Data-Driven Daoist

Art Levelled Up!

Art Levelled Up!

Anticipation grew in his heart.

Name: Yu Han (Johan)

Level: 1

True Qi: 86 (+6) / 200

Pure Qi: 34 (-4) / 200

Primordial Qi: 0

Lifeforce: 414 (+31) / 768

Yu Han fist-pumped. His clenched fist wouldn’t stop trembling. This is huge!

Without using any elixirs, he had assimilated four Pure Qi into True Qi, alongside the natural gain of two, and without any waste. Not to mention, this time he had been broken out of meditating partway through by the crab.

If he could continue the whole duration of Deep Sleep, how fast could he level? Even at the current rate, he’d be at the threshold in less than a month. The trial stopped many from progressing fast, but just getting a foot in the door was worth celebrating.

There were trade-offs, though. Yu Han would have to optimise this. If he spent the whole time meditating, he couldn’t echo the day’s events. That was how he usually collected data for further analyses. Analysing the data in his Deep Sleep, without any distractions, made it easier to come to a useful interpretation.

Either way, he’d focus on meditation for now. He needed to test the limits of this skill.

Yu Han touched his face. His grin had been stuck there for a while.

Crap, I’ll cramp at this rate. He shook his head, but his stomach felt bubbly, as if butterflies were fluttering about. His Bloodline Art was not useless after all. If he didn’t have it, he wouldn’t have Echoing Dreamscape. And now, super cultivation.

Was his efficiency as good as a Refined Talent now? He’d have to ask Li Yao.

Come to think of it, Fang Zhao was oddly evasive when I asked about his talent. And that demon mummy that snuck in—didn’t it say he had the best talent?

Yu Han brought up his Arts next.

Arts:

[Deep Sleep]

Type: Bloodline

Grade: Mortal Level 1

Mastery: Initial Step Level 1

True Qi: 199 (+10) / 200

He punched the bed.

Are you kidding me? His nostrils flared. What a cockblock! He’d definitely level it tonight. But that number pissed him off. It reminded him of his life as Johan, before he was rich. Companies would always sell stuff at ten pounds and ninety-nine pennies.

Still, that was far more True Qi gain than usual.

[Echoing Dreamscape]

Type: Auxiliary

Grade: Mortal Level 9

Mastery: Initial Step Level 3

True Qi: 183 (+4) / 400

[Calm Before the Storm Breathing Technique]

Type: Cultivation

Grade: Mortal Level 5

Mastery: Initial Step Level 2 (+1)

True Qi: 15 (+17) / 300

[Ox Tail 72 Sweeping Forms]

Type: Martial

Grade: Elite Level 2

Mastery: Initial Step Level 2 (+1)

True Qi: 29 (+41) / 300

[Thousand Petals Awareness]

Type: Psychic

Grade: Elite Level 9

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Mastery: Initial Step Level 1

True Qi: 81 (+1) / 200

The grin crawled back onto his face like it had never left. Calm Before the Storm Breathing Technique had levelled. Using it in Deep Sleep must have really tipped the Dao.

Ji’s Cultivation Contemplations had mentioned that to gain mastery in an Art faster, one had to use it in creative ways. Creative ways here did not mean randomly flailing around—although that too could have its merit. The best gain came when an idea bore fruit. In this case, Deep Sleep had a giggle-inducing synergy with the Cultivation Art.

Ox Tail 72 Sweeping Forms had levelled up too. It had been on the precipice, and that fight with the ghoul boss—not to mention the ghoul minions—finally helped it break through.

Traits:

[Existential Anchor]

Grade: Mortal Level 1

True Qi: Requirements Not Satisfied

[Deep Writhing Clam Bloodline]

Grade: Mortal Level 10

True Qi: 33 (+33) / 1100

[Qi Affinity]

Grade: Mortal Level 7

True Qi: 7 (+5) / 800

Huh? Another surprise. Qi Affinity gained 5 True Qi. More importantly, his Deep Writhing Clam Bloodline gained 33!

Why? The books he had read said the best way to cultivate a Trait, especially Bloodline-related ones, was through cores, herbs, pills, and elixirs. Yu Han interpreted that as using the “biomass” of other creatures to enhance his own genetic quality. Yu Han considered cores to be biomass too, since they grew inside biological creatures. Of course, that was a strong assumption. It was just a hypothesis without proof.

If this world has ghost monsters, and the ghost has a core, would that still be “bio,” though? An important thought to ponder later.

What was important now was figuring out why Deep Writhing Clam Bloodline gained so much True Qi. The most obvious possibility was that using the Cultivation Art had fired some neurons, so to speak. Either it was the very act of using the Cultivation Art in Deep Sleep, or after using it, a hidden facet of his Bloodline had revealed itself. What was it, though?

There was a third possibility.

