Taoist Antecedent of the Yellow Court - Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Figuring It Out
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Since the dawn of time, the primordial world had been constantly expanding.
For hundreds of millions of years, there was no limit to the height of the skies, to the thickness of the earth. There were no borders, no horizons it couldn’t cross!
After the Investiture of the Gods, the primordial world shattered and was divided into the Four Great Continents: Purvavideha, Aparagodaniya, Jambudvipa, and Uttarakuru.
Beyond the Four Great Continents lay the boundless Four Seas.
Above them were the nine layers of heaven. And beneath them were nine layers of the nether world.
Beyond the Four Great Continents and outside the Four Seas, there was an unending void. In the void, there were countless massive and tiny worlds. Like the stars that spun around the moon, they surrounded and orbited the Four Great Continents and the Four Seas, the core of the primordial world.
Beyond this realm, there was the starry sky. In the stars of the cosmos, countless living entities were raised and nurtured.
It had been 3,800 years since the launch of “Primitive”.
So far, the players’ footprints had been limited to a small area. Players who were born in the Four Great Continents lived in an infinitely vast area. Even if one was born on an inconspicuous island in the Eastern Sea, if one’s cultivation had not attained the Mahayana stage, one would never be able to leave.
Most players spent their entire lives just wandering around their birthplaces, unable to escape.
The place where Lu Qingfeng had been born was in a solitary continent outside Uttarakuru, which was billions of miles away from the realm of the Earth Deities, where the Four Great Continents were located.
It was said that there were once players who had ascended into the Mahayana stage from this continent. Being aware that it was impossible for them to go through Heaven’s Tribulation from this continent, they’d attempted to traverse the void to find opportunities in Uttarakuru. But ultimately, they’d lost themselves in the endless void and perished.
…
Tenko Realm * 100 Sierra Archipelago * Seven Sword Ridge * Elephant King City * Emery Town
“My current location is in Emery Town, which is a beginner’s town.”
Lu Qingfeng wandered around Emery Town twice and acquired a lot of information.
Emery Town was a satellite of Elephant King City, while Elephant King City was one of 1,200 cities across the 800 hills of the Seven Sword Ridge that was governed by the Seven Great Sword Sects.
However, the massive Seven Sword Ridge was no more than an area in an inconspicuous island in the 100 Sierra Archipelago.
“Such an enormous map. Had this game really been developed by the Human Federation?”
Lu Qingfeng couldn’t help but doubt it.
His doubt was obviously meaningless. Likewise, Elephant King City, Seven Sword Ridge, and 100 Sierra Archipelago had nothing to do with Lu Qingfeng in his current state. He continued to walk around to familiarize himself with Emery Town.
In Emery Town, beginners occupied an overwhelming proportion of the population and owned guilds, large and small.
Among them were dozens of established guilds that had almost risen to the level of establishing their own sects. Some of the guilds had been established with the support of the sects around Elephant King City and Emery Town that specialized in absorbing and filtering out prodigious disciples.
“The Celestial Pool Guild is recruiting. Requirement: level 10 and above, plus mastery over a combat-style magic class or physical martial art.”
“The Guild of Imperial City is welcoming aces to join us. Requirement: level 21 and above, and at least a level 3 in any combat-style magic class.”
“The Guild of Sword Sage is recruiting. Level 10 and above.”
…
Passing by the Guild Square, Lu Qingfeng saw a crowd of people.
Numerous guilds were continuously screening and recruiting newcomers. Oodles of beginners were also here to select a guild that was suitable for themselves.
In “Primitive”, natives and players and the offspring of players have been mixed together for a very long time. They are basically indistinguishable on the surface. The same goes for Emery Town.
The population base of the Human Federation is colossal. There will be teenagers hitting the age of 16 at all times, becoming eligible to join “Primitive” and become beginner players.
These beginner players can go to shops and government offices to receive quests and also join major guilds to acquire starting resources.
Lu Qingfeng spent most of the day in Emery Town, and he barely got acquainted with the West City District. For him to visit the whole of Emery Town, it would take at least three to five days.
Emery Town was called a town, but its area was not at all small.
The urban area alone spanned 40 to 50 miles in both vertical and horizontal directions. The town’s permanent population was over 200,000. If you included the villages on the periphery of Emery Town, the total population was at least 500,000.
