Between a Rock and a Hard Place The powerful cheat code
Chapter 18: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: mjn0898
Ling Lan flicked through the options on the screen. There really were all sorts of courses, from harp-playing to chess and various art and literature courses, even embroidery was included. Of course, there were also all sorts of martial combat skills, and even some really strange and bizarre courses she had never heard of before. The points to redeem these courses ranged from one point to several hundreds of points, while some even required up to one or two thousand points and perhaps even more.
The gaming and leisure options were noticeably more expensive, starting from a base redemption amount of 50 points, with the more expensive options reaching up to 5000 points to 10000 points. Of course, this section also had a smorgasbord of options. Take games for example — there were traditional games with retro designs, magic and sorcery games, futuristic apocalyptic games, galactic mecha games, martial combat games, and they actually even had dating simulation games ...
As for the other leisure options, anything you could think of as recreation could be found there. When she had tapped into that category, Ling Lan hadn't even known where to look. There were just too many options.
Hell, was this still a learning space meant for the cultivation of young talent? Why did she feel a corrupting influence emanating from these options?
Ling Lan decisively exited from the recreational categories, and opened up the learning courses. Time was counting down, so she did not have a moment to lose. Since she had to redeem something, she might as well use the honour points she had now to redeem something she needed most at present.
With a rough idea of what she wanted, Ling Lan clicked open the combat category, and then chose the subcategory of defence.
Countless defensive combat techniques and skills immediately popped up on the screen. Ling Lan selected the option to list the skills and techniques according to honour point requirement in ascending order, from the lowest to the highest.
The first skill she saw cost only 1 honour point — Iron Skin. The description below it explained that the skill could turn the skin of a person's entire body into iron, capable of withstanding heavy blows. With mastery, the practitioner's skin would become a metallic colour. Without any hesitation, Ling Lan immediately sent the option flying — how could a soft and delicate girl like her allow her skin to become metallic in colour? It's not like she wanted to become Iron Woman.
Next were the skills that required 10 honour points to redeem. There were a few more than those requiring 1 point, but when she counted them, there were only about 10 options. Ling Lan found that interesting — there was one skill which cost 1 honour point, and ten skills which cost 10 honour points ... did that mean that there would be fifty skills which cost 50 honour points?
Of course Ling Lan was just thinking about this idly; her full attention was actually upon these ten options before her. She only had ten minutes after all, there was no time to waste.
Eagle Claw? What, mastery meant having claw-like hands? No can do.
Iron Head? She needed to bang her head against hard objects every day? That was just asking for pain and suffering. Dismissed.
Golden finger? Practise by jabbing her fingers at trees every day? Ridiculous. Ignored.
Crippling Legs? Mastery meant legs with exposed veins? Dear god that would be terrifying. No way.
Long-ape Arms? What, mastery meant one's arms would become as long as an ape's? Dammit, even though she would have to live this life as a man, she still didn't want to live as an ape-man. That would be too tragic — no way in hell.
…
Why did all these skills either change a person's appearance or require self-mutilation to achieve mastery? Ling Lan complained internally. Just as Ling Lan was about to give up on redeeming any of the 10-point skills, she noticed the final skill on the list — Rabbit Sky Leap.
Rabbit Sky Leap: A conditional skill. Requires a high degree of body flexibility. Minimum requirement of B-rank flexibility, but A-rank and above flexibility recommended.
This skill does not change one's appearance after mastery, but will increase overall strength by three times or more. Precise increments will depend on practitioner's flexibility and intensity of practice. Please observe changes and adjust accordingly.
Practice method: ...
This Rabbit Sky Leap skill captured Ling Lan's heart immediately — it seemed like a perfectly normal skill, no torture or mutilation mentioned in its training method. Besides that, the condition seemed tailor-made for her. The basic nine stances she had been practicing had focused specifically on increasing a body's flexibility. Instructor Number Nine had clearly stated that once she mastered the nine stances, her body flexibility would be at A-rank.
