16: Chapter 16 The Forbidden Stone!

"Back to the main topic, System, you said I could decipher his cultivation insights without deciphering his cultivation level, right?"

Lin Wan didn't tease any further.

[Yes, Host. Your essence, energy, and spirit have not been tempered to the extreme. If you cultivate now, your foundation will not actually be perfect.]

[Not to mention this universe, the prodigies in the myriad worlds usually polish their four dimensions to one hundred before they start cultivating. Some exceptional monsters even polish them into the thousands. When they finally start cultivating, they soar directly into the sky, breaking through several major realms in succession.]

[However, those are individual cases with special innate constitutions; some are even born divine. My requirement for you, Host, is just to reach one hundred in your four dimensions.]

[Mortal body tempering is divided into three grades: primary, intermediate, and advanced. For primary body tempering, you only need your strength, speed, and physique to reach 30 to start cultivating. Relying on such a foundation to start cultivating already counts as being a prodigy or monster among mortals of some lower races.]

[Such prodigies among mortals are more than capable of handling even high-mystic or high-level immortal cultivation systems.]

[The guy you just killed was that kind of genius.]

Lin Wan glanced at Fang Xiu.

How pitiful, dead and still being dragged out to be whipped.

The System ignored Lin Wan's expression, emitting a pleasant, mature young woman's voice as it immersed itself in its own explanation.

[As for intermediate body tempering, it requires strength, speed, and physique to reach 60, and spirit to reach 30. Because for mortals, spirit is difficult to temper, the difficulty is higher. This kind of body tempering is usually the limit for medium-sized major races, and the foundation is considered upper-tier in the entire universe.]

[Advanced body tempering requires strength, speed, and physique to reach 90, and spirit to reach 70 or above to complete. This is considered a top-tier monster even in your nascent universe.]

[But to break through the threshold of the universe, this is not enough. My requirement for you is extreme body tempering, which means all four dimensions must reach 100. Only with such a perfect foundation can one be considered a top-tier prodigy in the vast cosmic sea, and it is also the threshold for cultivating the most supreme systems.]

After listening to the System's words, Lin Wan was a bit puzzled.

"This doesn't seem that hard, right? My spirit is already at 90 now. It's just a matter of drinking a few potions..."

[Heh, that's because this is the convenience granted to you by the cosmic will, which has digitized your methods of improvement. At the same time, this is one of the benefits of cosmic ascension and becoming a Trial-taker. In other universes, this would be an opportunity that can be sought but not found.]

[Although the advanced spirit enhancement potion from the Target Settlement reward is good, it cannot possibly allow your soul and body to be strengthened to the limit without any loss, nor can it avoid issues with medicinal residue or foundation.]

[These are all conveniences provided to the Trial-taker by the cosmic will, with the goal of having the Trial-taker create a cultivation system capable of supporting the entire universe's ascension.]

[Although your nascent universe has numerous cultivation systems, none of them can reach the pinnacle of the universe.]

[Even that Ancestor Pan, who chose to prove the Dao through strength, was very majestic when opening up the world, but in the end, he transformed into all things before perfecting his cultivation system.]

[However, it is also because of him that the path of cultivating through strength is much easier to walk in your universe. The rules of the Great Dao strongly favor this path, even giving rise to the principle that 'great strength creates miracles,' and the monotonous systems ultimately revolve around this path.]

[Of course, this doesn't prevent you from taking other paths. According to this System's knowledge, prodigies all have their arrogant nature and do not follow the old paths of their predecessors.]

Lin Wan shook his head.

"Don't point at me, I'm not a prodigy!"

"Since proving the Dao through strength is a good path and easier to walk, I won't be foolish enough to take other paths."

"After all, having great strength is my philosophy, and this universe is inherently strength-first."

Lin Wan naturally wouldn't think that his own comprehension, aptitude, and talent could be better than Pangu's.

Pangu was born divine, so the path he provided must be easy to walk.

If he didn't take it, he would be an idiot.

What is that saying, 'Those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die!'

If you can imitate Pangu to that extent, I'll consider you impressive.

Originally, there were no paths in the world; as more people walked them, they naturally became paths.

He only needed to build upon the foundation of his predecessors and perfect his own cultivation system.

In his eyes, any system that could rapidly increase combat power was a good system.

[You are actually a host who listens to advice; that's a good character trait.]

Lin Wan: "The two predecessors before me didn't have good character traits?"

[Yeah! They liked to look down on people, had the arrogance of a prodigy, but lacked the mindset of a prodigy. They rarely listened to what I said, and their strongest strength only reached the galaxy-level combat power.]

[Sometimes, I was even forced to use some pleasant tones to coax them.]

Lin Wan shrugged: "Hiss... That sounds pretty tragic."

[Not tragic, because they are all dead!]

[You, as a host, although you like to play devil's advocate, like to tease me, are very chuunibyou, and even have no sense of propriety, at least you have some self-awareness.]

Lin Wan rolled his eyes: "Say what you want, just don't use me as an example!"

[Yeah! If you can keep this up, you might just be the best host I've ever brought along.]

Lin Wan stopped paying attention to her and touched Fang Xiu's corpse.

[Decryption Target: Cultivation insights and cultivation philosophy of the peak of the Third Turn.]

[Required Decryption Points: 5000]

[Decipher?]

'Decipher!'

... After successfully deciphering the cultivation insights of the peak of the Third Turn, Lin Wan's head was filled with many things.

Although his combat power didn't increase, his control over power became more handy.

"System, do you think I'm suppressing my combat power a bit by doing this?"

"What would happen if I directly deciphered and merged the cultivation levels of several different cultivation systems?"

Lin Wan asked.

[Every cultivation system has a different way of operating the body. If you try to make two cultivation systems compatible, you are prone to qi deviation. With three or more, you would explode and die! Even the digitization of the cosmic will cannot change this.]

"Even you can't change it?"

[This System is deeply sorry, but the requirements for the kind of side-effect-free fusion system you want are simply too heaven-defying; it's not something a small System ranked thirty-three thousand eight hundred in the myriad heavens like me can do.]

"What rank would be needed to do that?"

[It's not a question of rank; it's the kind of... more trouble than it's worth, you know? Things that aren't yours will ultimately not be yours!]

"That's quite profound. Sorry... I've read too many power fantasies and have become a bit slow-witted. Anyway... at least I'm having a good time using you, System."

[Good that you know!]

[That's why I suggested the path of creating a system. You must organize their cultivation insights and combine them with your own philosophy to create the one that best suits you.]

[Once you truly create your own cultivation system and use it as a melting pot, you won't encounter this situation when deciphering others' systems. By then, everything will become your nourishment.]

[A tall building rises from the ground; work hard, Host.]

"You certainly have a way with words; are you aiming to become an Exalted?"

Lin Wan retorted.

[I don't recite poetry.]

Lin Wan: ...

He really underestimated the System's humanization; it was as if there was a living, breathing person in his mind.

He shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Suddenly remembering that there was still a Target Settlement reward he hadn't claimed, he turned his eyes to the talent panel.

[Target "Slay the Black-Robed Man" completed, reward settled.]

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining: Mortal-grade forbidden stone * 1]

"What the heck is a forbidden stone?"

Lin Wan was a bit puzzled and immediately materialized it.

[Mortal-grade forbidden stone]

[Description: Divided into Heaven, Earth, Spirit, and Mortal grades, it has the effect of improving aptitude.]

[Effect: Regardless of the system or talent, as long as the aptitude is still below the planetary-level combat power limit, it can increase the current system's aptitude by one grade.]