Emergency Mission

"A woman?" Tian Long muttered under his breath as he walked towards the unconscious figure.

Crouching down, he inspected her and checked her pulse to see if she was still alive, and luckily, she was, albeit faintly.

Picking up her body, Tian Long then ran towards a nearby cave near the large boulder where he was cultivating, with the woman in his arms.

And at that moment, the ever-familiar system announcement resounded in his ears.

[Ding! An emergency mission has been triggered.]

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[Emergency Mission: Savior]

[Details: You have encountered an unidentified young woman with fatal injuries. Heal her injuries and cure her poisoned state.]

• Reward(s): ???

• Time Limit: 24 hours.

• Failure Penalty: Death of the young woman.

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[Do you wish to accept the mission?]

'Accept.' Tian Long answered in his head.

Although he wasn't a saint, he also wasn't a person who would just ignore others in danger, especially those that he had encountered. While he doesn't help others expecting a reward in return, he believed in karma and the cause and effect.

This belief of his was further affirmed when he had saved the little girl back on Earth, which resulted in his death and reincarnation, his second chance.

And now, seeing a grievously injured person on the verge of death, Tian Long wasn't about to just ignore her.

When Tian Long reached the small cave, he laid the young woman's body on the ground and took a look at her.

The next second, an unexpected image appeared before his eyes.

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[STATUS]

Name: Jian Meili

Age: 26 years

Cultivation: Poisoned state - Early Astral Sea realm (Normal state - Noble Plane Grade 1)

Stats:

• [Innate Talent] - 9

• [Comprehension] - 9

• [Will] - 8

____________________

"?"

'I can also see other people's status page?'

Tian Long couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the small window appear at the corner of his retina.

"So her name is Jian Meili... a beautiful name," he muttered before focusing his attention on the stats section.

"Innate Talent, Comprehension, and Will... how come I don't have those in my status page?"

Taking a look at his status page once more, the section that displayed Jian Meili's stats was nowhere to be seen.

'Maybe I can only check others' stats and not mine?' he surmised after a few moments of pondering.

Returning his attention at the unconscious young woman's status page, Tian Long asked the System in his head, hoping for an answer.

'System, I can see other people's status page as well? What does this three stats mean and what are the numbers beside them?'

After traveling to this world for a while now, Tian Long had figured out that while the Apex System didn't have an ego of its own, unlike in other web novels he read, he could still ask questions here and there if related to the System.

And indeed, the ever-so-monotonous voice replied, answering his question.

[The host can only see other's status page when the target has enough affinity with the host or if the target is unconscious.]

"I see..." Tian Long exclaimed.

[Under the Stats section, the talent and potential of the target are displayed for the host to see.]

[Innate Talent correlates to the person's cultivation speed. The higher the innate talent, the faster the cultivation speed and the lesser the existence of future bottlenecks.

Comprehension correlates to the person's understanding and awareness of the myriad dao and laws. Higher comprehensions stat equates to faster mastery of rules/laws and heightened perception towards the dao.

Will correlates to the person's determination and the firmness of one's dao heart. Dao Heart is the willpower to face and overcome all challenges and mental aspects of cultivation.]

[Each of these three categories will have maximum points of 10 which totals everything into 30 points at the highest.]

'Is that so...'

'Doesn't that mean that this person's innate talent and potential is at the cream of the crop of this world?'

9 points for [Innate Talent].

9 points for [Comprehension].

And 8 points for [Will].

That totals everything to 26 points, out of 30!

Doesn't this simply scream the fact that this Jian Meili is one of those unparalleled geniuses of this world? A so-called proud daughter of the heavens?

Then what is an illustrious person like her, doing in this barren and desolate place, all poisoned and injured?

Tian Long shook his head clearly unable to find an answer. He then thought that this lady probably had a story of her own.

Just like him.

'System, show me a list of medicines that can cure her poison.'

[Poisoned target detected. Specific poison present identified. Pulling up a list of usable medicine to remedy the poison now.]

