength and each realm is divided into 9 levels, depending on their mastery. These are what he managed to find and a brief description of their capabilities:
Mortal Realm
- The entry level of cultivation. Ordinary humans and beasts fall into this realm. A 9th level mortal would be the absolute pinnacle of human limits.
Awakened Mortal Realm
- The realm where the cultivator has control of his spirit energy and is able to integrate them into their bodies. Being an awakened mortal signifies the start of the evolution of the soul, breaking the limits of mortality that shackled it; also increases the potential of the cultivator's physique.
Spirit Enforcer Realm
- This realm is where the cultivator can completely break the shackles of his mortality, as the cultivator can now improve one's soul by forming a spirit guardian; and one's physique by forming a spirit beast.
A spirit guardian is formed according to the spirit art the cultivator had cultivated. The spirit guardian usually takes the form of elements or even weapons if one practices the correct art.
A spirit beast, however, is formed by absorbing the core of a demon beast and is essential for further improving a cultivator's physique. Having a high-level core has been proven to have a better potential than having a lower one, but some scholars argue that compatibility is also a factor in choosing the perfect spirit beast for a cultivator
Peak Spirit Enforcer cultivators can not only project their spirit energy effortlessly, they can also borrow their spirit beast's attributes, which improves their strength, speed, vitality, defense, spirit energy and so on.
Earthly Sovereign Realm
- Being an Earthly sovereign means that a cultivator is now on the starting path to obtaining immortality. They can now manifest their spirit beasts to its full extent and use their full potential in battle.
They also have a significant increase in lifespan, with the minimum recorded gain of 1000 years. Earthly Sovereigns are very rare, and their numbers in the Primordial Dragon Continent can be counted on one hand.
Heavenly Sovereign Realm
- The Heavenly Sovereign Realm is the highest cultivation a human had achieved in the last 100,000 years, with only one individual achieving it. Coincidentally, this person is considered to be the guardian of the Primordial Dragon Continent and is also the strongest cultivator in this continent. The other two continents also have Heavenly Sovereigns of their own, but as to who is the strongest in this world, no one knows the answer.
It is said that Heavenly Sovereigns has the ability to create a Divine Artifact, which is achieved when reaching the absolute pinnacle of their spirit arts. It can also be said that an artifact is the manifestation of the spirit guardian, and holds incredible power; forged by the cultivation of the user itself.
Immortal Saint Realm
- A realm that is lost after The Great Disaster, it is said that an Immortal Saint holds the power to destroy an entire continent in a span of a second, leaving no traces of it whatsoever. Actually, there were only 3 ancient texts that holds evidence of their existence before the Great Disaster, but this was enough for people to believe that they had existed and for them to aspire to become one themselves.
What many scholars and cultivators had wondered is that; how could a cultivator as powerful as an Immortal Saint perish? This question still remains unanswered, as different scholars continue to search the world, eager to find the answer they have been looking for.
After reading the whole book, Zheng Jin sighed. Countless amount of information flooded his brain as he rubbed his head slowly.
"What a strange world this is."
A far cry from his original world, he thought. Though he must admit that he is a bit excited about the different concepts he had just learned about cultivation and its realms of mastery.
"Now that I think about it, there is no way to compare my original world's rank of power to this world's realms of cultivation..."
The two worlds are very different indeed. He had never seen the term "mana" in the book, nor any people having the birthright provided by their god, Calisto; to see one's current state, skills and abilities, which is a skill every living thing had in his original world.
With a look of contemplation in his face, he opened his status window.
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Name:Zheng Jin
Class : ?
Strength : F
Agility : F
Speed : F-
Vitality : F-
Intelligence : E+
? : ?
Skills
°God's Generosity
Exp:0/3
°Puke Blood 1★
Level 10/10 •Max
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Zheng Jin's face scrunched up at the sight of it. Not only did he lose all of his progress in stats, but he also lost all of his skills. He looked at the two skills he had right now. He didn't know why, but when looks at the skill [Puke Blood], he suddenly has the urge to commit suicide.
He then shook his head to clear the thoughts that pissed him off and just turned his attention to his first skill, [God's Generosity]. This skill gave him that useless ability [Puke Blood].
He speculated that this skill gave him a random skill...or maybe he was wrong...maybe this skill will only give him skills as useless as [Puke Blood]... He shuddered at the thought.
There was only one way to find out.
Zheng Jin then opened the skill's description; and it reads as:
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[God's Generosity]
Skill Description: As a gift to the other-worlder, this skill grants the user random skills or attributes; in which the rarity is dependent on the amount of experience the skill had gathered.
The maximum exp that may be used for a random skill or attribute is 10, which provides the user with a 10★skill/attribute. The user may also spend 1 exp to broaden the skill's or attribute's range, giving the user 3 different skills and attributes of the same rarity to choose from.
As a bonus, every skill acquired from [God's Generosity] will be maxed level.
As a restriction by the world's new God, the user cannot learn skills and earn attributes the same way as from the original world, and must learn skills according to the law of the new world.
The means of collecting experience for this skill are only of these two: killing living beings and attaining higher levels of cultivation.
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After reading the long skill description, Zheng Jin sucked in a cold breath. In his assessment, this skill might actually be a double-edged sword; though he admits that obtaining a 10★ may very well outweigh the restrictions. As to what the restrictions are, he'll have to find out later, for he didn't know what the restriction meant at this time.
But as for the skill's usage, it might be dependent on his luck; but the notion that he might get a 10★ skill or an attribute was beyond his expectations!
He knew that only one of the S-class adventurers he had heard of, had a 10★ skill! Naturally, he knew how rare it is and how it could even give him an opportunity to be the strongest in this world!
Though the question of how hard it is to acquire experience for the skill remained in his head, but having known that there is a possibility for him to become stronger was enough for him.
Pushing all of his thoughts aside, he needed to rest for now. Today's events really worn him down, and trying to fend off the urge to sleep becomes harder and harder as every minute goes by.
Zheng Jin then walked to the bed, laid in it, and closed his eyes; thoughts brimming with both excitement and plans for his future as he drifted ever closer to sleep.
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Until an unpleasant voice called his name from outside the shack, waking up Zheng Jin who was just seconds away from sleep.
"Zheng Jin, get your a*s out here, NOW!!"
- Writer
