Chapter 50 – Windfall (II)

Chapter 50

Windfall (II)

Hmm.

Allow me a moment to catch you up and explain why there is currently a boy bending halfway to the ground in front of me, arms like arrows pinned to his sides, wind gently billowing his robes.

You see, about ten-ish minutes ago, while I was busy daydreaming about making a pizza, I was rudely interrupted by a status window. For a legitimate moment I became wholly terrified that Dai Xiu broke through to the Foundation Establishment or, God forbid, that other monster broke through to the Spirit Manifestation Realm.

Look, even if he could already kick my ass by now, I still have at least that to lord over him. If I lose even that, what else have I got? My sense of humor?

Anyway, my fears were dashed quickly as I realized it was neither of them–rather, it was a kid I ‘helped’ quite a while back. In fact, I’d completely forgotten about him, as I thought he’d forgotten about me.

It was that youth, Xi Zhao, that I ‘helped’ initially and got the boost of Creation Points to finally finish Dai Xiu’s cultivation method. Honestly, I’d thought he would fade into obscurity as the system wasn’t exactly ‘high’ on him… but, apparently not.

Honestly, I was only ever reminded of him during the monthly quest refresh; I always skipped the disciple recruitment and Dai Xiu’s quest, occasionally completing the last of the three. However, rewards were often quite low, in the range of 5 to 10 Creation Points, netting me 35 in total.

So, yeah, the notifications.

[–a cultivator you had helped once had achieved a tremendous feat]

[…]

[Xi Zhao, due to your guidance, had managed to undergo Nirvanic Enlightenment, reshaping his Mind, Heart, and Body, severing the karmic ties of his soul]

[New Trait Awakened: Temporal Sword (Epic)]

[New Physique Awakened: Temporal Edge (Jade)]

[Talent Awakened: Peak-Mortal -> Peak-Sky]

[…]

[Temporal Edge Sword — an extremely unique form of awakened Sword Qi. Upon awakening, Xi Zhao brushed faintly against the remnant Law of Time, attaining the special form. Can stagger and accelerate attacks unexpectedly, striving for unpredictable chaos in the form of order]

[…]

[Due to your assistance in enlightenment, you have been rewarded]

[…]

[Reward 1: 100 Creation Points]

[Reward 2: You can freely imbue ‘Low Temporal Resonance’ to any Art or Method you create once]

And there I was, somewhat shellshocked at the sudden revelation, when a figure appeared racing in the horizon and coming to an almost comedic stop in front of me, already in a bow.

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“Master Elder Lu Qi, this Xi Zhao beseeches you to take him in as a disciple! I shall kowtow and grovel for three years if necessary!”

He didn’t say it as much as he belted it out, prompting all my current houseguests to emerge from their holdings. I briefly glanced at their expressions, and you can probably imagine what they were: that monster Hua looked like he didn’t care, Long Tao appeared a bit bemused, Dai Xiu was curious, and Light… well, Light seemed to care even less than Hua.

“Khm, let’s, let’s first go inside. Xiu, make us some tea.”

“Yes, Master!” both she and the boy shouted at the same time, their comedic timing on point.

Once inside, though he did sit down, he was still rather restless, fidgeting around.

I didn’t really take a note of his appearance when I first saw him–I don’t yet have that habit–so I barely even recognized him. Or it could be that his transformation actually, well, transformed him.

Anyway, he was relatively tall for his age, perhaps five-five or so, with short, roughly cut hair and a pair of brown eyes. He was neither cute nor handsome, but he wasn’t ugly or painful to look at either; honestly, he was like one of those guys that you went to high school with that you’d completely forgotten, but then someone shows you a class photo and you go, ‘Oh yeah, I remember that guy! He once ate an entire tube of paint!’