Chapter 286: Sponsoring
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After eating breakfast, I quickly told everyone to use their rewards. They had not assessed that at all in fact, and the rewards have been kept in the inventory space inside their bracelets this whole time—another nice little neat trick that master gave to the bracelets. She really thought about everything.
“So we touch the bracelets and… Oh?!” Wai Tian was shocked to see the items materialize in front of her, appearing over the floor.
We were all sitting on the floor right now, which was clean and rather comfortable, made of a soft and warm wood. They took out all their items, which were varied and not the exact same as mine.
For Wai Tian, there were several scrolls about meditation techniques, and also some pearls, but made of a combination of white and black heavenly essence.
I wish I had gotten those though!
But I can understand why the master gave them to Wai Tian; she requires balance, so pearls composed of these balancing energies are a must for her.
Fang Shuan received things related to the soul, Soul Healing Pills, Soul Reinforcing Pills, and so on. He also got scrolls related to a soul technique, one he didn’t know about, which seemed to help him heal his soul.
Yin Sheng obtained things related to his darkness, but there was also a Pill that gave him light essence for some reason… Nonetheless, he was also offered assassination and stealth techniques scrolls.
And lastly, for Zero One, she was the most unique; she was unable to learn things from scrolls she had tried before; they simply wouldn’t turn into her power, so Master offered her a bunch of ores for her to absorb.
All of them were either electrified or just very strong metals to assimilate and reinforce her internal and external structure. She happily snacked on them without noticing a blue sphere in there.
“What’s this thing?” she wondered. “Hm? Oh, it has zappy energy inside too.”
“That’s a… Blue Heaven Pearl?!” I asked. “Seriously, where is Master getting these? Maybe it could help you; try absorbing it! I’ve seen some machines that also used fragments of heaven as cores, so it could work with you too.”
“Hmm… Okay!” Zero One, after finishing absorbing the rest of the metals and ores, moved on to the blue sphere. “Hmm… Ah!”
FLUOSH!
Her Electromagnetic Energies rushed out, masterfully spinning around the pearl as she began to refine it. The Pearl didn’t explode or something but started glowing.
“Hmm, it is very rich, but… I don’t think it is made to be just absorbed…”
Crack… CLASH!
Suddenly, her chest began rumbling with a metallic sound, making everyone shocked. As her entire chest opened up to reveal a metallic interior, she placed the pearl inside, as it zapped her interior with a lot of electricity.
“Bbbrrrrh!”
She made a weird sound as she shook her head, then her chest closed as the pearl seemed to have been placed in an area close to her true core.
Once everything was done, she looked at her own hands…
And then, a bit of Ki emerged from it.
“K-Ki? Is that Ki?!” asked Wai Tian.
"Yes, it is,” I nodded. “I see, so maybe if you see the pearls as additional cores, you could use and produce some Ki?”
“I don’t know if I am producing it; there’s a certain limited amount inside the pearl, but until it runs out, yes, I could use it a bit!” Zero One said. “But… This is a bit weird; why would Master give me something that would just eventually run out?”
“Most likely, so you can adapt to this energy and produce something similar,” said Fang Shuan. “All of us are quite different compared to the conventional cultivators. And I am sure that the Heavenly Empress is trying to find a way for you to adapt, transform, and overcome your weaknesses somehow.”
“Yeah, maybe try to somehow… transmute your own Electromagnetic Energy into Thunder Ki or something?” I wondered.
“That sounds strange…” Zero One said. “Ki comes from living beings, and well, my body is not at the organic level yours is-”
“Well, my body is not organic anymore either, Zero One,” said Fang Shuan. “Yet I still have Ki and can cultivate it by fusing it into my Soul. But even before discovering that, I still had it within me.”
“I had no idea you were like that, Fang Shuan!” said Zero One. “Then maybe… Ah, right! I shouldn’t think if things are just impossible or not; like Anna said, I have to always try anyway! Right?”