As a beginner in “Primitive”, if you don’t have elders to guide you, if you’re alone, fighting mobs outside the city to level up will be the last thing you want to do. Most players choose to join a guild or join Tool Refining Workshops, Pill Refining Workshops, or Rune Refining Workshops as apprentices.
Via this method, you will not only obtain the initial basic techniques, but you will also earn a certain amount of cultivation resources, and, at the same time, master a secondary profession. The many benefits one may gain from this method naturally make it a top choice.
Lu Qingfeng came to the entrance of a Pill Refining Workshop named Worriless.
The Worriless Pill Refining Workshop wasn’t huge in its scale. There was a notice posted on the front of their door:
“The Worriless Pill Refining Workshop is recruiting apprentices. After signing a contract, the player will be given one basic technique, one basic pill refining technique, five Yellow Dragon pills, and five Gorge Sundering Pills. One month after signing the contract, the player must be able to handle a minimum of ten basic medicinal herbs for the Pill Refining Workshop on a daily basis for one year.”
The standards for recruiting apprentices in the major Pill Refining Workshops and Tool Refining Workshops in Emery Town were similar. They were specially prepared for beginner players like Lu Qingfeng.
In simpler terms, this was an aid-the-poor kind of project.
Standing in front of the notice, without even seeing any person in charge of the Worriless Pill Refining Workshop, Lu Qingfeng signed a contract with the Worriless Pill Refining Workshop.
After the signing of the contract, the notice board flickered. Two books, two jade bottles, and a Bluestone Tablet were thrown out and landed in Lu Qingfeng’s hands.
Next to Lu Qingfeng, there were a few other beginners like him. The items they acquired were exactly the same.
[Technique: Scorching Sun Classic]
[Grade: Preliminary, has a total of 9 Levels]
[Cultivation Stage Requirement: None]
[Technique Properties: None]
…
[Scroll: Fundamentals of Pill Refining]
[Grade: Preliminary]
[Note: This basic Pill Refining manual records the handling methods of 46 kinds of medicinal herbs.]
…
[Pill: Yellow Dragon Pill]
[Grade: Low]
[Note: A cultivation pill of the Postnatal-Fetal Phase. Can slightly improve your Chi Control.]
…
[Pill: Fasting Pill]
[Grade: Low]
[Note: To be consumed during the Postnatal-Fetal Phase. Enables fasting for six days.]
…
[Equipment: Bluestone Tablet]
[Grade: Low]
[Note: Provides a beginner player with one year of accommodation. Contains a basic medicinal herb handling table. Player-bound. Belongs to the Worriless Pill Refining Workshop. Not tradable. Automatically reclaimed after one year.]
…
“I’m still worried about having no place to cultivate.”
Lu Qingfeng looked at the Bluestone Tablet. With this Bluestone Tablet, at least in his first year after entering the game, he wouldn’t have to worry about having no place to live and cultivate.
Unfortunately, the Bluestone Tablet could not be used outside of Emery Town, and, what’s more, it would be reclaimed by the Pill Refining Workshop after one year. Otherwise, it would’ve been a must-have item when one was traveling.
Putting away the Bluestone Tablet, Lu Qingfeng took out the Scorching Sun Classic and the Fundamentals of Pill Refining.
Both of them were of the Preliminary grade.
According to the introduction about the grades of techniques, techniques of the Preliminary grade could at most be cultivated up to the Foundation Building Stage.
The Scorching Sun Classic that the Worriless Pill Refining Workshop provided for free was the worst among Preliminary-grade techniques. It could only be cultivated until the pinnacle of the Postnatal-Fetal Phase.
“The Postnatal Stage was divided into the Fetal Phase and the Genuine Chi Phase. I will have to break through the Genuine Chi Phase to ascend into the Foundation Building Stage, which is still a long way away for me. From the looks of it now, the Scorching Sun Classic seems adequate.”
Grabbing the Scorching Sun Classic, Lu Qingfeng clapped both of his hands. A large amount of information poured into his mind. It was almost like he had been branded. It was permanently engraved in his memory. Then Lu Qingfeng clapped again with the Fundamentals of Pill Refining, and dozens of techniques and essentials of handling medicinal herbs filled his mind.
