Attribute Panel

"Just now I was saying I had to work hard, and now I already wanted to give up."

Lin Lin sighed inwardly.

Elder of Teaching Skills had once said that only by feeling fatigue, then continuing to cultivate in that state of exhaustion, could one achieve better results.

Martial cultivation meant breaking one's limits again and again, allowing both body and spirit to advance.

With his current attitude of stopping as soon as he made even the slightest progress, he was indeed better than the half-hearted approach he had before awakening his Past Life Wisdom—fishing for three days and drying the nets for two—but not by much.

If he continued cultivating like this, Lin Lin might grow stronger and might attain some accomplishments on the martial path, but he would never become a true master.

In this chaotic world, he still would not be able to live in peace.

His steps toward the Rock Cave stopped. Reining in his stray thoughts, Lin Lin calmed his mind and focused his spirit as he continued practicing his sword.

Those stronger than me are all working hard. What reason do I have not to keep working hard?

Lin Lin consoled himself like this, pouring himself bowl after bowl of inspirational broth and urging himself onward.

Yet as his strength dwindled, the cold wind became ever more piercing, while his arms felt as heavy as though they had been filled with lead.

My parents in this life have placed such earnest hopes in me. I must work hard and grow strong enough to survive this dangerous martial world. I cannot let them bury their own child.

When my parents grow old, their vitality and blood will decline, and their martial arts will weaken. Then they will need me to protect them. If I do not cultivate diligently now, am I supposed to regret it only when I cannot protect them later?

I was just thinking that if I worked hard and became stronger, perhaps I could become one of the finest masters in the world, with the strength to face a thousand riders alone and take a general's head amid ten thousand troops. If I give up now, I will never achieve that.

Lin Lin knew that his body had not yet reached its limit, so he frantically came up with all kinds of reasons in his mind to push himself, fighting against the urge to stop cultivating.

But to Lin Lin, who had heard every kind of inspirational broth since childhood, those words were like duckweed without roots. After briefly resisting the negative feelings in his heart, they were swept away completely.

In the end, only surrender remained in his mind.

"Cultivation really is hard."

Lying on the ground as the biting cold wind washed over him, Lin Lin looked at the somewhat gloomy sky and sighed from the bottom of his heart.

He could feel that there was still plenty of strength left in his body.

But intense exhaustion shrouded both body and mind, leaving him wanting only to lie there, with no desire whatsoever to continue cultivating.

In fact, Lin Lin had already realized the importance of studying in his previous life. He had only been in his twenties then, so it had not been too late to start working hard.

Late-blooming greatness was wisdom ancient sages had realized and passed down to later generations.

But learning, and persisting in learning, were abilities in themselves. Many times, he had wanted to study, yet many times he had been defeated by its dullness.

"The only thing that ever made me feel relaxed and happy in both my past and present lives was probably gaming."

"In the world of games, effort brought rewards. Every bit of progress could be clearly seen through changing numbers, and I could constantly receive positive feedback. Effort was no longer torture—it became fun."

"If life had an Attribute Panel like a game, where I could see every change in myself, maybe I could grind myself to the breaking point."

His body was exhausted to the extreme, and his already less-than-firm will began to weaken further.

Blaming heaven and others, fantasies that could not change reality in the slightest, surfaced in his mind once more.

But at that moment, something called a miracle appeared.

The gloomy sky vanished from Lin Lin's field of vision, replaced by a screen of light flickering with a faint golden glow.

Many lines of text appeared upon it.

Name: Lin Lin

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 13 years, 11 days, 14 hours, 33 minutes, 22 seconds

Vitality: 240/467

Inner Force: 88/88

Health: 98/100

Satiety: 45/100

Constitution: 32

Inner Breath: 9

Strength: 27

Agility: 19

Endurance: 22

Skill: Hundred Flowers in Disarray
Category: Swordsmanship
Level: Ordinary Martial Art
Initial Glimpse: 55/100

Quest Log: Completed "Hundred Flowers in Disarray" cultivation. Vitality -5. Current progress: Initial Glimpse 21/100.

