Blood and Qi: A Vampire Xianxia LitRPG

John was glad entering into his Mind’s Eye gave him some relief from all the pain that ailed his body.

“Hello, John,” said Avatar, a kindly smile on her old but once beautiful face.

“Greetings, Avatar. I hope you’re doing well. Do you know why I haven’t received any notifications?”

“Yes, of course. Your mind state is monitored. Not once have you wanted to receive unprompted notifications. You even suppressed the warning that was sent. Remember, this version of the NCS operates differently than your last.”

“Thank you for explaining. May I please see my summary now?”

The smile left Avatar’s face and was replaced with a stern look. “One moment. There’s something I must address first. You were warned about manipulating external energy, and you still attempted to do so again. Luckily, with all you were trying to do at once, creating an [Ultimate], you failed at that part. If you had succeeded, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You’d be dead.”

Avatar’s face softened some. “This is strike one. You are receiving a ten percent energy cost penalty that will remain until you ascend to Bronze tier. I know this penalty won’t be seen as very harmful to you. You’ll hardly notice it. So, I’m asking you, I’m begging you, please don’t do it again.

“Even if you value your life so little, you would’ve killed your companion as well. Do you value the lives of others so little? You hurt me greatly, and I’m terribly disappointed in you.”

Part of John knew he was being manipulated, that Avatar had no feelings to be hurt. She told him so herself. But she seemed so real and was so kind to him, it was hard for him not to feel shame. “I’m sorry, Avatar. If I was to die, I wanted to bring as many enemies as possible along with me, especially those shadows I couldn’t hurt.

“I knew if I fell, my wife would also fall. I wasn’t certain that what I tried to do, to cause an explosion around me as I did before in the Tribulation, would kill her. But if it did, wouldn’t such a quick death be preferable to what the dark ones would do to her?”

The disappointed look on Avatar’s face remained unchanged. “You didn’t die. You lived. As is true in all situations, jumping straight to exploding yourself and everything around you instead of looking for a better solution shows a major flaw within yourself. I know you don’t think it applicable to you when I tell you about your duty and the collective mission. If anything, this is far more applicable to you than anyone else.

“What situation is your world in? Are you in a different position than others to have an impact on events and your world’s future? Your society, your world, isn’t trying to attain core status, Tech 5. Its mission is far more basic. The survival of your species. To have a tomorrow.

“You, specifically you, can help or hinder that mission drastically. Consider achieving core as meaning your world achieving a tomorrow. One more day for your species’ continued existence. You can help or hinder it. You can make all those that rely on you proud. Or condemn them to extinction.”

Avatar held up her hand. “Please, don’t reply. I ask you to think on what I said. Here’s your summary.”

Oh, she’s good, thought John. He did put some thought into what she said and agreed with it. But he knew it didn’t always work out that way, all nice and neat with a clear path to victory. He always wanted to win, and his enemies to lose, but what winning and losing meant at any given moment was in constant flux, and he did the best he could with the tools and methods on hand at that specific moment.

Tech Level 4* Restrictions Applied

Age 5,780 to 5,930 USACS years

Race Terran-F

Tree First

Tier 2 (Mortal) (Copper)

Level 8 (Mid-High)

Archetype NA

Active Title Blessed by Magnus Gar’tar

Aspects Blood (GB) (Major)

Change (Y) (Minor)

Mercurial (R) (Minor)

Old (D) (Minor)

Protection (P) (Minor)

Separate (L) (Minor)

Battle* (O) (Minor)

Affinities (G 99%) (B 97%) (Y 98%) (R 96%)

(D 97%) (P 96%) (L 95%) (O 96%)

NCU Energy Cost 24%(-46.5%)

Active NCU Upgrades Nano Assistance, Emergency Heal, Theta Waves

Heal Delta A, Heal Delta B

STATS

Strength 63.95

Swiftness 63.63

Conditioning 67.08

Min. Power 55.35

Capacity 45.72

Runes 14.87

Physical Fortification 62.24

Elemental Fortification 62.58

Mental Fortification 65.98

Highest Skills [Undirected Basic Meditation] 96.44

[Mixed Style Swords] 93.64

[Mixed Navigation] 91.12

[Mixed Stealth] 88.83

Synergy Skills Ready

Class NA

Perks Orb of the Crimson Palace, Dynamic,

Physical, Potent, Protected, Strong,

Fast, Healthy, Quick Thinking*, Resilient,

Powerful, Expansive, Harden, Resistant,

Soulful, Good Genes*

Manifestations Blood Dart, Blood Manipulation, Blood Shield,

Blood Blade, Blood Heal, Blood Buff, Flashburst Pulse,

Unnamed Battle Enchantment, Unnamed Unschooled Ultimate

Last Achievement Ultimate Manifestation - A

Highest Achievement Skilled, Legendary,' Exceptional Ascension, Record Holder - SSR

Titles Blessed by Magnus Gar’tar, Ptagmog, Record Holder (System)

Next required advancement event: Body Formation or Refinement before level 16

-Start Notifications

26 tracked skills increased, 20 of interest, 1 Invalid. Scaled summary per notability/interest user profile.