Name: Lu Qingfeng
Race: Human
Faction: None
Title: None
Cultivation Stage: None
Level: 0 (0/1)
Destined Life Span: 16/68
Innate Talent Level: 1
Merit: Unknown
Karma: Unknown
Technique: Yellow Court Classic (Unblooded) [Property: Ability Upgrade (Level 1); Commanding Power (Level 1); Karma Nullification (Level 1)]; Scorching Sun Classic (Unblooded)
Magic: None
Abhijna: None
Equipment: None
Pill Refining: Fundamentals of Pill Refining (Unblooded)
…
In Emery Town…
Within the Bluestone Tablet…
Lu Qingfeng was hungry. He consumed a Fasting Pill and began his first-ever cultivation.
The Scorching Sun Class was the worst of the Preliminary-grade techniques. It had a total of nine Levels. By attaining Level nine, one could ascend to Level nine of the Postnatal-Fetal Phase.
“If this technique was placed in the Truth Sect, what grade would it be classified as? And is it on a par with the Art of Truth? I wonder.”
Lu Qingfeng couldn’t help but think about the Truth Sect.
The Truth Sect ruled over the tens of thousands of people in Jiuzhai County. Their aces were even hailed as deities among mortals.
But after all, they were merely a sect in the mortal realm.
In the meantime, although Lu Qingfeng’s technique had been acquired from “Primitive”, it was a free gift and certainly could not be considered as precious.
It was really hard to say which one was more powerful, the Scorching Sun Classic or the Art of Truth.
Lu Qingfeng was planning that, after he went offline this time, he would go and find out whether he could include the Art of Truth that he had recorded on the bark in his room onto his Attribute Panel.
At this moment, cultivating was more important.
In “Primitive”, there were two ways to gain levels and improve one’s cultivation stage.
This first method was cultivation.
Whether by the procedural approach, meditation, or consuming elixirs, they were all classified under the first method.
The second method was leveling via traditional mob killing.
In “Primitive”, ferocious beasts left over from the world’s second calamity were everywhere. Killing these beasts would give one experience and thereby improving one’s cultivation stage and level.
The first method was safe but slow, while the second method was dangerous but would provide fast leveling.
However, most players opted for the first method in the early stages, because once a player died in “Primitive”, there were only two options: Resurrection and Reincarnation.
Needless to say, Reincarnation was equivalent to deleting one’s account and starting all over again.
Aside from the acquired techniques and learned professions that couldn’t be erased from one’s mind, one’s cultivation would be reduced to oblivion. One would also have to start over in the various spells and Abhijnas that require a lot of work.
This wasn’t directly giving you a 16-year-old body.
One had to be brought up from infancy, and it would take an entire 16 years for one to exit the Pool of Reincarnation and start cultivating again.
Even if a beginner died, they would also have to expend 16 years.
One could certainly imagine the severity of the price that had to be paid.
There was also an end to the life span of “Primitive” players in reality. If one failed to break through to a certain level in their cultivation to increase their life span before their life span came to an end, it caused them to die in reality, and then they would have to Reincarnate for real.
If one chose to enter the game with one’s real body and one chose to Reincarnate upon death, just like the natives of “Primitive”, their memories would be blurred, and their deaths would be exactly as if they had died for real.
In short, with regard to one’s real body dying, if it was in reality, it straight up meant death. If it was in the game, if one chose to enter the game with one’s real body and then chose Reincarnate upon death, their deaths would be equivalent to the real deal.
If one did not enter the game with one’s real body and died in the game, choosing Reincarnate would be equivalent to restarting one’s account.
As for the Resurrection option, upon a player’s death, regardless of whether one logged into the game with their real body or not, they could choose to immediately resurrect at the Pool of Reincarnation or their chosen spawn point.
In addition to paying the corresponding price based on one’s cultivation stage, one’s level would also jump from five to 50 levels, and these were just secondary. The most important thing was that upon every death, one’s Foundation would be damaged.
Unless one acquired some miraculous elixirs to remedy one’s Foundation, leveling would become more difficult in the future.
Hence, on the topic of whether to choose Reincarnation or Resurrection, everyone had their own opinions.
Most certainly, if not necessary, most players would still be willing to cultivate hard or take consumables to improve their cultivation level rather than to opt for the extremely dangerous mob grinding to level up.
After all, whether it was Reincarnation or Resurrection, they all looked similar to that of regular online games, but, in fact, the actual price that had to be paid was far beyond what regular players could afford.
It was no different from life or death.
Therefore, only a few would grind on mobs to level up.
It was undesirable.
