Chapter 84: Return
Chapter 84: Return
On the way back to the Mortuary, Uncle Kiu said to Liam, "Liam, was what happened today the Omen of Misfortune you mentioned Mr. Ren would encounter?"
"It seems so", Liam replied. "If you hadn't pulled him out of danger today, he might have died at the hands of the Zombies. You could say you are the Benefactor mentioned in the Prophecy for Mr. Ren."
"Oh, really?" Uncle Kiu said, a smile spreading across his face, clearly pleased with Liam's words.
After returning to the Mortuary, the master and apprentice resumed their daily routine of cultivation and farming. A week later, the plants Liam had given Uncle Kiu were successfully grown. Uncle Kiu immediately packed his belongings and set off for Maoshan to report the good news.
After seeing Uncle Kiu off, Liam informed his two senior brothers that he was going to the provincial city to visit his elders and left the Mortuary.
After taking a few turns to a secluded spot, Liam chose to return to the Multiverse General Store.
Back at the emporium, Liam began to inventory his gains:
— Altered the plot, earning 20 Deviation Points.
— Obtained the complete Maoshan Shangqing lineage, divided into Core Techniques, Talismans, Miscellaneous Studies, Side Disciplines, and Physical Techniques.
— Various items like Yellow Paper and Cinnabar he had sold in town.
After taking stock, Liam was quite satisfied with the comprehensive set of Eastern cultivation methods he had acquired. Although these techniques from the Decline of the Dharma world had a relatively low upper limit, they were orthodox Daoist practices, making future transitions easier. As foundational techniques, these orthodox Daoist Core Techniques, while slower to cultivate, provided a solid foundation.
In summary, Liam was very pleased with his gains. He began to assimilate them, turning them into his own power. First, he infused the Miscellaneous Studies and Physical Techniques, each costing 3 Deviation Points. Miscellaneous Studies primarily involved skills like feng shui and cinnabar preparation, while Physical Techniques included combat and footwork, which did not involve supernatural powers, making them relatively inexpensive.
Next, he tackled the Talismans, which required 15 Deviation Points to learn, as they involved using supernatural powers to draw the symbols. After the knowledge was infused, Liam used a wand in place of a peachwood sword and tried to draw a talisman in the air using his magic power. He found that while he could successfully draw the talisman, the energy consumption was much higher than described in the books, and the talisman's effects were only about half as potent.
Undeterred, Liam took out a brush and cinnabar, and using the limited Spiritual Qi in his body, he drew a simple talisman on yellow paper. After a few attempts, he successfully created a basic Corpse-Taming Talisman. Upon testing it, Liam found that it was not much different from the ones Uncle Kiu had drawn, as it was a basic talisman.
It seemed that these power systems were designed to complement each other. Even with simple talismans, the effects were limited. For more complex talismans, using magic power to activate them could be dangerous and might result in backlash.
Next, he learned some Side Disciplines and Miscellaneous Studies, which primarily involved applications of spiritual energy, such as puppet manipulation and corpse transportation methods. Although Liam found these techniques less useful, he still learned them as a precaution, spending 7 Deviation Points.
Finally, the main event: Liam tried to infuse Spiritual Qi into his body to save cultivation time. Since he had already successfully self-cultivated, this time he only needed to infuse the energy. However, the System informed him that his body could only absorb a year's worth of energy, and it would cost 20 Deviation Points to do so.
After deliberating for a while, Liam gritted his teeth and chose the Power Infusion. A beam of light then shone upon him, making him feel as if he were soaking in a hot spring, lazy and unwilling to move.
When the light faded, Liam was surprised to find that his cultivation level was now on par with Qiusheng, who had practiced for nearly a decade. After some thought, Liam realized that the difficulty of cultivation in the Era of Decline was naturally higher, and the emporium's calculations were based on normal conditions, which naturally differed from what he had originally assumed.
After this series of enhancements, Liam looked at the remaining 5 Deviation Points with a wry smile. Spending all his accumulated Deviation Points at once was truly painful. He could only console himself with the fact that his strength had improved.
After circulating his spiritual energy through several cycles, Liam stood up, tidied himself up, and took a look in the mirror to ensure there were no obvious signs of his recent activities. Satisfied, he chose to return to the real world.
Stepping through the spatial gate, Liam reappeared in the bathroom stall he had left. It was after dinner, and most students were gathered in the Common Room or the Library, so the bathroom near the classroom was nearly empty.
After washing his face at the sink, Liam decided to head back to the Gryffindor Tower Common Room. He had spent nearly half a month in Mr. Zombies' world, but only an hour had passed in the main world. This time discrepancy gave Liam a surreal feeling, and all he wanted was to get back to bed and adjust to the time difference.
That night, Liam went to bed around eight o'clock. The next morning, he got up early to exercise. To his surprise, Hermione was already in the Common Room, engrossed in her early morning reading.
Indeed, this was the way a true top student behaved. Liam was genuinely impressed.
After leaving the Common Room, Liam chose to run around the castle. At 6:30 in the morning, Hogwarts was nearly deserted, and Liam only saw a few students and the headmaster, who was hurrying along in his pajamas.
Taking advantage of the sparse crowd, Liam descended to the second floor to investigate the next place he was likely to visit: Myrtle's Bathroom.
The bathroom was located on an empty corridor. Although many students passed this corridor on their way back from the Great Hall to their common rooms, the bathroom itself looked dilapidated and unused for a long time.
Just as Liam was about to investigate further, a milky white figure emerged from the wall and greeted him, "Good morning, Liam. It's quite early for class, what are you doing here?" It was Nearly Headless Nick, the resident ghost of Gryffindor.
"Good morning, Sir. I'm exercising", Liam replied. Because of his interest in history, he often consulted the ghosts on various matters. After all, these ghosts had lived through those events and could provide a more vivid account than any book.
As a result, Liam had a good relationship with several of the castle's ghosts and would often greet them warmly when he saw them.
"Exercise, that's a good thing. In my time, every wizard would engage in physical activity, but it seems modern wizards have abandoned this habit, which is truly regrettable", Nick said with a sigh, accidentally knocking his head off and scrambling to put it back in place.
"Magic is powerful, but it's not everything", Nick said wistfully as he resettled his head. "If I had been more diligent in my exercise back then, I might have been able to escape from my pursuers even without a wand."
"But there aren't many places in Hogwarts where one can exercise. Running in the castle is my only option. You've been here for a long time; do you know of any place in the castle where I can do physical training?" Liam asked Nick.
Nick thought for a moment and said, "I believe I do know of a place that might suit your needs."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
