Ling Tian looked through the system and smiled in excitement.
"I can get points by killing and cultivating, I have two methods to get points... This is really good! I have two ways of getting points instead of one, this will solve the problem of finding strong beings to kill to get points."
He looked through the items in the Shop, "This shop has everything related to swords! It even has the Darknorth swords! Unfortunately, they cost too much. I will buy a nameless mortal sword for 100 points later, it will work out fine. It would have been very good if it sold other things as well but let's not be greedy."
He looked at the Arts section and smiled in anticipation, "I don't even need to practice sword arts and such to master them! I just need a basic level of skill and understanding and can use EP to upgrade them and eventually master them, at this level at least. This is overpowered." he murmured as he looked at the cultivation technique with wide eyes.
"Highest grade celestial art?! This should be a peerless cultivation technique! I don't even need to cultivate it personally, I just need to farm points and let the system cultivate for me... Why do I feel like this system was designed for a lazy person?"
He opened the Log and saw the first few lines, "So, it was the system that healed this body. Is the greatest sword immortal in the universe? this means the system must be some sort of inheritance... it makes sense."
He saw the AI option but refrained from turning it on, "I don't know if it is friendly or not! I can use the system fine so there is no need to risk it."
He focused on the Cultivation technique and set the recommended one (7 transformations and 3 steps of sword ascendance) as the main for all three. He then looked at his point and seeing the big 0, felt a little gloomy. "I need to get points ASAP!"
He spent a minute thinking and an idea came to his mind.
He looked at the part that said EP gain and mentally focused on entering the cultivation state while sitting in a lotus position, he imitated what he imagined what immortal cultivators did when they cultivated.
He heard a low and smooth ringing sound and saw a notification had appeared on the Log. He focused on the Log and opened it.
[Entered Cultivation State:
Technique: 7 Transformation and 3 Steps of Sword Ascendance
EP/minute=10]
He closed his eyes and concentrated, he felt a current of energy get absorbed by him from the world and vanish inside him. He couldn't trace it no matter how hard he focused. A minute passed and another ringing sound made him look at the Log again.
[+10 EP]
He looked and saw he had gained 10 EP and smiled, 'So easy!'
He looked and saw he needed 100 to enter the 1st realm and become an official cultivator. He didn't know what the name of the realm was but he was hyped to find out.
He focused on absorbing energy from the world and unknowingly 10 minutes passed by.
[+10 EP] [+10 EP] [+10 EP]...
He stopped after the 10th one and saw he had 110 EP. He searched and found a sound icon on the top left of the Log, he used it to turn off the sound since it was annoying. He then excitedly used added the points to his Body cultivation to see what would happen.
A hot stream of energy that originated from his Dantian began moving inside his body in mysterious ways and circulated several times, every time the energy circulated he felt lighter and more energetic. Black Sweat poured out from his skin, it felt warm and comfortable like a nice hot shower.
The energy abruptly stopped and the euphoric feeling vanished. He took a deep breath and murmured with wide eyes, "That felt amazing..."
He looked at his status and saw his body cultivation was at the 1st realm named the body refinement stage's Blood refining stage.
He moved his attention to the Qi cultivation part and tried to add points but to his surprise, he couldn't.
He frowned and tried the same with the Soul but was unsuccessful. 'I can only do body cultivation? It seems I need to reach a certain level of Body cultivation before I tap into the other two...' he thought with a sigh and sat on a lotus position again.
"Let's see how much I can push it."
He entered Cultivation state again and this time, he didn't break it for a few hours. His body was covered in black sweat that smelled quite terrible and he wore rags that didn't protect him from the cold, the street was quite dark and filthy as well so he couldn't endure his condition for more than 4 hours in favor of getting points.
"Screw it, I need a bath and some fresh clothes before I begin grinding the hell out of this."
He looked at his points and smiled confidently when he saw 2410 EP(Experience points) in his system.
He put 2310 EP on his body cultivation. A wave of energy exploded from within him similar to a raging volcano and began moving around his body, he felt like his body was on fire but instead of feeling bad, it felt like a comfortable rush. His blood pumped like crazy as he felt his flesh get purified and his bone creaked as he felt them get sturdier and stronger.
