[Volume 3 - Enigma of the North]
A young man stood on the terrace of a cave abode, the crisp morning air biting at his skin. Dressed in a pristine white robe, his figure was a perfect blend of the blanket of snow that covered the land. He held a flute to his lips, and as he played, the sweet sound of the instrument danced through the air.
As the notes of the flute filled the silence, the young man closed his eyes, lost in the melody. The flute sang of the beauty of the winter forest, the gentle flutter of snowflakes, and the serene tranquility of the snowy landscape. The notes were soft and melodic yet carried a hint of sorrow as if the flute was mourning the passing of the seasons.
The sound of the flute echoed through the valley, reaching the ears of anyone nearby. Birds chirped in response to the music, adding their own melody to the symphony of nature. The young man continued to play, his fingers dancing over the holes of the flute with practiced ease.
From the terrace of the cave abode, Han Cai could see a beautiful winter landscape while lost in the tunes of his flute.
The winter forest was a stunning and ethereal sight to behold. The snow that had accumulated everywhere created a pristine and otherworldly scene, with an endless blanket of white that stretched as far as the eye could see. The trees, now covered in snow, had become enchanting sculptures, standing tall and proud in the winter landscape. The snow-dusted tree branches and evergreens were even more striking, as their needles stood out in deep green against the white background, creating a perfect contrast of colors.
As Han Cai continued to gaze at the winter forest, he was mesmerized by the stillness and peacefulness that surrounded him. The falling snow created a unique and tranquil atmosphere that made him forget about the outside world. He was in awe of the beauty that nature had provided him, and for that moment, he felt a sense of connection to something greater than himself. The winter forest, covered in snow, had become a sanctuary, a place of refuge, and a source of inspiration.
It has been more than three years since Han Cai joined the Inner Sect. Han Cai was 16 years old now. He had become a young man with a charming and mesmerizing appearance. He stood at the height of 5 feet 8 inches and had a slim but toned physique. His skin looked like cold, creamy jade--smooth and unblemished. He had a handsome face with defined cheekbones, a sharp jawline, and a straight nose. His eyes were deep, dark brown, and are often described as soulful and captivating. He had perfectly shaped eyebrows that framed his eyes. His hair was jet black and fell in loose waves, reaching just above his shoulders. It was always well-groomed and shining. His lips were full and lush, and they had a natural rosy tint to them. His physical appearance was striking, and he exuded an aura of coldness and confidence, giving him a serious, cold, and aloof look.
He looked at the status panel
[Name: Han Cai]
[Age: 16]
[Life Span: 2100 Years]
»Strength: 1150
»Perception : 4000
»Agility : 1200
»Speed : 1200
»Constitution : 1400
»Intelligence : 50
»Charm : 50
»Cultivation : Golden Core Level 3 [Early Stage (Celestial Ascension Technique)]
»Skills : Cold Precision Sword Technique (Level 5)
»Skills : Invisible Ethereal Technique (Level 1) (Collect 1000 trading points to upgrade)
»Skills : Sever Space Technique (Level 2) (Collect 200 trading points to upgrade.)
»Skills : Space Escape Technique (Level 2) (Collect 200 trading points to upgrade.)
»Skills : Clone (Level 2) (Collect 200 trading points to upgrade)
»Skills : Transformation (Level 1) (Collect 1000 trading points to upgrade)
»Skills : .....
[Total Trading Points : 50 (source Earth, Wind, Space, Frigid, Fire..)]
[Storage Space: Spirit Stones (5000), Gold Coins (100)... ]
[Subordinate: Yongnian, Blacky, Xiaoyun, Birdie, Silver.....]
[System Update : ?(Collect 1,000 trading points to unlock.)]
[Scan]
[Summon]
[Upgrade]
[Survey]
[Teleport]
[Witness]
[Security]
[Initiate the Law of Equal Exchange?]
Han Cai looked at the status panel; he had grown a lot. He was officially the strongest person in the Sky Soaring Sect. If he wanted, he could fight elder Dongmei and the sect master, both of whom were at the nascent stage of soul cultivation at the same time.
The most noticeable change in his status panel was the conversion of exchange points to trading points. Essentially, the points collected and required to be spent for cultivation began to reach trillions. Han Cai, the math savant that he was (s)*, felt like his brain would short-circuit if he kept counting. Han Cai was having a hard time going through these massive numbers; hence, he asked the system if the currency could be changed to some higher-value currency, and viola, now he had trading points. One trading point was equal to a billion exchange points. So one billion low-quality spirit stones were basically one trading point.
A year after his first camping trip, Han Cai joined the dark hall. During the Dark Hall missions, he would keep scanning for the mines, and if he found any, he would suck them dry. At this point, he had lost count of how many points he had spent to reach the golden core, but he was sure the number was somewhere around close to a hundred trillion exchange points if converted back into exchange points.
Now that he was in the golden core realm, also known as the elemental core, instead of the elemental core, Han Cai's core had transformed into the celestial core.
This gave a great boost to his space affinity, which also led to a cost reduction in the upgrade of his space techniques. Han Cai experimented and created a few more space techniques; one of his favorites was sever space, where he could slice through space to cut his opponent. Han Cai's space control had become much more refined, and his ability to manipulate the space around him had greatly increased. His affinity was reaching a level where he could notice ripples in space when he used space technique, or he could even create minor disturbances in space if anyone tried to teleport in front of him. For now, he could sense that he was creating fluctuations in the space around him as he was at a basic level, but he was confident that when he got a celestial body, he could move through space as if fish in water without creating a single ripple.
All of his statistics had surpassed the thousand mark. He increased his intelligence and charm to fifty points. Because of his high intelligence, his perception surpassed four thousand. His spirit sense had grown so strong as a result of his fifty Intelligence that he had begun to see into the future. If someone tried to attack him, his spirit sense and perception would tell him how they would attack, from what angle they would move, and what their weakness would be before they even moved. It was as if his perception had its own intelligence and was communicating with him.
Fifty intelligence stat also provided him with an eidetic memory. His reliance on the system to create skills decreased significantly. He also began to delve into the laws of this world. He could now see the hazy law patterns that governed the flow of this world, which aided in his understanding of the world's laws.
His fifty charm was also very powerful. He was getting to the point where he could manipulate people's emotions with a single word. if it were mortals, he could charm them into jumping off the cliff with just a word, and they would do so without hesitation. He didn't have the same effect on cultivators, but he was confident that if he leveled up his charm to a hundred, even cultivators would be powerless against him.
After stats came to the skills
Han Cai had many favorite superheroes. Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, from the X-Men, was one of the superheroes whose abilities he greatly admired. He desired to transform tangible and intangible passing through objects without hindrance, just like she did.
The system informed him that it would cost forty trade points. But then he received an option from the system to upgrade his invisibility technique.
After the upgrade, the invisible technique would become Invisible Ethereal Technique, and besides being invisible, he could turn ethereal and pass through everything; the upgrade cost was only fifteen trade points.
Han Cai immediately updated it. The system worked in a very linear way; when it created a skill for him, it would give him thirty minutes of time at level one. So he could turn ethereal for thirty minutes before the celestial Qi in his body ran out. This skill of turning ethereal was also related to his space affinity. If it were not for celestial QI giving him space affinity, he might not have been able to turn ethereal even for ten minutes.
The second ability that Han Cai desired was also influenced by X-men. He desired Mystique's life-saving ability, which allowed her to alter her appearance by changing her face and physical characteristics. He paid twenty trading points for the skill. The time limit for this skill was the same as his first skill. Even though he could only transform for half an hour at a time, he was content with that.
