All stories begin with a role. Which one will you play?
[The Formation Master]
[The Alchemist]
[The Beast Tamer]
[The Artefact Maker]
Four floating masks hovered in the air, revolving and waiting.
The first mask resembled a polished obsidian plate etched with golden runes that shifted and reconfigured themselves like a living puzzle. The Formation Master.
The second mask had the smooth curve of a porcelain vessel, painted with swirling flames and blooming lotus petals. Wisps of smoke drifted from its mouth, rich with layered scents—sweet, acrid, bitter, and sharp. The Alchemist.
The third mask was shaped like a snarling dragon's visage, sharp horns curling back like scythes, eyes narrowed in challenge. Faint growls echoed from within it, with wisps of flames leaving its maw. The Beast Tamer.
The last mask resembled a forged iron faceplate, hammered with rivets and adorned with tiny embedded tools—chisels, gears, and mysterious glyphs. The Artefact Maker.
"As expected, it's that phenomenon, and this must be my cheat?" The words spilled into the air like liquid into a cup. "Perhaps Golden Finger would be more appropriate given my outfit."
The tone of the voice was hard to place. Not deep enough to be called aged, nor light enough to be called young. It held no clear edge of masculinity or femininity.
However, that was as far as the androgyny went.
"Hah," He sighed, feeling amusement and resignation in equal measure.
He recognized the roles. Classic Xianxia fare. Archetypes that popped up in nearly every second-rate webnovel and manhua he'd skimmed back in his high school days, before the genre's endless loops turned sour.
Young master insults the protagonist.
Protagonist face-slaps the young master.
Young master's father shows up.
Repeat until Patriarch or Ancestor dies dramatically.
Every plot boiled down to a string of recycled vengeance and loud declarations of killing nine generations. He had dropped the genre like a hot stove the moment the novelty faded.
And yet, here he was. Reborn? Transmigrated?
He didn't know, but it didn't change the fact that he died and was now in another world.
While he had no memory of the actual death, he knew he did die. It might be his subconscious's way of suppressing trauma of some sort.
And that's making me more interested in knowing how I died. He focused back on the four masks, and without any fanfare, he reached out.
The moment his fingers brushed the Alchemist's mask, it dissolved into motes of scarlet and green light, spiraling into his body with a warmth that seeped into bone and blood.
A cliché choice? Yes. But a practical one nonetheless.
Other roles had glaring weaknesses.
Formation Masters needed time. Preparation. Space. Without a pre-drawn array or ample terrain to manipulate, they were vulnerable. Artefact Makers? Powerful when they had their creations—but utterly dependent on raw materials and lengthy crafting sessions. And Beast Tamers?
He actually considered that option for a moment, before dismissing the idea.
Beast Taming sounded flashy—imagine riding a dragon into battle, or commanding a phoenix—but it leaned too much on others for strength. Not your own power.
And if the beast was stronger than you? You'd die trying to tame it. If it was weaker? Then what was the point?
Worse still, just finding a rare beast meant venturing into the wilds where anything could kill you. It was a gamble stacked against the house.
No thanks.
He'd rather refine pills in safety, strengthen his body, mind, and spirit step by step. As the saying goes; Slow and Steady wins the race.
Alchemy gave him power through utility, and influence through necessity.
And besides…
"Who hasn't dreamed of controlling fire?" His lips curled upwards, amusement flickering in his eyes as his right hand rose to adjust the thin-rimmed monocle perched over his right eye.
The motion was practiced, almost ritualistic. Two fingers and a thumb, pinching the rim delicately, tilting it just so.
He turned slightly to the quietly flowing river, stepping towards it in anticipation. Bending slightly, he looked down.
"Interesting." The smile on his face widened in surprise.
The face that looked back was not unfamiliar—but it wasn't quite his either.
Straight, dark hair fell past his shoulders, a few strands brushing the corners of his collar. His eyes were a clear gold, not glowing, but sharp—reflective like polished metal rather than burning like fire. A thin, almost delicate lotus-shaped marking rested on his forehead in pale gold, faintly catching the light.
His skin was pale but not sickly.
He wore layered robes, mostly dark blue with gold trim that ran along the sleeves and collar. The inner layer was light—cream or pale gold—tied at the waist with a corded sash decorated with a few minor charms. There was a noticeable weight to his outer robe, thick fabric with intricate patterns near the edges. Small accessories dangled from loops stitched into the sleeves—nothing extravagant, just quiet signs of status and detail.
