Thirty-Nine Minor Mystic Art

Scam or not, he might as well keep going!

Di Xin's face darkened. Without a second thought, he steeled his heart, shut his eyes, and jabbed his divine sense at the ten-pull option!

[Detected that the host has decided to close his eyes. Blind draw mode has automatically been enabled for the host...]

Just then, the system's voice rang out in his mind, and the world before his eyes plunged into total darkness.

This shitty system was pretty fucking smart. But no matter how smart it was, what damn good did all this darkness do...?

Speechless, Di Xin jabbed randomly a couple of times with his divine sense.

[Draw complete. Host, please open your eyes...]

A short while later, the system notification sounded, and the darkness before his eyes slowly faded.

Yes, it really did fade slowly. Like the opening of a film, the darkness receded from the world before him bit by bit, agonizingly slowly and with an immense sense of ceremony...

This system was useless at everything else, but when it came to flashy nonsense, it had tricks piled on tricks!

Di Xin was utterly speechless. After finally enduring until all the darkness had faded, he looked toward his Inventory.

"This is... gasp..."

At a glance, Di Xin immediately saw four stalks of Dao-Merging Grass sitting in his Inventory, along with a gleaming golden page!

The Dao-Merging Grass was nothing special, but that gleaming golden page immediately made Di Xin's breathing grow tense.

After all, the Suiren Tranquil Heart Method had appeared as a gleaming golden page too!

Finally, his luck had turned!

At that moment, Di Xin nearly wept a rain of tears. After forty pulls, the system had finally stopped fobbing him off with nothing but Dao-Merging Grass and given him something fit for the living!

Without a second thought, he wanted to take out the gleaming golden page and see exactly what secret art it contained!

But just as he extended his divine sense, he shook his head repeatedly and abandoned the idea.

Given how much of an asshole this system was, if he clicked it now, that gleaming golden page would most likely turn out to be the worst of the available cultivation arts. Better to take the Dao-Merging Grass first, burn through all his bad luck, and then try.

[Congratulations, host! Third time's the... fourth time's the charm. Obtained 25 Minor Pickpocketing Art mastery points. Accumulated total: 41/3000... The host can now use the Minor Pickpocketing Art to steal items from cultivators in the essence refining into qi realm. A friendly reminder: theft is illegal. If caught, you will be severely punished!]

Sure enough, exactly as Di Xin had expected, all four stalks of Dao-Merging Grass were for the Minor Pickpocketing Art. Still, those four stalks had raised the art by a tier, finally allowing him to steal items from cultivators, even if they were only in the essence refining into qi realm.

"Let's see what secret art it gave me this time!"

Then Di Xin took a deep breath and directed his divine sense toward the gleaming golden page.

[Congratulations, host! Obtained one volume of the Thirty-Nine Minor Mystic Art. Cultivation has been activated for the host. Learned the Seventy-Two Transformations...]

The moment his divine sense touched the golden page, Di Xin felt something new appear in his mind. His body also changed, seemingly filling with endless possibilities, capable of being molded into all manner of forms.

Finally... a lucky pull!

Sure enough, only ten-pulls could set him on the road to becoming an emperor of luck!

Hearing the notification, Di Xin immediately felt tears welling in his eyes.

The Thirty-Nine Minor Mystic Art was precisely the technique he had wanted most. After all, the Seventy-Two Transformations in Journey to the West were simply irresistible. What child had never dreamed of possessing them? Di Xin was naturally no exception.

Even if what he had obtained now amounted to only twenty-seven transformations, it was still enough to thrill him!

[Thirty-Nine Minor Mystic Art: by circulating this art, the host can transform his body into anything he wishes, provided he knows of it and has seen it. He will possess all the abilities of the being or object imitated, but the strength of each ability will be equivalent to the host's own. Each transformation lasts fifteen minutes and automatically expires once that limit is exceeded. After three consecutive uses, the cooldown is one day. Please use cautiously, host. Treasure each use...]

The system's notification followed, informing Di Xin of the Thirty-Nine Minor Mystic Art's specific abilities and effects.

"Gasp..."

