Chapter 18: Refinement

Discovering that he could allocate points, Li Qi immediately felt invigorated.

However, of the six sensory faculties and their six corresponding descriptors, only five—eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body—had plus signs next to them.

Li Qi focused his mind and tapped, and a sub-interface immediately popped up.

Interface:
You are the Master of Fate, and thus you may command your own destiny. The six faculties are your Fate. Please choose a direction for modification:
Refine: Refine the Faculty of Fate, choose your own effect.
Enhance: Improve the quality of the Faculty of Fate.

Li Qi experimented further and discovered that the Faculties of Fate were similar to cultivation techniques: above White was White-Mid, and he surmised that what followed would be Mid, High, Refined, Peerless, and Ultimate.

As for Gray, it did not have as many gradations; above Gray was simply White.

Refining was the process of changing the effect of a Faculty of Fate. Currently, this ability was not omnipotent; it could only refine into effects already recorded by the panel.

Regardless of whether he chose to refine or enhance, both required the consumption of Fate Points. Two days ago, Li Qi had 135 Fate Points. In these two days, he had gained 5 points, bringing his current total to 140, a steady increase of 2.5 points per day.

When the panel first appeared, his Fate Points only increased by about one point per day. Now, they were increasing more and more, and the reason, naturally, was that Li Qi himself was growing stronger; power itself is undoubtedly the greatest form of fate and fortune.

However, Fate Points were different from basic attributes. Since he hadn't known their use before, Li Qi had hidden their display in the log. As for "Insight," he still didn't know its purpose, but because he wanted to understand the pattern of its appearance, he had not hidden that information.

One had to realize the value of these Fate Points; Li Qi's initial Fate count had only been ten-something...

"So, should I aim for cultivation speed, or immediate combat effectiveness?" Li Qi began to ponder.

If he chose to enhance, moving from Gray to White required about twenty Fate Points—some a bit more, some a bit less—while upgrading a White tier required about eighty points, again with some variation.

As for refining, refining a Gray faculty cost about ten points, and refining a White faculty cost about forty points—exactly half the cost of an enhancement.

One hundred and forty Fate Points were enough to refine all five faculties; Li Qi calculated that after doing so, he would still have thirty-three points left over.

As for the danger of exhausting his Fate, if he didn't have the panel to suppress his fortune, there would naturally be dire consequences. But with the panel in place, he was free from all taboos.

The only question now was whether to prioritize cultivation speed or combat power. The bonuses from the Faculties of Fate were applied on top of his base attributes. If he wanted cultivation speed, he would dump everything into Insight to cultivate faster. If he wanted combat power, he would definitely dump everything into nerve reflexes.

The bonus from a single nerve reflex entry might not seem like much, but if all five entries were stacked with the same effect, it would be terrifying.

One was an investment in the present, the other an investment in the future.

"Combat power, of course I want combat power. There are so many accidents in this world. Who can guarantee that if they walk out the door tomorrow, they won't be hit by a car? Or get caught in the middle of a battle between masters and be inexplicably crushed like collateral damage? Such things are not unheard of in this world..."

"You could be sitting at home perfectly fine, and two superhumans could be chasing and leaping between high-rise buildings, fighting wherever they go, slicing through the car you're still paying off for ten years, smashing the house you're paying off for thirty, and before you can even despair, they physically annihilate you in the process..."

"Although the probability of such things is very low."

"As the saying goes, fate is fickle, and nothing is more terrifying than that unpredictability. No one knows what will happen in the next moment..."

"I have the panel; I will eventually master my martial arts. Cultivating faster is just the icing on the cake. Not choosing it doesn't stifle my potential. On the contrary, combat power not only provides the greatest immediate benefit but also allows me to face potential accidents with more composure. Without the present, where would the future come from?"

"Besides, accident or not, powerful people in this world have more power to choose how they face various situations..."

After pondering for a moment, Li Qi made up his mind and chose to refine without hesitation.

His personality was that of someone who lived in the present. He valued the "now." Accidents were unpredictable; in this world, how many people were laughing and happy with their families one moment, only for everything to fall apart the next?

One could only say that personality dictates choices. Given the same choice, some would surely choose the future, and the results would be worlds apart.

As for which was better or worse, that depended on fate. After all, the future had too many variables; standing at this juncture, both sides had their own logic.

Before long, his five brand-new Faculties of Fate were complete.

Eye: Eye-to-Heart ??? (White): Nerve reflex ability bonus +10%
Ear: Ear-Dull ??? (Gray): Nerve reflex ability bonus +8%, physique growth penalty -8%
Nose: Nose-Obscured ??? (Gray): Nerve reflex ability bonus +8%, physique growth penalty -7%
Tongue: Tongue-Confused ??? (Gray): Nerve reflex ability bonus +8%, physique growth penalty -5%
Body: Body-Steady ??? (White): Nerve reflex ability bonus +10%

Refining the five entries cost Li Qi a total of 107 Fate Points, which caused a truly earth-shattering change in him.

But it wasn't over yet. With the remaining thirty-three points, Li Qi used twenty-two to upgrade the "Ear-Dull" entry to White, erasing the negative effects within.

As for the remaining Nose and Tongue, the Nose required twenty points to upgrade to White and erase its negative attribute, while the Tongue only required sixteen. He now had eleven points left; it could be said that in just two more days of saving, he would have enough.

Erasing the negative effects of the final Nose faculty would only take about eight days. The negative effects of a few short days, especially on physique growth, would have a negligible impact.

Only when the six faculties and the "choose your own effect" feature appeared did Li Qi truly realize that he was cheating.

Indeed, his previous "Heaven Rewards Diligence" and "Never Regress" were also heaven-defying, but those required him to work himself to death. How could they compare to now, where he just had to click a button and get stronger while lying down?

"I'm afraid I'm going to become invincible..."

Li Qi whispered to himself, the joy in his heart making him a little uncomposed.

With a thought, he exited the sub-interface of the Fate Disk. Simultaneously, as his ideas shifted, a small change appeared in the Fate Disk section of the main interface.

Fate Disk: Activated (Six Faculties: Nerve reflex bonus +46%, Physique growth penalty -12%)

A single entry didn't add much, but now, with five identical entries stacked together, there was a kind of plain, unadorned, data-driven aesthetic of strength. As for the -12% negative penalty, Li Qi ignored it; it wouldn't exist for more than a few days anyway, so it had no impact.

This was concentrated power—this was pure cheating!

As for the loss of those complex attributes from before, since his Faculties of Fate hadn't been activated, the White entries had only provided partial effects, and the Gray ones had only provided negative effects. Now that those negative effects were gone, his condition was actually even better.

At this moment, a mysterious power flowed through Li Qi, giving him the sensation that he was being electrified. That strange current surged and turned within his body, tangibly reshaping his frame. His limbs, brain, internal organs, every nerve bundle, nerve cell, and even his muscle and bone structure underwent subtle changes.

Root and vessel, root and vessel!
They are the very foundation of a human being!
To change the root is to change one's fate!

The entire transformation lasted for more than ten minutes, but throughout the process, Li Qi didn't even break a sweat; instead, his whole body felt immensely comfortable.

When the transformation was completely finished, Li Qi felt as if his body had become light to the extreme. With just a slight exertion, he felt he could fly off the bed and into the sky.

Even the sensation of breathing was completely different. With every inhalation and exhalation, he felt as if his entire body was breathing!