“Well said,” Wai Tian nodded. “It looks like you’ve taught her well, Anna.”
“I am just teaching her some common sense, nothing more, nothing less…” I shrugged. “Anyways, you guys should dedicate what’s left of today to absorb these things and get stronger, and also rest.”
“Understood,” Yin Sheng nodded. “I’ll do my best for you, master Anna.”
“No… Well, don’t do it all for me,” I said, petting his head. “Do it for yourself as well, Yin Sheng! You don’t really need to dedicate your life to someone; don’t devote yourself to someone; you also need to live for yourself. One day I’ll be gone, and what will happen with you? Will you once more change masters? That’s wrong; you have to own your freedom.”
“Own… my freedom?” he wondered. “That’s rather… I had not thought about it. I shall meditate on these things as I absorb these rewards then. Thank you for the enlightenment.”
He calls it enlightenment, but it's just the most basic common sense from Earth. I guess Murim is truly culturally different from Earth, much more than most people would like it to be.
“And what about me?” Wai Tian wondered. “Do you have any enlightenment for me, master Anna?”
“Don’t call me master! Anna is fine; you were calling me Anna before. Just fine!” I said.
“Yeah, I just was upset and slightly forgot my manners before,” she apologized. “But okay, if you wish so deeply to be called simply by your name, I will do so permanently; would that make you happy then?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Anyways, just work on your meditation. Your Skills are also improving really well. You were able to use them all pretty well, so excellently done.”
“T-Thanks! Yes, I am improving! Using Skills is much different than Martial Arts or Spiritual Techniques,” she said. “It’s strange… Like simply pressing something inside of my very soul, and it simply activates automatically.”
“Yeah, that’s how Skills work,” I nodded. “Everyone here has to get used to that feeling! Yin, Fang Shuan, and the Familiars too; all of you also must learn to use it like that!”
“Got it!”
“Very well.”
“Roar!”
No wait, the Familiars already seamlessly use Skills well, but Fang Shuan does struggle to keep a grasp on them sometimes.
Well, anyways, whatever the case… There’s something else we need to assess now: that everyone is in their own thing.
“Zero One, come here; let’s go to the backyard,” I said.
“Me? Okay…” Zero One nodded, walking behind me.
As we reached the backyard, which was also perfectly replicated, I decided to tell her my plan. I wanted to see if I could sponsor her like I’ve done with the others.
Also to sponsor someone else too, well, two little ones I want to try to sponsor, something I haven’t tried yet.
Although I cannot turn them into my Familiars somehow, nothing is saying I can’t try sponsoring them.
And I’m talking about the two Divine Martial Beasts of Yin and Yang!
“You two have been slacking a bit,” I said. “It would have been nicer if you helped a bit more when we fought the two Emperors, you know?”
“Gaaaoo…”
“Meeow…”
The two looked down; their crystalline bodies were very beautiful, though.
“Well, they helped heal everyone that was wounded,” said Zero One. “I also remember the doggy helped restrain those we captured alive!”
“Yes… I suppose they did help in that regard.” I nodded. “Maybe they were afraid of getting shattered; those emperors were way too tough. In fact, I’m surprised you were so fine after taking a beating from them both.”
“My body is very tough!” Zero One was proud of it. “My metal is made of a combination of several different alloys, refined and remade over and over again, folded, fused, then folded and fused again many times. The chemical density is tremendous and equal to diamonds. It is a new synthetic metal mother calls Adamantium.”
“Interesting…” I nodded. “That’s good to know, hehe… I can use you as a shield without remorse, then?”
“E-Eh?! I wouldn’t want that either!” she panicked. “I can still break if I am hit too much…”
“Just joking, anyways. Let’s see… Can I do it or not?”
I quickly tried triggering the sponsoring ability of my System.
And…
Ding!
[Three Candidates for Sponsorship have been detected.]
[Do you wish to display the Sponsorship Information of the Candidates?]