A thin monocle sat over his right eye, held in place by a simple loop of chain. He adjusted it without thinking, fingers brushing it into perfect alignment.
He looked at his reflection a moment longer. Then he straightened up.
"Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth." As the name left his mouth, a thoughtful look appeared on his face.
After a few moments of silence, he spoke words that could change his new life drastically. For better or worse he didn't know.
"The Immortal Lord of Heaven and Earth for Blessings;
The Sky Lord of Heaven and Earth for Blessings;
The Exalted Thearch of Heaven and Earth for Blessings;
The Celestial Worthy of Heaven and Earth for Blessings."
He waited.
The river continued its steady trickle. The wind whipped past him, yet no changes occurred.
He exhaled quietly without feeling much disappointment.
So he tried again.
The irony of the situation was not lost him, but it served to make the situation more intriguing.
"Lord of Mysteries;
King of Space-Time;
Beacon of Destiny;
Embodiment of Sefirah Castle;
Dominator of the Spirit World."
A pause.
Silence met him again. Nothing stirred. Not the expected grey fog, or a figure sitting in a high-back chair.
One more then.
He adjusted his monocle slightly, his eyes shimmering with childlike eagerness. The thrill of possibility was both in the result and act.
And so he chanted one last time.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era;
The Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog;
The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
His voice was firmer with this last set, just a touch more animated.
But the world remained the same. Unchanging.
A pity, really.
"I would've liked to meet Mr. Fool," he said softly, eyes taking in nature's beauty.
His gaze lingered for a moment longer before shaking his head. It was time to focus, or as the new generation say, lock in.
"So, is there a Menu or Status of some sort?"
The moment the word left his lips, light bloomed.
A translucent screen shimmered into view before him, lines of refined text etched in jade green and glowing gently in the air.
_____________________________________________
[General Information]
Name: Yuanshi Tianzun
Origin: Transmigrator (Perks Available)
Primary Profession: Cultivator (Perks Available)
Secondary Profession: Alchemist (Perks Available)
Cultivation: Mortal
Divine Soul: Illusory Realm
CP: 1000
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Tianzun blinked.
Then gave a soft laugh.
"Yuanshi Tianzun," He repeated, "How grandiose." The corner of his lips twitched.
The name represented one the three Pure Ones of Chinese Mythology, the equivalent of capital G god.
Heavenly Venerable of the Primordial Beginning.
He wasn't unaware. Far from it given that he was part of the Lord of the Mysteries Subreddit. Yuanshi Tianzun along with Jade Emperor, both were concluded to be the Celestial Worthy by bored redditors and lore junkies.
Was the current situation a coincidence?
No. Too precise.
Was it foreshadowing?
He hoped so. It would at least mean his future looked bright.
Was it ironic?
Absolutely.
"Someone is definitely having a laugh at my expense." Tianzun mused aloud, "Fine then. If it's a performance that you want, then I'll wear my mask and play my part to perfection."
Let's see what cards I've been dealt. Tianzun first took a careful glance around.
The riverside was quiet, save for the steady burble of the flowing water. No signs of claw marks, tracks, or bloodshed. Yet, it was still prudent to be careful and cautious just in case.
"Can't disappoint my audience by dying off spawn now, can I?" He dryly muttered.
Still, there was no immediate threat. No growls from the treeline. No rustling from the brush.
Good enough.
He lowered himself to the grass with a faint sigh. The thick outer robe made for a surprisingly decent cushion. As he sat cross-legged, he adjusted his monocle once more out of instinct.
The screen which had moved away from his face—how convenient—shifted back, going to the Perks section without any verbal or physical command.
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Transmigrator Perks:
Blank (Free): Your soul has been seamlessly integrated into this world. Divination, fate-reading, soul-scanning, karmic tracing, and any technique or ritual that would reveal you are a transmigrator — or even not "native" — fails or shows false results. You pass as a normal local in every way.
Assimilation Instinct (Free): Your body, mind, and spirit automatically begin to adjust to the new world's metaphysics. You gain talent in whatever system exists — cultivation, psionics, tech, etc.
Convenient Translation (Free): You can understand and speak the local language(s) wherever you end up. You might hear the local tongue but perceive it as your own.
Quick Study (100 CP): You pick up new systems fast. Whether it's magic circles, cultivation realms, or alien tech, you intuitively grasp core mechanics after a few examples.
Cultural Chameleon (100 CP): You automatically pick up the cultural norms and mannerisms of wherever you've transmigrated to, adjusting accent, etiquette, and presence as needed. To others, you seem like you've always belonged.