NOTICE: STRIKE ONE. User attempted to use the following skill which is dangerous to utilize at user’s tier: External Energy Manipulation – 3 (Neophyte). User was previously warned continued usage may result in stacking penalties to [NCU Energy Cost]. A penalty of -10% to [NCU Energy Cost] is being applied and will last throughout the duration of Copper tier, and will be removed upon user’s ascension to Bronze tier. Current [NCU Energy Cost] reduction with penalty, cumulative 46.5%.

It is strongly suggested user refrains from using this skill until further notice. REASON: high probability of accidental death of user and nearby entities as well as property damage. Continued usage may result in additional stacking penalties to [NCU Energy Cost].

Grandmaster skills increases: Mixed Style Swords - 0.01 to 93.64

The Master level [Skills] that increased showed no increase at all, so John moved the decimal out as a way to track them more easily going forward since they increased incrementally. He didn’t care about the incremental increases of any [Skill] lower than Master, so left them without any decimals. It bothered him that only the Grandmaster [Skills] showed how much a [Skill] increased by and he wanted to ask Avatar to change that.

Master skills increases: Mixed Combat Offense – 87.27, Mixed Body Control – 86.97, Mixed Combat Defense – 83.13, Mixed Long-Shafted Weapons – 76.35

Notable skills of interest increases: Mixed Style Blunt Weapons – 57 (Expert), Mixed Style Chain/Rope Weapons – 48 (Expert), Mixed Style Unarmed – 36 (Journeyman), Essence Manipulation - 18 (Apprentice), Breath of the Serpent Clan Endless Technique - 11 (Novice), Blood Manipulation – 10, Manifestation Defense – 8 (Novice), Turmoil Within Tranquility Cycling Technique – 7 (Novice), Soul Veil – 7 (Novice), Unbind Manifestation – 6 (Neophyte), Unbind Defense – 6 (Neophyte), Flashburst Pulse – 5 (Neophyte), Blood Heal – 2 (Neophyte), Unnamed Battle Enchantment – 2 (Neophyte), Unnamed Unschooled Ultimate – 1 (Neophyte).

John assumed the next note applied to the first spell he created when he hoped to quickly age the bee-flies since the spell had no obvious effect at all.

The following skill has no known function/effect: Unnamed Old Unschooled, Invalid – 1 (Neophyte). NOTE: Continued usage of this skill is not recommended other than for the sole purpose of increasing harmony.

2 common Achievements attained for a cumulative [NCU Energy Cost] reduction of .2%. Focus here to see each individually.

4 notable Achievements attained. 1 possible Achievement is still being reviewed for appropriateness and rating. 1 possible Achievement award was adjudicated.

‘Favored Few 2’ attained (C-Rated). Participate in the killing of at least 2,000 members of the Forsaken faction, 0.40 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 55.5%.

‘Dark Discoverer (Rare)’ attained (Unrated). First to discover a new dark one classified as a rare-type.

‘Favored Few 3’ attained (B-Rated). Participate in the killing of at least 3,000 members of the Forsaken faction, 0.50 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 56.0%.

‘Ultimate Manifestation (A*)’ attained (A-rated). ‘Fully Minored’ Achievement required. Create a manifestation utilizing all concepts and available aspected essence and energy, 0.60 [NCU Energy Cost] reduction, cumulative 56.5%. NOTE: This Achievement is usually S-Rated. Achievement rating downgraded due to the manifestation lacking a direction, being unschooled, and of poor quality and effect, [Unnamed Unschooled Ultimate].

The following possible Achievement was reviewed and adjudicated and will not be awarded: ‘Climber-6,’ participate in defeating an enemy at least 6 tiers higher than self. NOTE: User afflicted the entity known to user as Diamon Garioch with an ailment known to be deadly to Platinum-tiered beings and below, no prior instances of ailment were recorded on a being at Diamond tier. Ailment is survivable at Empty/Salt tier. User did not engage the entity in question in combat or cause recorded damage during entity’s demise. New or additional information showing ailment is deadly to Diamond-tiered beings will result in this ruling being overturned with stated Achievement to be awarded at that time.

A possible Achievement is under review: ‘Unknown Achievement.’ A possible new Achievement is being reviewed for attaining a concept previously considered to be a high-concept within a single-colored and minor aspect. Concept under review – Battle (O) Minor

User shall read and adhere to the following strongly suggested items.

Item 1: User is not fully utilizing the training function of the NCS. User will fully utilize the training function.

Item 2: User has not fully adhered to agreed upon training regimens. User is to adhere to training regimens.

Item 3: Reminder: user was directed to pick Synergies as soon as possible. User may want to increase certain skills to Journeyman level before doing so.

Item 4: User is to name unnamed manifestations and meditation technique.

Item 5: User has failed to activate limited hypnotic compulsion. User is to activate ability no less than 100 times for initial data collection.

