Data-Driven Daoist
Chapter 89: Perception

"Neat." Yu Han stared at his profile. Is there a limit to how many extra sub-origin points I can gain? Or is it unlimited? Yu Han didn't think so.

He would go forward with the assumption that everything had a limit. The limit to allocating Primordial Qi was one such data point in the evidence. Whether that limit depended on the weights or talent didn't matter. The point was, there was a limit. Didn’t Wen Liujie also mention something similar? Training one Origin might limit gain in another.

He would probably face more limits in the future.

Yu Han wrapped up his notes. Even now, the Dao was a mystery. What was this system? Why did it function mathematically? Who made it? Could he game it?

He finished his daily stretches and ambled out of the room. On the horizon, clouds gathered, and his instincts told him it would rain within the next half an hour or so. It was something he'd developed after living in this tropical mountain-land for a couple of months.

He scanned the horizon, letting his other senses fall away. It was a strange feeling, as sound, touch, taste, and smell were stripped from his world.

At first, it would disorient him. Now that he was used to it, the disorientation was lessened. He doubted he could ever get used to it, though, sensing the outer world with only vision as if he were in a muted first-person shooting game. Like a disembodied ghost that could only see, or hear, or touch, or smell. He hadn't tried intensifying only taste. God knew what that would do to him with Huang Niuniu's cooking.

The clouds didn't zoom in, but it was as if he could perceive more details. Colours gained a new dimension—not just more vivid, but also revealing, ever so slightly, subtle gradients he hadn't noticed before. The clouds weren't just grey; they held dozens of tones, shifting and blending together. Before, he would not be able to notice this at all, even if he had used Thousand Petals Awareness.

He lowered his head, letting his gaze wander. The outer veranda of the main compound, Fei Rui pushing a ball of hay, Huang Niuniu practising with her whips in the yard.

A leaf trembling just before the wind reached it. The mechanical adjustments in Fei Rui's balance as he pushed the hay. The nearly imperceptible flex of wood in the veranda posts from the weight above. The movements of Huang Niuniu's whips as they traced patterns through the air.

Were these really there? Or were they just illusions? He saw details before his brain could process them. Or did his brain predict a future, before it happened?

Layers of information. Cause and effect. An ever so slightly deeper resolution of reality. Yu Han tried calculating trajectories, reading muscle movements, predicting chain reactions in his environment moments before they occurred.

He failed. His head hurt.

He let go of Thousand Petals Awareness and blinked, his senses returned to normal. But even that action felt different now. For a split second, he was aware of each muscle involved, the precise timing of his eyelids, the momentary adjustment of his pupils to the changing light.

Just as fast as he was aware of the series of actions, they faded to oblivion, the information lost to a void in his memory before he could process them.

Holy cow. Yu Han sat down, feet dangling from the edge of the veranda. What the hell was that?

He gawked at the world like a newborn calf. The world had returned to normal. But somehow, his brain took in more details.

It was nothing like using Thousand Petals Awareness to its max. But even so, he felt more. Saw more. Heard more. Tasted more. Smelled more.

It was hard to say how much more. Perhaps it would be best to say three points more? No. Much more than three.

Was it just his Perception substat working here? Or a synergy with the point in Intelligence and point in Focus? Or could it be that the Heavenly Allocation in Agility and Dexterity also played a role? Had they somehow enhanced his physical nerve cells?

When he would gain one sub-origin point, the changes were so gradual that he got used to them near immediately. Now, with a whopping 11 points gained in a matter of hours, he could fully savour the changes.

I can perceive more details, Yu Han judged. Doesn't really mean I can process them faster. Or maybe I can, but just one Primordial Qi's worth. I can focus a bit better, limiting my perception to specific scopes. I can remember what I perceived better, but my processing speed can't keep up with input. If… I could. In a fight, if I could analyse all this in real time… then what?

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Fei Rui threw the hay ball in frustration and ran to Yu Han.

「Your seeing-things are so red,」 Fei Rui said. 「Did you hurt yourself?」

"I'm fine," Yu Han said, rubbing his eyes. First, he’d had the fight with the Ghost Flames Parasitic Fireworm in his dreams. Then the headache after failing to put five points to Memory, and finally the hyper-awareness he experienced with Thousand Petals Awareness.

Come to think of it, I didn't lose any lifeforce for the latter two instances.

What was lifeforce, really? He’d asked this question many times.

Yu Han banished the question into his mental fog. Even Fang Zhao didn't know.

It really highlights the value of direct tutelage.