Doesn't Rattle Easy (100 CP): Culture shock, sudden violence, or eldritch truths don't faze you like they should. You process trauma fast and adapt even faster.
Is This a Quest? (100 CP): You can easily recognize when something "plot-relevant" is happening. It's like having genre awareness or a sixth sense for main-character moments
Unremarkably Remarkable (200 CP): You register to others as someone with potential, but nothing too abnormal. You don't give off otherworldly vibes, and any inconsistencies are brushed off as quirks or unusual fate.
Skill Compression (250 CP): What takes others years takes you months. Once you understand the logic behind a skill, you grow with frightening speed, bypassing years of bottlenecks.
Download Knowledge (300 CP): Given time with books or scrolls, you can absorb information at ridiculous speed. A week of study gives you expert-level understanding in most fields.
Meta Thinking (300 CP): You recognize tropes and archetypes in your environment — and can use that to your advantage. You'll realise when someone is clearly a hidden boss, a tsundere, or cannon fodder.
Soulprint Transmigration (600 CP): Your soul now passively "burns" its truth into any new world — meaning even if you transmigrate again, you'll adapt instantly, summon old talents, and regain your strength at terrifying speed.
Heaven Defying Logic (600 CP): You can consistently achieve results by applying outside-the-box, cross-world thinking. You might recreate antibiotics in a fantasy world or weaponize cultivation theory in a sci-fi one.
Transmigrator Flavour Perks:
Transmigrator Vibes (Free):
People might be weirdly drawn to you — either intrigued or confused — but they never correctly guess you're from another world. Instead, they chalk it up to "a mysterious unknown background" or "strong destiny."
Keep Calm and Reincarnate (Free): You take being isekai'd, body-snatched, or reincarnated in stride. Whether you woke up in a coffin or in the middle of a duel, you always find your balance fast.
One Foot in Each World (Free): You naturally blend Earth logic and your new world's logic. You see solutions locals wouldn't think of, and you're neither too naïve nor too jaded. You have just enough outsider perspective to be clever without being out of touch.
Hero? Villain? Not My Problem. (25 CP)
You aren't forced into protagonist or antagonist roles. Fate can't assign you a "narrative role" — you're truly an outsider, and your destiny is your own.
"This Isn't My First World." (25 CP): You give off a sense of calm experience — people instinctively listen when you speak about strategy, philosophy, or the unknown.
Stranger's Luck (25 CP): Even when stumbling blind into unknown territory, fate tends to put you in just the right place — for good or ill.
False Native (25 CP): Locals who spend time with you will forget or gloss over moments of strangeness. A few odd phrases? A weird cultural reference? They'll rationalize it and move on.
No Map, No Problem (50 CP): You're very good at faking confidence when lost. Somehow, you always stumble into a hidden ruin, sacred ground, or hidden expert while looking for food.
Dumb Luck, Smart Mouth (50 CP): You often escape by talking fast, lying better, or distracting someone with a clever line. Works best when you're really not supposed to survive.
Transmigrator Items:
Arrival Garb (Free): You arrive in appropriate, travel-worn clothing for the setting. Always cleans and repairs itself, resizes, and mildly enhances durability and Qi flow. It also has enough flair to make you look important.
Old Journal (Free): An empty but durable leather-bound notebook and pen that never runs out of ink. Can be used for strategy, cultivation notes, or just venting that transmigrator angst.
Native Currency (25 CP): A small pouch of the local currency.
Soul Compass (100 CP)
A bronze, oddly warm compass that doesn't point north — instead, it points to the nearest opportunity that might improve your power, safety, or destiny. It can lead you into both danger and fortune.
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Cultivator Perks:
Unshakable Dao Heart (Free): Your will is like forged steel—unyielding, focused, and unwavering. No matter the hardship, temptation, or tribulation, your heart remains true to your path. Even without great talent, divine treasures, or supreme techniques, your sheer determination and pursuit of truth can carry you to the apex. Mental attacks, illusions, and heart demons falter before your resolve. Cultivators far more talented have failed where you will endure, for your Dao Heart is firm enough to shake the heavens. Those who chase shortcuts will one day envy the unbreakable foundation you've built.
Breathe Like Jade (100 CP): Your breathing technique has been refined to absorb ambient Qi passively at a steady rate. Even while sleeping or injured, your cultivation does not pause and continues slowly building.
Sect Etiquette (100 CP): You instinctively understand the complex hierarchy, customs, and protocols of cultivation sects. You can navigate social landmines among elders, disciples, and masters without disrespecting anyone (accidentally, anyway).