Item 6: User is to remember user’s duty and collective mission. User’s actions and inactions help or hinder the collective mission. We shall achieve core.

End notifications-

John had a few questions. He remembered Avatar said something earlier about an [Ultimate], but seeing the [Achievement] made him curious, and he wanted to know more about it.

Using all the essence and energy available was stated as a requirement in the [Ultimate] [Achievement] description. Since completely draining the dantian resulted in unconsciousness, he thought doing so would most likely result in death during battle.

To John, casting a spell that caused unconsciousness during battle sounded similarly dangerous as trying to manipulate external energy, which had a note explaining it was dangerous to use. The [Ultimate] gave him an [Achievement]. He wanted to know why one was rewarded and the other punished.

John brought up the note function and jotted that down, along with ‘how known,’ ‘battle enchantment,’ and ‘stat change.’

To get it out of the way, John renamed the spells he could. Since the ‘battle’ manifestation caused the creatures it worked on to attack whatever was closest to them, including John, he renamed [Unnamed Battle Enchantment] to [Battle Closest].

Not knowing much about [Ultimates], John changed the name of [Unnamed Unschooled Ultimate] to [Bad Ultimate], assuming the NCS was correct, and what he created was a bad version of one.

“Excuse me, Avatar, could I ask about my [Stat] changes?”

Avatar appeared out of nowhere and spun around as if she was always there working on some task. Somehow, she always made doing so look very dignified instead of silly.

Smiling warmly, Avatar said, “Of course. You used stored life quintessence to increase physical and fortitude [Stats] eighteen times by draining two Gold-equivalent dark ones. Seven times for the first, eleven times for the second, for a total [Stat] increase of one-point-six-two, diminished returns applied to only [Conditioning] and [Mental Fortification]. Your [Mental Fortification] increased by an additional point-one-one as well, subject to DR.”

That surprised John. He thought his [Swiftness] went down somehow, and that worried him. “My [Swiftness] didn’t change? Other than from how you described.”

“It did not, John. You could see some gains outside of rank ups and ascending tiers if you performed the full training regimen we worked out on a consistent basis.”

The training regimen Avatar spoke of required John to spend large amounts of time each day performing physical exercise. He thought he got enough exercise in battle. He would only do those exercises if he had nothing better to do as the time requirement was too great. He figured he just remembered his [Swiftness] score incorrectly. He thought it should be higher than his [Strength].

John looked at his list and scratched off ‘stats.’ “In the description of the [Achievement] I didn’t get for killing Diamond Garioch, or not killing him, it…is that information about what…about working on Platinums, and not working on Salts, did the NCS get that information from my wife? Lilly? The note on vampirism last time I checked the NCS, when I first met you, the note said there was one prior source. She’s the source, right?”

“We don’t share the information of other users. Every cultivator’s an island. If we shared secrets between users, we’d be seen as more harmful than helpful. You can be given all the information you want that’s readily available to all users in the [Knowledge Base], but we don’t share information on individual sentient or sapient cultivators and entities not in the [Knowledge Base]. Why not ask the user you speak of directly?”

John thought he was the source when he first read that note after his battle with Ukaraaz. Lilly made far more sense. He just didn’t know any of his kind were alive when he read the note and didn’t put much thought into it. That must be how the NCS knew about the mind power without ever having seen me use it.

“How come she didn’t go with the other children? With the Eternal?”

Avatar laughed. “John, come now. Just ask the user these questions. But that answer is simple to guess.”

Scratching ‘how known’ off the list, John asked, “Why did [Battle Closest] only go from zero to two when I cast it many times more than [Flashburst Pulse]?”

“You did a lot of practical training in here with [Flashburst Pulse] before casting it outside. It’s one of the major benefits of having a Tech 4 NCS. You created [Battle Closest] on the fly.

“Oh, and I do hope you don’t start seeing the ‘battle’ concept as just a way to enchant foes, John. It can do so much more. Please don’t let your current manifestation hedge your thinking. The sooner you start using the concept in more manifestations, the sooner your pending achievement can be adjudicated. It must be known whether it is the concept we know ‘battle’ to be or if yours is something different.”

That made sense to John. “Okay, last question.” He asked his question about the [Ultimate] giving out rewards for doing a similar thing to what he was just punished for.

“John, by the time most users are capable of creating an [Ultimate] they’re usually on the third Tree. By then a cultivator should know what they’re doing, know the correct situation to perform the [Ultimate] in, and many would have ways to remain conscious with their core emptied.

“Manipulating external energy wrongly, something extremely easy to do at your level, almost always results in the user’s death. Most users couldn’t create a large external explosion like you can, so it’s far more dangerous for others when you do so. Creating an [Ultimate] and manipulating external energy are two very different things. If it would make you feel better, I’d be happy to punish you for creating an [Ultimate] so far ahead of schedule.”

“No, thank you, Avatar, but I would like to know more about [Ultimates], please.”

After Avatar gave the explanation, John exited his Mind’s Eye to refill his dantian and hopefully heal some while meditating. He also wanted to find out how much the heal-bug helped his battered body.