Chapter 202
Over the Summit (VIII)
There were still a few things I've actually missed and had to manually check, namely in how exactly the restructured monthly system quests worked, as well as the 'Innate Art' that I've gotten.
I never actually heard of Innate Arts before, possibly because they are related to existing in a world of higher prowess, but more likely simply because they are extremely rare. And when I read mine, I kind of knew it was the latter.
[Eternal Sacrifice (One of a Kind)]
[You may put yourself in harm's way to block a deathly blow toward any one of your disciples. Regardless of the attack's strength or the cultivation realm of the attacker, the attack itself will 100% be blocked. The consequences you may suffer, however, are less predictable...]
It's actually strange, as I fully expected those consequences to be 'certain death', but, from the sounds of it, that wouldn't necessarily be the case. So, if an Emperor came down and attacked Long Tao, and I so selflessly tossed myself between the two of them, I'd be able to block the attack and somehow still live...?
Yeah.
No way I'm testing that unless there is literally no other option.
As for the monthly quests, I'm actually, genuinely surprised. There were about 20 of them, with half being relatively simple and similar to the previous monthly quests--recruit a disciple, help disciple do this or that, create a specific art, teach a specific art, and so on. Most of them cost anywhere between 50 points and 500 (which didn't matter since I had a thick, fat 0 at this moment), though, in turn, they 'only' yielded those points back and a few extra on top.
The other ten, though, varied heavily. They sounded less like 'quests' and more like genuine expeditions that I'd have to go on right now if I wanted to have the remotest chance of completing them. Though, as the system mentioned, they were tailored greatly to my current circumstances... for the most part.
[Howling Scars]
[Difficulty: Epic]
[Context: a rogue cultivator from a fallen sect has taken to robbing newborn children from a set of villages in order to feed an ancient artifact that he'd discovered whilst on a sect's mission. Locate his hidden lair and exterminate him]
[Cost: 1,000 CP]
[Rewards]
[Reward 1: 2,000 CP]
[Reward 2: Contents of the lair]
[Hint: the lair is located eastward of Moon Lake]
It's great that the system has given such a nice hint, right? Except... I'm literally on the opposite end of Moon Lake. No, not even that--we're currently nowhere near the Moon Lake, as it is about 2,000 miles eastward of us. Across some of the most staggeringly inhospitable mountains I've ever seen in my life.
So, why did the system give me that specific quest?
Hell if I know.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Though, to be fair, that was the only one that was that far off the beaten path. There were a couple more that were clearly impossible, but about 5 or 6 seemed entirely feasible... if we beelined toward them.
Probably the most tantalizing was the one involving Silvercrest City, as that's precisely where we'll go as soon as we cross the mountains.
[Enduring Rot]
[Difficulty: Epic]
[Context: daughter of one of the most powerful people in Silvercrest City, the matriarch of the Zhu Clan, Zhu Zhen, has fallen ill with an unknown disease. Despite the attempts of the city's most renowned Alchemists, the young woman's state has only worsened in the recent weeks. Desperate, Matriarch Zhen has stipulated that anyone who manages to cure her daughter's illness will be rewarded by any one thing they desire, so long as the Clan is capable of providing it]
[Cost: 1,300 CP]
[Rewards]
[Reward 1: 2,000 CP]
[Reward 2: Zhu Zhen's favor]
[Reward 3: A random alchemy recipe]
[Hint: It is not a disease]
[Note: due to the time-sensitive nature of the quest, it will naturally disappear in 17 days and 14 hours, when Zhu Jiang succumbs and passes away]
I don't really have context for how grand of a reward 'a favor' is, but it's probably worth doing it for points alone since the system is saying it's not a disease. What else can turn a body into a state similar to that of a disease?
A curse, probably.
I'd still have to confer with Long Tao to confirm it, but if that's the case, and if it turns out that the favor is actually something truly grand, I still have that needle stashed away somewhere in one of the spatial rings, just waiting for its day in the sun.
But there's that big question mark before any of that can be possible: getting 1,300 points in 17 days.
... just how?!
Haah.
Whatever.
Zhu and Lilia, as well as that boy (Royce? Rice? Ray? something or another) showed up relatively soon after the dawn as we all settled in the 'living' room, where they presented the things Long Tao coveted so much he tossed us in the middle of something that could have gone very wrong.
Inscriptions.
They were literal pieces of paper--though rather thick and oddly red, at least--with bold letters drawn on top of them in varying colors and complexities. I imagine that it's just really the surface of it, and simply copying the look would yield nothing but a useless piece of paper with a pretty 'word' on it.
There were precisely four resting side by side, and though I sensed slightly alien energy off of them, nothing else appeared out of the ordinary.
"This is Word of Pain," Lilia explained, pointing at the leftmost one; its runes were like spikes digging into a central circle, with some lines connecting them across. "All you have to do to activate it is speak aloud the full name of the person you wish to inflict with the pain and tear it right across the middle. The person in question will undergo 30 minutes of excruciating and debilitating pain but will suffer no lasting consequences.
"This is Word of Quiet," she pointed at the one right next to it; it was six concentric circles with some strange dithering between them. "Similarly, you just have to rip it apart, and for the next hour, nobody will be able to perceive you. Zhu and I have worked day and night since coming back to upgrade it slightly, so it can now be applied to three people instead of just one. However, using Qi will likely disrupt the field of mana and undo the effect.
"This is Word of Tranquility," she continued, pointing at the third one that was a singular, strobing line splitting toward the bottom like roots of a tree. "Like the Word of Pain, it works on just one person; saying their full name and ripping the inscription will put them in a perfect state of tranquility. As I understand it, it is the more desirable Word of ours by the cultivators since it is one of the few ways to calm cultivators in berserk states without any harm.
"And, lastly, Word of Enduring," she said, pointing at the last one, which was the simplest yet also the most complex one; it was only dots, penned one by one, in a vast spiral. "It's one of the hardest Words to pen but also sort of a transitory mark, which is why there's probably more of them than some simpler ones. Any Inscriber who wishes to receive the official rank of a Master must be able to Inscribe two words: Word of Enduring and Word of Suffering.
"Word of Enduring works on just one person, too--by saying their name out loud and ripping the paper, you temporarily put all their wounds, no matter how deadly, in the so-called stasis. Unless otherwise disturbed, the wounds will not get any worse for the next 24 hours. Note, however, that it does not put the person themselves in stasis; they will still feel the pain and the ache of it.
"We wish we could provide you with more, but these truly are the only ones we have left. Should you ever come visit, I will personally inscribe any Word you want, so long as it's within my ability to do so."
