Current Currencies: 37896 Spirit Fragments, 200 Vision Slivers.
Current spare skill points: 7.
Current skills: Confucianist Tree: Learned, Scholar; Taoist Tree: Affinity, Thunder and Fire; Buddhist Tree: Path to Enlightenment, Arhat.
Current usable spells/active skills: basic Golden Light Spells, Fire Talisman making, Palm Lightning, Law of The Words.
From the fights he had to endure last night, one thing was relatively clear to him - that he needed to beef up his recovery, mostly from injuries, and to some extent from fatigue. The energy dissipated from the Sproutlinger Hotel had amped up the spirits and creatures in the surrounding area by quite a bit, so if he wished to "farm" those areas he would surely need to go through many hard fights.
The first skill he chose that would boost his recovery abilities would be the skill "Meditator" from the Buddhist Tree, parallel to the "Arhat" skill, which boosted his physical and hand to hand combat talents and abilities.
"Meditator: enhances mind potential, increases or grants spirit resource, grants active skill: Basic Meditation."
"Basic Meditation: grants the knowledge and experience of the low level fundamentals of Buddhist meditation; When used, brings both the body and mind into a meditative state, slowly and gradually healing physical injuries and recovering weariness."
He needed to test it first, but judging by where he was on the different skill trees, this skill with only a two skill point cost was the one with the highest cost efficiency while boosting his resilience, healing and recovery.
The next point he chose was the "Taiji" skill on the Taoist Tree, in parallel to the Thunder and Fire skill which granted him the ability to use Palm Lightning and craft Fire Talismans. This skill cost a total of four skill points, and had a wide range of effects that also put it among the high cost efficiency category.
"Taiji: mastering the Dao is to master the balance between Yin and Yang, and the balance itself. Increases spirit resource; boosts passive recovery; enhances meditation and spell and incantation efficiency; grants basic knowledge and experience of the arts of Taiji Fist and Taiji Sword."
With only one spare skill point left, he browsed his skill trees a couple of times before finally settling down on the skill No Bad Luck from the folklore minor tree. This skill did not boost his recovery or healing, but it granted him skills and knowledge to give himself some small buffs.
"No Bad Luck: Grants knowledge and experience of the use of crafting protective charms, including soapberry or red wood beads, jade Buddha plaque blessed with morning dew, and woven charms using copper coins with red threads.
"Soapberry or red wood beads: string of beads to protect one against negative or evil energy. Soapberry wood is more aggressive, thus more effective yet short lasting; while red wood is more gentle, thus less intense but longer lasting.
"Jade Buddha plaque blessed with morning dew: one could keep it close by person to gradually negate or cleanse the effects of curses and negative energy; the purer the jade and dew, the better the effect.
"Woven charms using copper coins with red threads: two distinct ways to make woven charms using traditional copper coins and red threads; one way to hide the smell and Yang energy of humans from spirits, the other way to hide the Yin energy of curse items or spirits from humans."
All of these needed to be tested - though not immediately. Wu Xiaoming stretched while sitting on his bed. With his choosing a lot of the skills, a lot of information flowed into his head, like dormant memories or sudden inspirations. He had the same kind of experience with his other skills, so he did not panic at this somewhat invasive inflow of information. Though it might be something to keep in the back of his mind - where this kind of information came from, hell, where the skills and "buffs" to his abilities came from.
The first skill he tried was Basic Meditation - the reason was simple, it was the only skill whose effect he could feel right now without having to engage any hostile beings. He laid on his bed, then gently closed his eyes and let his mind calm down and drift away bit by bit.
It was rather comfortable. After only a few deep breaths, his muscles and nerves began loosening up. His worries, his stress about having to find a place to live, his feeling lost, and his anxiety of having to face more and more battles without rest, he did not realize how numb he was after shouldering everything for all this time. He needed this kind of rest and relaxation, he really needed it.
His mind went deeper and deeper into the meditative state. After a while, he seemed to have forgotten the time, and all the things he needed to do.
"Shit! I might be late for the shoot!" Wu Xiaoming sat up on his bed from this idea bursting into his mind. The room was still dark - darker than when he had started to meditate. He checked the time on his phone - it was 5:22 AM. And he had not gone into the ethereal realm - at least he did not remember doing so.
His heart began pounding his chest - this was the first time he had had a night like this, one where he actually got a full night's rest, without having to fight, to survive, and then face a full day with no escape.
Tears ran down his eyes - he had no idea how much he actually needed it. But right now, he was feeling much more refreshed, and ready.
He considered whether to go into the ethereal realm for a brief moment. Maybe it was good to have a rest for today. He could definitely use a break. And if he entered he would need to get out soon, he might not even make the "exit cost" back.
So it was settled, went into the bathroom and washed up, then headed out, for some breakfast, before Douglass Kirkland would pick him up and drop him at the rendezvous point of the crew.
He waited by the door of the same coffee shop for it to open. He ordered basically the same thing he had had the previous morning. The fool filled him up, maybe it was because he had not gone through battles in the ethereal realm or endured any injuries.
He checked out, just in time to meet Douglass Kirkland at the front of the hotel.
"Boy, you sure brought a pretty big luggage, how long were you planning to stay in this crap dump of a hotel?" Douglass Kirkland raised his eyebrows at Wu Xiaoming when he put the luggage in the trunk of the car.
"Yeah - well, I actually - did not plan very well." Wu Xiaoming scratched his head and told a half-truth.
"What is it about this hotel that's so appealing to you?" Douglass Kirkland chuckled as he drove away: "Don't tell me you're actually really THAT into the haunted stuff, that you are willing to come here and investigate by yourself?"
"Well, it kinda is, actually." Wu Xiaoming laughed: "I've gotta tell you, man. This haunted stuff is really fun."
"Okay then, perhaps it really is time for me to start thinking about broadening the scope of your gigs. Since you're into hauntings and stuff, I guess you're open to taking horror movie gigs?"
"Well, if you can find me some, that'd be great! It'd be better if it's like - Chinese folk horror, or Hong Kong horror." Wu Xiaoming shrugged.
"Hmm - that might be more difficult, most Chinese studios or studios with Chinese funding aren't that keen on folk horror. Psycho murderers is probably the closest they'd offer. For non-Chinese studios, they're more about monster flicks, slashers and non-Chinese style ghost flicks, maybe a zombie or cursed item project here and there. But still - if you're open to them now, I can start making calls."
"Sounds - sounds good!"
The drive took only about twenty five minutes - it was early and there was barely any traffic. The crew was set to meet up in front of an office building of Worldly Entertainment, and the shuttle and van were already there.
"Hey, one sec." Douglass Kirkland pulled out a duffle bag from his trunk and handed it to Wu Xiaoming: "I don't know how well you've prepared, so I got you some basics. Bug spray, bear spray, spare clothes, heat pads that can go into the sleeping bags, all the necessities."
"Oh!" Wu Xiaoming took the duffle bag - it was rather heavy, there sure was a lot of things in there: "Thank you, Douglass, very helpful and - considerate."
"Eh, don't mention it. Just be careful, alright?" Douglass Kirkland patted Wu Xiaoming on the shoulder: "Text me when you got there, alright? They have sat phones if you can't get a signal."
Tammy was there to help organize everything. According to her, Wu Xiaoming would be riding the shuttle along with Timothy Manchester the director, Jake the sound guy and Tammy herself. The new cameraman and the field specialist requested by the director and Douglass Kirkland would ride the van, along with most of their equipment.
They set out, before the morning traffic would catch up.