... truthfully, I don't love any of the three options. This was the first time when there isn't a clear choice, or a choice between two good to solid options. It's a choice that straight-up pigeonholes us all into a specific path.
I don't have issue with that, per se, I have an issue that it's a blanket choice. For instance, I know for a fact that Xi Zhao would rather have the second option, whereas Dai Xiu would probably take the first as she loathes sitting and cultivating almost as much as I did at first when coming into this world.
So, regardless of which choice I make... someone's bound to be displeased. There was the third option, the vague little shitter with its question marks. If I could know what would be disabled, I might genuinely choose it as the previous upgrades would be more than enough for the 'base method'.
But that '???' is... no, I just can't do it. It would mean that, if it is something serious, all the kids would have to rip up their entire cultivation and start over.
Ugh.
Why couldn't have the third choice just been 'None' and that was it? No, better yet, why is a choice for everyone? Why can't they choose one of them once they reach that comprehension?
Huh. That's also the point, kind of. Though I love the kids, I really only see two or three of the current ones ever actually reaching 'Dao' comprehension level. Long Tao himself is not practicing it, Xiu'er--on her own--will never reach it, Lan'er is also unlikely to reach it, Zhao'er is about 10%... maybe only Xing Feng has a high enough of a chance to reach it naturally without the system's or mine aid.
... but therein lies the problem. I can confer comprehension on them and, given enough time, I can raise all of them to that level of comprehension. And even if they can't choose for themselves in the previous upgrades, they're all just general-purpose buffs that don't corral them into a specific way of existing.
And I'm having to think through all this shit whilst my entire body is being disintegrated from every goddamned point and orifice.
Shit.
Maybe I should pray and hit up the system and ask it to make it a choice the kids can make?
He~yo, system. You most beautiful and blessed little thing, can't you help me out just this once?
...
Please?
...
Pretty please?
...
Goddammit, dude, I'm burning up here!
[--Eternity offers to intercede on your behalf][...][All of the host's CP has been consumed][Debt accrued: 100,000CP][...][Recalibrating...][...][New Effect][One With the Art --> Dao][Host's Disciples will be able to make a choice of their own between all three options once they reach 'Dao' Comprehension][...][Will Host accept the offer?][Y] / [N]
... wow.
Holy shit.
That worked... kind of? Well, I didn't expect needing to expend more points than I've earned in totality thus far, but... I just kind of have to take it? While the debt will be massive, and while it'll mean I can't make anything new for quite some time, it's a temporary issue. And from the sounds of it, it's not the crippling kind of debt that comes with 11% interest and fucks you over eleven ways to Sunday.
Worst case scenario, we hole up in the mountains and slowly work through the monthly quests, kids' cultivation realms and their breakthroughs, and get the debt down to zero in less than a year. It's not as though we're in an absolute hurry to reach the Island as we were to reach the Secret Realm, after all.
While I had a mini-stroke when I first saw the figure, especially because I thought it was already applied without my choice, now... well, I'm making my peace with it. It may be the pain diffusing my inhibitions completely and causing my mind to make a choice just to stop this infernal suffering, but... aah, fuck it. It's not like I've never suffered the regrets of my choices.
If it may be so, this will just be another one in the long list of 'em.
As soon as I pressed that little 'Y'--entirely with my mind, of course, as there was no fucking way I could move even in the slightest, let alone deliberately and precisely--all the pain just... ceased. Like, immediately. It was unlike anything else I've ever experienced in my life.
The pain disappeared and keeping my eyes open finally didn't feel like someone was carving a tattoo into them with a laser. The world that was just shapeless began to morph back into a reality I could recognize; tall grass, blue skies, and the faces of the kids that were looming precisely two and a half inches from my face.
That was Light, whose cheek was practically pressing into mine; on the other side was Feng'er whose was doing the same, and there was another few hundred pounds of weight laying on top of me sloshed between them.
"MASTER!!"
"He's opened his eyes!!"
"Are you alright, Master?!"
Hooh. I would be if I didn't have the weight of six people pressing into my lungs, you little gremlins.
... ey, Long Tao, why the hell are you one of them?! No, scratch that--Lao Shun, you goddamn smirking bastard, why are you on top of me, too?
"... get off," I muttered.
"Huh? What did you say, Master?"
"Get off, goddammit."
"Pfft, ha ha~"
They all quickly dispersed as the weight lifted and I could breathe normally. I immediately rushed to inspect my body but... well, there was nothing wrong with it. All the organs were in their places, they looked healthy enough, the blood was still the color of blood, and there were no changes in either my meridians or dantian. The core still levitated just the same, tiny spatial storms orbiting her.
It was as though I hadn't just undergone seven layers of hellish suffering in the span of what felt like sixteen thousand years but I'm sure was closer to sixteen seconds, to be honest.
Sitting up, my eyes wandered around and saw that the kids were still looking at me, though with another layer of reverence that wasn't there before.
... yeah. Even years into this shit, I can't get used to being looked at that way, to be honest. It's just... weird.
"Your Master is not a display item in a museum," I said, standing up and dusting off my robes. "Don't you have other things to do?"
They all scattered... except three, as I expected. Long Tao, Lao Shun, and Han Yimu stayed, eyeing me a bit differently than the rest.
... alright.
How the heck do I explain this shit and how far down the genealogical tree do I have to go to find an appropriate ancestor to riff off of?
Just as I was about to make up a very believable story, a stray window popped up right in front of me.
[--emergency quest generated][...][Quest: Remnants of the Old (Legendary)][Context: a band of the former members of Demonic Cult is currently being pursued nearby by a group of Disciples and Elders of the Holy Lands. You may choose to either save the Demonic Cult members or assist the Holy Lands in capturing them][Rewards][Reward 1: 20,000 CP][Reward 2: Depends on the choice]
... wow. Talk about a generous payout to kickstart the debt payment.
Speaking of.
Why the hell is it so generous?!