Hui Cao looked at the rewards on her table. The chips had tripled three times before the roulette finally stopped.
She simply decided to abandon the system bonuses in favor of the more important results.
—Five thousand chips in just a few minutes… let's go to the Gacha—
she said as Lucky Jack teleported once again toward the machine.
At least an hour had passed since she had started betting on the roulette, and after thinking it through, she finally understood the reality of these games.
—"The air feels like that of the Blessed Land in the southern zone of the empire—so intoxicating it forces you to cultivate on the spot. Even the music is a trap, meant to make you lose awareness of what's happening"—
she thought as she fed the coins in, reaching nearly fifty pulls, her hands trembling slightly.
She immediately pulled the Gacha lever. The machine jumped and spun once more, its metallic tongue sliding out as fifty boxes burst open in splinters of wood, revealing their rewards.
Most were gray and green, but right at the end, two objects shone blue. At that moment, the system's voice spoke in her head.
"5/5 correct numbers (roulette). 3/3 rare items (gacha). 2/7 Blackjacks (blackjack)."
She paid it no mind, instead looking at the now empty and soulless Lucky Jack, who seemed more like a decoration than the former owner of this place.
His wooden mouth hung limply in the air, the lights that once shone in his eyes extinguished, his former lively presence lost along with her decision not to take the bonuses.
—Let's go to Blackjack—
she said instantly, causing Lucky Jack to teleport to the Blackjack table, his hat now torn wide open as if grazed by a bullet.
Hui Cao simply placed one of the common-grade items on the betting table and waited calmly.
—After this, I'll check that chest with the fried rice. Maybe there's more food like it—
she said, placing the basic pine logs on the table once again, waiting for a Blackjack to appear.
Time passed, and finally the system spoke with its usual calm.
" The Luck Training Field has been successfully cleared. One point of Luck has been granted to the guest's statistics. All items have been deposited into their respective boxes. The Luck Training Field will be available again in 24 hours."
Immediately, the music faded, and the lights on the machines vanished with it. Lucky Jack, for his part, dissolved into dust as if he had never been there.
Hui Cao sat on the ground outside the training field, removing the hat and fanning herself with it.
—That man truly is a mystery… my cultivation technique, Yang Meridian Break and Reconstruction… was it really my father's family technique passed down through generations, or was it a method to rapidly increase cultivation until reaching Qi Control?—
Hui Cao looked at one of the pills she had taken from her spatial ring, doubt in her eyes.
—The Qi Control Advancement Pill… it could be part of my brother's plan, but even with that, it would be difficult for my father not to think about it. And my technique focuses on Yang energy, more suited for men. If that wasn't the reason, then what was?—
She carefully held the Yang Energy Gathering Pill in her hand and asked:
—Can you give me a blank book and a pen with ink—
she said to the system's voice in her head.
In an instant, a bundle of rough, cheap leather-bound pages and an ink pen landed beside her.
Hui Cao looked inside, finding the pages divided into small, simple grids.
Taking the pen, she began writing on one of the pages. At first, her strokes were blurry and unstable, barely forming characters. After a few minutes, she found a comfortable rhythm and managed to write a single word.
Without hesitation, she began writing the cultivation technique she had learned since childhood. If she didn't know it by heart at this point, she would have gone mad.
After using nearly twenty pages of the book, she asked the system:
—Can you tell me how this cultivation technique affects the person who uses it?—
she asked calmly as the book dissolved into particles.
"Responding to the guest. The analysis of this technique will take a few minutes. My primary function is a Wild West system. The analysis will be delivered in a few seconds. I will not be able to respond further during this time, alï@$##—"
The system abruptly went silent, as if it had malfunctioned, and time passed as Hui Cao walked once more toward the Chinese New Year event chests.
Just as she held the plate of fried rice in her hands, the system spoke again.
"Analysis completed."
"The Yang Meridian Break and Reconstruction technique functions by expanding human meridians over time, transforming them into larger and more resilient meridians. This greatly increases cultivation. However, the issue within this technique is the following: it adapts to the user's body by converting Yin energy into Yang energy. In men, Yin energy is consumed to stabilize the energies. In women, Yang energy pills are sufficient. However, when using this technique, the Shenmen meridian point is sealed until the individual's growth reaches full adulthood."
Hui Cao noticed the change in the system's tone—it now used terminology more suited to technical analysis rather than its earlier casual voice.
Setting that aside, she looked at the technique with both resentment and understanding.
—How many years of refinement does this technique have?—
she asked again.
"Estimated origin: five hundred thousand years ago. However, the original version appears to have been inscribed for use by a body different from that of humans."