Spiritual Sense (100 CP): You develop an intuitive spiritual sense that can perceive flows of Qi, formation outlines, spiritual beasts' auras, and other cultivators' relative power levels
Loose Cultivator's Cunning (100 CP): You've lived outside the bounds of sects and clans. You're good at hiding your presence, escaping detection, scavenging resources, and surviving in chaotic, lawless cultivation zones.
Refined Qi Sense (100): You gain an intuitive ability to "taste" the nature of Qi. You can identify corrupted, toxic, or beneficial Qi sources and determine the element, purity, and spiritual intent behind Qi-based techniques.
Meridians Like Rivers (100 CP): Your meridians are wide, flexible, and almost unbreakable. Qi can be pushed to explosive speeds, techniques released without delay, and energy surges managed without backlash.
Qi Affinity (200 CP): You possess a natural affinity for manipulating spiritual energy (Qi). Cultivation techniques are easier to learn, require less time, and are less likely to cause backlash. Even flawed techniques are more stable in your hands.
Blood for Blood (200 CP): Your killing intent is tangible and weaponized. You can paralyze weaker foes with your intent alone, and those who've wronged you find their luck subtly turn against them.
Inner Lotus (200 CP):
Your spiritual energy regenerates faster than others. During meditation, your Qi recovery is doubled, and breakthroughs come more easily. This also reduces backlash if you fail an advancement.
Hidden Depths (200 CP): You may conceal your true cultivation level even from advanced senses. Your spiritual core emits misleading pulses unless you willingly reveal your true strength. Useful for ambushes, disguise, or low-key travel.
Qi Conversion Engine (250 CP): You can convert one type of Qi into another—Fire into Lightning, Wood into Metal, etc.—with loss depending on your proficiency. Allows far more flexible combat techniques and synergy between different cultivation manuals.
Heaven-Defying Step (250 CP): You can punch above your realm. With sheer will, technique, or battle talent, you can face foes one or even two stages higher than you. You may not win, but you'll last, and often that's enough. Your presence is the kind that alarms elders and infuriates peers. You are that terrifying thing: a genius.
Foundation Forged in Battle (300 CP): Your cultivation base becomes more stable, your breakthroughs more solid, when gained through combat and survival. You gain greater increases in power when fighting for your life than through peaceful meditation.
Step Beyond Limits (300 CP): When you hit a bottleneck, when you face death, when your spirit is fractured—you find a way through. You are the kind of person who creates new techniques mid-fight, who has break-through epiphanies at the edge of a cliff, and who refuses to die when the heavens demand it. You don't follow the path. You become it.
Breath of the Mountain (300 CP): You're deeply connected to the natural world. Meditation near mountains, rivers, or forests exponentially increases your cultivation speed and Dao comprehension. Your presence gradually enhances the surrounding land's fertility.
Killer of the Unseen (300 CP): You have a knack for identifying hidden threats—poison in wine, spiritual illusions, or assassins in mist. You're resistant to sneak attacks, hidden blades, and soul-based tricks.
Perfect Cycle (300 CP): Your cultivation cycles are flawless—no wasted energy, no impurity buildup, no disharmony. Your energy is always in balance, and you can even help others stabilize their cultivation during critical moments.
True Cultivation Genius (300 CP) You are the type of person others call a monster. You can cultivate multiple systems at once, absorb foreign cultivation techniques with ease, and adapt to entirely new paths. You can even make your own.
Immortal Seed (600 CP): You are destined to reach immortality. Even if your cultivation is stripped, your body shattered, or soul scattered, a hidden "immortal seed" will eventually regrow your path. You are incredibly hard to truly kill or erase.
Inner World Genesis (600 CP): You possess a unique, internal spiritual world—a pocket dimension—that grows as you do. It produces a small amount of Qi or spiritual resources over time and can be used to store materials, train disciples, or host divine herbs and spirit beasts.
Cultivator Flavour Perks:
Stomach of Iron, Face of Stone (Free): You can calmly eat roasted beast meat while covered in blood. You won't gag at gore, flinch at threats, or hesitate at the sight of death. It's not that you're hardened — it's that your reactions are genre-appropriate.
Cold Hands, Clear Eyes (Free): You can kill. You might feel regret. You might justify it. But when it's time to strike — you do. Cleanly. Without trembling. Your blade does not waver when mercy could cost you your life. And yet, you are not heartless — merely ruthless when it matters.