At this moment, Lu Qingfeng had no magical powers, no Abhijna, and he couldn’t use talismans. Hence, he could only choose meditation to gain levels.
“Scorching Sun Classic!”
The mystics of the Scorching Sun Classic flowed in Lu Qingfeng’s mind.
The inexplicable sense of Chi loomed in his body, unpredictable and unable to be grasped.
In reality, according to what Lu Qingfeng had learned from the Truth Sect, the first step in mastering the first level of the Art of Truth was to feel one’s fetal breath, give birth to one’s sense of Chi, and develop one’s Chi control.
For this process, those who possessed great talent could accomplish it within days, while for those with mediocre talents, it might take them months or even years. There were also those who were untalented and who would not be able to capture the sense of Chi even throughout their entire lifetimes.
These were the so-called wastrels.
From the time when Lu Qingfeng was 12 until he was 15 years of age, every year people from the Truth Sect would examine his cultivation qualifications. However, since he wasn’t even eligible to become a Labor Disciple, he would fall among the last type of people.
The Innate Talent Level: 1 on his Attribute Panel was proof.
As for Lu Qingshan, he belonged to the second type of people who had mediocre talents. It would take him a couple of months or years to become a Formal Disciple.
Even in “Primitive”, Lu Qingfeng’s aptitude didn’t seem improved.
Having sat cross-legged meditating for half an hour in the Bluestone Tablet, the sense of Chi in Lu Qingfeng’s body had begun looming, rendering him unable to grasp it.
“Gotta take some drugs it seems.”
Lu Qingfeng felt helpless. He got up to exercise his sore body and, after half a cup of tea, he continued to cultivate.
This time, he took one of the five Yellow Dragon Pills provided by the Worriless Pill Refining Workshop and consumed it.
Immediately after, he chanted the Scorching Sun Classic and refined the power of the pill.
The power of the Yellow Dragon Pill was astonishing. Once consumed, it instantly transformed into a warm current that permeated into his limbs and bones, giving him the feeling of ethereal lightness.
Time flew by.
After an unknown amount of time, the power of the pill subsided. Lu Qingfeng slowly opened his eyes, feeling a little lost.
“One Yellow Dragon Pill wasn’t enough!”
Lu Qingfeng’s innate talent was truly atrocious. Even the Yellow Dragon Pill that was hailed as the Divine Elixir of the early Fetal Phase wasn’t able to let him comprehend the sense of Chi.
Lu Qingfeng adjusted his mind, got up, and walked around for a while, then he consumed another pill.
Some unknown amount of time passed after he consumed the Yellow Dragon Pill. The power of the pill once again subsided, but he’d still failed to grasp the vague sense of Chi.
“Again!”
Lu Qingfeng wasn’t discouraged.
If he couldn’t even comprehend the sense of Chi with the help of Yellow Dragon Pills in this game, wouldn’t he be absolutely hopeless back in reality?
Third pill!
Fourth pill!
The efficacy of the Yellow Dragon Pill wasn’t made up after all.
After taking four Yellow Dragon Pills in a row, Lu Qingfeng suddenly felt bliss ascending to his soul. A vague sense of Chi had been captured, his sense of Chi abruptly grew, and pure medicinal power dissolved, giving him control over his Chi for the very first time.
His inner Chi revolved 100 times in an instant, stabilizing at the same time as he was absorbing the power of the pill.
[Congratulations, you have ascended to Level 1 of the Postnatal-Fetal Phase. Your Level has been increased to 1. Your mastery over the Scorching Sun Classic has been increased to Novice.]
Lu Qingfeng opened his eyes, and a golden system prompt appeared in front of him.
“I leveled up.”
Lu Qingfeng was taken aback for a moment. In an instant, he thought about the various online games he had played in his previous life.
It had been 16 years since he had been reborn in another world, living miserably in the depressing Blackwood Village. His personality had long since become silent and gloomy, and the various memories of his past life were mostly buried deep in his heart.
Having those memories reborn all of a sudden gave him mixed feelings.
But most important, with this experience of comprehending the sense of Chi, it would make it possible for him to cultivate in real life and give him hope to become transcendent.
Casting aside all distractions, he brought up the Attribute Panel once again.
