Data-Driven Daoist

Name: Yu Han (Johan)

Level: 1

Active Accords: 1

True Qi: 200 (+82) / 200

Pure Qi: 31 / 200

Primordial Qi: 0

Lifeforce: 792 / 792

Trial: [Investigate the Outerplanar Threat.]

“Through dreams of wraiths and burning souls, the Parasitic Fireworm calls.

Another poem? Yu Han had seen the Dao Record recite such literature once before, when he had reached Level 1 from Level 0. At that time, it was for a Tribulation, which a cultivator must pass to break through major realms in cultivation. Such as from Level 0 to 1, or Level 10 to 11. But for Trials, they usually were easier to complete than Tribulations and were needed for levelling up the minor realms, such as level 1 to 2.

In this case, it was his first Trial, so he didn’t know what the standard texts for them were like. But the text for his Level 0 Tribulations weren’t poetic.

What’s an Outerplanar Threat? Is the poem a clue? Part of the Trial text, or something extra?

The previous Tribulation texts were [Purify Tainted Entities: 1/1] and [With merely water and no food, tread ten mountains a day for ten days]—although he hadn't needed to pass the latter one.

The poem attached to that Tribulation was a cryptic warning about not sharing it with others. It could be considered a clue to properly pass the Tribulation, as apparently sharing them made passing the Tribulation much harder.

Just like the Tribulation, this poem came with the Trial text itself. A flavour text, if Yu Han used game terms.

I can't share anything about Tribulations—but the restrictions regarding Trials are looser, if I remember correctly. That was what Ji's Cultivation Contemplation had said.

There were many common Trials and Tribulations. Kill a certain number of monsters, or solve a certain array pattern, or do a series of tasks in a specific order with restrictions applied.

If one had to kill a specific monster, it was fine for the Cultivator to ask around about the monster, and even how to kill it. As long as he didn't mention it was his Trial, it was supposed to be fine. There were records of people boasting about their Trials after passing them, without anything happening. But the stigma associated with talking about Trials and Tribulations was just too strong, deeply embedded into the psyche of older Cultivators. Most preferred not to share them if possible.

There had to be a reason for such superstitions, especially in a magical world like this one.

Young Ji, the author of Cultivation Contemplations, assumed it might have something to do with fate, karma, destiny, and a Cultivator's path beyond the Nascent Soul realm.

It makes no sense not to at least research it, Yu Han thought as he went through the Trial text again. Fireworm, a parasite? An actual worm or a fungus, like the flatworm? It's telling me to vanquish the Ghost of the Dreams of Flames, but what is it?

Yu Han came into contact with filth regularly. He really hoped the Trial wasn’t to purge himself of a weird fungal infection like the Underspores that had infected Feral Spot.

[Purifying Tainted Entities] was a killing task. The [With merely water and no food, tread ten mountains a day for ten days] Tribulation was a series of tasks.

Was he supposed to kill this ghost?

He tried to find mention of these in the books: Ocean Gu, River Gu, Lake Gu, Creatures Compendium, and even the Four Meditations on the Hundred Thousand Waterways.

In the Ocean Gu section of the first book, he found a mention.

"...which is the Barnacle Burrowing Fireworm, a most curious creature so weak by itself that it has to be graded even beneath mortal grades. Yet it dwells cleverly within the jade-like shells those that cling to cultivator seafaring vessels. No larger than an elder's finger, it carries the essence of lesser flame dao at its tip, burning paths through calcified armour. When the tides align with the burning moon, its translucent form weaves through barnacle forests like an ember through incense smoke, leaving trails of scorched holes in elite grade shells, which ancient Cultivators once mistook for the work of sea wisps..."

The parasitic part matches. So do I really have a parasite? Yu Han shuddered. And it’s from another plane? An alien parasite? The image brought to mind the grotesque movies.

