Villain Seduces to Rise in Status

[Acquired Cultivation Technique: Taiyi Samsara Domain: Six Paths of Ruin and Grace]

[The user activates the "Heavenly Path" aura. A radiant light bathes allies, continuously knitting flesh, restoring mental fatigue, and shielding them from psychological or illusion attacks. The skill’s effects are reduced to 1/4th potency when used on others compared to the host.

The user unlocks the aura of the "Asura." Only becomes useful upon forming an Avatar Dharma Body after achieving Sage Stage.]

Cale smiled at the description. "Oh, that’s quite interesting. Asura... but Dharma Body? What even is that? Is it like Susanoo or something?"

[WARNING!: This technique is incomplete!]

His eyebrow rose.

[Merge Great Dao of Natural Balance and Taiyi Samsara Domain: Six Paths of Ruin and Grace?]

[Price: 300 Blank Points]

He sighed heavily. "Well, if it’s incomplete, merging makes sense. The Great Dao of Natural Balance has served me well, but it’s become pretty much useless to me at my level. Merging them could provide some benefits given their power levels."

[Techniques successfully merged!]

[New Technique Acquired: Genetic Ascension!]

[A profound body-tempering technique granting the user ability to restore and evolve their physical form. Created through fusion of Great Dao of Natural Balance, Genesis, and Taiyi Samsara Domain: Six Paths of Ruin and Grace.

Upon activation, the technique slowly reconstructs any damaged cells, tissues, organs, bones, and muscles, restoring them to original state. However, when provided energy, it analyzes the damage endured and uses reconstruction to subtly refine affected tissues, making them slightly more stronger, resilient, and better adapted than before.

Reconstruction is exceedingly slow relying solely on natural vitality. However, it accelerates dramatically when supplied Qi, Spiritual Energy, Yang Essence, or other life-attributed energies. The more suitable the energy, the faster restoration becomes.

Rare resources accelerate the process further. Healing pills, elixirs, spiritual herbs, divine fruits, blood, or essence cores of powerful beasts serve as catalysts, allowing the technique to absorb beneficial properties during reconstruction and incorporate them into the user’s evolving body.

The technique possesses Adaptive Evolution.

When the body suffers damage from a particular source, reconstructed tissues gradually develop greater resistance toward that form of damage. Repeated exposure strengthens adaptation further, allowing progressive evolution against flames, frost, lightning, poison, physical force, corrosive energies, and other destructive energy types.

However, evolution is neither instantaneous nor limitless. Minor injuries provide almost no meaningful evolutionary benefit. Repeatedly inflicting insignificant damage produces diminishing returns.

The body must face threats strong enough to push current limits before significant evolution occurs.

With sufficient time, resources, and cultivation, Genetic Ascension allows users to gradually transform their physical form into an increasingly perfect life-form, making every struggle against death another opportunity for evolution.]

[Every minute used: 10 Blank Points]

The information dropped directly into Cale’s consciousness rather than appearing on screen, it was way too complex for display, and maybe even the system itself doubted if Cale would understand it that way. When it finished, he laughed aloud.

"Heh, a fucking masochistic level-up skill again. As expected from merging two supreme-grade techniques, and it even incorporated Genesis to maximize itself on its own. Though it does require shit load of resources..." He trailed off. "Well, I’ll get them somehow anyway."

By the time his contemplation ended, the first of eighteen blades on the Thorned Lotus had been successfully refined.

[Congratulations host for completing the quest: Refine Thorned Lotus.]

He tilted his head with amusement. "How much trust do you have in me to grant the quest reward on just the first blade? Heh, you’re spoiling me too much."

’Not that I’m complaining, though. Like I said, I might just marry you if you ever appear.’

[Reward: Telekinesis]

[WARNING! Host’s mental strength is insufficient to incorporate Telekinesis!]

[Force opening mental conduits! Forcefully enhancing mental strength!]

[Host’s body will undergo paralysis for: 03:59:59...]

"Y-you! What are you doing... did I piss you off or something...?"

His words cut off abruptly.

Consciousness evaporated.

What Cale didn’t knew was that the system was literally consuming his accumulated resources. Be it the spiritual herbs from his storage. Every beast essence core, tens of middle and low-grade spiritual stones. All being sacrificed to enhance his mental fortitude for this single ability’s integration.

The system had provided Genetic Ascension first specifically for this purpose, to use its reconstruction properties alongside his abundant resources, maximizing mental strength enhancement over the four-hour window. It could have improved his physical form simultaneously, but he bore no injuries requiring restoration.