—Then this truly is my family's technique. I suppose it was inscribed for dragons and dragon-humans of antiquity—
remembering her father's stories about the imperial family's origins, she sighed and continued walking toward the table to eat.
As she enjoyed the food, she looked up at the sky briefly, thinking.
—Blocking the Shenmen point also prevents the ability to gather Heavenly Qi.
That means after passing the Core Formation stage, my cultivation will stagnate until I become an adult—
she took another spoonful before asking:
—Was this technique modified to seal the Shenmen point?—
"According to the technique itself, it does not appear so. However, deep analysis indicates the seal was intentional, though the modification dates back several millennia."
—No… it's better if I don't fully understand what's happening. Where is the Perception Training Field?—
she said calmly, finishing her meal.
The system turned the plate into blue particles, and Hui Cao followed the system arrows once more.
"The Rare Perception Training Field requires the following results to obtain +1 Perception: identify venomous animals 0/10, distinguish old and recent animal tracks 0/5, and uncover the symbols within the stone tablets 0/10. Time limit: 30:00 minutes. Say 'start' to begin."
Hui Cao admired the beautifully maintained flower field before stepping inside.
Everything seemed normal—the floral fragrance filled the area.
—Start—
In an instant, the fragrance exploded, overwhelming her senses.
Animals appeared from nowhere around her, some brightly colored, others marked with strange patterns.
Tracks surrounded her in every direction.
In the distance stood three stone pillars embedded in the ground, each with a stone tablet atop it.
Above, the timer began to move.
29:59:99
By reflex, she activated Divine Vision. Instantly, she noticed distinctive colors emanating from the animals' auras.
As her internal energy rapidly drained, she memorized as much as she could and began speaking.
—Three wolves on the left have venom coating their claws. Two crows on the right have toxins embedded in their feathers, darkening their coloration—
The marked animals glowed faintly and vanished.
Three seconds later, Hui Cao's Divine Vision shut down. With most of the differences engraved in her mind, she managed to make her path easier.
—One serpent has dark coloration, and its fangs emit a stench of venom. Three spiders have vibrant coloring; one of them even bears a skull-like mark on its back. Lastly, inside a finch there is a deadly tick that absorbs its spiritual energy—
she said calmly, taking a brief moment to breathe while watching as the animals—now showing all their differences—vanished into the air.
"10/10 venomous animals identified. Time bonus awarded. One hint for the stone tablets."
She looked up at the timer above. It read 25:40. In just a few minutes, she had completed this part of the trial.
She then focused on the tracks on the ground, observing them calmly while thinking about the differences between the animals of her world and those reflected in these tracks.
—"These tracks resemble those of serpent-hide wolves, but they seem larger. They don't leave deep prints; it looks like they hunt in stealth. If an animal this large hunts silently, then what kind of prey exists here?"—
she pondered, her eyes noticing the fine particles of fresh sand that had begun to cover the tracks.
She began walking along the outer edge of the track-covered area, deliberately making her own footprints while measuring the time it took for airborne sand to cover them.
A few minutes passed, and her experimentation bore fruit. She discovered that after two minutes, the first specks of dust began to settle over her footprints.
With this information, she examined the surrounding tracks and identified those that were more heavily covered in dust than the others.
—Wolf track or something similar; it seems quite old. This crow track appears to have been covered for a considerable amount of time—
she said, as those tracks were marked in green light that outlined them.
After spending a little over five minutes analyzing the remaining tracks, she spoke again.
—This reptile mark is very ancient; it seems a scale was even left behind along its path. This track contains the dried exoskeleton of a spider. And this last shoe print has the skeleton of a small lizard inside—
As she spoke, the tracks became completely enveloped in green light and then vanished into the air.
Immediately, the scent of flowers once again filled her senses, and both the sandy area and the animals disappeared, leaving Hui Cao standing at the center of the three stone pillars.
"5/5 tracks differentiated. Time bonus obtained. New hints available for use on the stone tablets."
She looked up at the stone tablets atop the pillars and began leaping from one pillar to the next consecutively until she reached the top. Grabbing all three tablets, she descended as if sliding down a rope, knocking over one of the pillars in the process.
Ignoring the damage caused by her movement, she placed the stone tablets on the grass-covered ground filled with flowers.
As if nothing had happened, the pillar rose once more, reconstructing itself.
—They're blank—
she said, staring at the tablets, which appeared as smooth as freshly made paper.
Using her Divine Vision cautiously, she looked at the stone tablets once again.
In her eyes, each tablet seemed to have a groove on one side that allowed them to fit perfectly together. Looking more carefully, she noticed that each one was faintly marked with a number in its upper corner.
Positioning them in the correct order, the tablets trembled slightly, and a thin layer of dust fell away, revealing crude carvings with missing sections.