That Thousand-Yard Stare (25 CP): You look like someone who's watched entire sects burn, buried brothers under starlight, and walked away from love in pursuit of power. You always seem to be looking somewhere beyond. Even when you're just bored.
Masks for Every Occasion (25 CP): You quickly learn to wear the right expression: calm before your elders, defiant before rivals, and inscrutable before enemies. You've internalized the art of hiding your intentions — and surviving court politics and sect rivalries.
The Long Road East (25): You always know where the next step of your path lies—even if it's vague or symbolic. Whether it's a mountain to climb, a person to defeat, or an insight to uncover, you're drawn toward growth like a moth to fire. This instinct rarely fails you, and people often follow in your wake.
Sleeves Conceal All (25 CP): You can pull out scrolls, swords, and even a tea set from your sleeves in perfect cultivation fashion. Physics may disagree, but sleeves in Xianxia are sacred.
Mind Like Still Water (50 CP): In battle, you do not panic. In meditation, you do not fidget. In a slaughterhouse, you do not tremble. Your emotions are present, but never rule you. The first time you see someone fly or split mountains, your awe lasts one second — then you want to do it yourself.
Savior or Demon? (50 CP): Wherever you go, rumors follow. In one province you're hailed as a hero who slayed a dragon to save a village; in another, as a demon who brought ruin to a sect. You gain fame and notoriety effortlessly, and people whisper your name even before you arrive.
Cultivator Swag (50 CP): Whenever you're about to say something profound, mysterious, or final — wind stirs your robes, lightning rumbles in the distance, or a crane cries. You don't walk—you glide. Completely aesthetic, but very satisfying.
"Sit. Let me tell you of the time I hunted a dragon during my Foundation Establishment years…" (50 CP): You've got a certain air about you. Calm, centered, and just a little bit smug. You know how to pose in moonlight, meditate under waterfalls, or make even simple words sound profound. People instinctively think you're more experienced than you are—and you definitely don't correct them.
"It's Just a Minor Injury." (75 CP): You treat life-threatening wounds with complete stoicism. A missing arm is just inconvenient. You can spit blood with dignity, pass out mid-sentence without shame, and return from death-defying events as if nothing happened. Other cultivators respect your flair. Mortals think you're insane.
You Dare?! (100 CP): Your fury freezes crowds. Shouting this in righteous anger actually stuns weaker cultivators and causes oppressive pressure. Even stronger foes flinch.
The Weight of the Sky (100 CP): You've felt the pressure of the world on your shoulders. The pull of karma. The gaze of stronger beings. Maybe you once knelt, but you rose. You carry yourself like someone who will never bow again. Even your silences have meaning.
Dao of Dramatic Timing (100 CP): You always arrive at the best—or worst—possible moment. Right as someone is about to die. Right as a villain finishes their monologue. When the mist clears and the moon is full, there you are, robes billowing, eyes glowing faintly. This is not on purpose. It just happens.
Cultivator Items:
Basic Cultivation Manual (Free): A simple but complete manual to begin the path of Cultivation. Safe, slow, stable. The perfect first step.
Celestial Escape Set (Free): This set contains a collection of powerful spatial talismans and artifacts designed for instantaneous travel and emergency escape. These replenish every week or a day after they run out, whichever comes sooner.
Storage Ring (50 CP): A classic spatial storage artifact that can hold items far larger than its size suggests. Holds about a small room's worth of gear. Not sentient. Not explosive. Not cursed. Probably. Can be bought more than once.
Sound Transmission Jade (50 CP): A phone by any other name. Simply through their name, you can call anyone on the same planet who has a transmission jade of their own, or any other long distance communication device. Comes in pairs. Can be bought more than once.
Ring Grandpa - Evil Edition (100 CP): An ancient ring, innocuous in appearance, yet housing the soul of a once-legendary demon emperor(?). At the very least, they won't be hostile to you for just having the ring, and will, perhaps even guide you.
Qi-Gathering Pendant (100 CP): A jade pendant that slowly draws in ambient Qi, increasing cultivation speed slightly. Useless at higher realms, but excellent for early stages.
Power Concealing Talisman (100 CP): A small, intricate amulet, this is a powerful spiritual device that you can use to pretend to be weaker than you are. Using this amulet, you can set your cultivation level to any level lower than your actual one, and it will suppress your powers to that level, for all intents and purposes. You can regain all your power simply by willing it, and other people cannot use this item on you against your will
Spirit Beast Egg (200 CP): An egg containing an uncommon or rare beast that will bond with you upon hatching. Raises as a loyal companion. It will grow in power alongside you if properly nurtured.
