Of course, even though Chu Bamboo had found a bunch of entertainment options, he didn't start enjoying them right away.
"Nuwa No. 17. Whether it's Li Kang, Ning Linglong, or anyone else, if you detect they are five minutes away from the base—or even if they just show an inclination to enter—notify me immediately. At the same time, shut down all running programs and clear the back-end access logs!"
"Second..."
Chu Bamboo took a deep breath and finally asked the question that concerned him most. "Nuwa No. 17, with my current authority, can I obtain a Cultivation Technique?"
Whether it was the Honored Guest Elder authority he'd been hoping for or this new, permanent Level 1 Authority that had appeared thanks to the butterfly effect, the greatest benefit for Chu Bamboo was the Cultivation Technique—getting stronger was what mattered most.
"Commencing analysis. Retrieving permissions." Nuwa No. 17 was silent for a full thirteen seconds before it spoke again. "Permissions approved! You may access: the first volume of the Basic Body Cultivation Technique and the first volume of the Basic Immortal Cultivation Technique."
"The first volume? That should correspond to what Li Kang called the First Realm, right?" However, when Chu Bamboo heard the last part of the sentence, the joy on his face froze. His expression turned grim. "Cultivation?!"
Chu Bamboo understood what Body Refining was. But this Cultivation... 'Is it the same kind of cultivation from the stories? Or is it another special training method also based on nuclear radiation?'
"Explain the difference between Body Refining and Cultivation in detail!"
As always, Nuwa No. 17's response was calm and unhurried.
"Body Refining is achieved by consuming Fushui and using a Cultivation Technique to metabolize the body as much as possible, completing the replacement of dead cells with new ones, thereby achieving a metamorphosis."
"Cultivation is achieved by directly absorbing Radiant Stone, activating the Pineal Gland in the forehead, and thereby developing the body's latent potential to manifest various wondrous powers that transcend the physical body."
Chu Bamboo: "..."
'This Fushui... all right, I think I've figured out how I entered the First Realm of Body Refining! So you need to use a Cultivation Technique to constantly make your cells metabolize in order to get stronger... That's why I just dropped dead before.'
But as for this Radiant Stone...
'It can't possibly be high-purity uranium, can it?' Chu Bamboo shivered. 'How are you supposed to absorb that?'
"Recite both Cultivation Techniques for me in their entirety! Also, give me a brief introduction on what I need to do if I want to embark on the Path of Cultivation. And are there any specific taboos if I want to pursue both Cultivation and Body Refining at the same time?"
Chu Bamboo's expression turned serious as he began to memorize. One minute passed, then two... then twenty.
Chu Bamboo listened with a blank face to the explanation of the Cultivation Technique for the First Realm of Body Refining, which still wasn't over—
Vast swathes of the Cultivation Technique weren't about the actual training methods, but rather a long list of prohibitions! It was all about what you *couldn't* do. It detailed which materials and herbs to use, how to grind them down to create Medicinal Pills with specific effects, and which pills could treat which symptoms that might appear in the body.
'This is unbelievably complicated!' Chu Bamboo grumbled internally. Fortunately, based on his past experience, he could just use his one death to bypass all this complex physical conditioning.
Finally, half an hour later, Chu Bamboo had gotten through the section on bodily maintenance and now understood why his body hadn't evolved the second time he jumped into the Fushui.
"Once the bodily mutations caused by nuclear radiation have been metabolized down to a certain low level, the body will have adapted to the enhancement! You can then proceed to the next step... As for how to determine when you have adapted... go by feel."
"?"
To be honest, this Cultivation Technique was pretty irresponsible. Chu Bamboo thought it over and concluded that all he really needed to do now was wait—wait for his body to adapt to the enhancement.
"So, Nuwa No. 17, what about this Immortal Cultivation Technique?" Honestly, Chu Bamboo wasn't expecting Nuwa No. 17 to provide a reliable Cultivation Technique at this point. But this time, it completely exceeded his expectations.
Three seconds in, Chu Bamboo's eyes were burning with intensity as he listened with rapt attention. Thirty minutes later, after hearing the first recitation, Chu Bamboo pondered for a moment before asking Nuwa No. 17 to repeat it all from the beginning.
"Place a Nuclear Stone of extremely high purity on the forehead to stimulate the Pineal Gland, and then begin to meditate. Use the Basic Heavenly Heart technique to absorb its power. If you are unable to absorb it, you will die... It is do-or-die. Therefore, the mortality rate for Cultivators is far higher than for Body Refiners."
'But in exchange, their combat power at the same level is far greater... They awaken some kind of latent potential, gaining a Superpower of sorts? Er, or to use the vocabulary from the Cultivation manual, a Divine Technique!'
Though Chu Bamboo mulled it over for a long time, it felt to him that this so-called Cultivation was actually more like a screening process for inducing a beneficial mutation.
Nuwa No. 17: "In summary, the differences between Cultivators and Body Refiners are as follows—Cultivators command Divine Techniques (2,800 distinct techniques recorded to date), whereas Body Refiners possess purely immense physical strength. Furthermore, a Body Refiner's physique will undergo drastic changes, while a Cultivator's will not."
"!!!" Chu Bamboo was stunned. 'Wait, if that's the case...'
'Ning Linglong has a normal physique, and Li Kang said she was exceptionally gifted! So that's why.'
Recalling the abnormal physiques of Li Kang and Guan Fei, Chu Bamboo nodded in thought. It seemed Ning Linglong was a Cultivator. 'But Wall Announcements's physique is also normal! He can't be one too, can he? If so, wouldn't that mean this team has two Cultivators?'
According to Nuwa No. 17, the number of Cultivators was so small compared to Body Refiners that "few" was an understatement. After all, Body Refiners had a whole set of auxiliary methods to enhance their cellular metabolism. But for Cultivators, the first step was simply to endure it. It was all down to luck. If they couldn't activate the process, they died.
"Oh, right." Chu Bamboo suddenly thought of a crucial factor and asked quickly, "Nuwa No. 17, can you tell me who created these two Cultivation Techniques? And what era are they from, specifically?"
And then...
"Query processing is busy. Please try again later."
Chu Bamboo fell silent. He wasn't disappointed, because Nuwa No. 17's refusal to answer was an answer in itself.
And so...
"Time to have some fun." Chu Bamboo threw himself into entertainment. He decided to listen to music and read novels for two hours, then play some games and watch a few movies. After all, he didn't have a Nuclear Radiation Stone for Cultivation, and for Body Refining... all he had to do was wait! What was the point of stewing in anxiety when he could be having fun?
The only regret... no soda, no fries, no chips. It just felt like something was missing!
And just like that, he played through the entire night.
"It's six in the morning." Chu Bamboo was still full of energy, not the least bit sleepy. He had to admit, Transcendents were just built differently.
Besides, Chu Bamboo wasn't worried that staying up all night here would cause him to oversleep in the real world.
He had experimented early on and confirmed that time in the dream world and the Real World were not synchronized.
It didn't matter if he was constantly resetting in the dream or pulling all-nighters for two, three, or even more days at a time.
As long as he went to sleep in the dream world, he would reliably wake up in the Real World at six o'clock the next morning.