—A man lifting a stone that seems to glow… the man rises above his peers because of the stone… a massive creature with a body resembling a human and large horns retreats from the man and the stone—
she narrated, describing the images shown on the tablets.
She then asked calmly:
—How do the hints I obtained earlier work?—
"One part of the tablet you choose will be explained, providing a complete description of what you point out. If you complete the story using the hints, you will obtain a third Legendary-class bonus."
—So I only have two uses to uncover the story… a glowing stone that causes people to rise above other humans… Is the stone gold? No—why would something as common as gold drive away a monster?—
She rubbed her forehead in confusion.
—Gold is common and worthless. In the empire, one way to repel spirits is with the sacred platinum of Mount Xien Mo, but only if one proves purity in how it will be used is it granted. But… damn it… I choose the hint about the glowing stone the man is holding—
She said with slight reluctance, glancing at the other tablet.
"Silver. The scarcest material in the world. A stone the size of your pinky grants wealth equal to that of a nation. It has the power to kill and repel spirit-corrupted beasts. Many die without ever being able to touch a piece containing this material. Attempting to form an alloy with another metal without proper care results in catastrophe."
—Just silver? What kind of bad joke is this?—
Hui Cao took a deep breath, calming the anger that surged in her mind.
—Something used by mortals of the lowest regions of the empire as fine tableware. You wouldn't even see a piece of it in any sect. There are even poisons it can't detect. What nonsense—
She took another deep breath to calm herself.
Then, in a calmer voice, she continued narrating:
—A man finds a giant piece of silver one day. It grants him enough economic power to earn the respect of his peers, and thanks to it, he drives a monster away from the village, saving his neighbors' lives—
As she spoke, the tablet glowed yellow and displayed the same images once more.
—Where did I fail?—
She scratched her head uncertainly and looked again at the creature depicted on the final tablet.
Studying the humanoid creature more closely, she noticed the animal skull covering its face, yet still had no idea what kind of being it was.
—It resembles the paintings of ghosts in the city's art hall, but it isn't spectral. In the tablet, it plants its feet firmly on the ground. A dark spirit? Hmm… I have no way to uncover what creature this is… ahh, use the hint on the creature in the third tablet—
she said calmly, focusing on the system's voice.
"Wendigo. The end of those blessed with spiritual strength. Immortal. Time makes them stronger and smarter. They are unafraid to wait until their enemy lets down their guard, and most importantly, they hunger for flesh and blood. If you encounter one, you have two options: run until you reach a safe place, or fight to kill it. There are two ways to do so—silver, a strike to its vital points is sufficient, or one's own spirit. If you kill one with your spirit, you will forever be an unbreakable warrior."
—Wendigo… then the story doesn't end on this tablet. The creature simply waited outside the village until the man left with his wealth—
She said, impressed by the system's description.
She cleared her throat and spoke in a calmer voice.
—A man found a large piece of silver along his path. When he brought it to the village, some looked upon his fortune with envy, but even so, they did not retaliate. One day, a Wendigo monster approached the village, but the man, using his silver, drove the beast away for the time being—
She said while concentrating on the tablet, moving her hands across the figure.
The tablet glowed green, and in an instant, the figures within it began to move.
The man was shown taking the piece of silver he had found beneath a tree, boasting to everyone about his newfound wealth with great arrogance.
The others grew irritated with him—until a beast arrived, an animal skull covering its dark face.
It walked toward the front of the village and, by ill fortune, encountered the man who had gone out for a walk.
Frightened, it fled and waited on the outskirts, patiently awaiting its victims.
The man looked at the stone once more before leaving his home, abandoning his neighbors and his family behind.
Only a few days after he left, the beast—which had been waiting calmly—attacked.
Bodies were devoured amid biting and tearing. The figures carved into the stone tablets seemed to scream. Houses turned to dust, and people were crushed and devoured with merciless calm. Those who ran died instantly, leaving not even their shoes behind.
After a few seconds, nothing remained of the village, and the Wendigo, with its insatiable hunger, walked away from the ruins in search of its next prey.
Time passed, and with it, the man returned to the village with his achievements upon his back and a handful of banknotes meant for his family.
In an instant, when he saw that the place he once called home no longer existed, he fell to his knees in the now-arid land, tears filling his eyes.
Hui Cao felt a chill run down her spine, as if her own memories of nearly dying were being stirred once more within her mind.
Thinking about the story unfolding before her, she did not even have the mental energy to listen to the system's notification speaking inside her head.
"Perception Training Field completed. One additional point on Perception has been awarded to the statistic, along with a bonus insignia. The ignorant live without worry."