How to Cultivate a Game

In the short three months, Bi Yuan was able to achieve a maximum level for the 1st stage and she was now ready to break through the next stage. She must be a cultivation genius! Nay, this was also thanks to the system plus Bi Yuan's relentless efforts.

Sigh...

I did not believe in 'special' talents. Everyone was as talented as another. At the very minimum, I may believe in affinities but not talent— especially, the supreme and heavenly kind.

Personally, I felt that talent was an over-exaggeration of an individual's aptitude— yes, aptitude— a more apt description of what I believed people had mistaken as 'talent'.

If you were bad at something, then it meant that you didn't put in enough effort and time. If you were too good at something, then it meant that either you had a 'cheat' or a 'trick'.

According to old Fu Shi's memories, to achieve the second realm, it would take at least a year for an individual to break through from the Martial Tempering realm to the next stage. This was on the basis that you were a second-generation young master with resources, who always got praised as a 'genius'.

Sigh… Some bad memories were coming back to me, anyway—

"I should stop with my philosophical bullshit about talent. Hmmm… Let's see what I could do for Yuan'er…"

Bi Yuan returned to my cave, her fur was sullied by hardened blood. Traces of her battles filled her beautiful fur. The aura of a warrior could be felt from the little bunny in front of me.

For the past three months, I watched the little bunny challenge the beasts of the forests once in a while using Mind's Eye while meditating. Many times I felt my heart jump with scare.

What if she died? I was scared of something like that happening. Alas, the little bunny always went beyond what was impossible.

The cute little bunny imploringly stared at me as if asking me to allow her to have more strength. The last time she did something like this, I was so disappointed in myself for not being of instant help to her.

I felt like a very useless NPC whose sole purpose was to be a decorative background at that time.

But now, it was a different case.

[Name: Fu Shi

Quintessence: 92

Players: 1/1]

A long time had passed.

With my bountiful quintessence, I believed that I would be able to do something for her... something great!

However, the following cultivation realms would have more stringent requirements for the breakthrough.

With my quintessence alone, Bi Yuan would not break through just because I wanted to.

This time, the little bunny would need enlightenment in a literal sense. Even the 'system' had its limitations. I could do it with more quintessence, but I felt that the little bunny would not have the patience to wait.

[Ping! Giving Quest... Class Advancement!]

This was the only way. Ugh… I couldn't spoil you anymore, oh little bunny. This was for your own good!

[Become a Silver Paladin!

Slay a Martial Tempering realm enemy 0/5

Rewards: Achieve 2nd Stage Paladin status. Increased Art. Increased Aptitude. Remove Level Cap]

I spent 15 quintessence points on providing her with this quest, specifically the class that was the reward of the quest. That was worth 15 days for me.

Still, the rewards were quite scrumptious. Especially considering that my system's players were capped at the 1st stage, the Martial Tempering realm. What I was technically doing was forcefully removing the cap for the little bunny.

[Name: Fu Shi

Quintessence: 77

Players: 1/1]

Bi Yuan bowed in my direction like she usually did and then left. I paid her no heed as I sat in a lotus position and meditated.

The little bunny was a necessary investment if I were to achieve my dream of turning this world into a game. In a sense, I was grooming my first player. I was not entirely utilitarian as I had genuine sincerity with the little bunny. I was giving Bi Yaun an opportunity, and I believed she wouldn't pass it up.

I meditated on the meaning of 'Player' and 'Gamer' while I reflected on old Fu Shi's life before mine.

~~~

Weeks passed by. Bi Yuan continued to hunt for foes to accomplish her Class Advancement Quest. Meanwhile, I busied myself with my mental cultivation. It was difficult as I had to blindly feel for my path. Except for my cultivation which was not going so well, I had no problems with other things.

With Bi Yuan's help, I stored a lot of food for my consumption. I got to eat good food and enough rest. I was starting to see some semblance of stability in my lifestyle. This would be a lull period for me. I should not waste this opportunity.

That was why no matter how tedious it was, I forced myself to study the scriptures that were stored on the shelves. I retraced old Fu Shi's cultivation, searching for a way forward to advance myself. The chances of cultivating the mind were a fairly acceptable avenue for me.

I also paid attention to my physical fitness by doing regular exercises. Not to mention, I also reviewed the original Fu Shi's memories for the sake of consistency. I had arranged a Mental Library in my head using quintessence which was convenient.

There was a reason why I was doing all of this not just because I wanted to advance.

Old Fus Shi's memories were not perfect. It was fragmented. The reason I grasped this fragmentation was because of my superior mental power. I didn't mean to boast, but I quite had a knack when it came to mental concentration and mental endurance.

Through this mental power, I was able to arrange old Fu Shi's memories as I saw fit. It was a very exhausting task given the long time that old Fu Shi had lived.

Speaking of mental power, this was also a good motivation for me to meditate.

I strongly believed that in due time my meditation would bear fruit,

Meditation was the only pastime I had, as such, I immersed myself in the act. It was not like it was a fruitless endeavor. Surely, I would be rewarded, if not today, then someday. The passing of days persisted, while I strived for my own cultivation.

...

Finally.

One day, I reached a crucial breakthrough.

I delved into old Fu Shi's memories trying to make sense of the Heavenly Dao. The Dao was an abstract and philosophical concept that held more substance than what was let on.

My understanding of it was purely intuitive. This was the same for many Perfect Immortals like old Fu Shi.

But I was a little bit different and bizarrely complicated. My perception of Dao was not limited by intuition--- I possessed a perception that of a modern earthling's thinking. I have experienced many perspectives from different angles of society rich with culture and history.

My Dao was convoluted, yet carried a certain order to it. 

Even now, I felt weird that Fu Shi's perception was not clashing with my original thought process.

I fell into contemplative thinking— it was only through my past life's knowledge that I was able to interact with the Heavenly Dao. If it was old Fu Shi, he wouldn't be able to recreate what I did even with his profound cultivation. To old Fu Shi's credit though, I could not imagine doing what I did if I had not inherited his memories. The old Fu Shi's understanding and interpretation of the Heavenly Dao was priceless in its own right.

To surmise, the Game Master System I had created was only made possible through the combined knowledge of old Fu Shi and mine.

Though I lacked qi, my awareness of how the brain worked greatly helped me in creating the 'system'. Maybe to the eyes of others, what I did was nothing short of profane if not unorthodox, and I might be branded as a demonic cultivator instead.

It got me curious, what would I look like in Fu Shi's perception?

I used the Mind's Eye 'inwardly' trying to see what was I like, inside. I already did something similar, but I didn't dare delve and look deeper inside me. After so much thinking, I found the courage and confidence to start looking at myself again. I believed I had accumulated enough quintessence to save myself if something untoward happened.

Through a recently bought and perfected Mind's Eye, I looked at myself.

What I saw astounded me!