Tainted will

Xuan mountain, Ye village.

Bai Ming slowly opened his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy. He tried to get up but his body didn't have any strength, his entire body was very weak after losing so much blood.

"I didn't make it, mid-grade talent.." Bai Ming had a mocking expression on his pale face as his gaze shifted like clouds.

After a long time.

"Sigh, it's not too bad I guess. I'll just have to double my efforts and find different ways to get more resources. I don't believe talent is everything, if there is a will there definitely will be a way." Bai Ming slowly accepted reality.

He was undoubtedly disappointed but his will didn't waver, setbacks could only make him stronger. The more he was suppressed and restricted, the greater was his desire to move unhindered.

"I have firmly stepped into the road of cultivation, now I am one step closer in my pursuit of strength." Thinking of this his crimson eyes shone with a cold brilliance.

"Brat you have woken up. Making this old man worried, What were you thinking." Bai Ming's grandfather had just walked in, he spoke in a reprimanding tone but his tired eyes couldn't conceal his deep concern.

"Sorry grandpa, I should have known my limits. Even though I knew passing the 3rd pole was not possible, I just couldn't keep my emotions in check. I have not yet conquered my mind." Bai Ming blamed himself in a weak voice.

Bai Li sighed deeply, He knew how Bai Ming felt. He understood his feelings deeply. Who wouldn't want a high-grade talent, especially someone like Bai Ming who knew how this world worked. The weak are humiliated while the strong are respected. In a world where life was cheap as grass, one had to get stronger to protect themselves and their loved ones.

"Stupid brat, talent isn't everything. What's the use of this talent if you are dead. You should focus on the present, Don't let this tiny setback cloud your heart. As long as you don't give up and cultivate diligently you will surely find success in life." Old Li began to lecture his grandson again.

"You have been asleep for the past nine hours, You fainted because of blood loss. Don't forget now you're a genuine Bone forging realm tier 1 cultivator. Your body Constitution has had a quality improvement from before, Even if you simply rest without even eating any medicinal pills in a few days you will be good to go, This is the difference between mortals and us cultivators."

Bai Ming nodded slightly, staying silent seemingly in deep thought.

"Before you let your thoughts wander, hear what I have to say first." Old Li paused for a moment before continuing "Remember after two days classes starts for you in clan academy, Don't be lazy, attend all the classes. Even though I have taught you many things over the years, The clan academy will play an important role in your cultivation journey take it seriously. And one more thing I have kept a medicinal pill in that box near you take it before you go to sleep. I'll be taking my leave now, rest well." Old Li directly left after finishing his words.

"Good night grandpa" Bai Ming spoke in a weak voice, he was without a doubt tired.

Bai Ming lay in bed as he began considering his future, after a long time he slightly shook his head. He then tried to move his hand to grab the medicinal pill, After some effort, he managed to get his left hand on the box, He opened it and saw a bright red pill.

He had just held it in his palm when suddenly out of nowhere, a white gleam of stary blue light flashed in front of his eyes.

A light display appeared in his vision.

_____

[𝙳𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍! ]

[𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 ]

_____

Bai Ming's eyes widened, almost to the point of popping out. He looked extremely stunned. After a few breaths of time, he continuously blinked. He thought he was hallucinating due to his weak state.

Bai Ming was tongue-tied, as he spoke internally

"wha-what the hell is this!?!"

Next, he saw that the panel refresh, as a new set of words were displayed.

_____

[𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍! ]

[𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚍𝚎 ]

_____

Suddenly a small amount of information was directly transferred into his brain.

Bai Ming's eyes went blank for a moment before gaining a new found clarity. His lips curled up forming a cold smirk, his eyes shone with incomparable joy. He understood that this was his life-changing moment.

After a breaths time, he spoke mentally "status"

The screen in front of him changed again.

_____

[𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜]

[𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: 𝙱𝚊𝚒 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚐]

[𝙲𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝚃𝚒𝚎𝚛 1 𝙱𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚖 ]

[𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝: 𝙼𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚞𝚖 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 +]

[𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 : 3 +]

[𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜: 200/2000]

_____

"Great, this means the information I got previously was true." Bai Ming's grin became even wider.

"Then now I should try this." Bai Ming's excited gaze landed on the red pill on his palm.

He spoke in a weak voice "Absorb"

[𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢:5 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚜]

[𝙰𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚋:𝚈𝚎𝚜/𝙽𝚘]

"Yes," Bai Ming confirmed. As he gave the order, the pill started to vanish into nothingness. In a breaths time, it completely disappeared from existence.

[𝙰𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢.... 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍]

[𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜: 205]

"Success!" Bai Ming slowly closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep. He was really exhausted.

------------

The dark colors in the sky were slowly fading away, the sun rose from the east. The early dawn mountain air was fresh.