The Elders of the Sect passed down their personal craft and knowledge to their direct disciples. Mostly Core and Inner Sect disciples had that privilege. Outer Sect people were more like grunts or contract workers. If an Outer Sect disciple received such personal favour from an Elder, it wouldn't be long before they would get promoted.

For the rest of the masses, they only had a few paths open. Reach the top ten in the Rookie Tournament, or reach the top ten in the Outer Sect tournaments. Both these tournaments seemed to have the same threshold, but every year, there were only around twenty to thirty thousand Rookies. Meanwhile, the number of Outer Sect disciples numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

In the Four Meditations of the Hundred Thousand Waterways, the author mentioned that Great Barrier City had a population nearing a million heads. The whole of the Sunken Mountains, including the many hundreds of pioneering villages and dozens of towns, could add another half million or more. This was only the author's guess—he couldn't verify it. This guess was a few decades old.

But even if the number was exaggerated, at least a million people here were part of the Outer Sect. Perhaps after many years, most would have their ambition to soar to the heavens grounded to dust. Even so, even if only the young and strong participated, that was at least 20% to 40% of the population.

Two hundred thousand? Three? Five? How many participated in the tournament ever year?

To reach the top ten among them… That was literally one in ten to fifty thousand.

That was how many people could get better access to information.

But then again, they're saying that the new Sect Master wants to propagate knowledge. Yu Han scratched his head. They would let him share Thousand Petals Awareness, something he got directly from the Outer Sect Scripture Hall. Not to mention all that he had received from Dong Chou.

Maybe things are changing.

And maybe there was a business idea there?

Courtyards... Pavilions. What do I need to start one?

A whip snapped in front of his eyes, startling him out of his reverie.

"Are you planning to kill me?" Yu Han levelled a stare at Huang Niuniu, who hid the whips behind her sheepishly.

"It's going to rain soon," she said, sticking her tongue out. "Li Yao and Fang Zhao aren't back. Let's go to Green Frog Creek."

They set out, Fei Rui leading the way. They walked to the Grotto of Three Old Frogs and took a slanted mountain path down. Soon they heard the sound of water.

Green Frog Creek was bigger than a stream, but smaller than a river. It was covered with reed-like plants on both shores and the water was shallow. But despite its shallowness, it wasn't still. It flowed ever so gently, the streams only parted by the reeds.

The scent of fresh grass hit Yu Han's nose. Despite the overcast sky, the creek itself gave a refreshing feeling. As if they were walking by an enchanted glade.

"Are you sure this is fine?" Yu Han asked.

The girl nodded. She took off her shoes, then rolled up her baggy trousers until they were up to her thighs. Then her sleeves.

"D-Don't look!" she shouted when she noticed Yu Han gawking.

"What if a water monster suddenly comes and eats you?" Yu Han asked defensively.

Huang Niuniu tried to splash him with water, but he deftly dodged. As if to mock him, it started raining. So he got wet anyway.

She burst out laughing. "Teaches you to be a leech!" Her baggy clothes quickly became damp, sticking to her body as they were weighed down by the moisture.

She had rolled up her pants and sleeves so she wouldn’t get mud on them. The water would dry.

Soon, she was thigh-high in water. She started glowing. The iridescent light flowed from the tip of her shoulder-length hair, down her skin. The parts of her under the water shimmered too.

Around her, other specks of light appeared. Fireflies. Did they even come out during the day?

The glow was so minute that without his high Perception, he might not have realised it.

Specks of light appeared in the water around her too.

Even with the gloomy daylight, the aura-like spectacle stole his breath.

"Pretty..."

"Thanks."

“I’ll only look.”

“Fool.”

Huang Niuniu broke into a smile. She then frowned, closing her eyes. She waded deeper.

And deeper.

Until the water was at her chest.

The clouds above grew darker too. It was as if the heavens were hiding themselves behind shawls to let her light shine through.

The blue light of her bioluminescence turned green.

Again, green light. But not the same as the green fire.

Tints of purple appeared, alongside yellow and orange. Her skin had turned wholly transparent, as if she were a human-shaped lamp covered by a plastic membrane.

Fireflies flew like sparks of flame above a bonfire. The water bugs, wisps of unknown names, skated around her in circles. The water had turned into a flowing galaxy, sparks of bright light in the swirling streams.

Soon, her light grew so bright that it was hard to even make her out. Like a small sun in the water.

Was this what she did with the Filth Eating Ghoul boss? Yu Han couldn't bring himself to look away, even as it stung his eyes. It wasn’t really a laser. Not directed. It was a lamp.

The river flowed in its steady rhythm. But the water had changed from the slightly mossy green. Now, it was a luminous blue, almost electrice in a ten-metre radius around Huang Niuniu.