Absorbing heroes, avoiding heroines!

As Yang Ming swallowed the Fire Orb, he started to feel a strong heat spreading throughout his entire body, as if all of his insides were on fire, but as the pain was washed away only a slight tingling sensation was left as the only trace of him absorbing the Fire Orb. It all happened too quickly, the pain disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

*Gulp.*

As he gulped down the blood that gushed from his lips, he noticed the fire engulfing his body from head to toe, growing more vigorous by the second, until it reached several meters in radius around him. The surrounding rocks in the cave as well as the moss beneath his feet were completely scorched leaving only black patches behind him.

One could only imagine the temperature needed for such a thing to happen, but surprisingly Yang Ming only felt the pain at first, and now, at least for him, it appeared as if the heat surrounding him was a pleasant spring breeze. He found a comforting feeling in this heat.

And yet it didn't last long at all, not a minute after the fire surrounding him was completely out and everything seemed to be back to normal.

*Ding!*

[ Fire Orb absorbed. ]

[ Obtained resistance to fire of quality lower than what the orb contains. ]

[ Obtained skill "Fire Claw" ]

Giving in to his impulse and curiosity Yang Ming decided to test his new skill right away, he wondered what it was for, whether it could be used for melee or ranged combat, or whether it would be an accurate single target or destructive area of effect attack. But, one thing was clear, it was a battle skill.

He intuitively understood how to use it thanks to the system, so he immediately put it into action. He moved some distance away from the cave before using it.

Yang Ming didn't want to put too much effort into the strike, so he struck with minimal force but even so, the effect surpassed his imagination. Since he knew how to use the skill, Yang Ming stretched his arm forward and used his fingers like wyvern claws pointing them towards the cave.

"Fire Claw."

The skill was too flashy, as if real wyvern claws clawed at the target of Yang Ming's choosing, tearing through them and then wiping them into powder.

The attribute of said skill was easy to guess as the claws themselves were engulfed in fire and the temperature that they emanated could easily burn nearby forest and stones in a certain perimeter around the skill.

Seeing the destruction brought upon the terrain by his newly acquired skill, Yang Ming almost succumbed to his desire to find a live target to use as a test subject for his skill, but after hesitating for a while he decided that now was not the best time to play around.

Either way, it was inevitable that in the near future there would be some fools who would not know their place and end up as guinea pigs. As it so often happens in novels, such situations arise quite often, so Yang Ming didn't even try to avoid them. He rather would await them with impatience.

The place where the hero's corpse was left behind was utterly devastated, the terrain was completely melted and inaccessible. It was even a question whether the body was still intact or completely turned into ashes.

"Status." - Before leaving this place, Yang Ming was curious to see the changes that occurred in his status.

*Ding!*

***********

[ Status

Name: Yang Ming.

Age: 20 years.

Titles: "Young Master of Clan Yang", "Apprentice of the League of Immortals".

Cultivation: Mortal Ascension(4) - Initial Stage.

Orbs: Fire Orb [Level 1]

Skills: Step of Emptiness [level 1] - Palm of Buddha [level 2] - Blood Control [level 2] - Fire Claw [level 1]

Special Skills: Gluttony [1 level]

Points: 5100

Store: Unavailable.

**********

Since the last time a few things have changed, a new section for orbs appeared in the status panel, as well as a new skill added to the list. Not long ago the system also hinted that both orbs and skills can be improved through the store, but since it was inaccessible, Yang Ming tried to put these thoughts to the back of his mind.

After the absorption of the hero, returning to the Shui Clan was simply pointless, Yang Ming had not yet decided what to do with Shui Han Yin, she was like a double-edged sword, if used incorrectly he could unwittingly burn himself.

He couldn't absorb her either, due to the fact that she was a heroine, so the best solution he came up with at the moment was to leave things as they were. Yang Ming had no intention of returning to the higher realm anytime soon, he wanted to find the treasure which the past him was literally obsessed about.

And even if he couldn't find it, he might find another hero or heroine, of course Yang Ming wanted to meet a hero, they were pretty easy to deal with, since he knew the pattern of such characters, but with the heroines he didn't know what to do. Still, he decided to take precautions.

"System, what ways should I use to absorb the heroine?"

[ The cost of the question is 10,000 points. Sorry, you don't have the required amount! ]

"Ghee…" - If it was a cartoon, Yang Ming's jaw would hit the ground, it was way too expensive, even if he had that many points he wouldn't pay for it.

For completing the task as well as absorbing the hero, he earned 8100 points, and even that would not have been enough to pay for the answer to the question. Of course, if he had earned more points, perhaps he would have agreed to spend them, but now it was impossible.

"Absorb heroes and avoid heroines" Muttered Yang Ming several times, repeating this thought. Yang Ming, of course could not even imagine that, unlike heroes who attract just about any trouble, his magnet acted the same way, but it reacted only to heroes and heroines, so it was quite unpleasant.

Their destinies could be said to be linked, like good and evil, like righteous or sinful. And yet while he didn't know it, he was sure he could handle such situations.

A few hours later.

Today was the first day in the new world. Yang Ming didn't want to leave the eastern region, he wanted to rest for a while and wait until Shui Wai Tian returned with a completed task, so he stayed at a hotel and decided to cultivate a bit.

Of course, he did not have to do it at all since he had a system that could increase the level of cultivation through the store, but even so he wanted to try what cultivation meant, his first experience with it so to speak.

It was quite fascinating, now he could understand why almost everyone was interested in it, even without spending a few dozen minutes he could feel himself getting stronger by the minute.

"Eh, if I was only born here" Yang Ming thought, he had a hard time in his past life, but if he had been born here earlier he would have just spent his whole life cultivating and fighting, he found such a life to be very exciting.

Suddenly, Yang Ming felt something approaching him, but sensing the familiar aura of this person, he immediately figured out who it was.

"Oh, you're back" - Yang Ming smiled slightly, looking at the man in black clothes.

"Master, I found a treasure."

"Where?" Instantly asked Yang Ming, he was particularly impatient about things regarding treasures.

"It's at auction."