Thinking logically, every human being had parasites. Yu Han didn't know if Cultivators of higher levels could somehow expel them from their mortal flesh. Maybe they could even refine the microbiome inside their guts and intestines somehow. At his level, Yu Han definitely couldn't.

Maybe one of the parasites inside his body was this Parasitic Fireworm?

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Your Level 2 Trial was a killing trial, right?" Yu Han asked Li Yao, who had just come out of the hot springs and was relaxing on a three-legged chair. It originally had four legs, but Fei Rui had stolen one to add it to his collection.

"Are you trying to curse me?" Li Yao raised an eyebrow.

"Merely talking around your Trials causes no karmic harm, Brother Li," Fang Zhao said from the yard. He went through each motion of the many Martial Arts. Somehow, he was connecting moves from Bronze Crane Leg with Feather Scale Step seamlessly. “As long as you do not blatantly share the Trial commands as they appeared in your Dao Records.”

"I had to kill some monsters," Li Yao said. "Not in the Hidden Realm, obviously. Went to a pioneering village on a Drizzle. The monsters had nested in a cave."

"Some say Trials are the Great Dao's way of purging filth from the world using borrowed swords," Fang Zhao said. "Some say that the Primordial Qi and Heavenly Allocation are rewards from the Great Dao for service rendered. I don't agree, though."

He kicked up with one leg, and punched backward with both fists parallel to each other. "Because sometimes, Trials of different groups of cultivators clash, which has caused war, famine, and uncountable deaths. Demonic Cultivators go through Torments in addition to Trials, which cause suffering to themselves and others. And the Great Dao may bestow Temperings upon a Cultivator, which are like Trials but without one's True Qi being filled, and without any Heavenly Allocation or Primordial Qi rewards. They are rewarded in other ways, but according to my clan seniors, the difficulty of Temperings may be greater than a Trial's, or even a Tribulation's. But the rewards always feel lesser than direct enhancement of stat points. It is fortunate that we can refuse Temperings, but they say that doing so is bad luck."

"It's amazing you can speak so much while prancing about like that," Li Yao praised. “You should’ve tried being a teacher.”

“The scholarly cultivation is not for me.” Fang Zhao spun around with a roundhouse kick to a stop, breathing out with a low whistle.

"Show off." Huang Niuniu scowled, hugging her two whips.

"Cow Girl, do you have to be so petty?" Li Yao laughed.

"Don't call me Cow Girl!"

"Cow Girl. Cow Girl, Cow Girl, Cow—Fuck! Don't you know attacking a fellow disciple is a crime—Stop it!"

Li Yao deflected one whip with one sword, and the other whip with another sword. Huang Niuniu chased him around, daring him to misbehave again.

Fei Rui tugged Yu Han's sleeve. The crab was the size of a cat now.

「I also have a Tribulation. It's better than your Trial,」 he said smugly.

"Sure it is." Yu Han sighed. The crab bounced off, becoming larger and blocking Li Yao's path. Huang Niuniu thought Fei Rui was helping her, but the crab grabbed her whips and ran off. The girl chased after.

Two more days passed. He had cultivated the first day, but True Qi didn't rise as expected. After one more shift of killing Filth Eating Ghouls, his Pure Qi amount surpassed 50 again.

Pure Qi: 51 (+20) / 200

He had hoped that it would be assimilated for stat points, but it didn't.

That night, Wen Liujie returned, covered in bandages.

"What happened to you?" Huang Niuniu asked. "Did you make someone mad?"

"Junior Huang, is that any way to congratulate your supervisor for breaking through?" Wen Liujie said through his bandages. He looked like a mummy, with both arms apparently broken.

"Are you Level 10 now?" Huang Niuniu asked.

Wen Liujie laughed proudly. "Indeed I am. With the increase in level, my stipend also increased. But here's the good part. The contribution points stipend increased even more because I'm part of the Night Alchemists' Yard. See how good the benefits are?" He came closer and spoke with a quieter voice. "If you guys think that recruiting two more members will get you promoted above me, think again."