Four hours passed and then, Cale’s consciousness stirred.

Except... he wasn’t waking up.

He was materializing inside his inner sanctum.

His eyes opened to the black ocean surrounding him, stars reflecting across the black waters like scattered diamonds. He tried moving toward the barrier, attempting to exit.

Well... nothing happened.

He was trapped.

"Sigh, so... what now?"

The system might actually be his long-lost mother from some alternate dimension given how much its spoiling him.

"Heh, as if... but whoever created this must have known me somehow, right?"

At this point, only one answer made sense, the creator was from his past life. Impossible as it sounded, if he could regress across lifetimes, why couldn’t someone forge this kind of thing and send it forward?

’The creator must be some godly being, right? Nocturnus was a fallen—he never possessed this caliber of power. And...’

He didn’t know any other gods. Hell, did they even exist?!

His cheat of a system was now making autonomous decisions. They were beneficial to him right now, yes, but how long would that remain?

For all he knew, what if some evil entity had made this to perfect his body before taking control of it? His entire being shuddered at the thought.

Slowly, connection reformed with his main body.

His eyes fluttered open as he left the mindspace, only to be immediately bombarded with notifications:

[Cultivation Speed Multiplier: 4.5x → 4.8x]

[Spiritual Root ’Quasi-Lightning (Normal)’ integrated from separation of lightning essence from "Blue Thunder Arts"]

[Blue Thunder Arts has been completely disposed from host’s arsenal due to low efficiency!]

Cale’s eyes widened. "W-what?! I spent months perfecting that technique! You’re just... discarding it?"

He forced himself to breathe, center his thoughts. Looking around, he found Rexa sleeping against the cave wall, her head tilted back in exhausted repose.

’Phew...’

"Alright, alright. I agree with you too, now that I think about it."

The Blue Thunder Arts had served its purpose. It wasn’t like he’d cling to it forever. It had become a drag now, he relied mostly on his perception and physical strength more now anyway.

’Sigh... I hope that inheritance can still provide something decent. I can’t just operate without martial arts.’

Though honestly, Genetic Ascension was like a hen laying golden eggs. How far he’d come from leveling simple techniques to reconstructing his entire body.

The notifications continued:

[Origin Essence: Lvl.19 → Lvl.20]

[New Passive Skill Acquired: Analyze, created due to host’s elevated mental power!]

[Allows user to analyze any formation, array, talisman, spell, technique, skill, or similar construct faster and better, combined with host’s comprehension speed and perceptive eyes.

A perception skill revealing optimal points for placement, creation, alteration, or destruction. Can expose weak points of formations and barriers, determine ideal arrangement for arrays or spells, locate hidden entrances, exits, or structural flaws in most cases, but not always.

Effect degrades against stronger enemies. More complex targets require greater focus. The skill reveals where and how the user should act for optimal results but performs no action itself.

Warning: Results may be incorrect at times.]

"O-oh my god... this is a divine-tier skill too!"

[All non-essential skills and techniques have been used as fuel for host’s mental strength and formation of new techniques and abilities.]

His expression soured immediately.

The system had consumed pretty much everything. Every low-grade skill, redundant techniques, most of those recently acquired spiritual stones too.

Gratitude warred with anger.

"Y-you motherfuckin—fuck! Who am I even angry at? It makes me feel like the betrayer, getting furious at my biggest supporter... just you wait. Let me meet you once!"

But in that moment of rage, he realized.

The system had forcefully consumed his own resources to grant him an ability he shouldn’t have possessed at his current cultivation realm. Meaning either it was weakening, or there was a ’bug’ in its logic.

Telekinesis normally required six to eight months of development through natural cultivation. The system had forced his mental strength several levels above what was necessary, artificially matching the threshold needed for the Thorned Lotus.

That shouldn’t be possible.

Unless the system could force cultivation advancement itself.

Which meant if another quest like this appeared, it could potentially accelerate his entire cultivation path through sheer resource expenditure.

It wasn’t weakening at all.

This damn thing was just too fucking overpowered.

He looked at Rexa’s sleeping form, then back at his own hands, now thrumming with Telekinesis-enhanced perception.

Four hours of unconsciousness had transformed him yet again, elevated him further beyond the normal bounds of ’human’ cultivation.

’What exactly are you doing to me?’ he wondered silently,

No answer came.