How to Cultivate a Game

"There were some wild chickens, even a fox, but no bunnies huh?"

Well, that was understandable. I couldn't have Bi Yuan feed me her own kin, right?

I used my Razor Wind Sword to cut and dismantle the animals. I didn't have any prior experience with this, so my work was sloppy.

I used the Clear Water Gourd to clean the bloody mess. Then with my Scorching Sun Spear, I pierced the meat like a kebab and then cooked it with my quintessence.

Quintessence was truly a miraculous force. As long as I knew the principles behind a phenomenon, I could make it happen as long as I had quintessence. Making fire was too simple a task for me. All I needed was to think of it. It was a power that intimately touched the boundaries of creation.

It was a very wasteful use of quintessence, but I'd rather eat my food cooked rather than raw. Thankfully, flames created with quintessence could hardly die. While qi could also achieve it, it could not compare to 'Quintessence' which was the source manifestation of primordial creation.

Still, it was sad that most of my treasures were not compatible with quintessence.

Without qi, my spiritual artifacts were simply ordinary items. For example, the Razor Wind Sword maintained its sharpness but not its magical attributes. It was the same for Scorching Sun Spear, and many for my treasures, except for the treasures that were powered by mental consciousness which even a mortal could use.

It made using quintessence in substitute of qi truly wasteful. It was because my Quintessence Resources were severely limited. Even using quintessence via experimentation was considerably difficult.

I drank directly from the Clear Water Gourd which worked just fine with quintessence. It was one of my few treasures that could be activated mentally. I satiated my thirst with a few gulps. Other treasures that could be activated mentally would not work with quintessence the same way this Gourd did. In the future, this could be a great source of research material.

"You were the true treasure, Yuan'er. All of my spiritual artifacts were now trash except you... It was not like you were an item anyway, but a treasure is a treasure!" I cradled Bi Yuan and showered her with my affection.

I had adjusted my lifestyle within the past month. Ultimately, I found stability in Bi Yuan and established somewhat a routine for my everyday activities: walks, exercises, scrolls, experimentations, and meditation.

Bi Yuan took care of me splendidly well, and days had gone by until the flames I summoned finally died. The fire created by my quintessence had long ceased. It looked like the fire's lifespan could last about a month and a few days equivalent to a single quintessence.

[Name: Fu Shi

Quintessence: 37

Players: 1/1]

"It was time I gave Yuan'er a reward for her efforts." I gazed at the little bunny affectionately. I wondered. What could I give her?

A weapon? Bi Yuan, a bunny, wielding a weapon twice her size was difficult to imagine, but who would really know? This was a world of cultivation where xianxia bullshit happened almost in daily occurrence.

I would be damned. Just a month ago, I fought lightning and thunder to gain this vague system. The next day, I made friends with a bunny. Then the next day, the bunny fed me.

Well, befriending a rabbit was not really a cultivator thing, so there was no xianxia magic in there. But to think of it! My friendship with this little bunny was not really normal either. It was something you would only see in fables.

"Hmmm… I felt like I knew now what I should give you."