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• [Lesser Poison Antidote] = 200 points.

• [Greater Poison Antidote] = 1,000 points.

• [Vial of Purification] = 1,500 points.

• [Clear Qi Pill] = 3,000 points.

• [...]

• [...]

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As Tian Long read the descriptions of numerous poison-curing items listen by the system, he couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer number of items for sale that could only be said to be countless.

Glancing at his remaining 4,000 apex points which was originally 5,000 and was given as an introductory gift by the system, Tian Long settled his eyes on the [Clear Qi Pill] which was priced at 3,000 apex points.

'Although I'll be left with only 1,000 points, obtaining apex points isn't that difficult.' he thought.

Apex points could be obtained from all kinds of things. Completing missions assigned by the system, slaying demonic beasts, killing enemies; although he hasn't done the last two that were mentioned yet, Tian Long wasn't averse to such ways since the path of cultivation was paved with the bones of countless enemies as stepping stones.

The great path was ruled by the stronger fist.

The unspoken law of the jungle is ever-present in all the corners of this world.

Tian Long had long known this even back on Earth. And his reincarnation, alongside the memories of the previous Tian Long, further strengthened his mentality, affirming his Dao Heart.

One needed strength and power to protect oneself and the others around him.

Anyhow, confirming the purchase of the [Clear Qi Pill], Tian Long heard a system announcement deducting 3,000 apex points from him.

At this moment, a flash of white light suddenly appeared before his eyes as it gathered the surrounding heavenly energy.

(Author: I will be using the terms Qi and heavenly energy interchangeably.)

The phenomenon formed a small cyclone within the small interior space of the cave with Tian Long and Jian Meili in the middle.

Stretching his palm, Tian Long grabbed the white light which had already congealed and formed into a tiny milk-colored pill, with faint clouds exuding from it occasionally.

Staring at the [Clear Qi Pill] for a few seconds, Tian Long admired and enjoyed the system's capabilities and the refreshing feeling that the pill transmitted upon contact with his skin.

He then shifted his eyes onto the unconscious woman lying on the ground. Other than her plain-looking features that screamed the words common and normal, the tempting curves on her slim hourglass body could be said to be perfect. No flaws would be criticized by even the most criticizing fellow!

Despite her pale-white face and blood-stained lips, she seemed peaceful and harmonious despite her life infinitely close to being claimed by the grim reaper.

'She's probably either wearing a mask that could change one's face or she's trained a technique that had the same ability to change one's facial features.' Tian Long thought as he arrived at this conjecture.

However, he didn't bother checking if this was true or not.

Reaching out his hand, he grasped hold of the plain-looking woman's chin that had an unrivaled figure and opened her lips, inserting the [Clear Qi Pill] within.

After doing so, Tian Long walked out of the cave and returned to his favorite large boulder and jumped on top of it. He again started to cultivate, but this time, he was going to train with the body-cultivation technique that his father had left him.

It was called [Tyrant God Physique] and one needed a minimum cultivation of Spiritual Awareness to start cultivating it.

From the previous Tian Long's memories, he found out that the young man couldn't cultivate with the technique since he had already started with a different one. Furthermore, he was already nearing the peak of Noble Plane when he obtained the [Tyrant God Physique] when he accidentally found it hidden within a gift that his father had left for him, which the Tian Clan hid from him.

Fortunately, the gift could only be unlocked by Tian Long alone. This left the higher-ups of the Tian Clan heaving in rage and their eyes bloodshot.

However, if he wanted to cultivate the [Tyrant God Physique], he would have to halt his cultivation until his mastery on the technique had reached perfect compatibility with his current cultivation. Furthermore, he would have to undergo numerous body tempering until his physique also reached his current cultivation realm; this would take a long time!

This, in turn, filled 'him' with regret when he had found out the heaven-defying strength that he could've received if he started cultivating the [Tyrant God Physique] at the start.

That damned Tian Clan!