Chapter 23: The Perks and Perils of Spirit Plants

Chapter 23: The Perks and Perils of Spirit Plants

[+1 Stamina]Ñ00v€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

[RNG Activated | Result: 350]

[+1 Agility]

[RNG Activated | Result: 104]

William twitched as he kept chewing on the Lightning Berry, the first thing he had found that could be eaten raw to increase Stamina. The Agility increase was a convenient bonus, but it was one that he wasn’t sure he really wanted.

It was only a matter of time before he got unlucky, and every stat was reset to one.

[+1 Stamina]

[RNG Activated | Result: 117]

[+1 Agility]

[RNG Activated | Result: 326]

William winced as another shock ran through his body when he swallowed the remaining part of the berry. The Lightning Berry, thankfully, didn’t live up to its name and only caused a minor discomfort instead of being fatal, unlike a few other things that seemed to be edible.

It had been a few days since Lan Yin had abruptly left William in the wilderness. In the short time he had been exploring his surroundings and gathering some spirit plants, William had not found anything that seemed particularly dangerous to him. Lan Yin had told him to stay alive, so he assumed that animals were in the area. However, William had not seen any tracks or heard any sounds suggesting something else had been moving beside himself.

That significantly decreased William’s wariness, but it didn’t mean he started to stroll through the overgrowth like the place belonged to him. Some spirit plants still enjoyed having an occasional human snack, and he didn’t intend to become food to a damned plant.

Of course, all of this meant his progress in exploring this area was painfully slow. Not only because he double and triple-checked if his surroundings were safe but also because of his terrible Stamina. If he didn’t have three weeks to explore, he might have resorted to using his stat points to increase it.

William looked up at the top of the tree and counted that four more Lightning Berries were ripe and safe to eat. He dropped his makeshift pouch made out of ripped silk fabric and rubbed his hands together for another climb up a tree. It had become so common the past few days that it had become almost effortless, even to someone like William, who had never done any strenuous work in his life.

It took around a minute for him to reach the top and pluck the berries he wanted before quickly climbing back down. He added the Lightning Berries to his collection in the pouch and smiled in satisfaction.

While it might have taken days before seeing the first increase in his stat points, it was by design. William didn’t see a point in increasing attributes other than Stamina since he was satisfied with the level they were at. That didn’t mean he ignored the fruits that would increase his Strength. Whatever he could carry, he currently had in his makeshift pouch.

Unfortunately, there was no other option but to rip large pieces of his clothes to make it. Although it was a regrettable decision, it was a choice he knew he wouldn’t hesitate to make again.

William counted what he had in the pouch before wondering if he should try his luck. If everything went his way, he could potentially increase his stats by ten Strength, eight Stamina, and eight Agility. The latter two obviously would come from the four Lightning Berries he had just plucked, and the Strength would be from the Blood Oranges he had gathered the past few days.

After a few seconds of hesitation, William decided it wouldn’t hurt to try it. Even if he got unlucky and his stats reset to one, he had more than enough collected to quickly get back to his current level, and if that wasn’t enough, there was plenty that he could find over the next few weeks.

William took out a Blood Orange and hung the pouch over his shoulder before walking to where he had seen the Spirit Grass yesterday. That was another spirit plant that was known to increase strength. This place was like heaven to him. All the spirit plants that could be picked were for Qi Gathering cultivators. When eaten by a mortal, it would never lose its efficiency, no matter how much was consumed.

[+1 Strength]

[RNG Activated | Result: 944]

[+1 Strength]

[RNG Activated | Result: 591]

[RNG Activated | Result: 11]

[Soul Damage Trait Activated | All Base Stats Reset to 1]

[Current Chance of Soul Damage (Major) Effect Activating: 5%]

[+1 Agility]

[RNG Activated | Result: 433]

[+1 Stamina]

[RNG Activated | Result: 601]

[+1 Agility]

[RNG Activated | Result: 423]

William stared at the blue text blankly. He knew that the chance of the dreaded reset activating was one in twenty, but he believed it wouldn’t happen at this moment simply because he couldn’t bear the thought of being so unlucky.

Name: Wei Liang (William Davis)

Age: 13

Level: 4

Experience: 390/500

Cultivation: N/A

Health: 45/45

Strength: 1

Stamina: 2

Agility: 3

Luck: 1

Points: 11

“Fuck me,” William dropped his face into his hands, “...Why did it happen now.”

All that hard work was gone, and he didn’t forget that some of the points he had just lost were from his stat points. Points that wouldn’t come back. Sure, they could be replaced with spirit plants, but the more he used when he was a mortal, the worse the side effects were when cultivating. At least, that was what the books that Li Xinyue had given him indicated.

William spent a few minutes gathering his emotions before standing up. The remaining Lightning Berries couldn’t be safely eaten until a day had passed, so he had to focus on his Strength.

The patch of spirit grass was the easiest way of getting his Strength attribute back to its previous level. And he had to go there immediately so those men wouldn’t have the chance to take it for themselves.