In general, babies were born with a flexibility of B-rank, but if they didn't practise any sort of physical skill such as the nine stances, their flexibility would decline as they grew older. A regular adult would have a flexibility between D-rank to F-rank.
If one trained in offensive physical skills, flexibility would drop even more, perhaps not even reaching D-rank. Meanwhile, a practitioner of the Balanced Series of physical skills would at most be able to maintain a flexibility of C-rank, with exceptional cases being able to achieve B-rank.
As for the Defensive Series, there were two branches within the set itself — the Endurance Series and the Flexible Series. The Endurance Series focused on increasing a body's toughness, hardening it to increase defensive ability, thus reducing flexibility, which would result in a body flexibility similar to those practicing the Balanced Series. Only the Flexible Series, as its name implied, focused on training up a body's flexibility, and would allow practitioners to achieve a flexibility of A-rank and above.
The basic nine stances that Ling Lan learned were from the Flexible Series. The learning space had automatically assigned the Flexible Series to Ling Lan because she was a girl, and because her natural flexibility had already been very high.
It looked like the learning space also had some recognition of gender, and had been unwilling to produce an iron-muscled woman.
At this point, Ling Lan had already made her decision, but she still cautiously browsed through the skills which required 50 honour points. The quality of the skills naturally increased as the cost of the skills increased, but the associated restrictions and conditions also got increasingly tougher. Many of the skills required a certain level of body strength, resilience, or flexibility, as well as a certain level of physical skill. Ling Lan knew that even if she redeemed these skills now, she still wouldn't be able to practise them for three to five years. After all, her body was just not at that level yet, there was still much more training she had to do first.
Just then, Number One reminded, "There is not much time left, have you chosen?"
Ling Lan smiled and said, "Yes, I choose the Rabbit Sky Leap."
Number One warned her, "The Rabbit Sky Leap only requires 10 honour points. You still have 139 points, what else will you choose? Please choose immediately."
Ling Lan shook her head. "I only want this one. I don't need anything else right now."
Number One sniffed. "You still have so many honour points left. Do you really want to waste them?"
Ling Lan smirked like a little fox. "Will they really be wasted?"
Number One just stared at her placidly. His gaze was steady and indifferent, as if telling her that if she really chose only the Rabbit Sky Leap, all her remaining honour points would be cleared away.
Ling Lan's resolution started to waver under Number One's stare — should she just redeem all her honour points now, and just wait to learn those skills later on when she met their requirements?
But then that was also a problem ... Since she had no idea what the learning space would assign her next, if she redeemed her points now and chose something that was unsuitable for her later on, that would also be a waste.
Should she gamble now? Or gamble for the future? Ling Lan struggled over her decision. She lifted her head to look at Number One, hoping to get some sort of hint from him. After all, the reason she wanted to save her honour points to begin with was because of Number One's earlier words. Had she misunderstood what he was saying?
Chapter 19: The Powerful Cheat Code
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: mjn0898
So that she could hold onto the free treatment provided by the country in her past life, over her 24 years of illness, Ling Lan had learned how to observe body language and react accordingly. She had learned how to appeal to the doctors and nurses around her, acting cute and being well-behaved. The quota for free treatment was limited, and there were always plenty of other patients waiting in line, so she knew she had to get the researchers and caregivers to like her and care for her personally. This way, subconsciously, they would want to keep her around and would put in a good word for her when necessary.
Her skills in this area were no use here against Number One, however. He was a battle-hardened veteran warrior — how could little inexperienced Ling Lan hope to glean anything from his body language? The more Ling Lan stared at Number One, the more helpless she felt, until the point where she felt that it might be better to just redeem all her points now after all. It'd be better than letting them all go to waste.
Just as she was about to ask to continue redeeming, the system announced, "Time's up. Exchange 10 honour points for Rabbit Sky Leap, successful!"
