Chapter 7: Attribute Data

"Why hasn't he woken up yet? This shouldn't be happening!"

Inside the secret chamber, as Lu Hai watched Lu Sheng still immersed in the inheritance, his initial joy began to give way to unease. When he had received the inheritance years ago, it had taken him less than half an hour to complete. Now, more than an hour had passed, and Lu Sheng remained unconscious, filling Lu Hai's heart with anxiety.

"Calm down! I must remain calm! He'll wake when it's time. Perhaps Sheng has gained some insight in the process!"

With this thought, Lu Hai stopped staring anxiously and instead sat cross-legged to the side, settling his mind and recovering the energy he'd expended during the day.

———

In his mind, after communicating with Ruyi, Lu Sheng pondered:

"For me now, mastering the Three Treasures Ruyi Art and obtaining the inheritance are top priorities. Therefore, any wish I make must aid in cultivating the Three Treasures Ruyi Art. I'll save the third wish—perhaps it will save my life in a crisis. Other less urgent desires can wait until after I've received the inheritance."

With that, he set aside the urge to make a wish and began to comprehend the Three Treasures Ruyi Art. This secret technique, created by a great master for selecting successors, was not easy to cultivate. The first principle lay in mastering one's vital essence, qi, and spirit.

"Heaven has three treasures: sun, moon, and stars; earth has three treasures: water, fire, and wind; man has three treasures: essence, qi, and spirit. What Ruyi passed to me is the first layer of the Three Treasures Ruyi Art—the cultivation of human essence, qi, and spirit. The first step requires the ability to conceal one's essence, qi, and spirit entirely, achieving a body without leakage."

"A body without leakage!" He pondered the concept but found himself at a loss, so he continued to study:

"The first step is only the foundation. The second step involves maintaining one's essence, qi, and spirit so that not only are they fully contained, but can also reach their peak swiftly when needed."

"This requires the skill of coordinating and transforming essence, qi, and spirit—refining essence into qi, qi into spirit, essence into spirit, qi returning to essence, spirit returning to essence, spirit returning to qi... The three flow freely, cycling endlessly. A breakthrough in one will drive the others forward, developing in harmony."

"This is excellent! My spirit is the sum of two people; if I master this step, my essence and qi will soon reach the same combined level, and my strength will grow rapidly!" At present, Lu Sheng was unaware that he already had the ability to cultivate his spirit actively; his progress in spiritual cultivation far exceeded his current levels of essence and qi.

"The third step is the integration of essence, qi, and spirit, allowing their use in combination. When primarily using essence, qi and spirit can be added, increasing it up to three times; when using qi, essence and spirit can be added, also tripling; when using spirit, essence and qi can be added, again tripling the original value. This allows for targeted use and maximizes the body's capabilities."

"This step is peculiar—it's like an explosive power technique, yet also like a recovery method, and even resembles a way to enhance spiritual insight. It can be seen as a secret art that triples essence, qi, and spirit, though not all three simultaneously. However, unlike other techniques that boost strength or spirit, which leave one weakened afterward, this has no side effects; it even accelerates recovery."

As he marveled at the wonders of the art, Lu Sheng continued his contemplation:

"Once these three steps are complete, the final step follows. This step is all about transformation—freely changing essence, qi, and spirit as desired. One can even adjust them to mimic the characteristics of other living beings if their traits are known."

"At this stage, control over essence, qi, and spirit is absolute, and the first layer of the Three Treasures Ruyi Art is perfected!"

Having reached this point, Lu Sheng was thoroughly impressed: simply the foundational use of essence, qi, and spirit could yield such a variety of effects. The great master who created this art possessed truly boundless abilities and wisdom, worthy of admiration.

"Once the Three Treasures Ruyi Art is mastered, many techniques targeting essence, qi, and spirit will be rendered ineffective. As long as attacks don't target all three simultaneously, recovery is swift; if someone tries to track or curse with methods that lock onto essence, qi, and spirit, simply altering them will sever the link; and if one is adept at disguise or bone-shrinking techniques, changing one's appearance and essence, qi, and spirit together makes it impossible for others to distinguish real from fake... The utility of this art is truly immense!"

