After his breakthrough Kieran was completely covered in a thick disgusting black substance that smelled more foul than anything he had ever smelt before. There was a brief pause in any potential talks until he was bathed, during which he was peeped on by Elder Zia, and he didn't know it, but the Grand Elder also had her ways of looking in on him.
"I understand the situation. We'll tell everyone that the sect master has advanced, and when she emerges from secluded cultivation, we'll let her know as well, though I'm sure that she already does, barring the specifics." Grand Elder Anna spoke.
Kieran had a long chat with the Grand Elder and Elder Zia about what happened. The conclusion was that nobody had a damn clue!
Kieran figured that the best course of action now was simply to get some sleep and forget that it had happened in the first place.
After his breakthrough, Kieran could already tell that he was on an entirely different level compared to before. Not only did he not feel tired at all, he also wondered what his stats would look like, considering how much stronger he actually felt.
"Alright. I suppose I'll go inform the other elders of 'the Sect Masters breakthrough' and ensure that this is the narrative that's pushed through the sect and everywhere else. Not a word about what actually happened here from either of you. And you," The Grand Elder Anna paused for a brief moment looking into Kieran's incredibly handsome face. "In my quarters in the morning. You've still not…had a discussion about the sect rules and we have to talk about our plans for your next breakthrough."
With a swish of her sleeves, she simply left through the door. As soon as it shut behind her, Elder Zia turned to look at Kieran.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" Kieran asked with a perplexed expression. For whatever reason Elder Zia couldn't keep her eyes off of him ever since his advancement.
Noticing her mistake she looked away in a hurry with a red face.
"Sorry. It's just that ever since you advanced, it almost seems like you have become more handsome."
Hearing her say this, Kieran's little brother puffed smoke and screamed in terror.
"Uh sorry. I'm a little tired today. I'll tell you what, find me tomorrow night and I'll give you something good. For now, I'm going to turn in. I'm not tired ever since I advanced, but I would still like to sleep to help my mind relax after today. A lot happened."
Elder Zia nodded in understanding and left happily without much else to say.
Without any fanfare, Kieran turned in for the night. While he lay in his bed he decided to take a peek at his stats.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
[Status]
[Name: Kieran Darkmoon]
[Level: 11]
[EXP: 0/2000]
[EP: 61]
[Qi: 15,360/???]
[Cultivation Technique: The Eternal Yin and Yang Harmony]
[Cultivation Level: Early Stage Foundation Establishment]
[Cultivation Talent: Mythical]
[Skills: Erotic Scent]
[Attribute Points: 90]
[Vitality: 10]
[Stamina: 10]
[Dexterity: 10]
[Strength: 10]
[Intelligence: ???]
[Luck: 10]
[Charm: 150]
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Kieran was perplexed. At first he assumed that he had lost stats, but after giving it some thought he simply figured that only the numerical value changed.
Not only that, but his Qi seemed to not be at max? Did that mean that he could continue to absorb Qi essentially in perpetuity before he was fully saturated?
As he pondered, he left that alone as there were simply too many variables to narrow it down to only one reason.
Looking to his other stats, he figured that it did make some sense that his attributes consolidated. As he levelled, his stats would eventually become so large that they would become an eyesore. Not to mention that he felt so much stronger than before he advanced, that he was sure the stats would already be giant if they remained at the same scale.
Kieran suddenly had a gleam in his eye. Now that his stats increased, what would happen if he increased his attributes with attribute points? If whatever astronomical value he would have before their numbers changed were to double…wouldn't that be the same as breaking through again?
Kieran was excited to try it but then his eyes caught something.
[Charm: 150]
Kieran's mind raced. He had gotten 100 in his charm from completing the quest, and he'd gotten a notification of charm increasing from breaking through. Assuming he originally had a charm of 10, wouldn't that mean that he was 15 times more attractive than previously? What if he added his attribute points here?
Kieran immediately went to the large mirror in the bathroom to look at his face.
When he got there, he barely recognized himself. The ungodly beauty of the man in the mirror almost made him fall in love with himself.
"Is this what Narcissus felt? Haha no way. I don't want to stare at myself forever."
Kieran looked back at his charm stat and swallowed.
"Well…surely a few points won't hurt. Right?"
Kieran immediately put half of his attribute points into charm and watched the mirror.
Immediately the figure in the mirror subtly changed. And then it changed again and again until Kieran truly began to feel that he might become Narcissus if he looked for too long. He had never seen anyone with a more handsome appearance than him in his entirety of his two lives, and this time he wasn't even joking. He resembled a Greek god with unparalleled beauty.
His face wasn't the only thing that changed either. As he increased his charm, and even before he put points into it, his muscles had gone through a metamorphosis. Some of it was surely from his advancement, but a lot of it was due to his charm increasing. He didn't look like a body builder, but he was perfectly toned in all the right areas.
Kieran immediately dumped the rest of his points into charm before he realized that he shouldn't have done that.
If he was an unrivaled god before, he was simply mind boggling now. There was nobody who could possibly compete with him.
And he didn't like it.
He was now was so handsome that he might genuinely be kidnapped and abused right here in the sect! He wasn't worried before because he was a prime disciple, but his appearance truly had that effect now. People would immediately forgo any and all pretense and just violate him in the streets.
How did he know this? Because he wanted to violate himself right now!
*cough*
Kieran looked away from the mirror. If he looked any longer he might actually become gay.
"Okay, I fucked up. I shouldn't have done that. A normal fairly attractive man has 10 in charm. I'm 30 times more attractive than that. Yeah. I think I fucked up bad."
Kieran immediately came to a conclusion to wrap his face when he went out. This was the only way to protect himself.
Kieran sighed softly after his blunder and decided to lie back down. It was time for bed.
Kieran sighed softly again and slept immediately, but not before mumbling to himself.
"It's so hard being me."
…
…
…
The next morning Kieran woke up and went to shower. Before he undressed however, he suddenly had a thought. While he was roaming around yesterday, he remembered seeing a public bath house for the inner disciples, as only Core Disciples and above were offered their own bathrooms. Everyone else simply used the public amenities.
"What would happen if a I entered the public bath? I bet I'd send the girls in there crazy!" Kieran mumbled with a small smile on his lips. After a good nights rest,his little brother was able to get some much needed rest.
"I do still need to go talk to the Grand Elder, though…I wonder..."
Deliberating his choices Kieran suddenly came up with a plan.
He didn't know when, but he had already left his room and was already walking out of the main sect building and was on his way to the bath houses with a scarf he'd found in the wardrobe covering the bottom half of his face.