He’d left his Dreamscape and entered the Crabscape. Echoing Dreamscape was an ability tied to Deep Sleep, which was in turn granted by his Bloodline. There was a connection there, and the Bloodline should have set the limits of what was possible with Echoing Dreamscape. Perhaps when he somehow broke that limit by venturing outside of the defined area, the Bloodline also improved?

Too many guesses, too little data.

He stretched, and satisfying pops rang out through his body. His Lifeforce had been recovering nicely. He hopped off the bed. The straw mat hadn’t been changed after Huang Niuniu burnt it, and the ashes from the stove under the brazier had to be taken out.

He brushed his teeth with salt and a branch, then gargled. It would have been good if the water-producing stone could generate hot water too.

The rain stopped. Yu Han took up his halberd, which had been placed on the floor. A few nights, he’d kept it leaned against the wall. Then one day, Huang Niuniu said, “What if the halberd falls on your neck while you’re asleep? What if the sheath magically comes off?”

He opened the door to a partially cloudy sky. There was grey on the horizon, the mist gradually thinning.

Let’s do this. Yu Han got into Mountain Root Stance. He placed the halberd vertically in front of him, holding it in such a way that it was easier to deflect or block attacks with minimal movement.

Stone-Cutting Chop!

He imagined an enemy staggering back after having its claws deflected. Taking the chance, he chopped its head apart.

Heavy Ox Swing!

He twisted his body, cleaving the three ghouls behind in one fast motion.

It’s subtle, but it’s there. The halberd felt more at home. When he changed from one form to another, a minute amount of resistance seemed to have disappeared. When the blade collided with an imaginary enemy, it was as if there was more weight behind the attack too.

It could just have been his imagination. But he’d been practicing Ox Tail 72 Sweeping Forms for many hours now, both in reality and in the Dreamscape.

After going through all the variations, Yu Han moved on to the second part of the morning practice. He breathed in the specific patterns of Calm Before the Storm Breathing Technique. It started slow, then gradually ramped up to a ridiculous 500 breaths per minute. That was worse than hyperventilation, and he couldn’t do it consciously. A magical trance would take over his body.

The starting breaths were deep, and he would hold them for set times. At the end, they would be shallow inhalations and exhalations.

For him, it was impossible to achieve that while moving his body to the Ox Tail 72 Sweeping Forms. Apparently, the Eye of the Storm Martial Movements somehow allowed it.

Fuck that Gong Muhua. He gritted his teeth. If he messed up the breathing, he would mess up the footwork, and when he did that, his whole form would collapse. It was like trying to shove a square block into a triangular hole.

Yu Han kept at it for hours without much success. But it did feel as if he could use the Martial Arts better in distracted situations. At the end, he was sweating like he was in a sauna.

How many calories did he burn? He’d been living off the Spites Huang Niuniu made. They had to be super rich in calories, because his weight loss had not been dramatic.

Let’s not tell her that I sometimes binge eat at the Marketplace.

Someone clapped.

Speak of the devil, and she will appear.

Huang Niuniu stood outside the fence.

“The crab’s still here.” She pointed at the camouflaged crustacean.

“I forgot about him,” Yu Han said. He’d been so engrossed in the Art level-ups that he’d completely overlooked the little shite.

“Can I pat him?” Huang Niuniu asked. She didn’t wait for permission and came into the yard. With a determined look, she placed a palm on the crab.

It stirred, and one eye poked out of its socket. It rotated 360 degrees as if to scan the area, then stopped when it noticed Yu Han. Its legs and claws extended next.

“Good morning,” Huang Niuniu said.

Click.

The crab showed her the parchment.

“I wish I could tell you what it is,” the girl said with a sad smile.

The crab’s body sagged. But at the same time, it seemed to grow bigger. Before, it was only at Yu Han’s torso. Now it grew until it was at his chest level.

“You’re so magical,” Huang Niuniu said.

This is bad. The girl is seduced. Yu Han glared at the orangish-red shell. Did the colours change too? I don’t trust you.

It had played Yu Han like a fiddle. Although Yu Han got a point in Memory out of it, it was still kidnapping, in a way.

Crabnapping?

Yu Han would not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. The crab showed him the parchment, but Yu Han pushed it away. The crab drooped. Huang Niuniu pinched his cheeks as if protesting on behalf of the crab.

I am curious, though. Yu Han sheathed the halberd. The ground where he had practiced was covered in grass, so it wasn’t as muddy. But his trousers were still splattered with a good amount of mud. It seemed to have forgotten yesterday’s events again. If it keeps giving me pearls, will I have an unlimited source of Memory stats?

He doubted it. He could tell the crab that perhaps it was giving away its own memories in the form of pearls. Why should he, though? He had a one-year time limit before Sima Yan’s group came for his ass, maybe even less. He needed all the advantages he could get.

Besides, the crab had crabnapped him without permission. Look at that criminal. The scheming bastard.

It shrank until it was dog-sized, then picked up a fallen branch and placed it at Yu Han’s feet. It then looked up, its obsidian eyes glossy with flame-like wonder.