Chereads / Upgrade Cultivation / Chapter 4 - Where The Real Money Is At

Chapter 4 - Where The Real Money Is At

"Welp," Mateus took a seat on the floor, placed his right elbow over his knee, and rested his chin on his closed hand. "Now, I have Cultivation Methods, Elemental Affinities, and Type System Affinities. I guess now would be the time to choose what it is I'll be focusing on, since my skill set seems to be rather equally dispersed."

He had equal Affinity for each of the elements as well as equal Affinity for each of the Systems of Cultivation. However, his lifespan was currently finite and Cultivation was infamous for the amount of time it took to build up; it was in the word's definition, after all.

Mateus knew enough to understand the futility of trying to master everything at once, but there was still the Type System Assessment to complete. He needed to pick a Cultivation Method, maybe two or three — but definitely no more — and prove his Affinity by having another appraisal mirror judge how much he had progressed in the amount of time passed since the assessment began.

The million-dollar question remained, however: Which Cultivation Method(s) should he pick?

"Hmm… This place, the Ephemeral Slipstream Sect, is centered around Water Cultivation. Their best Cultivation Methods will probably be Water-based, so that would be a good choice," Mateus began to mutter to himself. "Then again, Water is just a Lesser Element. Sure, it's versatile and whatever, but compared to controlling Space, Time, Life, and Death… It seems kind of blant, doesn't it?"

"Of course, compared to Phenom and Greater Elements, Lesser Elements like Water will most probably be the easiest to learn and master. So… Fuck it, I'll main Water first and then abuse the shit out of whatever this consumption bullshit is to get the more advanced Elements later."

It was his creed to take the path of least resistance and make his life as easy as possible… when it came to grinding in his favorite video games. Still, the ideology was sound and applicable to Cultivation, so Mateus went with it.

With this first decision made, another rose to take its place. "Now then, if I'm going to focus my Cultivation around Water, which of the Cultivation Methods in my possession should I focus on?" Mateus closed his eyes to review the basics of all the Cultivation Methods he had consumed.

"I have at least one Cultivation Method for each of the seven Type System permutations. I also have equally Trash Tier Affinity for Energy, Body, and Soul Systems, so… Triple Energy System Type it is," Mateus said, nervously as he felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face.

'Path of least resistance my fucking ass,' his subconscious jeered.

Of course, he picked the hardest of all the Cultivation Methods available. After all, the ancient standards of perfection overruled any potential benefit focusing on just one or two Systems of Cultivation at a time would bring in the short term.

If he was going to be a Cultivator ��� which wasn't even up for debate after having been scouted as a personal disciple by the Sect Guardian — he would be damned if he didn't max out his Stats in this new game like reality. Even if he couldn't, he'd still die trying.

Just like in his previous life...

So, Mateus closed his eyes, took a deep breath, entered a meditative trance, and—

[!Upgrade Available!]

—He failed before he could even truly start.

"Oh, for the love of... What now?!"

[!Upgrade!

Name: Essence Of Water Cultivation Method (Section 1 of 3)

Grade: Mortal

Level: 0

Type: Triple Body, Energy, and Soul Balanced

Description: An ancient Triple System Cultivation Method capable of carrying a Cultivator of Water through the entirety of the Mortal Realm.

Current Effect: No effect at Level 0

Cost:

!Consume!

Mortal Grade Single System Cultivation Methods (16)

Effect: Increase Skill Level by 1 (potential of 16 total)

Mortal Grade Dual System Cultivation Methods (8)

Effect: Increase Skill Level by 3 (potential of 24 total)

Mortal Grade Dual System Cultivation Methods (1)

Effect: Increase Skill Level by 10 (potential of 10 total)

!WARNING!

Consumed Skills can NEVER be relearned nor !Upgraded! through !Consumption!]

"So let me get this straight..." Mateus struggled to nurse the migraine that had spawned from the sheer amount of disbelief he currently felt. "I can tribute all these other worthless Cultivation Methods I never would have even looked at, to bring the one Cultivation Method I planned on starting, straight to Level 50?"

Despite not getting a response, Mateus slowly started to say, "Thats… Fucking… Broken as shit! Let's fucking get it!"

[!Status!

Skills:

Name: Essence Of Water Cultivation Method (Section 1 of 3)

Grade: Mortal

Level: 0 → 50

New Effect 1 (Energy): Cultivation rate of Energy Reserves increases to a maximum of 0.5 per minute of successful meditation. Cultivation rate of Energy Quality and Control increases to a maximum of 0.025 per minute of successful meditation.

New Effect 2 (Body): Cultivation rate of Agility and Vitality increases to a maximum of 0.025 per minute of successful cultivation. Cultivation rate of the Constitution increases to a maximum of 0.02 per minute of successful cultivation. Cultivation rate of Strength increases to a maximum of 0.018 per minute of successful cultivation.

New Effect 3 (Soul): Rate of increasing your Understanding of Rudimentary Water Laws increases by a factor of five.]

Mateus nearly shed a tear, he was so moved by how horrifying the ramifications of his ability would be if his Skill's Effects ended up being true.

Having integrated with so many Cultivation Methods, he knew on an innate level that to move up a Level in the first five phases of the Mortal Stage, he would need to increase his Energy Reserves up to 40 units for Level 2 and then 20 more per level in a linear fashion until he reached 100 units at Level 5; in other words, a mere 40 minutes of cultivation per level — that is, if it hadn't already risen to 330…

He'd need to increase his other stats by 2 units, but even if he could only focus only on his two of his Body or Energy Stats at once, he'd still need less than a day to move up a phase, or Level. In less than a week, he could easily move through the standard route of cultivation for the first Stage, the Mortal Stage, of the Mortal Realm.

"Even I can tell that's some bullshit talent," Mateus muttered, grinning from ear to ear as he began to meditate.

Forget Consumption… Upgrading is where the real money is at!