[Yes] [No]
“Nice, it works! All three of you!”
That also means I can inherit their Skills! Primordial Divine Martial Beast Skills ought to be amazing, but I bet the requirements are also ridiculous…
At least, I have to give it a try.
Let’s see the beast’s information first.
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[Player Name]: [Wuyue Zhiye]
[Title]: [Primordial Martial Beast of Yin (Fragment, Recovering)]
[Sponsor]: [None]
[Potential Innate Skills (4)]: [Black Heaven Domain (SSS)] [Destruction (SSS)] [Wolf of the Moonless Night (SSS)] [Primordial Embodiment of Yin (SSS)]
[Overall Description]: [Wuyue Zhiye means “Moonless Night”, and it was the name given to the Primordial Martial Beast of Darkness, Death, the Moon, Yin, and Destruction. This is merely a small fragment of Wuyue Zhiye, the last remaining piece that existed within every fabric and fiber of the world, which had come together into a single piece through the power of Anna’s System.]
[Although it possesses tremendous primordial powers, it is rather weak compared to its former self, and it is growing stronger over time; perhaps one day it would eventually be able to regain its powers and restore the world alongside its partner.]
[Skill Copy Conditions]: [As a primordial beast, Wuyue Zhiye’s goals and dreams are rather mysterious; at times it seems erratic and wild, but it does feel like it is compelled to do something, and that its existence is not just in vain, but it has a purpose. And that purpose is the restoration of the world of Bestia, which it created through its battle against its partner and rival.]
[To copy one of their Skills, help them restore at least 50% of their power and at least 50% of the world of Bestia back to normal.]
[Sponsorship Price: 50.000 Plot Points]
Woah, those Skills are insane- Wait, it has a name?!
Also, that Skill Copy Condition is just way too much, but isn’t that also the purpose of this Trial?
So I might as well help, yeah.
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[Player Name]: [Yaoyan Taiyang]
[Title]: [Primordial Martial Beast of Yang (Fragment, Recovering)]
[Sponsor]: [None]
[Potential Innate Skills (4)]: [White Heaven Domain (SSS)] [Creation (SSS)] [Lioness of the Bright Sun (SSS)] [Primordial Embodiment of Yang (SSS)]
[Overall Description]: [Yaoyan Taiyang, means “Bright Day”, and it was the name given to the Primordial Martial Beast of Light, Life, the Sun, Yang, and Creation. It is merely a small fragment of Yaoyan Taiyang, the last remaining piece that existed within every fabric and fiber of the world, which had come together into a single piece through the power of Anna’s System.]
[Although it possesses tremendous primordial powers, it is rather weak compared to its former self, and it is growing stronger over time; perhaps one day it would eventually be able to regain its powers and restore the world alongside its partner.]
[Skill Copy Conditions]: [As a primordial beast, Yaoyan Taiyang’s goals and dreams are rather mysterious; at times it seems erratic and wild, but it does feel like it is compelled to do something, and that its existence is not just in vain, but it has a purpose. And that purpose is the restoration of the world of Bestia, which it created through its battle against its partner and rival.]
[To copy one of their Skills, help them restore at least 50% of their power and at least 50% of the world of Bestia back to normal.]
[Sponsorship Price: 50.000 Plot Points]
Okay, so both have almost the same description and goals, got it…
And their sponsorship prices are affordable for me, and at a considerably lower price compared to the insanity from the two Emperors.
Is this because they’re much weaker than them, even though they have tremendous potential?
If it's so cheap, it also probably means it’ll be very hard to restore their power.
But master said something about a mountain that had drowned, right below the largest mechanical tree, that has crystalized primordial yin and yang energy.
If they ate all of that mountain…
Then perhaps they could restore much more of their power, right?
Another goal I have to do.
But for now, let’s see Zero One and be done with it.
I’ll sponsor all three anyway.
Now… Please, please have a more reasonable Copy Condition, Zero One!
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