[ Quest Name: Xuanyuan Zhou's First Research Subject ]
[ Quest Description: Being favored by a child of destiny can be greatly rewarding. But attracting her interest so deeply that she attaches herself to you like a magnet may or may not be a good sign. The outcome now depends upon your choices, your performance, and how they affect her interest in you. Of course, you must aim for the best possible results. ]
[ Quest Difficulty: Hard ]
[ Quest Rewards: (1) 70 Survival Points; (2) An Unorthodox Mystic Art; (3) An opportunity to change host's cursed Physique ]
[ Warning: Earning the 2nd and the 3rd reward will depend on host's performance. Both are associated with highly volatile variables capable of affecting even the main storyline. Host must not let greed cloud his judgment. ]
There was a lot to unpack from this quest's data, but one particular detail got stuck in his head and refused to get out.
"Cursed Physique?!"
Seeing the system's casual remark about his body, Han Xuhan couldn't figure out what it meant exactly.
Was this curse a reference to the heavenly punishment that had supposedly befallen him between his two lives?
This conclusion left a shadow of doubt in his heart. Saying that he was cursed by the heavens was one thing, but directly labelling his physique as cursed seemed to carry other implications, raising more serious and immediate concerns.
Just this morning, he had learned that the word 'Physique' carried a significant meaning in this world.
It could refer to a special constitution gifted by the heavens, or the enhanced constitution one had to cultivate to reach the peak of the first major realm of cultivation—the Physique Transformation Realm.
All in all, a physique was the first core pillar on the path of cultivation. If he truly had a cursed physique, then it made sense that the system would want him to change it somehow.
But in what way was his physique cursed?
How would it affect his current cultivation progress?
And what kind of research was Xuanyuan Zhou trying to conduct on him?
As such concerning questions piled up in his mind, his face must have reflected the worry, because Xuanyuan Zhou noticed that something was off immediately.
"Can I know what's bothering Attendant Xuhan? Anything I can help you with?"
"It's like this, my lady," Han Xuhan replied hesitantly.
"When Elder Ning was telling us this morning about how a special physique can be a heavenly blessing, I couldn't help but think of my cursed fate. It made me wonder, if a physique can be a blessing, can a physique also be cursed in any way?"
He was throwing stones in the dark hoping they'd stick. Xuanyuan Zhou, at the end of the day, was just a rookie on this path.
She may have a prior cultivation base, but it was shallow, from what he understood. The chances that she'd know about these esoteric matters weren't high. The only reason he asked was because of her proven resourcefulness.
Xuanyuan Zhou gave him a blank look upon hearing the question. "A... cursed physique? That's an interesting point to think about. Quite unconventional, I must say."
"Ah, it's okay if you don't know-"
"When did I say that?" Xuanyuan Zhou interrupted him snappily.
"I can't say I'm an expert on the matter, but I do know a few things, just enough to answer your question. And yes, you were correct to think that cursed physiques can exist. It's not a big secret. It's just too rare a phenomenon, even rarer than physiques blessed by the heavens."
Han Xuhan's heart nearly jumped to his throat.
"Do you know of any examples? I'm curious to know what kind of curse a physique can possibly be burdened by..."
As if suspecting the truth of the matter, Xuanyuan Zhou looked him up and down with a gaze of scrutiny. Then she glanced around the two of them as if she wanted to make sure that nobody was going to hear her talk about this.
"I have read about a couple of such physiques in some old scholarly records. One of them had meridians that would cause immense pain throughout his body when qi was channeled through them.
"The other person had meridians that would suit only a very specific type of cultivation. Unfortunately for her, that path of cultivation has been dead for many centuries. So it became almost impossible for her to make any progress."
Xuanyuan Zhou went on to describe how exactly these curses had been tackled by those cultivators. As he listened to their brave stories, lines formed on Han Xuhan's forehead.
He had neither the willpower to push through hellish pain just to cultivate, nor would he be willing to risk his life every day just to figure out how to progress an inch more on a long-dead path.
If his cursed physique was anything remotely like either of those issues, he would have to bid his dreams of becoming a cultivator goodbye.
A while later, Xiao Wu arrived on the mountain peak, huffing and puffing like a fish on land. Han Xuhan decided not to extend the conversation and switched topics, feigning disinterest in Xuanyuan Zhou's analysis.
"My lady, were you born in a family of cultivators like brother Wu here? You seem to know a lot about the world of cultivation. Such breadth of knowledge is impressive for your age."
She shook his head, although her eyes revealed a trace of arrogance, as if being born in a family of cultivators wasn't anything impressive.
"I'm from a clan of scholars, attendant Xuhan. I had access to the royal library of the Daxuan kingdom. There are a lot of interesting things to read about in the older books there."
"Daxuan kingdom?" Xiao Wu seemed surprised.
"That's more than a thousand miles away from the Bullhorn Mountain range. How did you end up coming here? Isn't the Beasthaven Sect just a hundred miles away from your home?"
"Oh, you know the location of Beasthaven Sect?" Xuanyuan Zhou suddenly looked excited.
"I always heard that this sect tries its best to keep its location a mystery. Even if you know the rough spot on the map, you might not be able to find them! Have you ever been there, martial brother Xiao Wu?"
Xiao Wu opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out for a few seconds. His eyeballs rolled as if he was backtracking in his mind quickly.
"Er... Yeah, no, I never went there myself. But one of my relatives did. She told me that she had to set out from Daxuan Kingdom's capital and follow one of the Elders of the sect to navigate her way in."
Han Xuhan, attracted by the awkward look on Xiao Wu's face, immediately thought about the system's quest on this guy. Habitually, he pulled up the panel, only to make a delightful discovery.
[ Quest Name: Xiao Wu's Secret ]
[ Quest Description: ... ]
[ Quest Difficulty: Hard ]
[ Quest Rewards: (1) 50 survival points; (2) An unorthodox mystic art; (3) An opportunity to enter a fragmented realm ]
[ Warning: ... ]
[ Quest Progress: 1% ]