I've Got a Feeling

When Kyushu World had just launched, Players each had their own preferences among the four Main Professions. Demonic Cultivators and Demon Cultivators drew the largest numbers, together accounting for a full seventy percent.

Dao Cultivators made up a little over twenty percent, while Buddhist Cultivators accounted for less than ten.

There were dedicated threads on the official forums discussing this matter, and the Players' views were remarkably uniform: in the real world, everyone was a good little child, law-abiding and harmless to man and beast; in the virtual world, they intended to rebel for once.

As for the truth, those who understood, understood. Those who did not should not ask. If they asked, the answer was that they had already grown tired of fairies and the like—Demonesses and witch women were the prevailing trend.

It was too true to spell out plainly, so it was concealed. No ill intentions.

As for Buddhist Cultivators...

Best not to mention. They lost because they were too serious.

When creating an account, Players could choose the Main Profession they leaned toward, then descend into different regions of Kyushu World and find NPCs to complete their "Opening Apertures" initiation.

The process was simple and swift. So long as they found an NPC to lead the way, without exception, they would display their peerless "astonishing talent" and successfully open their apertures at the first attempt.

Lu Bei had no choice. The three sets of twelve Daoist Canon Classics meant he could only choose to become a Dao Cultivator. The NPC template left him uncertain; he did not know whether he possessed the superb aptitude to enter the Dao in one go like the Players.

If he did, everything would be easy. If he did not, then forget it—he would not work hard anymore.

His scalp tingling, he opened the first Daoist book and silently read it word by word. As characters and diagrams entered his sight, a warm current immediately rolled up in his lower abdomen.

There was hope!

"Junior Disciple Brother Lu, if you feel the spiritual qi inside your body striking the Yang Linking and Yin Linking Vessels, your blood qi will fill..."

Bai Jin stood to one side and quietly gave him pointers. Thinking that Lu Bei was a complete newbie who most likely would not understand, she changed her wording. "Tell me when you feel something."

Although this was the case, Bai Jin did not expect Lu Bei to succeed in Opening Apertures on his first try. She had already prepared herself for him to fail again and again. In her eyes, this Junior Disciple Brother was far too restless by nature and not steady enough of mind. If he could not calm his heart, he could not read the Daoist Canon Classics, much less use their divine resonance to stir the spiritual qi accumulated inside his body.

The reason she had not pointed this out was deliberate. Letting Lu Bei experience a few more failures would help temper his character, lest his cluttered thoughts cause him losses in the future.

She had experience with this. When teaching her own disciple, she had made the other party gnaw through Daoist Canon Classics for an entire month.

Meanwhile, Lu Bei flipped through the Daoist book faster and faster. Even skimming ten lines at a glance was not enough to describe it. In his lower abdomen, the warm current vortex formed by gathered spiritual qi spun faster and faster. Once it swelled beyond the point of stability, it struck the Yin Linking Vessel, even causing the Yang Linking Vessel to react.

Lu Bei's face flushed red as he abruptly snapped the Daoist book shut. "Senior Sister, I've got a feeling! It's coming!"

"What feeling... so fast?!"

Bai Jin was initially stunned. Just as she deeply felt it was unbelievable, Lu Bei displayed his top-tier "astonishing talent" for cultivation. Yin and yang complemented each other, overflowing qi and stored blood forming the first qi channels inside his body.

Bang!

A buzzing explosion rang in his ears. Lu Bei's body trembled as he let out a long breath, then turned sideways and gave Bai Jin a thumbs-up.

"Senior Sister Bai, I have not failed your expectations."

"He actually... did it for real... He really did it..."

Bai Jin saw through the truth of it and was immediately astonished—on one hand by Lu Bei, and on the other by Mo Buxiu, who had moved into a little box.

Before this, she had truly believed that Mo Buxiu had chosen Lu Bei as his disciple merely to pass down the Feather Transformation Sect's legacy. With his final days approaching and few choices left, he had simply picked someone pleasing to the eye off the street.

"Junior Disciple Brother Lu, you did..."

Bai Jin was about to offer a few words of praise when she saw the uncontrollable curl at the corner of Lu Bei's mouth. She instinctively thought of her foolish disciple, who became smug at the slightest bit of talent, and her face instantly turned cold. "Too slow. You took so long just to open your apertures. If Uncle-Master Mo knew in the netherworld that your aptitude was this poor, he surely would not be able to rest in peace."

He was already in a little box. What eyes did he have left to rest?

Lu Bei clenched his fist and gave a light cough. "Senior Sister, Master said I was richly gifted, and that it would be a pity if I did not cultivate immortality. I disagreed, so he beat me."

