PotatoHero
patreon
Chapter 223 - New Benefits
🕑 Added 2025-01-21 07:00:08 +0000 UTCAfter thinking meticulously about who would be best with the talents on the list, Leyvi finally made a decision.
He would just do random pairings!
It just hurt his brain to think so much, so he decided to leave it to fate, randomness, or whatever.
"Yo, that weirdo person behind the scenes. If you exist, please help me distribute the talents to the ladies properly." Leyvi looked up and said it out loud. He just didn't care anymore.
After saying that, Leyvi brought out a paper and pencil to do the random pairings. His fingers moved clumsily at first, the pencil skittering slightly across the page as his thoughts wandered. How long has it been since he had written anything? As he wrote their names, Leyvi realized how ugly his handwriting was.
A few minutes later, the random pairings were done, and the ladies were set to receive the paired talents.
"Hahaha! Let's go with this then! Toy spirit, please give the stamina talent to..." Leyvi recited the pairings one by one.
As soon as he finished, the menu flickered, and the content changed.
[Talent Bead | Level 9 | EXP 56922/500000]
[Talent list: Taming]
[Recipient: Anda | Alchemy and Fragrant | 100/100]
[Recipient: Stripey | Steal and Stealth | 90/100]
[Recipient: Tal | Chess | 99/100]
[Recipient: Tasya | Cooking | 95/100]
[Recipient: Bellion | Formation | 40/100]
[Recipient: Mr. Bison | Sturdy | 84/100]
[Recipient: Lilian | Gardening | 92/100]
[Recipient: Scarlet | Dig | 90/100]
[Recipient: Valenia | Sword | 95/100]
[Recipient: Layla | Clone | 99/100]
[Recipient: Fifi | Stamina | 92/100]
[Recipient: Selene Goldstone | Heal | 85/100]
[Recipient: Nikita Wiki | Control | 91/100]
[Recipient: Sawi Orebender | Morph | 80/100]
[Recipient: Sayu | Sound | 95/100]
[Recipient: Hana | Soft | 99/100]
[Recipient: Nala Horne | Luck | 90/100]
[Host benefit: Tree Climbing Expert, Dual Mind, Universal Language, Formation Dismantler, Daily Qi Refill, Fire Immunity, Five Element Affinity, Handsomeness Slider (42/100), Swimming Expert, Guarantee 100% Chance x1, Wind Affinity, Double Spirit Stone Absorption, Panda Affinity, Aiming Expert]
Leyvi's eyes immediately skipped to where the new info had appeared and noticed a few last names he wasn't aware of yet.
"Nikita Wiki, Sawi Orebender, and...Nala Horne?" Leyvi blinked a few times at her last name.
"Heck! No wonder this girl is horny all the time," Leyvi said. Suddenly, everything made sense to him.
His thoughts didn't linger long on their last names. It wasn't a big deal to him at all. He recalled that Nala ran away from her home, so she probably didn't want to use her last name anymore.
It was probably the same with Nikita.
As for Sawi, that should be the surname of her blacksmith lineage.
Leyvi proceeded to check the new benefits given by the talent bead. Since he gave seven talents to seven ladies, he was confident that he would have seven new benefits.
This time, he decided to see and digest the new benefits one by one. He carefully controlled his vision to avoid seeing everything at once.
"Handsomeness slider..." Leyvi quickly became speechless as his eyesight landed on the first one.
Leyvi snapped out of his speechlessness after a minute and began ranting. "What do you mean handsomeness slider? I can change my handsomeness now? Is that 42 my default handsomeness number? How is this useful in any way? Only Anda would find this useful. She's going to set my handsomeness to 100 and bait many ladies."
Leyvi decided to keep this a secret from Anda, for the sake of world peace.
A spark of curiosity ignited within him. Although Leyvi thought it was useless for him, he still should try using it and see how he looked.
"Set my handsomeness to 100!" Leyvi said as a clear mirror appeared in his hand. Leyvi physically felt adjustments occurring on his face. The sensation was strange, like tiny, invisible hands gently sculpting his features.
When the adjustments stopped, he looked in the mirror.
"Holy! This is me? How is this possible? I'm far more handsome than Lin Wei and Elder Dahni now! They couldn't even hold a candle to me!" Leyvi marveled at his handsomeness. His reflection stared back at him, exuding a charm so intense it felt almost foreign.
It was definitely his face. Anyone could recognize him at a glance. What impressed him was how a few adjustments or tweaks here and there could entirely upgrade his face. He tilted his head slightly, testing how his new features interacted with the light.
He thought that Lin Wei and Elder Dahni were already near 100 with their handsomeness but he was wrong. His imagination was too limited, a frog under the well. With his current godly handsomeness as a reference, Lin Wei was probably 70 at most.