Spirit Ship (200 CP): Cultivators employ these kinds of ships when traveling to distant locations, especially if they have other companions that aren't capable of keeping up. This spirit ship's base speed scales to the average speed of your cultivation level and it also doesn't need any energy to fly, though infusing it with any of your energy would increase the speed depending on how much energy is infused.
Inheritance Grotto (300 CP): A hidden cave or ruined realm that only you can access, containing treasures, jade slips, ancient manuals, and spirit stone veins. Can be used to train in secret or as a mobile base.
Spiritual Weapon (300 CP):
Choose between a defensive, support, or offensive artefact that grows stronger with you and can form a bond if nurtured properly.
Soul Lantern (600 CP): A mystical lantern that can absorb spiritual attacks, guide you through illusions, and even defy death by burning itself partially. Can be restored over time.
Heavenly Scripture (600 CP): A golden scroll containing a high-tier cultivation method of your choice: one that leads to Immortal or Divine power if followed diligently. May also contain auxiliary techniques (body, soul, or essence path)
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Alchemist Perks
Beginner's Pill Compendium (Free): You gain a mental compendium of 108 foundational pill recipes, covering healing, detoxification, cultivation acceleration, spiritual clarity, and body tempering, etc. You also gain insight into identifying pill grades and safely enhancing them through experimentation. Over time, you can create your own variations and develop unique pill effects.
Gentle Hands, Steady Heart( Free): Your hands never shake during pill refinement. Your breathing steadies automatically when working. You have the foundational poise of a proper alchemist.
Refining Arts (Free): You have the foundational knowledge of alchemy. You can refine basic spiritual herbs into usable forms, brew minor pills, and create low-grade elixirs. Your success rate is decent, and with proper tools and materials, your pills are more effective than average. This knowledge includes basic pill fire techniques and understanding of furnace-spirit interactions.
Ingredient Magnetism (100 CP): Spiritual plants and mineral veins instinctively react to your presence. You're a living herb compass, sensing nearby resources even when hidden. The rarer the ingredient, the stronger the pull.
Dust-to-Draught (100 CP): You have a knack for creating something useful from seemingly worthless junk. Give you a cracked cauldron, some expired roots, and a burned scroll, and you might still extract a workable remedy. A scavenger's alchemy.
Refiner's Patience (100 CP): You possess the meditative focus to spend days or even weeks refining without error or fatigue. Even if surrounded by distractions, you can maintain your full mental clarity, tracking hundreds of micro-reactions in your cauldron.
Poisonous Perfection (100 CP): You're as skilled with poisons as with pills. You can craft undetectable spiritual toxins, pills with delayed backlashes, or poisons that awaken hidden potential—for a price.
Heaven-Defying Shelf Life (100 CP): Your pills never expire, rot, or degrade—no matter how unstable the ingredients. Their potency remains fresh as the day they were refined, even after centuries.
Breath of the Pill Flame (150 CP): You gain a unique spiritual flame—perhaps a Beast Flame, Heavenly Flame, or Earth Fire—that enhances pill refinement. Boosts pill success rate and purity.
Hand of Ten Thousand Herbs (150 CP): You can instantly identify herbs, ingredients, and poisonous materials, even rare or mutated ones. You instinctively know their grade, hidden flaws, age, and compatibility with other materials. When refining, your success rate and quality drastically increase due to this intuitive understanding.
Essence Without Impurity (150 CP): Your pills never contain pill poison or failure residue. Even your failed pills are safe enough to ingest with reduced effects. Your name is known for pure-grade concoctions.
Master of the Golden Ratio (150 CP): You instinctively balance flame, herbs, spiritual timing, and pill essence with perfection. Even basic pills become masterpieces, and rare ones change lives. You never waste ingredients.
Enlightened Concoctionist (200 CP): You can intuitively "feel" when ingredients want to combine—even if there's no known recipe for it. The result might be a brand-new pill, a hybrid elixir, or a mystical powder with strange side effects. Success depends on your skill, but innovation comes naturally to you.
Spirit-Walker of the Cauldron Path (200 CP): You can "enter" your own alchemical vision world—a mental realm where time flows faster. Lets you simulate concoctions, rework formulas, or create pills in meditation, speeding up learning and technique refinement.
Pillborne Catastrophe (200 CP): If your pills are stolen or consumed by enemies, you can remotely detonate or destabilize them—causing backlashes, soul chaos, or cultivation collapse. The more powerful the pill, the more devastating the retribution.
