44: So many capabilities

Ning discovered another issue with his Water Filtration skill: he needed to be in contact with the water, but if he purified seawater, it would mix with other water and still be salty.

"Oh, wait a minute. System, I can store liquids in my storage space, right?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then how about filtering it into my storage?" he asked again.

"Host parasite needs physical contact with the Water Filtration."

"Hmm... so I should bring the water back and filter it all at once," he thought. "But where am I going to store the water?"

He looked around but didn't find anything special. "I guess I'll have to dig," he thought. He needed something else to dig with, as a wooden stake wasn't enough.

"Let's just buy a set of metal tools," he thought, then inquired with the system.

He spent 20 million energy on a hoe and another 25 million on a shovel. He decided to spend a few more days gathering energy. Meanwhile, he dug more pathways in the field to get water.

In his free time, something else was constantly on his mind. "Should I go directly for a physical body, or wait until I have enough energy to buy a spiritual root?" he pondered. "First, I should learn about cultivation properly. System, display all cultivation knowledge."

"Display all cultivation knowledge."

"Basic Cultivation Knowledge: 560,000,000 energy."

"Elementary Cultivation Knowledge: 5.6 billion energy."

"Intermediate Cultivation Knowledge: 56 billion energy."

"Advanced Cultivation Knowledge: 560,000,000,000 energy."

"Omniscient Cultivation Knowledge: 5.6 trillion energy."

"What... I can't even afford the most basic one? Why?" He was shocked by the absurd prices for cultivation knowledge. "560 million... that's 56 days... damn, 2 months to complete? I'll be bored. If only there was a way to increase my daily limit. I wish I could get more sound energy, just like my heat energy-- hmm... wait a minute. Hey, doesn't the system also have a function to convert yin into sound?" he asked with great anticipation.

"Yes. The conversion of yin into sound requires 20,000,000 energy."

"Idiot!! Why didn't I think of this sooner?" He began to scold himself.

"Alright, tomorrow I'll quickly collect sound energy and double my daily limit twice within 5 days. This should help me a lot," he thought.

"Buy it," he said.

"Purchasing Yin to Sound for 20,000,000 energy."

"Alright, time to grind again."

Over the next few days, he spent time digging a hole in another part of the field to store water, then teleported to the sea to bring water back. He would also kill any monsters or animals that came into the field and send their corpses back to the village. They would surely be grateful.

During this time, he also unlocked the next limit for gathering energy twice.

Now he could collect 40 million energy daily, and the pit he dug was filled with water, ready for purification.

He transferred his body to a small stone, then teleported into the water. "Oh man, if I could fly, this would be so much easier... I should look into that ability soon," he thought.

"Alright... uh, I just need to think, right?" he wondered, and began to consider filtering the water so that only water remained, and the salt was separated from it. His body began to hum.

Suddenly, the white particles in the water began to separate, and it cost him nearly 20 million energy to separate the salt from the water. "Oh man. I should have calculated this beforehand."

Seeing so much energy consumed just to filter water, he felt his heart bleed.

He looked around and saw the salt beginning to sink to the bottom of the water. "I should take them out, right?" he thought, putting all the salt into his storage. Once the water was purified, he teleported back.

"Alright, how do I get the water flowing now?" he wondered.

"Uh... let's go find Hyesi. He can do it," he thought.

"System, teleport me back to the village marker," he said. Suddenly, his entire figure vanished and arrived at another place.

"Hmm... what's this? It feels so soft," he thought, looking at where he had just arrived. His previously built hut had many leaves and dry coconut shells, forming a soft seating area.

"Hmm... what happened? How did this kind of thing get here?" He thought for a moment. "Oh, Hyesi must have worked hard. Good boy, good boy."

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. "Oh, he must be here. He's a good, obedient child, still following my instructions even after so many days." He waited for Hyesi to open the door, then walked in.

But it was an old woman who entered. She was probably one of the old grandmothers in the village he had never seen before. "Hmm... why is she here?" he wondered.

"Oh, nothing today. He must be busy," she said, about to leave, when she suddenly saw the small stone in the middle of the room. She hesitated and said, "Is that you, Inikaka?" she asked.

"What? How does she know?" He was shocked.

"Inikaka?" she asked again.

"How does she know about me? Is she... Hyesi?" He was surprised.

"Wait, no way. He probably just told others about me," he thought.

"If it is you, please speak, Lord of Light Inikaka," the old woman spoke again. Ning had intended to remain silent, but then decided against it. "I was planning to do something like this later. I guess now is fine too."

So, he finally spoke: "Yes, it is I."