Both of them finished their practice, and now it was already night, so I told them to go to sleep. After telling my disciples this, I left the Anonymous hall and crawled to my usual favorite tree. I climbed it and lay down on a sturdy branch, trying to get some sleep. While I was trying to rest, I saw something below the tree. It was a beautiful multicolored egg. This sight triggered a memory. It was the egg I received as a reward after completing my first ten classes. I had left the egg in the shade of this tree and forgotten about it. Now that I had seen it, I planned to do something about it tomorrow.
Hiss! Hissss! I woke up from my sleep and tried to yawn, but all that came out was a hiss. I sighed. Because of all the teaching and tasks, I almost forgot I am a snake, and snakes don't yawn; they only hiss.
This snake body still has some drawbacks compared to a human body. As I thought about this, the system's voice sounded in my head.
System: "Host, you don't need to worry. Once someone advances to the Nascent Soul realm, they can gain the ability to change their form. Especially beasts; when any beast advances to the Nascent Soul realm, they gain a human form."
Vik: "So, are you saying I only need to advance to the Nascent Soul realm to gain a human form?"
System: "Exactly, host. But that doesn't mean you'll become a human. Your original form will still be an arrogant snake; you'll just have a second form."
Vik: "Thank you, system, for explaining this. However, I would appreciate it if you stopped calling me arrogant."
System: "Okay, host. I will refer to you as an arrogant and narcissistic snake."
Vik: "System! Why did you add the word narcissistic?"
System: "Sigh! Host, sometimes I feel you are a very troublesome person. Can you please behave like a mature person and stop acting childish?"
Vik: (*_*)!!!!!!!!!!>>>>
Vik: "Never mind; system, show me the list of rewards I received yesterday."
"REWARDS CALCULATED. NOW DISTRIBUTING REWARDS."
"HOST GET:
1. IMMORTAL BLACKSMITHING MANUAL (COMPLETE).
2. IMMORTAL ALCHEMY MANUAL (COMPLETE).
3. IMMORTAL TALISMAN MAKING MANUAL (COMPLETE).
4. 10,000 HIGH GRADE SPIRIT STONES.
5. ONE HIGH GRADE SPACE CRYSTAL.
6. IMMORTAL GRADE ILLUSION TECHNIQUE."
Seeing these rewards, I said to the system, "I think the first four rewards are just guides for Blacksmithing, Alchemy, and Talisman making, along with the 10,000 high-grade spirit stones. But I don't know about the other two. Can you explain them to me?"
System: "Okay, host."
"DING SHOWING DETAILS
HIGH GRADE SPACE CRYSTAL: This crystal is made from solidified laws of space. Space itself is a rare law, making this crystal almost impossible to find in lower realms.
IMMORTAL GRADE ILLUSION TECHNIQUE: This technique specializes in illusions. Someone who perfects this technique can even fool an immortal lord level cultivator with their illusions."
Vik: "System, the only useful item here is the Space Crystal. I'm confused about how to use the others. I don't find the Blacksmithing, Talisman, and Alchemy manuals useful for my teachings."
System: "Host, you misunderstood. These techniques will help your disciples learn various arts of blacksmithing, alchemy, and talisman making. These skills are highly in demand in both lower and upper worlds."
Vik: "No, system. I don't want my disciples sitting in front of a furnace or an alchemy pot. I will modify these in my own way. Just transfer the information about these techniques, including the illusion technique, into my mind."
System: "Okay, host."
Soon, the system transferred the information about these techniques into my mind. After sorting through the vast amount of information, I first divided them by name. I then focused on the Blacksmithing technique to improve it. Reading through all the information, I found the best way to advance it. Since Blacksmithing heavily relies on metal and uses it to make various artifacts and weapons, I added modern knowledge of metallurgy, then transferred the finished product to the system for access and asked the system to show its information.
"DING ACCESSING AN UNKNOWN GRADE TECHNIQUE" "ACCESSING COMPLETED"
"SHOWING INFORMATION"
"1. Metallurgy Technique for Beginners (written by arrogant snake Vik): This is an unknown grade technique that combines modern knowledge of metallurgy with ancient Blacksmithing techniques. Written by an unknown arrogant snake, this technique is not in any database or historical record, so no information is available."
Seeing this information, I thought about protesting against the system regarding the use of the word arrogant as a prefix to my name. However, remembering the system's usual behavior, I let it slide and started to improve the remaining techniques. Soon, I finished modifying the others and said to the system, "Show me the details of these techniques."
"DING ACCESSING AN UNKNOWN GRADE TECHNIQUE"
"ACCESSING COMPLETED"
"SHOWING INFORMATION"
"2. Pharmaceutical Knowledge and Techniques for Beginners (written by the same snake): This technique was previously known as Alchemy technique but has now been improved by incorporating knowledge of pharmaceutics. Currently, this technique has no information in the system database or historical records."
"3. Coding Talisman Technique for Beginners (written by the same snake): This technique was previously known as Talisman Making Technique, but it has been improved by adding knowledge of coding. Currently, this technique has no existing information (Caution: practitioners may need to learn coding languages like Java and C++)."
"4. Maya Manifestation Technique (written by the same snake): This technique was previously known as Immortal Illusion Technique but has been modified by the same snake. It relies on the concept of Maya, which suggests that the world itself is an illusion. This technique helps users manipulate the world (Maya) to create illusions that blur the line between reality and the virtual. There is no information about this technique in the system database or historical records. (Caution: users should employ this technique carefully, as they may forget what is real and what is not, leading them to believe that the whole world is virtual, affecting their psychology.)"
After improvising all the techniques, I examined their details. I found them all normal and in line with my modifications. However, the last technique, Maya Manifestation, came with a serious caution from the system, so I decided to test it carefully before facing any potential adverse effects. With my improvements complete, I wanted to ask the system about the 10X rebate reward I received after both of my disciples advanced. So, I said, "System, distribute the 10X rebate reward I got after Lu Xiaoran and Roman advanced in their realm."