Era of Mist

Chapter 129: Chapter 128: The Interface Mind Art and the Vision System

Shi Tiexin’s mouth felt a little dry, but he kept his composure, asking with a neutral expression, ”What do you mean by ’interface’?”

”It’s a type of heart skill, a newly developed one. I think this heart skill is amazing, a truly epoch-making invention. The inventor could become a Sub-Saint just for this, no problem!”

Si Chongtian held this heart skill in high regard, raising a finger to tap his forehead. ”Big Brother Tie, during the First Layer Heaven of heart skill cultivation, none of the heart skills you practice—whether it’s a Fundamental Heart Skill or an applied one—have any external offensive power. The Wenxin Secret Realm is a special exception, of course.”

”At this stage, a Cultivator can only use heart skills to alter or assist themselves. And among all the support-type heart skills, I think this ’Interface’ is the most perfect invention. As long as you have the mental energy intensity of an official student, you can cultivate and use ’Interface.’ It consumes little energy, has powerful effects, and everyone who’s used it says it’s great!”

Shi Tiexin listened for a while but still didn’t get it. He pressed, ”So what exactly is this ’Interface’ like?”

Si Chongtian’s explanation was simple. ”It adds something to your field of vision, like a game interface or a computer’s operating system interface.”

’What?!’

Shi Tiexin was truly shocked. ’Isn’t this exactly the same as my Vision System?’

’Don’t tell me that in this worldline, the Vision System is standard issue for everyone?!’

Shi Tiexin couldn’t help but ask, ”So, does this ’Interface’ work just like in a game?”

”Yep.” Si Chongtian nodded emphatically. ”It can display current quests, show your cultivation progress, display personal stats, and lots, lots more. It’s all very useful.”

’Ho-holy shit!’

’Isn’t this exactly the same?’

’I’ve been guarding this thing like a huge secret, and it turns out it’s common knowledge! I thought it was my own unique cheat, but it turns out every player has this script!’

For a moment, Shi Tiexin felt dejected.

Si Chongtian continued to explain, ”Think about it. Normally, you can’t accurately grasp how far you’ve gotten in your math studies. But once you learn ’Interface,’ you can go to the Student Union’s evaluation center, link to their heart skill assessment system, and download the relevant evaluation data. It can quickly assess whether your math cultivation is ’pass’ or ’excellent.’ That’s how it helps with personal cultivation.”

’Hmm... exactly the same...’

’Huh? No, wait. Something seems different.’

’The Student Union’s evaluation center? Download? What does that mean?’

Si Chongtian went on, ”Or think about it this way: as a professional, or even a boss, you’re juggling a thousand things every day. You can try to remember it all in your head, but it’s never perfectly clear. But with ’Interface,’ you can create your own tasks and notes—daily tasks, timed tasks, special tasks. It’s all clear at a glance. You wouldn’t even forget to buy vinegar on your way out. That’s how it helps in work and life.”

’Wait, wait a minute—what? Create your own tasks? Buy vinegar?’

’My quests are all triggered passively, and my system definitely doesn’t have a ’remind me to buy vinegar’ function!’

’Are we really talking about the same thing?’

Si Chongtian rambled on, ”And think about it from a social perspective. The pressure is immense. You’re at a dinner party, get introduced to a whole circle of new friends, and then when you go to make a toast, you can’t remember their name or get it wrong. Isn’t that incredibly awkward? In the business world, a good deal could go down the drain just like that! But with ’Interface,’ you can compile and record people’s faces and a brief profile. Just one look and their information automatically pops up. The social applications are huge!”

Hearing this, Shi Tiexin was starting to understand.

’This... this really isn’t the same damn thing as mine, is it!’

’The thing you’re describing is an all-around assistant for life, study, work, and socializing. But mine is just a piece of junk that smashes stars, shakes placards, and collects golden light, with absolutely no user-controlled functions!’

To be sure, Shi Tiexin decided to ask cautiously, ”This ’Interface’ you’re talking about, can it precisely display the cultivation levels of heart skills and force skills?”

But Si Chongtian shook his head decisively. ”Heart skills, yes. Force skills, no. At least, not for me right now.”

”No?”

’Yours can’t? But mine can, and it does it very well!’

”Right, it can’t. At the realm of an official student or even an Imperial Scholar, using ’Interface’ for auxiliary measurement gives you a decent degree of accuracy in monitoring your heart skill progress. After all, we can already sense it to some extent ourselves; the ’Interface’ just visualizes it.”

”But the progress of force skill cultivation can’t be reflected intuitively. I speculate that once one’s heart skill cultivation enters the Second Heaven, especially the Peak of the Second Heaven, and mental energy permeates the entire body’s network, the ’Interface’ might then gain the ability to accurately measure one’s force skill realm. Before that, it probably falls short.”

”Ultimately, ’Interface’ is a heart skill, a small plug-in. Its existence is entirely dependent on one’s heart skill realm.”

Shi Tiexin gradually understood and began to form a judgment.

But he decided to press with one more question. ”How precise is this ’Interface’ when it comes to tracking heart skill cultivation progress?”

”Very precise. It can clearly classify your heart skill progress as ’fail,’ ’pass,’ ’good,’ or ’excellent.’ Whatever your level is, it’s clear at a glance.”

Shi Tiexin frowned. ”Even within ’excellent,’ there are always stronger and weaker degrees. Can the ’Interface’ reflect that kind of difference?”

”No way.” Si Chongtian scratched his head. ”It’s not that precise. I mean, it’s already pretty good that it can give you a realm measurement. How difficult would it be to subdivide it even further? Besides, ’Interface’ is still in its early stages; it only recently became popular among students. In the future, as ’Interface’ is perfected, maybe they’ll add subdivisions for each realm, like ’early stage,’ ’mid stage,’ and ’late stage.’ Haha, breaking it down that much... the more you say it, the more it sounds like word-count padding for some trashy novel!”

Si Chongtian roared with laughter, but Shi Tiexin’s face was blank.

’Early, mid, and late stage is considered word-count padding?’

’My damn Vision System has a hundred increments for every single realm!’

But regardless, Shi Tiexin now understood. This suddenly popular ”Interface” was not the same thing as his ”Vision System.” His own Vision System might be poor in terms of control and interactivity, seeming a bit outdated and obsolete like his old-fashioned wristwatch.

But without a doubt, in terms of functionality, his Vision System was leagues stronger than that Interface heart skill.

As for whether there was some kind of connection, some cause and effect between his Vision System and this Interface? Shi Tiexin didn’t dare say, nor did he dare to reveal anything. Little Dog had said that the creator of the ”Interface” was a powerhouse who could become a Sub-Saint. If this Sub-Saint were to learn of his situation, what awaited him would almost certainly not be a good outcome.

”We’ve gotten sidetracked, let’s get back to it.” Little Dog Egg paid no mind to Shi Tiexin’s internal conflict and continued on his own, ”The reason I brought up ’Interface’ is because I want to use the realm divisions it provides. And different Cultivation Realms grant different numbers of attribute points.”