Pill Soul Imprint (200 CP):
You can embed an imprint of your will into pills. Users experience visions, instructions, or insights tied to the pill's purpose—useful for conveying secret techniques or ensuring proper use.
Spirit Furnace (250 CP): You possess an internal alchemical furnace located within your dantian. You can refine ingredients directly within your body, letting you produce low-grade elixirs and pills without needing an external cauldron. The more powerful your cultivation, the more potent the internal furnace becomes—allowing refinement of higher grade products over time.
Essence Distiller (250 CP): You gain the ability to extract the "essence" of nearly anything—monster cores, herbs, mystical locations, bloodlines, even emotions. Extracted Essence can be used as rare ingredients for crafting, pills, rituals, or enhancing abilities. The more potent the source, the rarer and more powerful the Essence becomes.
Thousand Cauldrons, One Mind (300 CP): Your mind is a furnace of focus. You can effortlessly juggle multiple alchemical tasks at once, such as refining several cauldrons simultaneously, stirring one brew while sorting herbs for another, or calculating pill reactions while conversing. Mistakes that would doom other alchemists are minimized by your parallel mental processing, allowing you to maintain peak precision across every task.
Flesh Into Medicine (300 CP): You understand how to refine pills from anything: demonic beasts, divine materials, corpses of saints, or even the essence of fallen stars. You can create pills from nearly any source with some spiritual trace.
Art of Efficacy (300 CP): Your every creation in the alchemical arts is a testament to flawless refinement. Pills crafted by your hand reach their absolute peak of medicinal potential—regardless of their grade or the quality of ingredients used. Even the humblest herb, under your touch, becomes a treasure; even a basic pill becomes a masterpiece. Energy flows from your pills in perfect harmony with a cultivator's meridians, ensuring smooth absorption, complete integration, and zero waste. Backlash, rejection, or inefficiency are practically unheard of.
Pill Vein Artisan (300 CP): Your pills are far more likely to form Pill Veins during refinement — not by luck, but by design. You naturally refine pills in a way that mirrors the meridians of the human body, encouraging the pill's spiritual structure to stabilize and take form. Even mid-grade pills can manifest veins under your guidance, and high-grade pills almost always do. Veins formed this way perfectly preserve potency and at least double the pill's effectiveness.
Lord of Clouded Elixirs (600 CP): Pills refined by you have a significant chance to manifest Pill Clouds, the highest echelon of alchemical creation. These pill clouds swirl gently around the completed pill, drawing in ambient World Energy and steadily enhancing the pill's potency with time. The longer it remains undisturbed, the stronger it becomes — a pill of today may become a legendary treasure in a decade. With effort and focus, you can even will cloud manifestation into existence for truly vital pills.
Alchemist Flavour Perks:
Unorthodox Apothecary (Free): You've become infamous for solving problems no one else can—but only through terrifying methods. You once cured a demonic possession by feeding the patient a pill that made him throw up his spirit. Your treatments are wildly unorthodox, sometimes involving licking spirit stones or boiling one's own shadow, but somehow... they work.
The Herbal Hoarder (Free)
You cannot stop collecting. Your robes have dozens of secret pockets, your storage ring is 90% weird roots and fragrant moss, and you once tried to extract qi from a cabbage. If it smells vaguely medicinal, you'll keep it "just in case." Somehow, it always comes in handy… eventually.
Smells Like Enlightenment (25 CP): You always smell faintly of spiritual herbs and mystic incense. Your presence soothes beasts, attracts curious disciples, and occasionally causes small animals or spirits to follow you around in curiosity. You may also accidentally inspire nearby cultivators to enter enlightenment... or sneeze uncontrollably, depending on your latest brew.
Pill Popper Extraordinaire (25 CP): You can flip a pill into your mouth from across the room, catch one between your fingers mid-battle, or store dozens up your sleeves like a hidden gambler. Pill handling is second nature to you now. Sometimes, even your attacks include casually tossing a pill into your enemy's mouth mid-sentence.
"Kowtow 9 Times, Then Beg" (25 CP): You gain psychological dominance over anyone desperate for your pills. Their pride melts. If they beg properly (or humorously), you gain a buff to refinement quality and smugness.
"You call that a Flame?" (25 CP):
You instinctively insult inferior alchemists and flames. Reduces their confidence and pill refinement skill temporarily. Your mockery carries Dao pressure.