"Kyu?"

~~~

Bi Yuan was the only bunny in Butterberry Forest. She first time realized this after she received the blessing of the white ape. She could vaguely remember entering the white ape's cave unannounced. Through the strings of fate, the bunny became Bi Yuan.

While the memory was blurred because she lacked intelligence at that time, that memory remained to have a special place in her heart.

The white ape gave her a task to give food, which Bi Yuan gladly accomplished. She knew that to be acknowledged by the white ape, she had to pay tribute, which she did.

As a result, she was gifted with strength.

Ping!

[Name: Bi Yuan

Level 0

Vitality: 100%

Qi: N/A

Stats: See more...

Exp: 0/100]

Intuitively, Bi Yuan learned of the system's nature as a 'player'. This understanding came from the fact that Bi Yuan was a player recognized both by the system and the White Ape. It was a very mysterious process, imperceptible to the world, except to the Bi Yuan herself whose soul had been elevated to a higher realm.

It could be likened to how babies one day realized they were awake and conscious in but a moment of growth. It felt very mystical to the little bunny. At the same time, it felt weird and baffling. Nevertheless, there was this added sense of security to her being as if she was invincible. 

This 'system' would change her life, she thought… It had allowed her growth.

She could now pursue a different destiny, she thought... One that would further elevate her existence.

So.

The little bunny did its 'quests' with fervent excitement. She learned and adapted to every situation presented to her. And as she proceeded with these quests, the more she grew in ability. But that was not the only thing that grew with her, but also ambition. The bunny at some point in time started to dream.

As a result, the bunny worked harder.

And day after day, she toiled. Her hard work had accumulated time and time again. She was patient. She knew she would break through any moment. And it did. No longer was it a meager thought or an imagining or a crazy fever dream. Slowly it was becoming a reality.

She doesn't remember when the change exactly began, but it was happening!

Ping! +10 exp

Ping! +10 exp

The sound of the pings brought great joy to Bi Yuan. The more she picked berries, and leveled up, the more power she could feel.

Bi Yuan was no longer the bunny that was prey to the weak! The system gave her courage and sooner, she had gained further substantial power that qualified her existence as a predator in the food chain.

She had become —

Faster!

Stronger!

Smarter!

Be Yuan's white fur glistened with the alternating shades of the forest and sunlight that momentarily warmed her body. Her lone white figure flitted on the surrounding grass and vegetation with speed. Like every other day, she continued on doing her quest. But this time, it would be a little different.

Because today, she would hunt! The little bunny carried a fiery ambition in her heart that she must hunt an opponent worthy of her and her master's greatness.

With her paws' dexterity, Bi Yuan created more traps around the forest according to the white ape's instructions.

"Kyu? K-kyu…" She eyed the wild chicken in front of her with vigilance... Hiding from the periphery, the little bunny carefully measured the prey's abilities, and compared it to her own.

'I can do it,' she told herself in her mind.

Though nervous, she steeled her resolve. Then--- SHE POUNCED!

Arriving by the chicken's rear, Bi Yuan instinctively knew it in her bones, the chicken was prey. With her incredible leg strength, a single jump alone was all it took to cross the distance between them. That was Bi Yuan's umpteenth hunt of the same species, and this would be no different.

The bunny mercilessly clutched the chicken's neck. The bunny was without claws so she opted for a slow kill!

Bi Yuan dug her white blunt teeth into the chicken's neck, and then she used her nimble paws to strangle the poor bird.

Steadily, slowly, and so on... the flightless bird would soon fall.

The poor chicken struggled but the bunny's persistence was quite something else--- there was the determination to kill!

It took her some time, but in the end, she succeeded.

The little bunny killed the chicken!

What a PREDATOR!

Bi Yuan was now also a qualified predator, a very un-bunny-like trait. However, she found joy in accomplishing such a kill. She gained Experience Points, which further elated her. Out of curiosity, she took a taste of the poor bird's meat but found its taste unlikable so she stopped at just that.

"Kyu-kyu-KYU!"

The bunny decided that her catch was better suited as a tribute for an omnivore like the white ape. She had been feeding the White Ape from the same kind of meat, so she knew better. The little bunny returned to the white ape's cave abode victorious.

Bi Yuan happily skipped toward the white ape, her excitement could not be concealed. She presented her kill with pride to the being that gave her the 'system '. Surprised, the white ape praised the little bunny for her marvelous feat.

"Great! Great! I have just finished creating a Special Class for you, but it would take time for them to be uploaded into your system so I will impart you with basic martial arts first through mental inheritance." The White Ape said to her, but she didn't really understand.

Bi Yuan felt a prick in her brain, and following it was a set of knowledge flowing to her mind with ease. She accepted them without struggling. The information took time for them to be arranged.

"Kyu!?"