Name: Lu Qingfeng
Race: Human
Faction: None
Title: None
Cultivation Stage: Postnatal-Fetal Phase (Level 1)
Level: 0 (0/5)
Chi Control: 1/1 (Grade: Preliminary)
Destined Life Span: 16/68
Innate Talent Level: 1
Merit: Unknown
Karma: Unknown
Technique: Yellow Court Classic (Unblooded) [Property: Ability Upgrade (Level 1); Commanding Power (Level 1); Karma Nullification (Level 1)]; Scorching Sun Classic (Novice) [Updatable].
Magic: None
Abhijna: None
Equipment: None
Pill Refining: “Fundamentals of Pill Refining” (Unblooded) [Updatable]
The Attribute Panel had not changed much.
In addition to the foreseeable changes in Cultivation Stage and Level, there was an additional column of Chi Control, and after the Scorching Sun Classic and the Fundamentals of Pill Refining, the word Updatable appeared.
“Updatable?”
“Is this the Yellow Court Classic’s Ability Upgrade property?” Lu Qingfeng thought immediately.
Without wasting time guessing, Lu Qingfeng directly tapped on [Updatable] behind Scorching Sun Classic.
[Do you wish to expend 1 Experience Point to update Scorching Sun Classic?]
[Reminder: Your experience points in your current level’s experience reserve are 0. If you perform the update, your level will drop to 0.]
“Updating expends experience points. If there aren’t enough experience points in the experience reserve, it will cause my level to drop.”
Lu Qingfeng figured out the information and then clicked on Updatable at the back of Fundamentals of Pill Refining.
[Do you wish to expend 1 Experience Point to update Fundamentals of Pill Refining?]
[Reminder: Your experience points in your current level’s experience reserve are 0. If you perform the update, your level will drop to 0.]
The information was the same.
After some thought, Lu Qingfeng didn’t choose to update any of them.
The Yellow Dragon Pill was of great benefit in one’s cultivation in the Fetal Phase. In the earlier phases, it was rather precious. Hence, Lu Qingfeng couldn’t afford to waste it.
If he fell back in level because of the update, first, he couldn’t cultivate back up in a short amount of time. Second, there weren’t any more Yellow Dragon Pills for him to expend.
Sitting down cross-legged, Lu Qingfeng resumed cultivating in the Scorching Sun Classic.
He took four Yellow Dragon pills to develop the sense of Chi and ascend to the first level of the Fetal Stage. Most of the power of the pill in his body had not yet been refined. If they weren’t cultivated in time, a portion of the pills’ medicinal powers would sink into various parts of his body, making it difficult to tap into its powers once again.
The other portions would escape through his body and become wasted.
For meditation, the efficacy of the Yellow Dragon Pill was indeed not weak.
After a significant amount of time, Lu Qingfeng finally refined all the medicinal power that could be found in his body.
His experience value of level 1 moved up to level 4, and he would be able to gain another level really soon.
“I’ll use two experience points to test out the effects of Update.”
Lu Qingfeng opened his eyes. First, he updated the Scorching Sun Classic.
[Do you wish to expend one Experience Point to update Scorching Sun Classic?]
“Yes.” Lu Qingfeng responded.
[Scorching Sun Classic Updating…]
“…”
Having expended his experience points, a golden system prompt popped up in front of Lu Qingfeng’s eyes, and then there was nothing else. On the Attribute Panel, the word [Updatable] after Scorching Sun Classic had become [Updating].
“Is it that I don’t have enough experience points, or is the update really slow?”
Lu Qingfeng was confused.
“Let me try it with the Fundamentals of Pill Refining.”
[Do you wish to expend one Experience Point to update Fundamentals of Pill Refining?]
“Yes.”
[Fundamentals of Pill Refining Updating…]
Like the Scorching Sun Classic, the Fundamentals of Pill Refining was stuck at Updating.
“This is…”
Lu Qingfeng thought about this for a while, then he tapped on [Updating]. Immediately, a message popped out:
[Scorching Sun Classic Updating. Required experience point 1/10]
[Fundamentals of Pill Refining Updating. Required experience point 1/10]
“I see. I didn’t put in enough experience points.”
Lu Qingfeng understood what the problem was.
Now that he figured out what was going on, he was intrigued about what the Scorching Sun Classic and the Fundamentals of Pill Refining would become after he invested enough experience points. However, even with all the experience points he had put together, they weren’t enough to complete the update of even one of them.
He could only put them off for the time being and quietly exit “Primitive”.
…