Ling Lan was abruptly jolted into awareness. Unconsciously, it had already been ten minutes. Knowing that there was nothing else she could do, Ling Lan resolutely pushed aside all her anxiety. Since God had already helped her decide, there was no point having regrets even if she was going to lose all those honour points. It had to be said that Ling Lan was a very mature and adaptable girl — perhaps those 24 years of torment due to illness had taught her that there was no point in obsessing over the unobtainable.
The system continued to announce, "One redemption successful. Redemption mission completed, 1 honour point awarded. Remaining honour points: 140 points. Shall be reserved for the next redemption."
Ling Lan was ecstatic. She had guessed correctly! As expected, honour points could be saved up — Number One's words had been a hint after all. The word 'use' had been a subtle hint that honour points were precious, while the following statement that a random draw would be enforced after ten minutes indirectly implied that only one exchange was required.
This seemingly simple statement was actually rife with meaning. The cost of the items that could be redeemed ranged from 1 point up to several tens of thousands of points, and though Ling Lan only had 149 points, the things she could redeem were numerous. This presented a problem — if the enforced draw by the system randomly selected an item that only cost 1 point or 10 points, or perhaps even 50 points, what would happen to the rest of the unredeemed honour points?
Number One's explanations had not covered any of that. Based on her previous experience, Ling Lan had quickly sensed something strange about the scenario, fearing that this was yet another trick. Perhaps this forced redemption was actually just a way for the system to teach new users how to redeem their honour points, just like how an instructor makes you practise a skill once in front of them right after they finished teaching you.
Of course Ling Lan knew that every little action of the learning space was not as simple as it seemed, so the forced redemption must have some deeper meaning beyond that. However, Ling Lan didn't think it was necessary to spend much time and effort to figure it out.
So she chose the Rabbit Sky Leap which was most suitable for her. Not only could she practise it immediately, it was also a very subtle skill. Ling Lan was very satisfied with her choice. As for whether it was the best choice, Ling Lan was not overly concerned about that. She didn't expect the best things to just appear in her path randomly, as if she were the 'main character' in a story, but was content to just take things as they came.
Instructor Number One was extremely pleased with Ling Lan's performance this time as well. Without further ado, he switched places with Instructor Number Nine, who proceeded to instruct Ling Lan in the Rabbit Sky Leap as well as the next chapter of her physical skills training — the Body Refining Nine Stances.
Training for the Body Refining Nine Stances was a hundred times more difficult than training for the Basic Nine Stances. For the following month, Ling Lan trained laboriously to master the first stance with little to no effect — she couldn't even get the positioning of a single arm right.
Ling Lan felt that this was a miserable mission. Judging by her current progress, she would never be able to accomplish it within the given deadline of five years. Fortunately, Ling Lan had a positive attitude. Even if it felt like an impossible mission, she wasn't anxious or impatient. Every day, she worked hard to conquer it little by little, in hopes that when the deadline arrived, she wouldn't be too far off the mark. Ling Lan had deduced from the first reward of honour points that the system's punishment would most likely be based on a similar principle — the less she was behind, the lighter the punishment she would receive.
********
Very soon, it was once again the time for a session of gene agent injections. Ling Lan had assumed that this third session would be very much like the first two sessions, where she would just be laid on the bed to rest right after.
Unexpectedly, when all the military personnel had left, Ling Lan's mother Lan Luofeng had picked her up and had walked through several hidden passages to arrive at a small room. There was almost nothing in the room — only a small single bed by one of the walls and a waist-high wooden tub in the centre of the room. Nothing else.
The moment Lan Luofeng entered the room, she asked, "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, Mistress!" A middle-aged woman stood within the room. Ling Lan recognised her — she was chamberlain Ling Qin's wife, Ling Nanyi.
Lan Luofeng stepped forward to stand before the wooden tub. Ling Lan could now see that a little more than half the tub was full of an inky-green liquid that smelled heavily of medicinal herbs.
