Chapter 27

  Struggles of the Poor (I)

  So, three days had passed since I decided to 'experiment' and try and figure out how to trigger the system.

  And so far my results have been... squat. Nada. Zilch. Forget triggering the system, I mostly just triggered myself.

  I tried by cultivating, figuring I might get, like, 1 or 2 points if I do it wholeheartedly. The result? Not only did I not get the points, I realized I loathed cultivation. Okay, to be more specific--I loathe cultivating with this body in particular. The amount of toxic sludge infesting every single inch of meridians was akin to someone who wolfed eight pounds of bacon daily for sixty-six years and the resulting 'grease' resting in their veins.

  A single full circulation of Qi took me 6 minutes and 12 seconds, approximately half the time it takes someone who'd just started cultivating.

  For reference?

  An actual, normal cultivator at my realm can do a circulation in under two minutes. Three times faster.

  I cried (inwardly, of course) at the realization that I am not moving anywhere until my body is purified. And, considering that there were no results from my experiments, I have a feeling that's gonna take a long, long, long, looong, long time.

  So, to sum it up: I'm depressed.

  Even my disciples have realized that something was wrong, but I could only stay silent. It's one thing if earning points was hard, but at least tell me how to earn them! Is it really just recruiting disciples? Well, no--even recruiting Dai Xiu didn't actually give me any points. And there were no active quests.

  So, my depression was dead-set on making me a miserable little thing when something did happen. A miracle! A Christmas miracle!

  [--new quests generated]

  [...]

  [Note: on the 1st of every calendar month, the system will generate 3 random, appropriate quests for the Host. Complete them to gain Creation Points and other alternative rewards!]

  [...]

  [Quest 1 (Epic) -- help your disciple, Dai Xiu, reach the 7th stage of Qi Condensation within 1 year. Reward: 100 Creation Points]

  [Quest 2 (Common) -- guide a person (any person) by inspecting them and correcting any noticed mistakes. Reward: 50 Creation Points]

  [Quest 3 (Common) -- recruit a new disciple. Reward: 20-1,000 Creation Points (depending on the disciple's talent)]

  [--quests will refresh after 34 days, on the 1st of the next month. You may 'Lock' one quest of the offered, and it will spill into the next month, too]

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  [...]

  [Good luck!]

  Maybe it's one of those cases of 'ask and ye shall receive'? So, if I whine, like, a lot, maybe the system takes pity on me and gives me anything I want?

  Hey system! I'm so depressed! If you want to help me and cure my depression, make me the strongest.

  ...

  Didn't think so.

  Khm. Anyway, looking at the quests, my eyebrows did dance a bit, especially about the second one.

  The first and the third were quite 'rational', as it were, but the second reminded me of something I kind of tunnel-visioned myself out of.

  Cultivation Creation System is not just about creating martial arts--it's already told me it's also about augmenting the existing ones, understanding them, and modifying them. Which meant that I could spend Creation Points not just on creating, but on a lot of other things.

  A question remained, however.

  Who the hell can I guide?

  Long Tao? Yeah. I don't think even the system could find fault with him.

  Dai Xiu? Maybe eventually? As of right now, she's also out of the question.

  ... so, nobody. Because there isn't another soul in the sect that would spare me a second glance if I offered to 'guide' them.

  So, guiding people is out of the question, Dai Xiu's quest cannot be completed for a long while, and that leaves the last... recruiting disciples.

  I've swung by the field of near-corpses a few times already and hadn't come across anyone worthwhile. Forget worthwhile; it was lucky if their talents were qualified as 'Mortal' rather than 'None'. I didn't want to recruit kids for the sake of recruiting them either, as that would mean getting only 20 Creation Points, whereas I could have gotten way more.

  So, without much thought, I locked Dai Xiu's quest, disregarded the third for the time being, and decided to do something... bold.

  The sect had 9 Martial Halls as far as I knew; of the 9, 4 were strictly for the upper echelon of the sect: Deacons, Elders, Sect Master, and a few extremely talented True Disciples.

  Three were for Core and Inner Disciples, two were for talented Outer Disciples, and one was accessible to everyone in the sect, even the servants.

  As I left the peak, that became my destination--not because I wanted to recruit someone, but because of the second quest: guiding someone. Yes, nobody would listen to me, and they'd sooner stray willingly than ask me for help, but what if I disguised myself slightly? Ultimately, I was still an Elder, and my Spirit Manifestation Realm, sickly though it was, was still real for all intents and purposes.

  If I could find some gullible kid and guide them slightly, that's 50 free Creation Points in my pocket! I may finally be able to create that cloaking art or even something tailored for Dai Xiu.

  So, I swung by the free market on my way over to the open martial hall and bought a few items so as to not make it obvious: a few straw hats, a couple of umbrellas, some miscellaneous trinkets, and a few ordinary robes.

  My current clothes identified me clearly as an Elder of the Lonesome Peak, meaning I couldn't show up in them. So, after finding a hidden corner, I quickly transformed from my usual appearance to a more rugged variant of the same, with a low-hanging straw hat to conceal my face as much as possible.

  Donning a mask was out of the question, as it would be too suspicious.

  So, I headed over to the open hall and saw a stream of kids coming and going. A few glanced at me, bowing as they seemed to recognize my strength, before scurrying on their merry ways. Anyone who was coming here reeked of desperation; they were at the far bottoms of the hierarchy, deemed almost 'unworthy' by the sect and destined to become minor figures.

  But what was cultivation if not struggle against the heavens? I'll tell you what: insanity.

  As soon as I entered, I bore witness to a heap of kids, some as young as eight, beating the living shit out of each other. No joke, it was as though someone remade MMA but instituted a single rule: the only people allowed to fight were kids.

  Teeth flew out, tears mixed with blood, bones were broken...

  It wasn't even so much a 'Martial Hall' to be honest; there was very minimal padding to cushion the fall, there were just a few random, strewn wooden dummies that seemed on the brink of collapse, there were no Elders or Deacons present, and it truly seemed just like a place where kids came to beat the shit out of each other.

  Hmm. Maybe if I introduced gambling and betting, some Spirit Stones--oh my God. I did not just think that! Sheesh.

  ... I may fit just right with this demented world, it seemed.