"Tch, tch. If I were a girl, I would totally fall in love with myself at first glance. Even if I committed crimes openly, people would forgive me with this level of handsomeness," Leyvi said while continuing to scrutinize his handsome face from all angles.
"Hmm... let's try handsomeness 1 next." The moment he willed it, Leyvi felt some changes again. This time, it felt more obvious. A creeping sense of dread settled in his chest as the adjustments unfolded.
After it was done, Leyvi looked at the mirror.
"Urgh!!" Leyvi gagged. He tried his best to hold back his puke even though he hadn't eaten for a long time. The sight before him was so grotesque that it felt like a personal affront to his existence.
"Change to 100 handsomeness now!" he said quickly and desperately.
After his handsomeness changed again, he looked at the mirror to get rid of the ugly monster image stuck in his mind. Relief washed over him like a tidal wave, sweeping away the horror that had momentarily consumed him.
That was right. His face was so ugly that he felt he was seeing some horror stuff. It was a face that would attract global condemnation wherever he went. Even if he was the nicest and purest person in the world, people would treat him like a criminal, monster, or abomination.
He felt like he had just learned a new life lesson. No, it wasn't a new life lesson. It was something that Elder Godari had said a few times during the Alchemy Competition.
Nothing in this world is fair.
What happened just now further enforced the claim.
Life would go against you just for being ugly. On the other hand, life presents you with more opportunities just for being attractive. What a harsh truth.
After calming down, Leyvi reverted his face back to normal—his slightly above-average face. Well, according to their normal standard, of course. Not the Talent Bead's standard.
Leyvi sighed. He preferred his usual face the best.
He wished the best for every ugly person. May they find happiness somehow. Even though he sympathized with them, there was nothing he could do.
Maybe if one day the talent bead gave him a universal handsomeness slider, he could make everyone look much better.
Leyvi then moved on to the next benefit, Swimming Expert. His face frowned upon seeing it.
"How is this useful? I already know how to swim. This is the same level benefit as the Tree Climbing Expert. Come on, toy spirit... can't you give me something better?" Leyvi complained.
[Host, I can change it with Crawling Expert benefit. Do you want it?]
Leyvi's lips twitched. "Forget it." The toy spirit would only respond when it was time to make fun of him.
He decided to be the bigger man and let it go. There were still five more benefits. There was no way every one of them would be unusable.
"Guarantee 100% Chance? What does this mean? Does this mean I can increase the probability of something to 100%? Hahaha! Finally, something good! Although it's just a one-time use, it's still great! See? I knew there was something good. Four more!"
Leyvi saw the next benefit and nodded.
"Wind Affinity. This one is not that bad. It's one of the rarer elements. Maybe I can try to emulate the Crazy Tempest attack since I have wind affinity now."
He continued with the next benefit.
"Double Spirit Stone Absorption! Hahaha! This is very, very good! I can cultivate twice as fast now," Leyvi said happily.
He was in the Core Formation realm now, so cultivating using Natural Liquid Qi wouldn't be as effective anymore since it was best suited for Foundation Building cultivators.
Due to this, his cultivation in the Core Formation realm was bound to be very slow.
Thankfully, the benefit came at a good time.
Although cultivating with the new benefit would still be slower than cultivating using Natural Liquid Qi during the Foundation Building realm, at least it would be twice as fast now. He could save a lot of time and resources.
Leyvi suddenly wondered if there was any cultivation resource that would be very suitable for Core Formation cultivators.
However, it wasn't easy to find a cultivation resource like that. Even with the Qi-seeking radar that Anda obtained from Alita, there hadn't been anything that caught its attention since the Natural Liquid Qi.
No, it had picked up on many things, but they all belonged to someone else already. As a law-abiding family, they couldn't just go and rob them, right?
Leyvi's eyes moved to the next benefit.
"..."
"Toy spirit, are you trolling me again?"
[Yes]
Leyvi's eyebrows and lips twitched one after another. It replied without hesitation. The toy spirit must felt bored, so it decided to troll him.
"Panda Affinity... what's the point? Anda already likes me, you know? It's too late," Leyvi said, shaking his head. Hopefully, the last benefit will be useful.
Ah, shit! I shouldn't have said that. The toy spirit might troll me again.
"Aiming Expert." Leyvi let out a sigh of relief. "The last benefit is actually quite good. With my super long-range spiritual sense, maybe I can throw some poop at the people I don't like from far away accurately. Hahaha!"
Since everything was done, Leyvi felt it was time to end his three years of cultivating in seclusion.
He wanted to spend some time with his family before departing soon.
Comments
Alth0s
Levi starting the chapter by praying to the author
Potato Hero
Correct.
uncertain
I was a bit surprised that his 5 Element Affinity didn't upgrade to 6 Element Affinity after he got wind affinity. But I assume it's because wind isn't one of the basic five elements.
