Transcending Dreams

B2 - Chapter 31: Back to the Grind

“You get along with the sword boy,” Lan Yang commented when he entered the room.

“I like him,” William shrugged, staring at the large green jade tablet held in his hands. “What’s that, Senior Yang?”

“This is what you needed from the manager,” Lan Yang lifted his hand, as if to show off the tablet. “So, she told me you wanted to learn martial arts.”

“Yes?” William replied unsurely, wondering if this was a problem.

“There are a few Sentinels that have a barebones knowledge of it, and all have learned through experience instead of practice.” Lan Yang explained, tilting his head curiously. “You are not a body cultivator. Why bother?”

That was a fair question. He didn’t set out to be a pseudo-body cultivator, not when he passed up the cultivation technique that would lead him to the true path of body cultivation.

“My martial skills are all close combat. The Qi Refining room made me realize how poor I am with the only thing I can do.”

Lan Yang stared at him, clearly puzzled. “So why did you not fix this by learning a ranged skill?”

“How? The ones in the library didn’t seem worthwhile, and I had no way to get one from outside sources.” William didn’t mention the main reason he didn’t bother too much was the Heaven-Tier martial skill that he had yet to pick. There were some choices there that would solve his current deficiency.

“Picky,” Lan Yang smirked. He handed William the tablet and motioned for him to enter the Qi Refining room, “I’ll see if anything suitable shows up in the auction. If it does, I’ll call you out.”

“Really?” William couldn’t even act like he wasn’t stunned. “I’m not complaining, nor do I want you to take back that offer, but did you forget about how you borrowed thousands of Spirit Stones?”

“… No, I didn’t,” Lan Yang said with narrowed eyes. “I borrowed enough to buy the bracelets even if I didn’t have the discount the Red Floor would give me. With the sword boy offering to pay more, I would be ashamed to not do the same.”

William thought that was a flimsy reason, but he wasn’t about to put more effort into reminding Lan Yang this might be a bad idea for his wallet. “Thank you, Brother Yang.”

“There we go!” Lan Yang rolled his eyes. “That’s what you should have said at the start. Has anyone told you that you talk too much, Junior Wei?”

He stared. If anything, he didn’t talk enough. Most of these thoughts were kept bottled up because of too much paranoia. So many issues he currently had could be solved simply by asking the right person… or it might also lead him to death.

There was a reason he was too paranoid.

“Now you don’t speak,” Lan Yang chuckled. “Make good use of that tablet, and maybe I’ll have good news for you.”

“Wait,” William stopped him from leaving. Something had been at the back of his mind that he had ignored until now. “A voice in the Qi Refining room responds to me, almost like a person is overseeing the room. That can’t be right, is it?”

He knew it wasn’t, but it was a stretch for him to immediately think about artificial intelligence. That couldn’t be a thing in this world.

“It’s a feature built into the formation running the room,” Lan Yang replied with a shrug. “Don’t ask me any specifics since I am far from a formation master, but there are elders in the sect that specialize in it. I’ll introduce them to you if you want. They will be able to tell you how it works.”

“Thank you, Senior Yang. I’ll hold you to that.”

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“Hah!” Lan Yang laughed. “You’re learning. Focus on your training, Junior Wei. Use the room well.”

William could barely nod before his mentor left to return to the auction.

“Well, I hope you meet my expectations,” he muttered to the tablet in his hand as he entered the Qi Refining room.

The door closed behind him, and the voice spoke.

“Choose your mode: Cultivation or Martial Skills Practice.”

“Martial Skills Practice.”

“Module detected. Place tablet on connection area.”

A part of the wall started to glow softly in a shape that happened to be the size of the jade tablet in his hands. The more he discovered about the room, the more his curiosity about formations grew.

His interest in them was initially to protect himself since it seemed that most things worth protection were done so with formations, but the room revealed a utility that he had considered. The closest thing he could compare formations to were computer programs.

Even that wasn’t exact since formations often directly affected the real world. They were versatile, with possibilities that seemed endless.

... Maybe artificial intelligence, or an equivalent, wasn't an outlandish idea.

He placed that tablet on within the glowing part of the wall and let go.

“Martial arts training module accepted. Position yourself at the center of the room.”

William did as the voice instructed. He found himself back in the grassy plain.

“Calibration needed. Showcase your maximum striking power. Refrain from using martial skills.”

A floating, transparent box appeared in arm’s reach, the word ‘punch’ above it.

William couldn’t help but laugh. He had a system gamifying his cultivation, and now, it was like he was in an actual game.

He didn’t waste time. His fist punched through the box. It disappeared, only to be replaced with something similar, only a little lower.

This box had the word ‘kick’ above it.

That’s what William did. His shin sliced through the waist-high box.

It disappeared.

“Matched. Early Stage Foundation Establishment. Defeat the created opponent. Refrain from using martial skills.”

William grunted in surprise, barely raising his forearm to block a fist. It landed a solid hit on him, the dull pain automatically making him think of blowing the created humanoid away by activating [Thunderous Palm].

He didn’t fail the task given to him immediately. He shifted to the side to avoid the next punch. It left him free to counter.

William landed an uppercut on the humanoid’s torso, making it stagger back slightly. He didn’t wait for it to recover and followed the strike with a haymaker right to its unprotected, featureless face.

It crumbled underneath his fist and instantly disappeared.

“Creating opponent with a minimal knowledge of martial arts. Defeat the created opponent. Refrain from using martial skills.”

This time, William was ready. He jumped back to avoid a swift kick aimed at his knee. The newly created humanoid looked to have some type of form it was holding.

All he knew was the equivalent of an alleyway brawl, and the only reason he was majorly successful in all his fights was an overwhelming power difference.

He was shown this reality over the next few seconds.

William tried to block a punch like usual. His forearm snapped, bone sticking out. He ignored the shock of failure and tried to land an uppercut. It was blocked by the humanoid’s leg.

The next thing he knew, his jaw was fractured, and he was lying on the ground.

“Training level calibrated.”

William’s body was reset back to a perfect condition. He stood up, still stunned at how easily he had lost. To something that only had ‘minimal knowledge.’

“Recommended start is at the novice stage. You may also pick the intermediate and expert stages. Would you like to start at the novice stage?”

[Side Quest: Become a martial arts expert]

[Information: You have discovered that you lack skill in martial arts and wish to fix that. Become an expert who can overwhelm peers of similar physical strength and agility.]

[Reward: 70000 XP]

[Penalty: Decreased reputation with Elder Yu and Lan Yang]

[Accept: Y/N]

The quest was a no-brainer. William was already motivated to become an expert, and the quest only added to that. The penalty was of some concern, but failure wasn’t even something he considered possible. This quest had no time limit.

“Yes,” William said with determination in his voice.

[Side Quest Accepted | Become a martial arts expert]

“Training started.”