"Senior Wen, I think there is something profoundly wrong with how you view the world," Huang Niuniu said.

"You guys don't understand," Wen Liujie countered. "To have a stable job is a precious thing in today's economy. My view of the world is good for promotions, while you gamble for luck in the Hidden Realm."

"Didn't you break through in the Hidden Realm?" Huang Niuniu said.

"This is this, that is that," Wen Liujie said. "I broke through in the Hidden Realm because I had the foundation laid out after years of work experience."

"Why did you call us?" Yu Han interrupted the two idiots before their conversation could spiral further.

"Oh, right," Wen Liujie said. "I heard about your stalker problem from Ruoxuan and Elder Chang."

"So you call her by her last name?" Huang Niuniu asked sheepishly.

"Shut it!" Wen Liujie shot her an annoyed glare. He then asked Yu Han, "You guys realise that the Hidden Realm isn't a playground? Not only do other hostile Sects have access to it, you also have to look out for stabs in the back from your own Sect brothers and sisters. Why take the risk still?"

"It's a calculated risk," Yu Han said. With Fei Rui, and the resources they had access to such as the Coveralls, healing potions, the 108 Lanterns of the Blue Veined Underspores (that could apparently heal too), and the Beaconing Talisman, it wouldn’t be so risky. They would go in for some experience, and come back after testing the waters.

"All calculations break down when you meet a fist with your face," Wen Liujie said. "Or a claw with your kidney, or a sword with your skull."

"Senior Brother is right," Yu Han said.

"I-I am?" Wen Liujie was taken aback.

"We've selected a mission to hunt Rot-Dweller Swines," Yu Han said. "We understand that we'll have to hand over one swine's worth of mushrooms that grow on their backs as tax, and the rest of the hunt we can keep."

"That's correct."

"But it's still combat, and wild boars are nothing to scoff at. They can maim and cripple, and Rot-Dweller Swines can infect people with strange diseases too. It may still be too dangerous for us!"

"So you do understand," Wen Liujie exclaimed through his bandaged face.

"We're wondering if we have access to missions that are safer, such as gathering herbs or plants," Yu Han said. "Niu'er wants to train in alchemy in the future. So this line of work may suit her more. The missions you gave us earlier were mostly about hunting monsters, with few foraging and gathering ones."

"Worry not, Junior Yu," Wen Liujie went around the desk to one of the cabinets and opened a lower drawer with his feet. "Take the scrolls here. They're gathering missions suitable for Levels 1 to 5. The treasured plants are things that the Alchemy or Medical Halls need. They should be much safer, unless you pick a mission that asks you to gather poisonous plants. You won't, right?"

"Of course not!" Yu Han promised.

He went through the mission and surprisingly found a suitable one; a mission where they had to gather Lesser Nurturing Blood Ferns.

As he slept that night, he went over the last details of his upcoming Hidden Realm adventure in his dreamscape.

If nothing unexpected happened, the day after tomorrow they would leave. They had enough members, a good mission, and excellent equipment—and hopefully the team would function properly. They would keep safe, not delving deeper into the Hidden Realm than they had to, then try to return within the same day. Two days at maximum.

The reason they weren't leaving tomorrow was because Huang Niuniu was also at her True Qi cap. Her Trial was apparently a task-type; she had to do something in the rain near a large body of water. It rained nearly every day here, so the chance was good that she would break through to Level 2 soon.

Tomorrow will be five months since I awakened my past life memories, Yu Han mused. A hundred and fifty days since he became a Cultivator. He was Level 1 now. How far could he reach in his lifetime?

Reaching Level 2 before leaving for the Hidden Realm would be best. Ten more stat points would boost his power a lot, but there was no clue of the Parasitic Fireworm—

「Yu Han, watch out!」 Fei Rui shouted.

A green shadow leapt out of nowhere, lunging towards Yu Han's head.