Designed routes? What is this supposed to mean? Does Bonger want to imply that despite being thrown to a cultivation world headfirst, God's gifted system isn't tailored to help me cultivate? How am I going to use it then?

All I know is that killing the demonic beasts allow me to gain experience points that can be converted either into my abilities or just direct stats. Is this Bonger's limit? I actually forced my way into an immensely important tournament that is going to take place in less than three weeks from now, and you mean to say that I can't even cultivate?

If this system isn't for the cultivation use, that means that I still don't have any talent for it! Even if I managed to trick both everyone else and myself into thinking otherwise just by obtaining super high base statistics, that doesn't change the truth at all.

Thanks to sharing cultivation with Even I could see the difference in the ability to control the energy between me and her. I guess even with a few years of hard training, I wouldn't be able to even come near her in terms of proficiency of cultivation!

"You know what, I think I have something on my mind right now. Would you mind if we go to train in the forest before having this talk? I need to figure out something first."

Even if the talk is important for us, it will be better if I get more information before we sit down and get through it. Bonger statement is simply too groundbreaking for me to sit down and think about other matters. If I will be able to make full sense of it, the bottlenecks limiting me might finally be broken!

"Did something happen? I just saw a sudden shift in your expression…"

Attentive as always, its no wonder Eve was able to notice the change in my mindset. While I don't want to push our talk for later, figuring out my system will always be my priority for as long as I'm not absolutely sure about the way it works! Since its a gift from God, I think that relying on it is my best shot at this life!

"Yes, and it is connected to some of my secrets, but it would simply take too long to explain it now. I think that by figuring it out first, I can avoid spewing a lot of nonsense later on. If my initial guess is right, the situation that I thought that I was in will be an entirely difrent one. Would you mind helping me out?"

Even if I'm trying to push the talk for a later date, I want Eve to agree with me. While it's not fair to build her expectations only to change my mind on the spot and ignore the matter, for someone native to this world, understanding my circumstances will be hard already, not to speak if I'm confused about them myself.

"You know that I will never reject your requests. What can I do?"

While I still feel a bit of guilt lodging itself in the corner of my soul, In the end, I'm happy that she trusts me so much to ignore this strange situation and just follow my lead.

"Let's go for a few days trip into the forest. Since we reached the spirit attainment level, we should aim for harder areas than before, but if I'm not wrong, just getting there will take us a few days. Do you have a map of sorts? We could at least plan a route this way."

I remember that during our first adventure in the forest, Eve was more or less sure where we should head to reach our desired areas. Considering how the tutorial book for the training grounds described most of the monsters appearing there, there ought to be a general map for the entire place!

"Didn't you check the guide book yourself? While it's on the very back of the scroll, the general map with all locations marked out is still there!"

Well, I guess this is just another difference between us. As an original resident of this word and a member of this particular sect for a way longer time than me, she is a lot more knowledgable about common matters. While I indeed checked said scroll up, I couldn't be bothered to read it whole! Who would act differently in my place? With a gaming system in my mind, only a practical improvement mattered to me! The fact that I was just a stupid nerd back then influenced my actions a bit as well. I guess the inteligence stat not only improves the information processing speed of my brain but my overall… inteligence… as well!

"Yep, I was too lazy to do it. Could you please forgive me this and tell me the shortest route to the spirit attainment areas? Preferably the one that would go through the previous cultivation levels. While we might be at the mortal realm pinnacle, that doesn't mean our strength grew as much as the monsters power level of corresponding realms. I would like to gradually test our might against harder and harder opponents."

"While I saw this map a few times, I was at the surfacing level before my encounter with you. While I know all the routes all the way to the soul hazard level, more dangerous places never piqued my interest. I need to check the map to answer that."

Considering how I managed to get her involved in planning the journey, I start to calculate the required resources that we will need to survive in the forest for a set amount of time. Seeing with the corner of my eye as Eve rummages through her bags in search for this useful scroll, my thoughts turn back to the problem of Donger.

If not cultivation, then what? Am I supposed to start dropping dice to get my levels? Should I try to get a royal flush out of nowhere? Or do I need to cook something delicious to gain some insights into fighting the prepared creature?

Yes, I know that the most obvious and cliched answer is right in front of my eyes with all the specific names like levels, points, statistics and more, but how can I accept such popular development! Being stuck in a cultivation world with a gaming RPG system… Isn't that too much for my heart?

If that were to be true, should I start looking for my harem and look for a chance to see random girl panties right now? Maybe I should start acting like a damn chunnibyou? While even if that were to be the case, I would still be grateful to God for offering me such an easy mode in my next life, I don't want to be like those cliched protagonists of low-level novels that only exist in the lives of basement-tribe!

"I found it. But from the looks of it, the only route that would take us less than a week to complete… Goes right through the territory of that monstrous penguin!"