The rush lasted for a dozen seconds before fading. black sweat poured out of his body crazily to the point he looked like a man covered in black ink.
He smiled in a satisfied manner and looked at his hands, seeing them covered in stinky black sweat turned his smile sour and he stopped breathing through the nose and used his mouth. He opened his system Log.
[Blood Refining Completed. (-300 EP)
Flesh Refining Completed. (-600 EP)
Bone Refining Completed. (-1000 EP)
Organ Refining in Process. (-410 EP, 410/1500)]
He looked away from the system screen and clenched his fists, he felt strength and power unlike ever before. He looked at the wall behind him and casually punched to see how strong he was and to his extreme surprise, his hand went through the wall; he took his hound out and saw a fist-sized hole in the wall and cracks surrounding it.
He grinned, "Now, this is what I am talking about!" he said with excitement and stood up energetically but cautiously. He moved around a bit to adjust to his new strength.
'With a system like this, I will become an immortal in no time!' he thought as he began walking in a random direction.
The sky was cloudy as if before heavy rain, it had been for the past hours, he knew from the memories that the Dark Demon city was always gloomy and cloudy like this.
'Good thing I have learned the language of this world due to the memories and have a general understanding of the world. I need to find an Inn, but first...'
He opened the system and exchanged his 100 remaining EP for a well-crafted katana looking sword. The sword was dropped in his inventory, he focused on it and the sword fell out of the inventory to his hand.
The moment he touched the sword, he felt a sense of familiarity and kinship with it, as if it was a long lost friend. He raised his eyebrows and ignored the feeling because he saw he could buy the same sword over again and 100 EP meant nothing to him. It was the cheapest sword in the shop.
"I will sell this for some gold coins and get a pair of clothes then visit an Inn for a fresh bath and a place to farm EP."
He left that dirty and old street and entered a new one that looked much better, however, it was as empty as the previous one. He continued and street after street, they got better looking and cleaner. He finally saw some people.
A few men who wore rags had made a fire using wood and stayed close to it for warmth. Due to the relative darkness of the streets and their dirty figures, it was hard to make out how they looked like.
Ling Tian didn't feel cold after he increased his body cultivation. He approached them and when he got close, they turned to look at him.
They were all old men with yellowed teeth and decayed hair. Just as he wanted to greet them and ask for directions, they screamed at top of their lungs and ran away. "AAAH, A GHOST! RUN!"
Ling Tian froze and looked at himself again, he was wearing dirty and torn rags, his long black hair was loose and messy, his body looked almost black and he smelled like feces; these coupled with the Darkness and his tall and thin figure scared the beggars to Death.
A look of realization appeared on his face, 'I look really terrifying like this, but how am I supposed to ask for directions if people run away?! Let find some water first...'
He resigned to the situation and shamelessly searched around the little place the beggars had created for themselves. He found a few clay containers that had water in them; He poured the water on himself, the water turned black as it flowed on his body and reached the ground. After all the water was gone, his skin was visible but black spots still existed here and there.
'Better than nothing!' he thought as he searched and found some rags that were not torn like his.
He stripped his clothes and changed into them while using some rags to clean the remaining black spots. He threw his previous rags on the fire and took a look at himself.
'Well, I look like a beggar but I don't smell like shit and no part of my body is exposed. I can work with this...' he thought as he took the sword and began walking in search of other people.
A while later the Beggars returned cautiously and saw all their belongings were stolen and a thick scent of shit permeated in the air; Even the water was gone. The three beggars began crying and shouting.
"DAMN THIEF! AHH, WHAT A CHEAP GHOST, IT DIDN'T EVEN LEAVE THE WATER!!!"
"What stupid ghost smells like this?!!! Did it die in a toilet and then become a ghost?!"
"Shut up!! It could be nearby! Let's Run and return tomorrow!"
Ling Tian heard them in the distance and increased his walking speed while feeling slightly guilty, 'sorry guys...'