Affected by the cold wind of Yin Wind Gorge. Vitality -1.

Completed "Hundred Flowers in Disarray" cultivation. Vitality -5. Current progress: Initial Glimpse 33/100.

Affected by the cold wind of Yin Wind Gorge. Vitality -2, Health -1.

Satiety decreased by 5. Vitality recovered by 30.

Completed "Hundred Flowers in Disarray" cultivation. Vitality -5. Current progress: Initial Glimpse 50/100. Strength +1, Constitution +1, Endurance +1.

After reading every word on the screen, Lin Lin felt both shock and delight.

"Is this my cheat? Judging by this Quest Log, it should have appeared when I awakened my Past Life Wisdom, but it only showed up now."

"Was the trigger recalling the keyword 'Attribute Panel' in my mind?"

Thinking this, Lin Lin began to experiment.

When he silently thought of closing the Attribute Panel, the screen before his eyes indeed vanished. When he silently thought of the Attribute Panel again, the vanished screen reappeared.

Having figured out how to open the Attribute Panel, Lin Lin began closely examining what the various attributes on it represented.

As Lin Lin moved his gaze over them, detailed explanations of the relevant attributes appeared.

Vitality represented the most fundamental reserve of strength within Lin Lin's body. Everyday activities consumed vitality.

When vitality fell to a certain point, he would feel tired. If vitality dropped to 0, he would lose the ability to act, and it would also affect his health. Vitality could be restored through rest and food.

The Inner Force attribute was a manifestation of Lin Lin's martial cultivation results. The upper limit of Inner Force could be increased by cultivating an Inner Power Cultivation Method to raise Inner Breath.

Inner Force could naturally recover through the circulation of an Inner Power Cultivation Method and the flow of vitality. Recovering Inner Force consumed vitality.

Lin Lin currently had no Qi Sensation and had not condensed Inner Breath, so he could not actively use Inner Force. But that did not mean there was no Inner Force within his body. It was a power naturally present in everyone's body.

Health represented Lin Lin's current physical condition. If his health fell below 95, he would easily catch minor illnesses; below 90, he would easily fall seriously ill.

Negative conditions such as injury, poisoning, and sickness would all affect health.

Satiety represented whether Lin Lin currently needed to eat. At the same time, satiety was an indicator that determined the body's various recovery abilities. If satiety reached zero and he still did not eat, vitality would be consumed. If both vitality and satiety reached zero, he would already be on the brink of starving to death.

After that, Constitution represented the body's maximum vitality, recovery ability, and immunity. It was also the foundation for the other attributes.

For example, Lin Lin's Constitution was 32, so attributes such as Strength could reach at most five times that value—160 points.

The Inner Breath attribute affected the upper limit of Inner Force, its recovery rate, and defense against Inner Force attacks. Strength was a direct manifestation of physical power and carrying capacity. Endurance slightly affected the vitality limit and was also a direct manifestation of resistance to blows. Agility affected movement speed and reaction speed.

According to the panel's definitions, an ordinary adult's attributes generally hovered around ten points.

After understanding the meaning of the Attribute Panel's contents, Lin Lin made a few more attempts. In the end, he discovered that the Attribute Panel merely reflected his physical state in an extremely intuitive manner; it could not be used to add points and directly alter his body in reverse.

Lin Lin did not care much about that.

Simply being able to clearly see his physical condition already filled him with motivation.

"I was just fantasizing about how great it would be if reality were like a game. Since it has become real now, I'm gonna grind myself to the breaking point!"

Although his body was still exhausted, Lin Lin felt that it was no big deal now.

He rose straight from the ground and began practicing his sword!

But unlike before, when he had wanted to give up at every moment, Lin Lin now felt as though he possessed limitless motivation!