Out of respect for a senior of the sect, Bai Jin was unable to refute him. But she was even less willing to see Lu Bei grow arrogant over his talent, so she continued to disparage him. "Poor aptitude is poor aptitude. I have a disciple who successfully opened her apertures after merely turning one page of a Daoist scroll. Her talent surpasses yours by who knows how much."

Really or not? I don't believe it!

Lu Bei looked skeptical. Getting employed after just one glance was aptitude exclusive to Players. The game had not even launched yet—where could such a super genius come from?

"Junior Disciple Brother Lu, I know you do not believe me, but the Cultivation World never lacks those blessed with outstanding talent. Some stand above tens of thousands, while even more fade into the common crowd." Bai Jin earnestly advised him.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister. I understand."

A flood of protective affection assaulted him. Lu Bei did not intend to keep arguing, so he proactively admitted fault and turned to say, "Senior Sister, now that I have completed Opening Apertures, I should diligently restrain myself and press onward while the iron is hot. What should I learn next?"

Rich woman, hungry hungry, bring out the cultivation manuals. I want to learn skills.

Bai Jin: "..."

Meeting Lu Bei's eager, crying-for-food gaze of scholarly thirst, Bai Jin felt pressure for a moment. She had not prepared the cultivation methods for after Opening Apertures.

Previously, Bai Jin had planned to let Lu Bei gnaw through Daoist Canon Classics for two months. By the time he finished Opening Apertures, the Feather Transformation Sect would more or less be repaired, and she could then teach him with care.

As for cultivation methods, the techniques of the Lingxiao Sword Sect could be taught to him.

But that would not work either.

Mo Buxiu had secretly left the Lingxiao Sword Sect back then, and before leaving, he had even beaten the sect master. Though he had not been stripped of his title, the tangled complications involved were truly impossible to cut through or sort out.

Secondly, Mo Buxiu had established his own sect and passed it on to Lu Bei. Strictly speaking, Lu Bei was not a disciple of the Lingxiao Sword Sect. Bai Jin could teach on behalf of her master, but she could not pass on the Lingxiao Sword Sect's cultivation methods.

For these reasons, Bai Jin had asked a friend at Dasheng Pass to carefully select excellent techniques, which she would retrieve after some time.

The idea had been good, but she had not expected Lu Bei to be so fast. He simply refused to follow the usual script, skipping Opening Apertures in the blink of an eye and throwing her foolproof plan into disorder.

"Senior Sister?"

"..."

"Senior Sister, speak up!"

Lu Bei urged her. At first glance, seeing Bai Jin at a loss was rather amusing.

"Junior Disciple Brother Lu, it is good that you possess the aura to forge ahead through rushing currents, but cultivation emphasizes both tension and relaxation. Your foundation is too shallow, so you should properly stabilize it."

"So?"

"We will not cultivate today. I-I'll teach you a fist technique first."

"???"

Leaving behind a fist manual, Bai Jin hurried away.

Her destination was Dasheng Pass.

Lu Bei's aptitude was astonishing, and the original plan was void. To preserve her dignity as his Senior Sister, she had to obtain a cultivation method for Lu Bei as quickly as possible.

The faster, the better!

Lu Bei watched Bai Jin leave, shrugged where he stood, and opened his changed Personal Panel.

Name: Lu Bei

Race: Human

Template: NPC

Level: 3

Experience: 250/900

Cultivation: 50/50

Health: 70/70

Main Profession: Dao Cultivator

Secondary Profession: Farmer Lv1

Attributes: Strength 2, Speed 3, Spirit 5, Endurance 7, Charm 3, Luck 3

Evaluation: Please have some self-awareness. What is there to evaluate!

Unread Messages

[You have come into contact with Daoist Canon Classics, unlocking the Main Profession Dao Cultivator. This cannot be changed.]

[You have come into contact with Daoist Canon Classics and comprehended the Seated Breathing Method. Spirit +1, Endurance +2, Free Attribute Points +1, Skill Points +50.]

[You have come into contact with Daoist Canon Classics and comprehended the Qi Nourishing Longevity Method. Spirit +1, Endurance +2, Free Attribute Points +1, Skill Points +50.]

"A once-in-a-lifetime Main Profession choice, and I only comprehended two skills. This account is kind of ruined!"

Lu Bei muttered. Both skills were defensive, armor-stacking types. What did that mean? Was it saying that he was full of worries and severely lacking in a sense of security?

"Then next, it's decided—you."

Lu Bei pulled the Fetal Breath Qi Replenishing Art from the seam of his clothes, his eyes full of curiosity and anticipation. "It has an unremarkable name, but Master... the old man treated it with such care. It must have some meritorious aspect."

"Mm, hopefully he was not muddleheaded from seeing the lantern reel before his death..."