The intense pain from earlier had vanished without a trace, replaced by lightness and vigor. He could clearly sense a difference in his body, although the exact changes eluded him.
He took a deep breath. The air smelled exceptionally sweet.
“Hm? The third rune formation has been filled up too?”
The third rune formation was fully filled with golden specks. Strictly speaking, he had only just reached the third step of the second rank, since the formation had only been partially filled before.
Looks like talent really makes a huge difference. Now, just breathing can cause the golden specks inside the formations to slowly accumulate.
Zu An was curious to know just what his current talent was. He had been a lower Ding previously, equivalent to a D-. If each Marrow Cleansing Pill increased his talent by a single rank, five of the pills would have caused him to gain five ranks—from D- to D, to D+, C-, C, and finally, C+.
No, that’s not right. The Keyboard told me that I had enough pills to reach the maximum level of talent, so each Marrow Cleansing Pill should increase my rank by a larger margin. Shouldn’t my talent currently be A+ or S?
Or could there be a S+ above S?
I wonder what the highest level of talent in this world is. That’s something for me to figure out.
Zu An looked around and saw that things were very different. He could see the tree leaves rustling in the wind, a butterfly fluttering its wings, an ant moving its feelers, a beautiful woman slowly raising her head out of the water, the fish in the water chasing prawns…
Wait, what was that?
Zu An turned around quickly and saw a young woman several meters away. She had yet to notice his presence, probably because he had been lying unconscious, and had been blocked by the large boulder.
The young woman stood upright, revealing her slender and delicate shoulders, as well as the fair, smooth skin covering her chest. She was humming a leisurely tune as beautiful as an oriole’s song.
Water trickled down her arms and towards her chest as she lifted them overhead. With his enhanced vision, Zu An could pick out the water droplets hanging on her eyelashes. They made her eyes even more alluring.
“Gulu~”
Zu An swallowed. Could it be that the increase in his talent extended to his luck with girls too?
“Who’s there?”
The young woman, suddenly alarmed, turned toward the noise.
Sensing danger, Zu An subconsciously hid behind the boulder. Being caught like this in his previous life would have led to a lecture, nothing more. However, this was the world of cultivation! No ordinary human would bathe in the wilderness like this!
Zu An’s cultivation was still scraping the bottom of the barrel, and there was a good chance this woman was far stronger than him.
If she were vicious and unforgiving, it was likely Zu An would suffer the same fate as Plum Blossom Twelve.
“Miss, would you believe me if I said that I was just passing by?” Zu An knew it was too late for him to lay low. The best strategy would be to quickly clarify the situation for what it was—a mere coincidence.
“W-who are you?” The young woman sounded flustered.
Hm? This lady seems to be on the shy side.
Zu An replied, “I came to gather medicine, but I was set upon by wild beasts and fell into the river. I lost consciousness along the way, and before I knew it, I found myself here.”
“Medicine? What kind of medicine were you gathering?” The young woman’s voice came from the other side of the boulder. Clearly, she was using it to conceal her body as well.
Zu An was taken somewhat aback. Aren’t you focusing on the wrong thing here? Is the medicine I’m gathering the most important thing here?
Nevertheless, Zu An replied politely, “I’m gathering goubaos.” This was the only medicine that he knew from his limited time in this world.
“The wild beasts who chased you were Assrip Wolves?” the young woman asked softly.
“Yes, that’s right,” Zu An replied. He was surprised by how knowledgeable this woman was despite her young age.
“The Wolf Valley is indeed not too far away from here. Since you dared to gather goubaos, you must be quite a powerful cultivator.” the young woman said.
Zu An replied with a sheepish smile, “You can say so, I guess.” While anyone he met could be a wolf clothed in sheepskin, he himself was a sheep clothed in wolfskin. He had no choice but to pretend, if he wanted to stay alive.
“Oh…” the young woman trailed off into silence. She was quiet for a long while before finally speaking up again. “I’m going to get dressed now. Can you… close your eyes?”