"This is just the so-called 'initial entry'; the ultimate 'Ninety-nine Profound Arts' must be even more powerful. Judging from the last step of the Three Treasures Ruyi Art and its similarity to the Eight-ninth Profound Arts, the Ninety-nine Profound Arts are likely transformation techniques, even stronger in their effect."

"I hope to receive the inheritance soon and see this art for myself!" Lu Sheng sighed in his heart.

———

With these thoughts, Lu Sheng glanced again at the still-present "[Origin]" data list before him, already determined. He summoned Ruyi and asked:

"Ruyi, how much merit is required to continuously display and update my own [Origin], [Essence, Qi, and Spirit], and other such data? Does using it consume merit?"

After calculating for a moment, Ruyi replied:

"Depending on the content displayed, the merit needed varies. For just the seven items of [Origin] and [Essence, Qi, and Spirit], approximately thirteen million one hundred and fifty thousand points of merit are required. For functions affecting oneself, you may set them to open and close using your own energy, avoiding merit consumption."

"Thirteen million one hundred and fifty thousand points of merit! Using my own energy to control it! That's excellent! Ruyi, calculate for me how much merit is required to add options for strength, speed, constitution, martial arts, mystical arts, divine abilities, and skills."

Filled with joy, Lu Sheng gave the command.

"Forty-four million three hundred thousand merit points!" Ruyi replied swiftly.

"Whoa, that's a huge increase!" Lu Sheng thought, but didn't pursue the matter, instead asking, "Can the display show precise progress, and can merit be used to enhance it?"

"You can display precise progress, but the merit required doubles to eighty-eight million six hundred thousand. Merit, being the manifestation of origin, naturally enhances everything, though not so precisely. Adding this function doesn't increase consumption," Ruyi clarified.

At the same time, it reminded him, "When cultivating the Three Treasures Ruyi Art, it's not advisable to use merit or similar methods to accelerate progress, to avoid affecting your control over essence, qi, and spirit."

"Understood," Lu Sheng replied, then instructed, "Add the causes of changes in various attribute data, as well as the merit required for enhancement and the conditions for reducing merit consumption."

"Ninety-three million six hundred thousand merit points!" Ruyi answered promptly.

"Almost a hundred million, that'll do! Use my merit to simulate this data!" Cautious, he didn't immediately wish to have the data permanently displayed, but spent merit to simulate it himself.

With the command, his merit dropped quickly by three points, and before his eyes appeared the following data:

"Strength: 795 (jin)
Speed: 9.1 (m/s)
Constitution: 1.26
Essence: 0.90
Qi: 0.92
Spirit: 1.96
[Origin]
Luck: 9
Merit: 23
Karma: 11
Other: 0
[Martial Arts]
Rolling Stone Posture: 86%
Rolling Stone Palm: 85%
Rolling Stone Force: 3%
[Mystical Arts]: None
[Divine Abilities]: None
[Skills]
Medicine: Level 1, 32%"

Seeing this, Lu Sheng considered for a moment and asked:

"Ruyi, how is constitution calculated?"

"The average of essence, qi, and spirit," Ruyi replied.

"As expected!" Lu Sheng thought, merging constitution with essence, qi, and spirit.

He then asked Ruyi a few more questions, merged some data, and added information. He also adjusted units, changing strength from "jin" to the commonly used "stone" in this world, speed from "meters per second" to "zhang per breath," and so on... Ultimately, the merit consumed reached the hundred-million-point limit, at which point he made his wish.

With his wish granted, the data before Lu Sheng changed rapidly, finally settling into this form:

"[Basic Information]
Name: Lu Sheng
Age: 15
Realm: Martial Apprentice
[Physical Attributes]
Strength: 7.95
Speed: 8.2
Constitution: 1.26 (Essence 0.90, Qi 0.92, Spirit 1.96)
Health: 76% (Minor injuries)
[Origin]
Luck: 9
Merit: 23
Karma: 11
Other: 0
[Martial Arts]
Rolling Stone Arts: Rolling Stone Posture 86%, Rolling Stone Palm 85%, Rolling Stone Force 3%
[Mystical Arts]: None
[Divine Abilities]: None
[Skills]
Medicine: Level 1, 32%"