Ling Lan was deeply surprised — so far in this time period, all she had seen were medications of Western influence, such as injections or pills, which were bland and tasteless. Now, this familiar smell abruptly brought her back to the memories of her past life. She had had to drink so much of this sort of herbal concoction, but still ... Ling Lan's forehead scrunched up in worry — could it be that she was supposed to drink all of this medicinal liquid?
Ling Lan felt shudders of apprehension within her heart. From her mother's and Ling Nanyi's demeanour, that tub of medicinal liquid was most certainly for her. Looking at the wooden tub once again, and then mentally comparing it to her own tiny body ...
Hell, were they trying to kill her? If she finished drinking all this medicinal liquid, she would definitely be the first baby in the world to die from a distended belly due to Chinese medicine.
Ling Lan's mum was not as ruthless as Ling Lan had thought. "Is the temperature of the water alright? Ling Lan won't be scalded, will she?"
Thank God, she was supposed to bathe in it and not drink it. Ling Lan cried internal tears of relief as she hugged her mother tightly. Her life was spared.
"Relax, Mistress. I have tested it properly, there won't be any problems," replied Ling Nanyi firmly. Ling Lan was the Ling household's only hope — she would never allow any bit of carelessness when it came to Ling Lan's welfare.
Lan Luofeng did not hesitate any further. In short order, she had stripped Ling Lan naked and placed her into the tub.
Ling Lan felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring, warm and comfortable, when suddenly she felt a surge of heat invade the core of her body from her skin. An indescribable feeling suffused her entire body — like pain yet not pain, like an itch yet not an itch. Ling Lan, who had never before been afraid of pain, actually couldn't help but moan at the strange sensation.
Lan Luofeng was startled by this and looked at Ling Nanyi anxiously, wondering how Ling Lan was doing.
Ling Nanyi reassured her, "Mistress, this is normal, the young master is fine."
As time passed, Ling Lan started getting used to the strange sensation. But then, the feeling escalated into intense pain, almost reminiscent of the body-shredding pain of her previous life ...
Oddly enough, this intense pain actually calmed Ling Lan down instead, as she knew she was fully capable of withstanding this sort of pain from 24 years of experience.
"Huh? What is this thing?" Ling Lan heard Little Four exclaim within her mind.
"What?" Although she could manage the pain, it was still nice to have someone to talk to to distract her from it based on her experience. She was very happy to chit chat with Little Four even while wracked with pain.
"It's a very strange energy ... it is actually raising the activation of your muscles and their resilience." Little Four was very surprised and curious. How was this tub of medicinal liquid brewed? There was no information on this concoction within his databases.
"This must be a secret formula of the Ling family, specially made for refining the body." In contrast, Ling Lan wasn't as surprised. No matter how weak and insignificant the Ling family was, they were still an old clan that had persevered for over several thousand years, so it was not at all surprising that they had developed this secret formula over the years and had passed it on through the main branch of the family, Ling Xiao's branch.
"Lord, the things in this world of yours are amazing. Heavens, what did I discover? This medicinal liquid is actually 96 percent plant-based ..." Little Four marvelled. Who'd have thought such an amazing concoction could be made without having to utilise any sort of advanced technology? This was truly a miraculous world.
Ling Lan sweat-dropped. What else would a Chinese herbal concoction be made of if not medicinal herbs?
"And what's the remaining 4 percent? Why is it so familiar ... poison? Yep, should be a type of snake poison ... and what's this? Scorpion? Ce-centipede, and ... spider venom!" Little Four's tone of voice kept getting higher and higher until he was practically screeching. It couldn't be helped — within this one year, Little Four had learned about the various creatures that could be found in human society, and although he was OK with most of them, he really had no tolerance for creepy crawlies. According to his sense of aesthetics, they were so ugly that they should be wiped from the surface of the Earth.
Ling Lan chose to ignore Little Four's manic flailing in her mind. She was busy marvelling at the fact that she was actually going through a purification ritual like some main character in one of those novels she had read.
Yep, travelling to the future was not too bad after all. The cheat code of the God of Time and Space Travel was pretty powerful.