Hearing this, Di Xin sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes brimming with excitement.

Although the Thirty-Nine Minor Mystic Art had "Minor" in its name, there was nothing minor about its power. Its ability to replicate the abilities of whatever he transformed into was especially outrageous.

"Transform... into Thanos, Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet!"

Without any hesitation, Di Xin immediately closed his eyes and recalled that giant purple sweet potato, with his Yeezy-sole chin and colorful gauntlet.

One snap, and half the world vanished. Put a boss like that in the Primordial World, and he could wipe out the Chan Sect, the Interception Sect, and the Western Teachings with a wave of his hand. Wouldn't that make continuing the Investiture of the Gods unnecessary? Forget the Investiture of the Gods-even the struggle between teachings in Journey to the West would never have to happen. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

[Please note, host: this is the Primordial World, not the Marvel Universe. Transformation invalid...]

Unfortunately, the moment Di Xin had that thought, the Heavenly Dao Sage Scam System mercilessly sliced his little notion off at the roots like a tender stalk of chives!

"Transform into Dao Ancestor Hongjun..."

Di Xin sighed. Then his eyes brightened again as he recalled the figure of light he had seen when heavenly dao merit descended.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun was the strongest being of this era, without a single equal. Even at the qi refining into spirit realm, he surely would have possessed countless unfathomable powers.

[Transformation failed! Detected that Hongjun was born a Sage. No reference data available...]

Unfortunately, the very next second, the system dumped a bucket of cold water over Di Xin's head-and it was the kind laced with chunks of ice.

Born a Sage!

Hearing those words, Di Xin suddenly felt his teeth ache with sourness, as though he had eaten hundreds of millions of lemons.

Some people left the base already equipped with six endgame items, while others not only had to start grinding from level zero, but suffered three kills the moment they stepped out from under their defensive tower, opening at 0-3-0. How could that not leave a sour taste in his heart?!

"Transform... into Daji!"

After heaving several long sighs, Di Xin's gaze shifted again and again. Finally, Daji's image appeared in his mind, and he spoke in a low voice.

Whoosh!

As the words fell, light flashed over his body. Di Xin, who had been standing in the room, abruptly vanished, replaced by the slender, graceful Daji.

"Good, I don't feel anything..."

Di Xin examined himself in the Bronze Mirror, turned around, then reached up and squeezed his very real, exceedingly full chest. Only after discovering that he felt nothing did he breathe a great sigh of relief.

If transforming into a woman also gave him a woman's sensations, that would be seriously twisted. What if he fell in love with being a cross-dressing beauty? Would he have to change this scenario into the path of Wu Zetian, the reigning empress, through the Investiture of the Gods???

Next, Di Xin sensed that the paths through which his magical power circulated had changed as well. He also seemed to have acquired an ability: with a blink or a curl of his finger, he could exude an endlessly alluring charm!

"Let's test whether this Thirty-Nine Minor Mystic Art really can replicate Daji perfectly!"

Seeing this, Di Xin pushed open the door without a second thought and looked outside. A young palace maid stood blankly at the entrance. When she saw him emerge, her face went slack, as though she could not understand how Daji had walked out when she had never seen Daji enter. He smiled and winked at her.

[You have activated Charm on Bi'er. Charm successful...]

The instant the system notification sounded, Bi'er's previously astonished expression softened into tenderness like water. Gazing at Di Xin with affection brimming in her eyes, she daintily crouched down and said to him, "Bi'er pays her respects to Your Highness. It's windy outside. Allow Bi'er to support you..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Bi'er hurried over and held Di Xin's arm tightly. Whether deliberately or otherwise, she even rubbed against him a few times on the sly. When she realized he had noticed, she smiled bashfully, her eyes like a pool of spring water about to overflow.

I charmed my own little palace maid...

Bi'er's lovestruck expression instantly brought several black lines to Di Xin's forehead. Inexplicably, he felt as though he had planted an entire green prairie of cuckoldry on his own head.

But there was no doubt that, just as the system had said, the Thirty-Nine Minor Mystic Art could perfectly replicate the abilities of whatever he transformed into. This was simply... heaven-defying!