Explosion is Learning (25 CP): You've exploded so many furnaces you no longer flinch. Gain a resistance to alchemical backfires and a bonus to refining in risky or unknown conditions.
I Refuse! (50 CP): You can dramatically refuse requests with maximum flair. Gain resistance to flattery, bribery, or threats. When you say "No," even higher-realm cultivators pause.
It's Not Poison If It Works (50 CP): You've perfected the art of justifying any creation. That jade-green brew that's bubbling violently? "It opens your meridians!" The pill that makes you hallucinate talking turtles? "Necessary for spiritual detachment!" You gain a natural aura of confidence that makes others suspiciously more likely to believe your explanations, no matter how insane.
The Ingredient is Sacred (50 CP): You treat spiritual herbs with respect. When you collect or plant them yourself, they grow better, yield more, and even recognize you. You can "calm" berserk spirit herbs.
The Exploding Pillmaster (75 CP): At some point in your career, you developed a habit of weaponizing failed pills. You casually toss volatile brews like grenades. You've blown up auction houses, bandit camps, and once accidentally cured a plague with a pill meant to cause spontaneous combustion.
Flame-Touched Soul (100 CP): Years of flame communion have left you partially elemental. You resist fire, command minor flame spirits, and can survive in fire-drenched zones like volcanoes or spirit flame tombs.
Touched by Medicinal Karma (100 CP): When you save a life through alchemy, the heavens smile. Karmic boons find their way to you — sometimes subtly, sometimes not. Even devils might show mercy if you cured their mother.
Alchemist Items:
Basic Cauldron (Free): A simple pill furnace capable of handling entry-level Qi Pills and healing elixirs. Durable, stable, and heat-resistant.
Sketchy Pouch (50 CP): Your ingredient pouch always seems to have just the weird thing you need—a frog eye, powdered dragon dandruff, or a 300-year-old bean sprout. Nobody knows where you get your materials, and they're afraid to ask. There are rumors it's sentient. It growls if anyone but you opens it.
Thousand Herb Compendium (100 CP): A thick, living book containing the traits and reactions of 1,000 common spirit herbs. Automatically updates itself as you learn more.
Crystalised Scent Bell (100 CP): A chime-like item that rings when rare ingredients or pill-quality-altering elements are nearby. Tones shift depending on purity, elemental affinity, or danger level of the item sensed.
Thousand-Year Pill Jar (300 CP): A stasis jar that creates a simulated spiritual environment, letting pills evolve or "age" safely for centuries within days. Can also restore damaged pills to peak potency or suppress volatile elixirs.
Flame-Devouring Seed (600 CP): A seed born from the ashes of the First Flame. It grows by absorbing other flames—Beast, Earth, Demonic, Heavenly, and more—devouring their power and inheriting their unique traits. Even if you feed it your own flame, its abilities remain accessible, able to be combined or reshaped with others it has consumed.
Divine Cauldron of Ten Heavens (600 CP)
A myth-grade artifact capable of refining anything—pills, materials, even souls. Sentient, cryptic, and highly temperamental, but it may slowly come to accept you. Will follow you between jumps.
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Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum!
"So this is how it feels to have immortality at your fingertips." Tianzun adjusted his monocle, lips curving into a smile as he heard the hammering of his heart.
"Interesting."
-Bonus Scene-
-???-
"Someone is definitely having a laugh at my expense." As the little Alchemist's words finished.
Laughter followed. High, lilting, and unmistakably pleased.
It spilled out from nowhere and everywhere at once—light, yet layered with irony so thick it practically dripped.
"Bravo! What a splendid awareness, little debutant. Already you've noticed the script bleeding through the seams."
THEIR voice reverberated in kaleidoscopic colors, sounding manic, amused, intrigued, and hungry for novelty.
"The name, the mask, the stage—ah, you say you'll play the part? Good, good! But don't forget, little actor, in this drama… even the playwright may become the punchline!"
A twinkle of Laughter again. Effervescent. Wild. Liberated.
"Aha."
Another voice sounded.
The Laughter instantly ceased.
"Tsk. All you Omniversal Organisations are too serious!" THEY whined like a child.
No other words came from the other party
"Fine, fine. But I can throw a few reasonable challenges his way, right?" The Elation questioned, quickly adding, "And I'll even reward him! Let it never be said that Aha lacks generosity!"
Silence seemed to stretch for eternity before the voice rumbled again.
"Acceptable."
"Ahaha~! The stars align in my favor once more!"
A weary sigh rippled through space and time.
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