I Became Useless

"F***! F***! Where's my Lifespan?! Where the f*** is my Lifespan!?"

Fang Yue was shocked. Before he started cultivating, he had 11 days and 20 hours of Lifespan left, but now, only 10 days and 10 hours remained.

"This shouldn't be the case…" 

Fang Yue felt like crying. He had never heard of other players effectively gaining Lifespan at the current stage. 

He had just started cultivating, yet he had burned more than a day's worth of his Lifespan. It was devastating.

"Rubbish cultivation method! Rubbish saber technique!"

Even though he was furious, he still had to continue his practice.

Fortunately, the [Starfire Cultivation Method] consumed his human soul's life force while activating it consumed his Internal Energy. His Lifespan would only be consumed when he used the saber technique.

"I can still cultivate the [Starfire Cultivation Method]. As for the saber technique, let's just leave it aside for now."

Fang Yue felt annoyed and dispirited. He was able to make up for the loss because he had a sufficient amount of Lifespan at the moment. If it was other players, they might have died halfway during cultivation.

He sat down with his legs crossed and cultivated the [Starfire Cultivation Method]. He ignited his life force and propelled the energy through his body a dozen times until he recovered his Internal Energy.

He did not stop there. He continued the cultivation and his Max Internal Energy started to increase point by point.

Seconds turned into minutes as he continued. When he got his Internal Energy up to 25, Fang Yue suddenly felt strange. 

Blood spewed out of his mouth all of a sudden.

[Internal circulation is messed up. Meridians are messed up. Internal Energy is depleted. Heavily Wounded.]

"What? My internal circulation is messed up? I was fine before!" 

Shocked, Fang Yue brought up his stats window.

[Name: NightDawn]

[State: Third-rate Postcelestial]

[Status: Meridians Messed Up, Severely Wounded.]

[HP: 100/100 (Severely Wounded)]

[Internal Energy: 0/25]

[Control: 1 (-20) (Severely Wounded) (12) ]

[Block: 1 (-20) (Severely Wounded) (12)]

[Talent: Night Breathing (High-tier Human-level)]

[Martial Art: Insight Vision (low-tier Human-level), Starfire Saber Technique Grade 1 (Third-rate Postcelestial) (Red), Starfire Cultivation Method Grade 1 (Third-rate Postcelestial)(Red)]

[Lifespan: 9 days 6 hours]

Pfft! 

Fang Yue almost spat blood again when he saw his stats.

"F***! Why did my stats drop to 1?! -20, Severely Wounded, Meridians Messed Up! Why are all the stupid debuffs added up!? Why are the technique and cultivation methods in red?!"

He stared at the two terms highlighted in red.

[Starfire Cultivation Method: Requirements not met. Unavailable]

[Starfire Saber Techniques: Requirements not met. Unavailable]

[Meridians messed up: An effect caused by qi deviation. While going through this status, you are unable to cultivate or activate the cultivation method. In other words, you are rendered useless.]

"WTF? Not just the two red ones but a third? What's with the Meridians messed up status?! I'm just starting to practice and this is it? It ends as soon as I start?!"

Fang Yue was at a loss for words.

Then, he suddenly felt a warm light coming from the sky. He turned to the light and saw it blessing the land with warmth.

"Huh, why is it so bright? Wait, what time is it?"

He looked beyond the front yard and saw a bright glow rising from the horizon. It was the sunrise, indicating that it was around 6 to 7 in the morning.

"It's morning. I'm useless now…"

Fang Yue finally understood what had happened.

[Night Breathing] had increased his stats by 20 during the night, and the stats would return to normal during the day.

He relied on the stats boost from [Night Breathing] to master the [Starfire Cultivation Method] and the [Starfire Saber Technique].

With the sun rising on the horizon, [Night Breathing] was over, so the numbers fell. It did not decrease his stats to zero or even negative; it was locked at 1 instead.

With 1 point each in Control and Block, he did not meet the requirements for the two skills, but since he had learned them, he became severely injured. Despite having mastered the techniques, he was unable to use them at all.

Fang Yue did not realize this particular point before and had been carried away by his cultivation, losing track of time.

With the changes of day and night, the passing of night, and the arrival of dawn, it was now around 6 to 7 in the morning which signified that his stats had fallen back to 1.

With such pitiful stats, Fang Yue was still using the [Starfire Cultivation Method], which he could no longer support, hence causing his qi deviation and messed up circulation and meridians, resulting in him being severely injured.

"I just played myself to death." Fang Yue wanted to cry.

He tried to move his body, but pain seared through him from top to bottom. As he slowly and painfully inched his way, damage numbers popped up above his head.

[-1]

[-1]

[-1]

Judging from his current status, he could not even walk.

"Help…Help! Someone, please help!"

Fang Yue was forced to cry for help but soon realized that he was in the game, so he could simply message other players to help him.

However, before he could send a message out, the front gate was kicked open.

Six strong men dressed as village guards entered the premises carefully with spears. They were obviously trained and had been ordered to work together.

Two of them started to search the house while the remaining pointed their sharp spears at Fang Yue. 

With a slight thrust, they could send Fang Yue back to his maker.

"Guys, I'm calling for help…"

"Shut up!" one of the guards, who had a scar on his face, bellowed. He said to his comrades, "Check and see whether he is possessed or not."

Then, the two guards came out of the house. They shook their heads when they heard the man's words.

"Brother Yong, we are out of talismans."

'Talismans? What are those? What's going to happen if you run out of talismans?!' Fang Yue was confused though he would soon find out what would happen when the talismans ran out.

The man known as Brother Yong by others raised a brow and lifted his spear.

"Then, according to the rules, we must kill him."

The moment his words subsided, the guards thrust their spears at Fang Yue.

'Holy f***!"

Terrified, Fang Yue shouted nervously, "Hold on! Stop! Lord Han brought me into the village!"

The thrust stopped midway, and the guards pulled back but not because of Fang Yue's words. Brother Yong had pulled back his spear before it could even reach Fang Yue's heart, and so did the others.

The moment they retreated, several coin darts appeared at the spot where they were standing.

They stood back to back and looked around cautiously.

"Who goes there?!"

"Your grandfather!"

A cold grunt later, a man slowly ambled into the premises through the gate. It was the second captain of the village guards, Lin Ling.

The other guards were shocked. They kept their spears away and saluted him respectfully.

"Captain Lin, what brings you here?" Brother Yong asked nervously.

"Hmph! If I'd been one second late, you guys would have lost your heads!" Lin Ling then walked to Fang Yue and helped the terrified young man up. "His name is Night. He was brought into the village by Lord Han who seems to have plans for him. If he was hurt, do you guys think you can handle the consequences?"

The group of guards looked at each other in fear.

"W-we didn't mean it. We were just carrying out our duties."

"Sigh. You guys must be tired after patrolling for the whole night. Your minds are muddled. I won't tell anyone about this, so go back and take a rest."

"Thank you, Captain Lin!"

The group left in a hurry, leaving Fang Yue in the captain's hands.

Fang Yue was still terrified because he had almost died at the hands of the village guards. He realized that he had a limited understanding of the village, and his recklessness might cost him his own life.