Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

6 Chapter 5: Dream Butterfly_2
Translator: 549690339
Xu Yang slowly opened his eyes, propped up his body, sat there blankly for a while, and then summoned the Attribute Panel that only he could see.

Above the panel, within the skill column, a line of text slowly formed, shimmering with specks of gold.

Dreaming (Zhuanzhou Mengdie)

Zhuanzhou Mengdie?

Looking at those four characters twinkling with golden light, Xu Yang was stunned.

He had only developed one four-character attribute so far, which was the swimming skill, Like a Fish in Water.

And a four-character attribute with special light effects? That was like a maiden’s first ride in a sedan chair—a first-time occurrence!

Moreover, dreaming, such an event, astonishingly wasn’t listed under the ‘sleep’ attribute column, but had become an independent skill.

What did this mean?

It meant it was qualified to become an independent skill!

Huge potential, promising future!

And it didn’t even require the future; right now, it had produced a four-character attribute resplendent with golden light.

Zhuanzhou Mengdie?

What effect?

Xu Yang carefully examined it, and his expression changed accordingly, showing shock, curiosity, and delight among other mixed feelings.

After a short while, he looked outside the cabin, at the already clear sky, and instead of going out to fish, he lay back down on the bed, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

…

Darkness like a tide, then, in an instant, brightness.

In a certain valley, below a cliff, amongst green grass, lay a person covered in bloodstains.

It was a youth, with a pale complexion, tattered clothes, body full of wounds and bloodstains, and no longer breathing—it wouldn’t be too much to call him a corpse.

Suddenly…

The noiseless corpse abruptly opened its eyes, filled with bewilderment, surprise, astonishment and joy.

Then, he sat up, looking at his own hands and body, before lifting his head to gaze at the cliffs and vines ahead. Memories that didn’t belong to him surfaced abruptly, blending with his soul.

“Am I… Xu Yang?”

“No, I am Li Qing Shan!”

“No, I am…”

“Zhuanzhou Mengdie, the butterfly dreams of Zhuangzi!”

“I am Xu Yang, and I am also Li Qing Shan!”

Muttering to himself a few times, regaining self-awareness, the confusion in his eyes also settled down, Xu Yang propped up his body, and began to look around.

Zhuanzhou Mengdie, the butterfly dreams of Zhuangzi!

This was the effect of the four-character attribute, allowing him to traverse into another world in a dreamlike manner, becoming another person like Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly, inheriting their body, memories, and entire past life.

Was it a true Snatch Body rebirth, traversing into another world?

Or just an ephemeral, imaginary weaving of a dream journey?

Xu Yang couldn’t tell, but it didn’t matter. To him, whether this world was real or fake, whether this life was dream or reality, was completely irrelevant. What mattered was what benefits he could gain from it.

According to the original host, “Li Qing Shan’s” memory, he was born in “Little Yellow Village”, a poor hunter from the mountain, with parents long deceased, leaving behind a younger brother and sister. Their lives were extremely difficult.

As the pillar of the family, Li Qing Shan had to work hard tilling the few mu of thin fields at home, and often had to venture into the mountains to hunt, collect, and search for medicinal herbs, just to barely sustain the lives of his younger siblings and himself.

But the wilds weren’t just filled with exotic treasures; they also housed many dangers, with countless venomous snakes and fierce beasts. Every year, numerous mountain dwellers lost their lives to these perils.

The original Li Qing Shan suffered an accident. Coming here to gather precious herbs, he accidentally fell from a cliff, crashing to the ground and losing his life.

Then, Xu Yang came here through “Zhuanzhou Mengdie”.

“`

Zhuanzhou Mengdie not only allowed him to transmigrate, but the accompanying divine soul also helped him heal both internal and external injuries of this body, even alleviating much of the weakness and powerlessness caused by hunger.

The power of the divine soul is the key to “Zhuanzhou Mengdie.”

Zhuanzhou Mengdie requires the consumption of the power of the divine soul, which can be supplied by Xu Yang’s original body or accumulated independently by the transmigrated incarnation.

The death of the incarnation does not lead to the death of the original body, but it does cause certain damage to the original’s divine soul.

For most people, damage to the divine soul is a very serious matter; at best, it may lead to headaches and lethargy, and at worst, it can result in idiocy, madness, or the dispersal of the soul.

But for Xu Yang, this is not a significant issue because he has the skill “Sleep.”

The soothing nature of sleep can effectively nourish the divine soul. Even if the incarnation dies and the divine soul is injured, he can recover by resting and continuing to use Zhuanzhou Mengdie for transmigration.

In other words—he is not afraid of dying!

Beyond that, the power of the divine soul has another marvelous use.

That is…

Xu Yang (Li Qing Shan)

Cultivation: None

Lifespan: 16/49

Skills: None

…

Looking at the empty attribute panel, Xu Yang did not speak; he simply willed it to change.

Then, on the attribute panel, within the empty skills column, a line of text slowly emerged.

Eating (Chewing, Digestion, Essence, Strengthening, Smoothing)

This is the marvelous use of the power of the divine soul: by consuming a certain amount of divine soul power, Xu Yang’s original skills can be copied and bestowed upon his incarnation.

Likewise, the incarnation can also transfer the skills cultivated by itself to the original body, essentially like having a subsidiary account for power-leveling.

Not just skills, but if the divine soul power is sufficient, even physical items can be transported between the two worlds, facilitating exchange as needed.

Unfortunately, Xu Yang currently has no cultivation, and the divine soul nurtured by sleep is only slightly stronger than that of ordinary people. For now, he can only “transfer” one skill, and that’s as far as he can go.

This is the original body’s only support. After considering for a while, Xu Yang ultimately chose Eating, the skill with the widest application.

Why not choose Breathing?

Because Breathing is easy to practice, and it does not require the support of the original body; in a short time, the incarnation can learn it on its own.

Eating is different. According to his memory, the living conditions of the original Li Qing Shan were not good, and enduring hunger was common. To cultivate the skill of Eating, who knows how much time would be needed.

Dreamlike transmigration, Snatch Body incarnation, are the basic functions of Zhuanzhou Mengdie.

Besides, Zhuanzhou Mengdie also has a special hidden effect.

That is—Time Dilation.

There is a considerable difference in the flow of time between the dream world and the real world, with different worlds having different flow rates. Currently, the ratio of the flow of time between the real world and this world is one to three hundred sixty-five.

In other words, for every year that passes in the incarnation’s dream world, only one day passes in Xu Yang’s real world.

Incarnation for power-leveling + time hack?

This is Zhuanzhou Mengdie!

A golden legend, the four-word trait, indeed extraordinary!

…

Having received all the information and glancing once again at the precious herb growing on the cliff above, Xu Yang didn’t think twice; he picked up the scattered items and the backpack nearby, then turned and walked away.

Climb the mountain?

Sorry, I can’t!

And even if he could, he wouldn’t—while it’s just an incarnation and he’s not afraid of dying, recklessness still needs to be calculated. How to take risks to gain the highest returns is a question that must be considered.