Chapter 5

  Heart-Stitching Art (V)

  Long Tao eyed his retreating 'Master' with a peculiar gleam, watching the slightly sallow figure enter the destitute house.

  It was unordinary, and it was strange.

  He'd come to this godforsaken place for one reason and one reason alone--he needed time. Time to slowly restructure and integrate himself into this new world that he woke up in.

  And the only reason he chose that person as his 'Master' was because of the countless rumors surrounding him--a flamboyant hedonist, a talentless hack, a worthless nobody. Long Tao didn't want anyone hovering over him and 'teaching' him; what he needed was just a mountain to hide upon and be ignored for a few years as he recovered.

  And yet...

  He once again glanced down at the Heart-Stitching Art that his 'Master' handed him just now. It wasn't particularly high-grade art, merely at middle Sky Tier. In his past life, he would have used it as kindling for the fire and not much else.

  Even if its effects, in the broader sense, were extremely limited and would be completely pointless even when merely stepping into the Inner World Realm.

  And yet...

  For now, for his particular circumstances, it was as though the art was perfectly tailored. He didn't believe, even for a second, that his so-called 'Master' discerned the nature of his Heart Curse. There likely wasn't anyone in this Minor Realm who could, sans perhaps some hidden overlord.

  At best, it likely was as 'vague' as the man implied it, possibly due to some innate construction.

  The higher likelihood, however, was that this was merely a grand design of fate—it wasn't unprecedented, after all. In his past life, Long Tao had experienced it a few times: escorting a lost child in the woods to the nearby village and the village chief giving him a Myth-tier weapon just when he was in need of one, or him being stuck at the peak of Demigod Realm for years before fetching a few ordinary herbs for a village grandma, who then gave him her family's 'heritage,' which turned out to be the exact pill he needed to break through.

  While his Master's sutra was far from enough to completely remove the poison, he knew that was an impossibility in this realm to begin with. It would likely be centuries, at minimum, before he was able to completely remove it. Even just managing it, for now, was a miracle; otherwise, he expected he would have to remain at Qi Condensation Realm for at least a decade.

  With this sutra, if he practiced diligently, it would take him about a week to break through to Foundation Establishment if he willed it.

  But it wasn't the time.

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  This backwater village was so talent-starved that they'd think him a reincarnated god if he only took a week. For the time being, he didn't want to stand out. He could hide it, but it was better to simply proceed slightly slower and have deeper foundation.

  He merely silently promised to himself to assist his new 'Master' in cleansing that body from filth in due time. Even if he was merely a puppet of fate, the man still delivered him precisely what he needed when he needed it the most. To Long Tao, that was more than enough.

  **

  Aaah, sweet mother, I thought I was going to die!!

  The look in that kid's eyes... man, it's unnatural! No thirteen-year-old boy should look at people that way! Could you at least bother hiding the fact that you're a reincarnated monster?!

  Ah, forget it, forget it.

  Just then, a screen appeared in front of me, startling me 'till I nearly fell back.

  [Congratulations, Host, on completing the assigned task!]

  [You have earned 10 Creation Points!]

  [...]

  [Congratulations, Host, on completing the sub-task!]

  [You have earned 30 Creation Points!]

  [Total Creation Points: 40]

  Huh?

  Wait just a second.

  What do you mean 'Task Completed'?

  Didn't... didn't I hand it over literally three minutes ago?!! Oi, oi! Shouldn't you at least pretend to be an ordinary kid, dude?!

  I wanted to cry, truly, but feared that the monster I'm housing would notice, so I could only scurry up to my bedroom and hide. My heart! Ah, my heart was going eight hundred miles an hour, I swear.

  But... he he, I finally had some excess Creation Points. A name I should never, ever abbreviate 'till my dying breath.

  Though I probably can't create a significant new art with just 40 points and the limit of 100 points, that didn't mean I couldn't mess around in the menu a bit. After all, my survival in this world depends on this panel, right here—this magnificent, massive, overbloated panel with so many options that it made my head hurt.

  Forget character creation engines where you could manipulate individual pores; this was somehow even more complex!

  There seemed to be six stages to the creation of individual arts:

  The first one was 'Foundational Blueprint', where I'd create the name, choose art type, core structure, and its complexity, and the baseline internal logic.

  The second one was 'Energy & Elemental Integration', where I'd choose energy type focus, affinities and properties, and even infuse the arts with potential traces of Laws!

  The third one was the 'Specific Effects & Characteristics', where it appears to be highly modular and dependent on my previous choices. Damage types, modifiers, evasive maneuvers, type of speed for movement arts, depth of Cultivation Method and its effectiveness, effects of Special Arts...

  The fourth were 'Modifiers & Unique Properties' where even the cheapest thing cost 1,000 Creation Points and where the bulk of the unique arts will likely be created. Conceptual Imbuement, Law Fragment Integration, Evolving Art...

  The fifth system was 'Flaws & Restrictions' which, unlike others, lowered how many Creation Points it would cost. For example, requiring a specific bloodline would lower the Creation Points anywhere from -10 to -600.

  And, lastly, there was the output where my choices would be congealed into the finalized creation.

  Honestly... I'm a bit overwhelmed. After fiddling around for a few minutes, I just barely managed to create a fist art that I named 'Heavenly Fist Art', and it just barely reached Low-Earth Tier, and it still cost 60 Creation Points despite being the most rudimentary one sans just selecting the most basic choices.

  Comparatively, how Heart-Stitching Art managed to 'only' be mid-Sky Tier whilst costing 433 Creation Points was a bit... dubious. Perhaps, for Special Arts, calculations were a bit different?

  Aii, I don't know. All this is fairly... massive.

  Forget it, forget it. Since there's nothing else to do, I may as well study the Art myself a little bit. If I'm going to constantly cause my heart to beat so wildly, having something to calm it will be necessary.