Time slowly slipped away.

The morning light squeezed through the narrow crack in the window and shone into the room.

Bai Ming had just woken up, he was sitting upright on the bed looking at the glowing panel with a deep gaze.

[𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎 100 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚙𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝? ]

[ 𝚈𝚎𝚜/𝙽𝚘 ]

"Yes," Bai Ming decided to upgrade, his heart beating increasingly faster, his hands clenching the bed sheets. His eyes were filled with hope and eagerness.

____

[𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜]

[𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: 𝙱𝚊𝚒 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚐]

[𝙲𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝚃𝚒𝚎𝚛 1 𝙱𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚖 ]

[𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝: 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 +]

[𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 : 3 +]

[𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜: 105/2000]

____

The instant the panel refreshed, Bai Ming's entire body was suddenly enveloped in a bright blinding golden light. Mystical changes were happening in his body, and Bai Ming's mind was turned completely blank at the moment. After a few breaths of time, the light slowly faded.

Bai Ming snapped out of his absentmindedness as he first began inspecting his body. After inspecting it twice, he found nothing strange.

He glanced at the panel floating in front of him. Noticing the change in the panel his heart was filled with incomparable joy as he began laughing loudly.

After a long time, he calmed himself. He greedily looked at the '+' on the spirit root section. The panel changed again.

[𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎 300 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚙𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝? ]

[ 𝚈𝚎𝚜/𝙽𝚘 ]

Bai Ming smiled bitterly at this.

"300 skill points, I still need 195 points to upgrade my spirit root to a superior grade. I previously got 5 points from absorbing spirit medicine, In the guide, it was mentioned that I can convert spirit pills and spirit herbs and other spirit treasures which have qi into skill points, the medicinal pill was a tier 1 healing pill and absorbing it I got 5 points. Hmmm, if I just have to absorb items that have essence then I should be able to absorb spirit stones, let's find out. "

Bai Ming moved to grab a pouch, even though he had not recovered completely, he could manage to walk now. The pouch was crammed with spirit stones to the brim.

Bai Ming directly sat down on the floor with his legs crossed. Then he emptied the entire pouch which was filled with spirit stones on the floor. He then began to count them. These spirit stones were the fruits of his many years of savings.

Spirit stones were the currency used in this world. At the same time, it was also a condensed matter of the world's essence, usable on oneself, and has an important role in one's cultivation. It has monetary value as well as usable properties.

"54,55,56...84,85" Bai Ming slightly frowned at this,

"Absorb"

[𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢: 85 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚜]

[𝙰𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚋: 𝚈𝚎𝚜/𝙽𝚘]

"Yes"

[𝙰𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢...𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍]

[𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜:190]

"Good, this Martial panel is going to be a huge help. Now I possess a high-grade spirit root, the advantage of this panel is evident. Now what I need to do is gather more points and upgrade my spirit root and comprehension, But the problem is how am I going to do it?"

"Wait, wasn't there something about a gift?" Bai Ming quickly scanned the guide that he had received from the panel. The guide which we speak of was directly imprinted in his mind. He just needed a mental thought to go through it.

Once he completed reading it fully. He inwardly spoke "Open gift pack"

____

[𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚔]

[𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜! 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍

1× 𝚂𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚐 , 𝙲𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊 , 1× 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗 , 200 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 ]

[𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚟𝚎:𝚈𝚎𝚜/𝙽𝚘]

____

"Storage bag! 200 spirit stones, wonderful! Hahaha.." Bai Ming laughed heartily.

"Yes," The moment he confirmed the space in front of him had a small change, a golden ball of light the size of an infant manifested before fading away. In its place was a grey pouch and bag of spirit stones. As for the encyclopedia, its contents were directly transferred to Bai Ming.

Bai Ming inspected these items before shifting his focus to the panel again. He willed "Open lucky spin,"

_____

[𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗: 𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 1]

[𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚗: 𝚈𝚎𝚜/𝙽𝚘]

_____

"Yes!"

[𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐.. 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜!! 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚕 '𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚝']

[𝙰𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝:𝚢𝚎𝚜/𝙽𝚘]

"Yes" Bai Ming suddenly received a large amount of information, the contents of the rotten blood art were directly transferred to him. He could go through it whenever he wanted.

Bai Ming roughly went through it.

"The rotten blood arts is a top-class body cultivation manual, but to cultivate it i need the corpses of other human cultivators. Its a bit troublesome, but doable." Bai Ming frowned deeply but his brows soon relaxed.

He immediately absorbed all the spirit stones making his skill points reach 390. Then without any hesitation he directly used 300 skill points to upgrade his High-grade spirit root to a Superior grade, it was that easy. Life was truly unpredictable.

"Superior grade" Bai Ming clenched his fists and a crazed smile was plastered on his cold face.